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“Wait!” he ordered Zena with his face as alarmed as hers. “Let them help her!”
There, on the sand, surrounded by lifeguards, lay a lifeless Zola. To Zena, Zola looked as if she was six years old, a child she was supposed to be looking after.
“Wake up, Zola! Wake up! Please!” Zena cried, trying to break away from Adan’s hold as the crowd tightened.
One of the lifeguards straddled Zola and pressed heavily on her chest as another did mouth-to-mouth. Zena reached for Alton, who looked stunned, and grabbed his arm.
“You weren’t watching her! Why weren’t you watching her? You’re so irresponsible!” she screamed at him.
“I was watching her! It just happened. She fell off her board when the big wave came. It wasn’t my fault,” he said. “Maybe if you would’ve told her to stay out of the water, this wouldn’t have happened!”
Adan pulled them apart and said, “You two stop it! Zola is going to be fine.”
As if Zola had heard Adan’s command, water came sputtering out of her mouth. She gurgled and spat.
The crowd froze, and there was silence as they waited. This was a miracle in Bali.
Zola opened her eyes and looked around aimlessly. “Al-to,” she made out. “Al...”
“I’m here!” Zena cried before she realized who Zola was calling for.
Alton pushed past Zena and went to Zola’s side before she passed out again. “I’m here,” he said.
* * *
The lifeguards rushed Zola to the infirmary at one of the hotels across the street from the beach. While everyone spoke English and seemed to be trying to help, Zena felt as if no one could understand her questions, and quickly this once-beautiful place had become a paradoxical hell of rushing and then waiting for word about Zola’s condition.
Sitting outside of the one medical bed in the infirmary, where a petite nurse and off-duty vacationing doctor were meeting with Zola in private, Zena tried not to panic, but panic was all she felt.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just go to the hospital,” Zena complained to Alton and Adan, who were standing before her and working to keep her in the seat so she wouldn’t charge into the room to see Zola, as she’d done three times already.
“It’s too far and it’ll take too long for an ambulance to get here. Didn’t you see that traffic out there?” Adan replied. “We went over this. And Zola’s fine. She’s already awake and talking to the doctor.”
“But she could have internal bleeding, or something could be broken,” Zena went on.
“Zena, she is fine!” Alton said.
“Well, you’d better hope she is, because if she’s not—” Zena paused.
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Alton asked.
“You know exactly what it means. What kind of husband are you going to be? You were supposed to be looking after her.”
“She’s not a child. I don’t need to look after her. She’s a grown woman,” Alton argued. “And I was the one who told her not to get in the water. Or did you forget that?”
The nurse opened the door. Zena, A
lton and Adan bum-rushed her, trying to get in to see Zola, but she announced that Zola was only ready to see one person and she’d requested Alton.
“But I’m blood. I’m next of kin here,” Zena said, using her official courtroom tone with the nurse, who looked bored with Zena’s comments and questions she’d endured since they’d rushed into the infirmary.
The nurse didn’t respond. She signaled for Alton to follow her after letting the doctor out of the room.
“Ridiculous and unprofessional!” Zena complained, pivoting from the closed doors with her arms folded over her chest to demonstrate her discontent. “We should really just go to the hospital. Who knows if these people are even qualified to take care of Zola?”
“Zena, again, the hospital is too far, and the doctor said she’s—” Adan was tired of comforting Zena’s demands now, too. He stopped his repetitious response. “Look, why don’t you do something? Like call your mother? Did you tell her what happened?”
“Call her for what? To tell her Zola fell off a surfboard and almost died?”
