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She was all over Ant. Smothering her with relieved hugs and kisses.
“I’m okay too,” Cap said sarcastically.
“Oh you!!” said Mrs Cap as she grabbed her husband and blanketed him in thankful, sloppy smooches.
Then a woman screamed. “Where’s Romeo?!” It was Mrs Monty. She’d seen him go in. She’d seen him searching and diving with Cap. But now she saw only Cap. She rushed over. “Where’s Romeo?!” she screamed again. “Where is he?!”
“I… I don’t know. I thought he was behind me.”
“He’s not! He’s not behind you!” she yelled in a panic. “Where is he?!” Then she ran to the foot of the water and screamed at the lake “Romeo?!”
But Romeo couldn’t hear them. He couldn’t hear any of them. The only thing he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears. He was trapped. He was out of air. And he was afraid he was about to die.
When Cap had kicked off to make his way back to the surface. When he had felt his baby girl’s hand on his shoulder. He had kicked off against the car. When he pushed it, it moved. It moved enough to dislodge itself from on top of whatever it was that was propping it up and it settled down on to the bottom of the lake.
Romeo had been combing the area. Not being able to see, he was feeling around blindly in the water. Touching wherever he could. Reaching as far as he could. He had been afraid that Ant had somehow gotten trapped beneath the car.
He was reaching under the one side that was propped up on whatever it was that it was propped up on. They never did find out. That’s when the car shifted and fell down on top of his arm. Trapping him.
He tried to get free. Desperately he tried to jerk his arm out. To dig himself to safety. But he was caught in such an awkward position he couldn’t get any leverage. He couldn’t reach enough or push enough in the right way to dislodge his arm. He was trapped, and he was quickly running out of air.
“Find him!” yelled Mrs Monty. “Find him now!” She was yelling at Cap. She was yelling at her husband. She was yelling at anyone who was around. “Please find him!”
Cap and Monty both rushed back into the water. They swam fast to where the car was and began diving.
Back on shore all Ant could do was wait. She stood on the shoreline. A dirty white tablecloth wrapped around her wet shoulders. As close to a blanket as anyone could find. She saw her dad go under. Then she saw him come back up. He looked around frantically. Then he dove again. Monty did the same. This was taking too long. She was beginning to lose hope. She begged the night. “Romeo. Oh Romeo. Where are you?”
Monty groped blindly around the car. There! He felt something. He was sure of it. He swam closer. Yes! It was him. It was his son. He began digging. Furiously he clawed and pulled and scraped and tugged. But Romeo was in tight.
Monty dug harder, deeper, longer as precious seconds ticked on by. Till his lungs, and his heart, were about to burst. His son was dying. He needed help. He needed air. He jetted to the surface. He gasped for air. He pleaded for help. “He’s here! He’s here! Help me! Please!” He dove back down.
Then Cap was there too. Next to him. Back at the bottom. Beside the car. They worked together, side by side, sixteen feet below the surface. Digging and pulling.
They could feel him. His arm, his chest, his legs. They could also feel he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t working to free himself. He should have been thrashing around like a tiger shark caught in a tuna net. But he wasn’t. He was just there. Half stuck, half floating. Only moving when the men or the water made him move. Romeo was unconscious.
Finally they got him loose. Together Cap and Monty lifted Romeo and dragged him to the surface. Monty wrapped his arm around his son’s chest and swam him back to shore. Cap stayed close behind. Once there, they carried him to the crowd and laid him down on the sandy grass. He wasn’t breathing.
“Oh my God! He’s dead,” cried Mrs Monty.
“No! No he’s not,” her husband breathlessly replied. “He’s just unconscious.”
“Well do something!”
“Do what?”
“I don’t know… CPR maybe?”
“Help is on the way,” said Mrs Cap, as she touched Mrs Monty’s shoulder.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I learned CPR?! What if I do something wrong? What if I make it worse?” He turned to Cap. “What about you?”
Cap shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Then he asked the crowd, “Is there a doctor here? Is anyone a doctor?”
An old woman in the back yelled out. “My son’s a doctor.” Then she added, “But he’s not here.”
“I’m a foot doctor,” said someone else.
The crowd groaned. Nobody moved.
