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“Give her to me. Quick.” It was Diesel in his little tinny boat.
Wazza handed his precious cargo up to the old man, and then hauled himself out of the river, nearly tipping the boat in the process. Water streamed from his soaking clothes, but he gave it no heed.
Diesel had Benni lying flat on the bottom of the boat, looking like a bedraggled pile of rags he’d drawn up from the depths.
“Let me. I know CPR.” Wazza swatted the old man out of his way.
“She’s got a pulse,” Diesel said, clearly and calmly. “But you need to get her breathing again.”
Everything seemed to come into sharp focus, moving slowly, as if Wazza were in a slow-motion movie. He could see himself as if from above, kneeling in the bottom of the boat, smoothing the hair back from Benni’s face, then tipping her on her side to check her airway was clear. As if he were a robot, working on autopilot, all emotion suddenly gone. He had a job to do, and he knew if he did it right, Benni would come back to him. He checked for a pulse. It took him a few seconds to locate the artery in her neck. It was there, just as Diesel said it was, faint and thready, but there.
Her airway was clear, so he lay her on her back, gently tilted her head back, pinched her nose and administered a rescue breath. Then he waited. Counted to five and administered another rescue breath. Again and again, he did this.
“Wait.” Diesel put a hand on his shoulder and they both peered down at the little girl lying in the bottom of the boat. Was she breathing on her own? It was hard to tell. He leaned in closer, listening for the hiss of air to pass over her lips. She made a small sound, something between a wheeze and a cat-like mewl. Then she gave a cough.
Wazza’s heart kicked in his chest so hard he thought he’d been struck by a train.
She was alive.
“Benni,” he said softly, lifting her head into his lap. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at him for moments without end. Then she tried to sit up, her head nearly colliding with his, and began to cry. Heavy sobs wracked her body, and he pulled her into his chest.
All emotion returned to him in a flood of sensations, and he found himself weeping, as well, tears falling down his cheeks. They sat like that for many seconds, Wazza holding Benni, until his tears finally stopped.
“You did a great job, son.” Diesel patted him on the back and then patted Benni on the head. “You’ll be okay. Both of you will be okay.”
But his job wasn’t done yet.
Wazza lifted his head. “Kee. We need to find Kee.”
Diesel looked at him, compassion in his red-rimmed eyes. “Is she a strong swimmer, son?” Diesel looked hopeful, until Wazza shook his head. “Then, I’m not sure—”
“We need to at least look for her.” Wazza stood, Benni enfolded in his arms. He had one of his women back, now he needed the other one, or his life would never be complete. Benni needed to get to hospital, to get checked over by a doctor. He knew that, but he also couldn’t leave the river without looking for Kee. The small boat rocked as he moved, and Diesel ushered him to a bench seat at the front.
“Sit down, before you tip us all back in,” the old man commanded. Then he clambered backward and started up the engine. The tinny surged forward as Diesel turned it to face down river, following the current. “If she’s alive, she’ll most likely be headed out to sea. Keep your eyes peeled,” the wiry man instructed. “You watch the left bank, and I’ll watch the right one. There are logs and old roots and all sorts of things sticking out into the water. If she managed to snag one of those, she might’ve been able to pull herself up…” Diesel trailed off, mumbling something about crocodiles to himself. Wazza didn’t even dare think about those prehistoric predators.
He shaded his eyes, trying to see through the glare of the sun off the water. He’d lost his hat when he dove in, fully clothed. Benni was still cradled in one arm, but he focused on the water in front and to the left, looking for a sign, anything. She had to be alive. She had to be.
Diesel slowed the boat, and they motored down the middle of the river, searching. Around one bend, and then another. Surely, she couldn’t have drifted this far?
“Over there.” Benni lifted her arm and pointed. “I see something.” Disbelieving, he followed the line of Benni’s finger. It was the first time she’d spoken since he’d pulled her out of the water.
Wazza stared at something dark drifting in the water. He stood and placed Benni carefully on the bench seat. “Can you stay here for a second, bunny?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “Is my mummy okay?”
Wazza couldn’t answer. Diesel maneuvered the boat closer to the object. Kee had been wearing blue denim shorts and a dark green T-shirt after her shower this morning. It was hard to tell if the object was a mat of green weed floating on the tide, or…
“It’s her.” Wazza didn’t wait for the boat to stop, he dived into the water. She was floating face down.
For a moment, panic clawed at his brain. Karri had been floating face down, too. But this was different. He was going to save Kee. He had a chance to undo that terrible wrong from his past, if only he could save her. He refused to let the dread overwhelm him. Wazza reached her in under ten strokes and was pulling her back to the boat while Diesel was still shutting down the engine.
It was a lot harder to drag Kee into the boat. Diesel grabbed under the armpits, but the old man didn’t have the strength in his skinny arms to bring her in by himself, so Wazza sloshed over the side like a wet seal and between the two of them, they soon had her laid out on her back in the bottom of the boat.
“Is Mummy okay?” Benni hovered beside him.
“She’s going to be fine, honey.” Diesel enfolded her in his arms, comforting her and holding her away so Wazza could do what needed to be done. He owed this old man a hell of a lot. Without him…Wazza didn’t dare to think how he would’ve saved Benni. Or Kee. Because he was going to save her.
Kee’s skin was cool to the touch, gorgeous lips which were normally rosy, and plump were tinged with blue. His fingers fumbled at her neck. There was no pulse this time. He gave a muffled groan as he tipped her onto her side. Water dribbled out of her mouth, but her airway was clear when he checked it. How long had she been face down? It’d been at least ten minutes since she knocked Bruno into the water. If she’d been under that whole time… How long had Karri been underwater before he found her?
No, he wasn’t going there. He had a job to do, and that was to breathe for her until they could get professional help.
Tipping her head back and pinching her nose, he gave two quick breaths into her beautiful mouth. He couldn’t think about her beautiful mouth, couldn’t think about kissing that mouth, feeling her warm breath on his cheek. He needed to concentrate. She was just a body, just a stranger who needed his help. Not the love of his life. Because if he let that thought creep into his psyche, then he was fucked. They were both fucked. Because he’d freak out and not be able to do what needed to be done.
He moved his hand to the center of her chest and began compressions.
“She needs help. We need a defibrillator. We have to get her to a hospital.” Wazza ground the words out between chest compressions.
“Leave it with me. You just keep her alive,” Diesel replied. Keeping Benni by his side, one arm wrapped around her small shoulders, he started up the boat and sent it full throttle up the river.
