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Immediately Jenna and Stuart made their way quickly over to Clint and me, splashing us to the point that I was blinded by the water in my eyes; I squeezed them shut. The chlorine stung like hell. I was flailing my arms about wildly hoping to make contact with Jenna to knock her off. I knew that we were in deeper water now. I could feel the water touching my behind, which meant Clint’s face had to be partially submerged.
Oh shit!
I was hoping Clint could still hear; I was screaming at him to get me out. My hands desperately located his head and I realized that he'd to bob up and down in order to breathe. Just then Jenna launched a pre-emptive strike. Stuart had maneuvered into a position where they were in the more shallow water. Clint and I were on the down slope to the diving area. Suddenly, Jenna went underwater and grabbed my right foot while Stuart grabbed my left foot. In unison, they pushed up with all their force and launched me off of Clint’s back.
I flew airborne out of the water. I briefly saw Jenna jump on Clint, laughing and dunking him so that he could offer no assistance to me. It was if I was watching the whole scene in slow motion. I felt myself sailing through the air backward. I saw the look of horror on the faces of Luke and Rodney as the back of my head slammed into something hard. I felt a blinding pain, and then I hit the water face down. I felt myself sinking and sinking. Everything was a blur.
I can’t swim! I can’t swim!
Tiny bubbles escaped from my mouth as I sank. I futilely waved my hands in the water. It was eerily quiet under the surface. I drifted slowly toward the bottom of the pool.
Is somebody coming to get me?Is anyone out there?
Why wouldn’t my feet move?
Kick your damned feet!
I kicked fervently, trying to remember what it looked like when I saw others doing it, thinking I was probably doing it all wrong. The best I could do was to keep my mouth shut and try not to inhale water. It was then that I finally saw something. It was a bright light. It was shining for me. This must be it for me. I knew about the bright light people saw as they crossed over into death. Somehow, I thought it would be more brilliant, more beckoning. Someone was in the water next to me. He was all in black.
The grim reaper?
He grabbed me around the waist with strong arms, propelling me upward along his side. I tried to hold my breath longer, but I couldn’t. Everything went blessedly black.
The first thing I felt was something pressing heavily on my chest. There was pressure again and again. A mouth was on mine. Then more pressure.
Fuck it hurts!
I was hacking up water then sputtering as I was rolled over onto my side where I proceeded to vomit up wine coolers, chewed-up hot dog and what tasted like baked bean gravy. I heard a voice, a semi-familiar voice.
“That’s it, Tylar, good girl, let it out, let it all out."
I groaned. My chest ached, my throat burned, and my head throbbed. I heard someone else talking now.
“I think she’s coming around.”
That's Clint's voice; I'm sure of it.
“No thanks to any of you idiots!” the semi-familiar voice snarled. Silence followed. “I want to know who the hell is responsible for this!”
Wait a minute. I know that snarl!
I tried to say something, but all that came out was a squeaky croak. Strong arms turned over onto my back. I was being cradled against a hard chest. I could feel a heartbeat pounding; mine fluttered. Some other voice was talking, a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize, asking if I should be taken to the hospital. Then it was Clint’s voice again.
“Here’s a blanket, sir,” Clint sounded scared.
I immediately felt warmer as the blanket was wrapped closely around me and tucked under my chin. I willed myself to open my eyes. They were so heavy, but I needed to see and know for sure. Slowly my eyes fluttered open and my vision was clear enough that I could see those beautiful sapphire eyes staring into mine.
Something was different in those blue eyes. There was no anger in them. I now saw fear and concern in the depths of those blue orbs. I lifted my hand out from under the warm blanket and cautiously touched his chin stubble with my fingers. I needed to know if this was real or imaginary. It felt real enough.
“Trey?” a voice croaked. I realized the voice was mine.
“Hush now” he said, stroking my face with his fingers. “Everything’s okay. We just need to get you to the hospital.”
I snuggled closer to him, burying my face into his chest and tucking my hand back inside the blanket. I felt his warmth and I knew it was the best thing I'd ever felt in my life. Trey held me close as I sank again into darkness, a siren wailing in the distance.
CHAPTER 4
My dreams had haunted me for as long as I could remember. They didn’t seem like normal dreams. In my freshman year at college, I'd taken Psychology I as part of my degree curriculum. We studied a chapter describing body rhythms and mental states covering dreams. There were so many theories. I wasn't sure which theory I supported, but I definitely felt that my dreams were an expression of something. Something from my past frightened me; I didn't know what.
