submerged » l.h {FINISHED}

0.2 » you're shaking

Kaity only had a few minutes to lie in the sand, gazing at her savior as he hovered over her, their eyes stuck in a locked gaze before the paramedics arrived. Someone had called the emergency number when she did not surface after being pushed in. No one had anticipated her being saved, they only thought of the worst.

The paramedics shushed away her savior for the moment. The boy with the blue eyes moved away from Kaity, but his eyes did not leave hers. He stood by, watching as the paramedics asked Kaity some routine questions before hauling her into a sitting position and then helping her to the back of the ambulance.

There, they gave her some oxygen to save her burning lungs. With the help of the aided oxygen, her lips slowly faded from the pale blue back to their normal pinkish tone.

“Kaity! Oh, god. Kaity!” She heard as she looked up from the oxygen mask plastered to her face. Neely was racing towards her, the sand kicking up behind her as she made her way towards the parked ambulance.

Neely hit her forcefully, engulfing Kaity in a desperate hug. The blanket slid off of Kaity’s shoulders as she hugged her best friend back.

“I’m fine, Neely,” Kaity reassured her, patting her back slightly. Despite all this, she knew Neely would probably cry anyway. They had been best friends since they were six – Kaity even cried when Neely broke her arm, but that wasn’t nearly as life threatening as this.

“You almost died!” She squealed, pulling back from the hug, looking at her friend with intense eyes. “You just vanished beneath the water and you didn’t come back up, Kaity. And then, then that surfer came and he dove underneath the water, plopped you on his board and paddled you to shore where he gave you CPR.”

Kaity felt her cheeks heating up. She never liked being the center of attention, and now that everyone was staring at her with wide eyes, she was absolutely mortified. Kaity was just about to open her mouth to speak, when someone’s laughs were cutting her off.

Neely and Kaity both turned to where the sound was coming from, seeing Shawn walking down the beach leisurely, Dillon and Shay by his side.

“He thinks this is funny?” Neely asked quietly, her voice on the edge of being infuriated. Her hands clenched, her knuckles going so white they rivaled a ghost’s complexion. “Insensitive bastard,” she spit. “I’m gonna go give him a piece of my mind. Are you going to be all right?” Neely asked, peeling her eyes away from Shawn.

The moment she looked at her best friend, her eyes softened. Kaity just nodded, telling Neely that she would be just fine. She wanted to be alone, anyway. Neely leaned forward again, giving Kaity a quick squeeze before storming towards Shawn.

Kaity let out a long, deep breath, even though it still burned her lungs. She wondered how long her lungs were going to be in pain for. She raised the oxygen mask to her face again as she watched the waves crash against the beach, as if they were reaching out to her to drag her back in.

Kaity vowed to herself that she would never step foot into the water again, not after what happened. As much as she loved the beach, she loved living more.