Sophie continued her stretching. She had a swim meet today, and it was going to be her turn in fifteen minutes.
The whistle blew for the end of the round. Sophie got into her position. When the whistle blew again, she set off.
She did her laps and crawled out of the pool into the slightly chilly air. She could hear her team cheering her name along with her parents and Keefe. She went to go see them.
"You're doing great, kiddo!" Grady exclaimed.
"Thanks," she told him with a giggle.
Keefe held out his hand for a fistbump. "Nice job, Foster. You're in third place for the county."
She returned it.
Sophie was able to hang out with them for a half hour before needing to get into position. This time, she had to do four laps. It was going to take a lot of work.
She got onto the diving block and planted her feet. When the whistle's shrill cry echoed out, she jumped off the block into the water.
It splashed at her skin as she dived in. She paddled through two laps when her vision started to go dark.
She only had a little bit longer until she got to the edge. if she could just push through...
But she knew she wouldn't make it when her tongue started to prickle. She veered off to the side to hang onto the rope divider.
Her hearing was going out, but she could almost hear the referee saying frantic words off in the distance.
Just as she was completely blacking out, she dipped into the water.
'NO,' she thought.
But all other thoughts were washed out by the darkness, the tingles not letting her skin sense any of the other feelings.
When she awoke, everything was too bright. It wasn't heaven, was it?
She curled onto her side with a groan. Her head hurt, her lungs hurt, and she was sore from swimming. Nope, not heaven.
She tried to suck in a breath, but it caught in her throat, which caused her to cough. The coughing turned to hacking, which turned to choking. Somebody sat her up and patted her back.
Air. She needed air. Unfortunately, all she could do at the moment was hack and wheeze.
She gave another good cough and-
A retch caused all the water she must've inhaled to exit. She weakly leaned against whoever was holding her up and sucked in deep breaths of sweet, glorious air.
She was shivering. Somebody placed a towel around her. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut.
"It's alright," a voice Sophie recognized as her mother said. "You're ok." She held her tighter.
Sophie wrapped her arms around Edaline as tight as she could manage in her frail state. The warmth made her more aware of her surroundings.
She gathered enough courage to open her eyes. The bright light seered her corneas, but she was able to make out a few faces around her.
Edaline was holding her. Grady was beside her. Keefe was next to him. And her coach was with a life guard a few feet back.
Sophie knew she should probably get up, but everything was achy, so she stayed where she was and closed her eyes back. She didn't even mind when Grady scooped her up and placed her on a bench.
"You alright?" Keefe asked, taking a seat next to her.
She didn't answer. Rather, she slid her head in the crook of his neck. He took the cue to wrap her in a hug.
His hold warmed her from the inside, easing some of her shivers. She was able to relax a bit. When she did, his grip tightened.
"Thank you," she murmured. "I needed this."
"Of course." He pulled back a little to look her in the eyes. "Just, please don't do that again. I thought I was about to have a heart attack. We didn't know what was happening when they told everyone to get out of the pool, and a life guard jumped. When he pulled you out, I thought the worst."
He pulled her in tight again. "I'll try not to," Sophie whispered.
Keefe shook his head. "Please don't," his voice cracked.
YOU ARE READING
Broken Heart/Broken Mind
Random(Human AU) Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay. As the years pass, they wind up being in the same c...
