Deep Sea

Chapter 16: Rescue

Chapter 16: Rescue

Joe was shivering bad, her teeth chattering. She was lucky it wasn't winter or she doubted she would last longer than a few hours.

She tried splashing, tried attracting the attention of the sleeping merfolk, but they tended to move away from the ships as they slept. In case the ships moved and, Kai told her, the engines could be very loud under water. It was just better to stay away from them.

She tried yelling for help again but no one heard her. Her tiny voice was lost to the wind, completely unheard even in the still of the night.

She was trying to stay curled in on herself as she floated, trying to keep as much heat around herself as possible. She wanted to survive this with all fingers and toes in tact.

She knew it was possible to get hypothermia even in warm, tropical waters which this most certainly was not. Even though it was summer, the water was cold. Water was a great conductor for the heat that the human body produced. It would be stealing her heat a lot faster than the air would be able to, making hypothermia set in fast.

Her hair was wet, drying at least, but wet and freezing. She was shivering hard, clamping her teeth down to keep them from chattering and biting her own tongue.

She did have one thing in her favor.

The CBI's she had been taking made from merman blood gave her a bit of protection. Merpeople were evolutionarily made for deep waters where it was much colder than the surface. She may not be a mermaid, but she did have that CBI in her veins.

It didn't do much, but it did just enough.

Hypothermia was slower setting in, giving her time. In normal circumstances, she would be dead by sun up. But those CBI's gave her protection against the cold.

Her muscles started getting weaker, she had to strain to keep herself as compact as possible. Her arms crossed over her chest, her fingers squished between her arms, her legs clamped together, drawn as close to her chest as she could manage.

Her body was shaking hard, tremors that made her bones ache and exhausted her. Even as it fought to survive, her body was killing itself.

She drifted in the water, trying to stay back from the ship so they could see her as soon as possible. She couldn't yell anymore, the tremors and cold prevented that and she couldn't draw sufficient breath.

"Joe!"

She heard her name spoken, not from the ship, but from behind her. Before she could turn to look, a pair of wet, cool yet still kind of warm, arms were wrapping around her. She recognized Flavian's scared face.

A moment later, Adara's head came up from the water and she was wrapping her arms around the human girl too. Their bodies were cooler than hers during normal times, but not when she was bordering on severe hypothermia. They created a little cocoon of warmth that Joe almost moaned at it, it was so nice.

A few minutes later, the air started to brighten.

"Hey!" Flavian called up to the ship but no one heard.

"It's okay, Joe." Adara promised. "It'll be okay."

Flavian and Adara took turns crying for help. Joe was able to curl in on herself more efficiently now. She was like a ball, they were keeping her afloat, keeping her warmer. Not warm, but warmer.

It wasn't until the sun broke the horizon that a sailor heard their cries.

He stuck his head out from the rail, spotted her, then turned to cry 'man overboard' just like they would in the movies.