Oliver Loves Carson | ✔️

chapter three

Oliver couldn't fucking swim.

He never had any intention of swimming, so he never found the need to learn. Only, maybe he should've accounted for the chances of someone pushing him into a fucking pool. That might've given him some motivation.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he was drowning. At first, all Oliver felt was the stinging of chlorine in his eyes. He had kept them open in shock, and now they burned from the chemicals. Then, the panic set in. His lungs ached from the lack of air and his throat constricted, anxiety crawling up his throat. His limbs thrashed, and Oliver sunk down to the bottom of the pool. He tried to push off from the bottom, but it was like the lack of oxygen--the panic--caused him to shut down. It was a weak push and he barely made it up higher before sinking back down. His vision began to darken. But, the scariest part wasn't that he could no longer move. It wasn't that he could die, right here, right now because of stupid fucking Celia Orlov.

No, the scariest part was that his mind was completely empty. Not a single thought infiltrated his brain. The swishing of the water in his ears seemed to stop, and instead, all he heard was his decreasing pulse in his ears. His mouth was closed as he tried to hold his breath--the breath he no longer seemed to have--but through the searing pain in his chest, he became blindingly aware of one thing.

It was quiet.

Well, it was quiet before Oliver's brain faintly registered a splashing sound. The waves of the pool altered, becoming more violent around him. More black dots danced across his vision.

He was losing consciousness, and his head was still empty of thoughts by the time he'd fainted.

***

Carson wasn't a lifeguard, but he took a CPR course once. As far as he knew, he passed, which Carson assumed made him qualified.

He was still chatting with his friends when he heard a yell fill the room, sounding distinctly like a boy's, followed by a splash. A higher pitched, louder scream broke the air a few seconds later. Carson swiveled around, eyes scanning the entire pool area to find out what was happening.

There was a girl. A horrified expression crossed her face as she bent over the pool and looked down. Carson followed her gaze and noticed that the undisturbed pool waves disappeared, replaced by bubbles that drifted to the surface. There was a boy stuck beneath the water, his body lazily drifting.

Carson immediately sprang into action and jumped into the pool. He held his breath, feeling the undisturbed peace underwater familiarly before his eyes searched for the body. Once he found him, Carson swam over to him and grabbed onto his body, using his other hand to paddle to the top. His teammates had gathered around them, standing around on the pool tiles.

Carson lifted the body up as much as he could with a grunt, and Holden took the boy's upper body from Carson while Nico then took the boy's legs. Together, they pulled him up onto the tiles.

"Christian, go get the nurse," Carson ordered. The boy sprinted out of the room and toward the nurse's office.

Carson wiped the water from his face and pulled himself up and out of the water. It wasn't until he was stood over the boy that he realized that he knew him.

It was the ice cream boy. Oliver.

Carson knelt down next to Oliver and pressed two fingers to the vein on his wrist, feeling the faint heartbeat against his skin. He put his hand in front of Oliver's face, waiting to feel an exhale against his palm. When he didn't, Carson's panic spiked. He pressed both hands to Oliver's chest and began chest compressions. He tilted Oliver's head back, lifting his chin up. Carson pinched his nostrils together and leaned in, pressing his lips softly to the other boy's. He gave the first rescue breath and watched to see if Oliver's chest rose. When it did, he gave him a second breath and resumed his chest compressions.