The Secret Lives of Fish - a sequel to The Thirteenth Year

Ch 15 - Falling

The pool water looked warm and inviting. Sniffing the air, Jess was surprised he didn't smell chlorine.

"It's all ocean water," said Dr. May. He was sitting nearby in a chair, a notebook and some instruments on a tray table nearby. "We pump it in. That way we all stay healthier with our, how should I say, conditions." He gave a big smile, his gray mustache twitching.

Abigail was standing off to the side, watching him, her foot tapping slightly in her white sneakers.

Jess hadn't expected to feel so nervous. It's not like he hadn't swum multiple times since Cody had left. And he'd never noticed anything out of the ordinary. Why did this swim feel so different?

"Alright, we will start with the breath hold," said Dr. May. He grabbed a stop watch from the table. "If you would jump in, please."

Here goes nothing. Out of old habit, Jess pinched his nose and then jumped unceremoniously into the water.

Bubbles surrounded him as he let himself sink for a moment, then kicked quickly back to the surface. Other people swam around him, but kept their distance. Most of the people at Safe Haven needed to swim daily and many liked to do so before or just after breakfast.

"As soon as your head goes under," called Dr. May, "I'll start the watch."

Jess gave a quick glance at his mom. Abigail was watching him, her arms crossed and her face expressionless. It was clear she was merely there as an observer.

Thinking back to what Sam had taught him, Jess inhaled deeply and then exhaled. He did it another two times, took a final, deep breath, then sank below the surface.

In all his time learning to swim, Cody had never gone over breath holding techniques. Heck, Cody was lucky if Jess was willing to put his underwater while in the pool. After Cody had left, Jess had worked hard to become a good swimmer. Sam had picked up with the swimming lessons and Jess had taken to it.

Now, fully submerged, Jess focused simply on not breathing. He distracted himself by watching the others who were in the pool. Many of them staid fully underwater as they swam, easily holding their breath. It was so strange being around so many people who were like Cody, yet not.

A pressure began to build in Jess's lungs, but he ignored it. Dr. May had said they rarely tested the theory of any of them being able to breathe underwater. It felt too much like drowning. And, if you couldn't breathe underwater, you could actually drown. Besides, he'd been assured that almost nobody couldn't actually breathe water. That seemed a trait only possessed by those who'd been affected to the extreme. Something about underdeveloped gills and overdeveloped lungs.

Finally, the pressure became too much and Jess couldn't hold on any longer. Having sunk nearly to the bottom of the pool, he kicked hard and shot to the surface of the water with ease. Both Dr. May and Abigail were nodding their approval as he shook the water from his hair and rubbed it away from his eyes.

"Eight minutes and twenty-three seconds. Not bad for a first go," said Dr. May.

"Well, I have work to do. Chris, we'll catch up later." Abigail gave Jess a slight smile, then frowned. "I hope you'll start taking this more seriously now."

Jess gave her a glare.

"I'll see you at lunch," said Abigail. She nodded at the both of them and then walked out the doors Sean had gone through the night before.

"Don't worry about your mom, Jess." Dr. May was scribbling away in a notebook. "That was a very good result."

Shaking his head, Jess swam to the edge of the tank and stared at the doctor. "I really held my breath that long?"