Searching

chapter 2 ,The river

The river mercilessly swoop everything in it's way, including Hussain. Hassan stood a couple of meters away from the flood, mouth gap open.

"Ummi, I didnt mean to " Hassan explained with cold sweat dripping down the side of his face.

In the movies drowning is loud and splashy, someone yells and waves their arms, they dip below the waves and come up in dramatic fashion while those on shore scramble to rescue them. 

But in reality,drowning is quiet, their movements are subtle, they rarely make any noise at all. One minute their head is bobbing above the water and then it is gone.

Plan A was to spot Hussain and try to reach for his hand. I thought perhaps I could hold onto a rock near the shore and catch Hussain before the current took him further away. However Hussain was nowhere to be seen. He was buried underneath the shards of woods in the flood.

So with that, my feet sprang into action. There was no more waiting. Had I wait, perhaps Hussain would have already sunk to the river bed. The only thing I could think of was " I have to reach Hussain! I must! "

I jumped into the water feeling the cold splashes on my tear stained face. I swam down and reached the bottom in one breath. I searched for Hussain but it was hard to see. My vision was blurry and there was barely any light that reached the bed of the river.

When I dived beneath the waves I expected to come back up, and I did. But each chance to breathe becomes further apart, each breath less than the last. The current takes me down and I strain for the light that dims above.

After only thirty seconds, I was sinking again, my legs tired and struggling to bring myself back toward the sun-speckled surface. I can't hear the screams and worried cries of Hassan anymore from the lake-side.

The cold water pushed me down and when I tried to swim back to the surface my oxygen levels had run out. I felt my brain fuzz with the onset of asphyxia. I tried with great effort to swim back up to the surface, but I sank faster. My heart started beating frantically, desperate for sweet oxygen. But it was no use. The oxygen I had had moments earlier was spent and I was left with a headache, dizziness.

But I couldn't bring myself to give up on Hussain. What kept me going was my adrenaline. Once more, I dived in the water, moving arms around as if I was climbing. I was grabbing around, in a desperate attempt at finding Hussain. There was no coordinated movements, I just clawed my way through the liquid when I felt like I grabbed an arm. Bingo!

I held my breath as I forcefully pushed myself up with all my might, summoning whatever energy I had left. I swim my way upwards with one arm, the other clasped tightly on Hussain's arm. I held onto him so tightly as if, if I were to let go, he would drift further and further away from me. Upon reaching the surface of the water, my mouth was wide open, gasping for air like a fish.

Hassan bolted towards me the second he spotted me, he was so quick as if he was already scanning the river in search of me. I quickly passed Hussain to Hassan carefully, making sure he did not fell into the water.

Grabbing onto the shore, I pushed myself up one last time before checking up on Hussain who was knocked unconscious.

I checked if he was breathing normally before placing two hand on his chest, one on top of the other, interlocking. Straightening my arm, I did CPR on him.

After what felt like an internity, Hussain started coughing, vomiting out the water he had swallowed.

"Um-ummi..." he cried out embracing me.
"I-I thought I was going to die " he continued.

" I'm sorry...I'm sorry I should have kept a close eye on you two. Why do I keep on hurting you ? " It was my turn to sob.

Hassan was sobbing too, quietly behind me. The poor young boy was probably traumatised, witnessing his mom and his brother in such a dangerous situation that he had caused.