Bobby Akart - Desolation

Soon, his body began to tire again. An argument raged in his mind as to what was the best course of action.

You gotta breathe or you’ll die!

I can’t breathe or I’ll die!

He had to make it. He twisted his torso to lay prone underwater. The other way wasn’t working. He closed his eyes and allowed his body to go limp. He imagined himself as bait on a hook, awaiting the big fish to carry him away. Or a dead body floating, waiting for the hand of God to snatch him up to Heaven.

Jimmy’s mind wandered, wondering how long he’d been underwater. Was he even conscious? Was this what it was like when a person died? He kept waiting for the soothing voice to tell him to go to the light. Instead, a shadow passed over him, covering him in darkness.

Hank jumped off the transom into the water while Jessica dove off the bow of her WET team boat to assist. They both swept their arms in wide arcs and furiously kicked their feet to force their bodies deeper below the surface, fighting the natural buoyancy of their oxygen-filled lungs.

Jessica arrived at Jimmy’s body first and immediately waved Hank off. A drowning person may appear docile when first discovered, but she knew from experience that they were prone to panicking when rescued. When a victim begins to flounder, they could easily knock their rescuer unconscious or prevent them from rising back to the surface.

Jimmy was making no effort to kick his way back to the surface. His body appeared lifeless, yet his mouth was closed, a good sign. Jessica was an excellent swimmer and diver as well. She’d saved the life of a drowning victim once before. Underwater rescue training helped, but the real-life experience of dealing with a person on the brink of death proved invaluable as she touched Jimmy.

His reaction was not unexpected. Startled, followed by an intense desire to help his rescuer. Jessica wanted to shout to him— I’ve got this, relax! Instead, she remained calm so she could think clearly and react to his movements.

She moved behind Jimmy’s shoulders and reached her arms underneath his arms. Jessica’s leg muscles were strong courtesy of good genetics and constant training by running in the sand. She began kicking, and the two of them moved quickly toward the water’s surface. Seconds later, they breached the plane, and Jessica quickly took in a deep breath in case Jimmy woke up and pulled them underwater again.

Her mind tried to shut out the cries of joy and shouts of Jimmy’s name coming from all directions. There was still work to be done. She moved her hands to brace his head upright. As she did, she felt for his pulse.

There wasn’t one. And he wasn’t breathing.

Jessica closed her eyes briefly and then rapidly kicked her legs as she dragged him to the back of her boat. As she passed the port side, Peter and Sonny were looking over the rails, shouting words of encouragement to Jimmy.

“Meet me at the back!” she shouted. “Grab the backboard!”

Peter reacted first. Despite his own injuries, he was setting aside the pain he felt in order to help his friend. Sonny was crying, alternating between wiping his tears being shed for his son and gripping the railing of Jessica’s boat to get a better look.

“Got it!” shouted Peter from the boat’s stern.

“Sonny! I need you to help Peter. You guys need to get on the transom so we can hoist his body onto the backboard.”

While she had been in Key West with Mike at the hospital, she’d taken some time to go to the supply depot located at the nearby sheriff’s office. She’d restocked the medications and other trauma supplies used on her water emergency team boat. She’d also taken a seventy-eight-inch orange backboard. Made of high-density polyethylene, it was not only buoyant, but the Velcro straps and head immobilizer provided her the ability to secure Jimmy in place while they dragged him on board.

Sonny held his son’s face in his hands while Peter and Jessica positioned Jimmy on the backboard. Then the three of them pulled him over the stern and onto the deck of the boat. Jessica didn’t waste any time as she rushed to the helm.

Her marine radio remained set to the emergency channel monitored by first responders and hospitals in the Keys. Despite the power outages, some hospitals were still operating using generators, including Mariner’s Hospital in Tavernier. She radioed them and advised she was bringing in a drowning victim.

She had to think for a moment as to where the closest marina was located. Normally, they’d bring an accident victim into Tavernier Harbor on the Atlantic Ocean side of Tavernier. On the Gulf side, an ambulance would meet them at the closest marina.

Peter seemed to sense her inability to remember the closest marina. “Jessica, Mangrove Marina in Hurricane Harbor. It’s less than a mile up the road.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She turned her attention back to her conversation with the dispatcher at Mariner’s Hospital and then looked over to Hank and Erin. “Go get Phoebe!”

Hank waved and yelled, “Thank you.” He and Erin fired up the Hatteras. After Jessica turned her boat around and took off toward Bottle Key to the south, they began their hour-long ride back to Driftwood Key.

Jessica shouted, “Peter, drive! You know where to go.”

She knew Jimmy needed immediate medical attention. Even small amounts of water left in the lungs can cause respiratory issues later known as dry drowning. With Peter propelling the boat along the fortunately smooth waters, Jessica began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

She took a normal breath, gently pinched Jimmy’s nose, and covered his mouth with her own, ensuring an airtight seal. She exhaled quickly twice, keeping a watchful eye on his chest to see if it rose. She raised her body and began chest compressions, pressing down about two inches.

“One, two, three, four, five.” She counted to force herself to remain consistent and to give Jimmy’s chest an opportunity to rise back to normal. “Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty. Off.”

“Why isn’t he breathing?” asked Sonny.

Jessica ignored his question and pointed to the storage compartments underneath the bench seat on the port side of the boat. “Grab me the light blue bag in there. I need to intubate.”

Intubation was the process of placing a specially designed plastic tube into an unresponsive patient who was unable to breathe. The flexible tube was carefully inserted into the trachea to create a conduit through which air could be forced using a large squeezable bulb.

“Okay, I’m in. Sonny, I need you to gently squeeze this bulb to force air into Jimmy’s chest. Like this.”

After Jessica showed him what to do, Sonny recovered emotionally and set his jaw, determined to save his son.

“Okay,” she continued, reaching out to Sonny’s hand and squeezing it gently. “Let me try compressions again.”

She began to pump his chest. She was halfway through the thirty-count when Jimmy’s body heaved upward, and he began to cough violently, choking on the intubation tube in the process. Jessica quickly removed it and then turned him over to his side. He immediately spit out some sea water.

“Son, I’m here.” Sonny slid across the deck on his knees so Jimmy could see him. His eyes were open, but he was clearly disoriented.

“Jessica! Water!” shouted Peter from the helm. He held up a bottle of water, and Jessica opened her hands to catch it when he tossed it to her.

“I’ll need another in a second,” she said before turning back to Jimmy. “Let’s get you up and clear the gunk out of your throat.”