Authors: Dan Carr
“Get in, Logan. Just because you can’t swim doesn’t mean you can’t get in the water. Let’s go,” Larry said.
She slowly put her feet in. And then the rest of her body slipped into the water. She held onto the dock like her life depended on it. It probably did.
“You could die out here if you’re not careful,” Larry said. “If you let yourself.”
That was true. And maybe that was the point. That if we didn’t do what we were told, we could die. But people didn’t do what they were told all the time, and they didn’t die because of it. So it was hard to know when you would die, and when you wouldn’t.
“You’re treading water for as long as I say.” Larry stepped near the edge of the dock. “When I say to let go of that dock, you better let go of that dock or I will step on your fingers.”
“Larry, I can’t swim.”
“Right now is a perfect chance for you to learn.”
“Please Larry—”
“Let go of the dock.”
We all dropped our hands from the edge and pushed away. Brooke immediately went to her back, Tracy had a slow tread with the water covering her lips, Twin and Twinner stayed near each other and did variations of stomach and back floating, and I bobbed up and down. In front of us, and directly in front of me, was the white knuckled Karen, gripping the dock.
“Karen let go, I will help you,” I said.
Before she could let go on her own, Larry stepped on her fingers.
Karen panicked. She screamed and let go, and then she was somehow on top of me. Her arms wrapped around me, and that only dragged us both beneath the water.
I struggled against her body, and the dark water was all around, ready to swallow the two of us. It was funny that I could let her drown us and kill two birds with one stone. But I didn’t want to drown with her. I managed to get one of my arms free from her tight clutch, and kicked us through to the surface of the water.
"LOGAN!" I yelled.
She clutched onto me again and pulled us both under. I could almost see the ground of the lake, but it was so murky that maybe it was even farther down than I thought. I kicked us back up again, and slapped her across the face after she took a huge breath.
Logan stopped struggling, and kicked her own feet to stay above water. She had finally stopped climbing onto me.
“You’re going to kill us if you climb me again like that,” I told her.
“I can’t do this.”
"You can float. You're fine. Just lay on your back.” I tried getting her onto her back, but she sunk every time she tried. “You have to relax. Stop tensing up. You have a lot of fat on you that floats.”
“I hate you so much.”
“I hate you way more than that. You’re a fucking bitch, and you’re digging your nails into me. I’m going to let go of you if you—”
“Okay! Please don’t let me go.”
“I’m not going to.” I held her back as she laid on top of the water. “I got you, Logan.” My legs burned trying to keep her steady as I treaded. Tracy kept away from me, and Brooke was now on her stomach, watching the scene. Twin’s hair was slicked back, like a model without a model face, and her eyes were deep in her head somewhere, watching me. Twinner was on her back, ignoring me.
“Thanks for your help, guys.”
“Well do you want help?” Brooke asked.
“Obviously, I’m drowning. I shouldn’t have to ask for it. It’s the one time you’re allowed to intervene without question.”
Brooke swam over and helped Logan stay on her back. And then Tracy was next to me, doing the same. We were a little huddle, and there was Larry, watching us. The twins, though, stayed back to themselves, angry to have been brought into the mess.
Twenty minutes later, Larry blew his whistle to get out. Brooke quickly doggie paddled for the dock, and Tracy eyed me before following after her. Logan immediately seized up, and down we went. I swallowed a lot of water before I came up through the surface again.
“Fuck off, Logan. Relax.”
I got Logan to the dock. She grabbed on and pulled herself out faster than I thought possible. It was amazing what adrenaline and fear could allow a body to do. I laid with my head on the dock and tried to catch my breath.
“Thanks for the swim, Valerie,” Twin said. She was safe and sound on the dock. She and Twinner’s clothes were slicked to their bodies. I think the rest of us had it easier swimming in just our shorts.
“You’re welcome.”
Tracy just watched as Brooke offered to help me out. I declined her hand and got myself out.
"What's with her?" I looked down at Logan who was lying on the dock. Ice pellets were suddenly falling from the sky and smacking her in the face. Her eyes were closed. I bent down to her level. “Logan, wake up. You’re not dead.”
“Fuck off,” she said.
“Glad to see you're thankful." I stood up and tried to remember why I had brought her back to the docks. I should’ve left her there to die.
“Ladies, what you did out there was teamwork,” Larry said. “And I didn’t even ask you to help each other out. But you did. In a time of need, most of you came together.”
"You hear that, Logan? We came together and saved you. That means you’re fine. Stand up." I tried to pull her up.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Come on, what kind of person doesn’t know how to swim, anyway? And you called me a coward—”
Just as the last word left my mouth, my feet were taken out from under me. I fell backward onto the dock, and I heard the thud of my head smashing the wood before slipping into the water. The rest of my memory went dark.
13:
JENNY SHOULDERS
I wanted to say that I passed away.
That I saw Jesus. That there was life on the other side. But as soon as I blacked out, I was back in two seconds.
“Valerie, you’re alive,”
Tracy said from somewhere in the dark.
Maybe if nobody had told me I was alive, I would have thought I was dead. But it was nice to hear—maybe I just needed the reminder.
The girls were surrounding me when I opened my eyes, and I was on my back, looking up at wide-eyed ghosts. Larry picked me up. I closed my eyes because I couldn’t believe what was happening.
I ended up in the ward. Nurse Janice gave me stitches on the back of my head. I laid on the cot after and enjoyed the open space of the room. She touched my forehead, and I let it happen.
“You’re fine.”
That was a medical perspective based on my vitals. My internal organs were working and pumping. My limbs were attached and moving. My personality, though, was still jaded and insensitive.
Yes, maybe I was perfectly fine.
There were three stitches in my head. And I might have had a concussion too. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in the water, bobbing up and down, being dragged down by someone I just wanted to help out.
“We have to call your father to tell him what happened to you.”
It was funny to me that life or death situations were important, and that if I stopped breathing, my parents needed to know. But if I was a little depressed—
oh, snap out of it
. Go do something. Get outside. Stop fermenting. Everybody gets sad.
At least I was the only one in the ward. There were rows and rows of cots. I was all tucked in and I felt completely fine. It was nice to be in a comfy place and not be expected to do anything.
“Are you feeling okay?”
I looked over at Guy. He was standing near the doorway.
“You can come in.”
He moved into the room but didn’t come close to me. He stayed near the wall, afraid to enter.
“What happened?” I asked him. I was only in my sports bra, and my shirt was still missing.
“You tell me, you were the one that got knocked out cold.”
I smiled. I had never been knocked out in my life. It was a weird thing. It was just two seconds long, and yet it was like nothing had happened. My head was sore though, the only evidence of going away for a bit.
“When can I go back to my cabin?”
"I don’t know."
"I don’t need to be here. I feel fine. For real.”
"Why did Logan do that to you?”
“Why are you asking me that? Ask her. She’s the crazy one. I’m the victim.”
“Well you must have said something. You know she has an explosive personality. It’s why she’s here.”
“So what if I said something? Maybe I told her the worst things. But you don’t always have to lose it when you hear something you don’t like. Come on.”
“You sound like a counsellor.”
I didn’t sound like a counsellor. I mainly just sounded like someone who knew what they were talking about. In reality, I was pulling stuff out of my ass.
“Whatever the case,” he said, “we don’t use violence in this program. We don’t need more outbursts this week.”
“Why, who else is in trouble?”
“No, I’m just saying—”
“No, I know what you’re saying. Who else is causing issues?”
Nurse Janice began rattling supplies in a cabinet. Nurse Janice, who cut the hospital bracelet off my wrist. Nurse Janice, who sewed up my head. What a weird idea—being stitched up.
“Am I going to live?” I asked her.
“It’s looking that way.” She delicately touched my forehead with the back of her hand.
“Lovely.” I stared at Guy.
“Are you having any trouble breathing?” Nurse Janice asked.
“I’m breathing fine.”
“You had a close call.”
“What exactly is a close call? I don’t think I believe in close calls. There’s no such thing if you think about it. Lots of things are close to something. Maybe everything is a close call.”
“You can believe what you want.”
“Well I believe I would be better off in my cabin with my pals.”
“Your pals?”
“Yes. My good friends. Nothing like good friends. Good food. Good times.”
“Oh no, you need to be here. Residents who sustain any form of injury must stay overnight in the ward for observation."
"What are we observing?”
“You.”
“I’m fine though.”
“It’s just a precaution.” She smiled.
“I get that and all—”
She walked out the door.
Guy began to follow.
“Guy?”
He looked at me.
“Who pulled me out of the water?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there.” He left.
It was still raining. I was all alone and the only thing on my mind was who had saved me. Must have been Brooke. The suck up. Or Larry. It was his job. But it wasn’t that pressing of an issue to keep me awake. Even though I didn’t want to, I got tired of keeping my eyes open, and before I realized it, I was asleep.
A huge crack of thunder shook the windows and woke me up awhile later. I couldn’t remember where I was. It felt like maybe I was back home, and when I realized I was still at the ward, I became sad.
When I was younger, Mum and Dad used to let me sleep in their bed at night when I was scared. But when I got older it wasn’t okay to be scared and I was left in my room to sleep in my own bed. Being alone in the ward made me miss my cabin and its occupants, who were maybe a little scared like me.
I made a tent with my blankets, and it made me feel a little more safe. I stayed like that for a couple minutes, just gazing at the area where the moonlight was highlighting the little designs on the sheet. It was weird being under more than one blanket again. Or having a pillow. Being a patient at the ward seemed to have its perks.
Someone coughed.
My stomach dropped and my body locked up. I was too scared to look out from under my blanket toward the sound.
“Sorry,” a voice whispered.
I was supposed to be alone. I hadn’t realized someone else had been brought in while I was asleep. I peeked out of my tent. In the far corner of the long room, by the wall, a figure was visible on the cot.
“Are you awake?” The voice asked. It belonged to a girl.
“Yeah, mostly.”
The cot was reclined upward, and she was sitting back against it, peering over at me. She had dark skin and pointy shoulders—like toothpicks. She was skinny and her head was completely shaved. Her teeth looked shiny in the moonlight streaming through the window, and the whites of her eyes seemed to glow in the dark, just like Tracy’s.
I kept the blanket over my head because I was scared for some reason. I wondered why she had been brought in. What was wrong with her?
“Are you loose?” she asked. There was a bit of shock in her voice.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was confused by what she was asking me. Was I loose? Loose from what?
“Are you tied up or not?!” There was even more panic in her voice. She was desperate to hear an answer.
“Tied up? No—I’m just sitting here,” I whispered back.