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She leans in, ear close to Serene’s lips. Her fingers press gently under the jaw, searching. She waits—too long. Her lips firm. That’s when I realize. My daughter isn’t breathing on her own.
I’ve faced enemy bullets without flinching but seeing my little girl pale and motionless on the ground…has me frozen.
My blood pressure spikes. A high-pitched ringing starts in my ears. My hands shake. My legs feel like they’re sinking through the floor. I can only watch as Cilla moves with terrifying calm. She lays Serene flat again, tilts her head back slightly, and lifts her chin to open the airway.
I force my hands to obey. I press two fingers to the side of her neck, to her wrist. Nothing. I can’t feel a heartbeat.
A sound tears from my throat. I start compressions. Lock my hands, heel to sternum. Rhythm sharp. Precise. Desperate. Yet gentle. I hold back, reminding myself how easy it would be to crack a rib on a toddler. Thirty compressions. Then sixty. Ninety.
Cilla breathes for her.
We fall into sync—mechanical, relentless. I don’t stop. I can’t.
Again, compressions. Again.
I let her chest rise fully. Another thirty compressions.
Still no breath.
Cilla and I exchange a look and switch repositions. I slide beside Serene's face, pinch her nose closed, and make a tight seal over her mouth. Two breaths. Watch for the rise of her chest.
Another two breaths.
Nothing.
Two more.
Please.Come on, Serene.Two more.Come back to me.
My wife’s voice cracks. A whisper at first, then a sob. "Serene, please."
Another two breaths. Then Serene coughs, sputtering out more water. My heart leaps in my chest. Relief has my limbs going weak. My stomach folds in on itself, and I taste the bile on my tongue. I gather her in my arms and fight back tears.
I realize how close I was to losing her. And all because I wasn’t fast enough to protect my daughter from that woman. She might be Serene’s biological mother, but that doesn't give her the right to upset my daughter like this. How dare she scare my daughter so badly that she ends up hurt?How dare she put Serene’s life in peril?
The thoughts race through me as I hold my daughter in my arms.
“The EMTs are here. I called them as soon as I saw Serene fall into the pool,” Sinclair announces. He, Summer and Matty joined us at some point.
I lower my daughter to the ground but am unable to let go.
"You need to step back so we can examine her," one of the men tells me.
There’s a touch on my shoulder, then Sinclair coaxes me to my feet. Summer helps my wife up. I reluctantly take a step back.
I watch as they check her vitals, hooking an oxygen mask to her. I want to cry and scream at them to leave her alone, but I fold my fingers into fists, forcing myself to bite the inside of my cheek.
"She’s going to be fine." My voice sounds so harsh, I barely recognize it, and I feel Priscilla shrink next to me. I wrap my arm around her and pull her close.
Serene’s mother, meanwhile, watches the EMTs with an anguished look as they take Serene away. She turns to me and mouths,"I am so sorry."
* * *
"Tyler, can I talk to you please?" My daughter’s mother stands in front of me, wringing her fingers. We’re in the waiting room in the hospital. Cilla insisted that, as her legal guardian, I ride with my daughter in the ambulance. I didn’t protest. She followed with Sinclair.
Summer stayed behind with Matty.
They ran tests on her. The doctor told us she was suffering from a concussion and lost a lot of blood. Serene has a rare blood type, so they took blood samples from me and my daughter’s mother to test for a blood match. I suppose, it's good thing she's here, so if the blood matches, she can provide a blood transfusion. On the other hand, if she weren’t here, Serene wouldn’t be in this condition.