The Looming Chill

Sean watched in horror as the ice gave out underneath Whitney's feet as she lunged forward, grabbing hold of the branch that he held. She gasped in shock as the frigid water came up to her waist; while she clung to the dead tree limb, her upper body struggled to stay on top of the breaking ice. Sean scrambled to rearrange his body from laying stretched out to sitting up to gain the leverage needed to pull her out of the water.

"Sean!"

"Hold on! I've got you. Just hold on!"

Now sitting on his butt, Sean gripped the branch with all the strength he could muster, ignoring where the thorny parts dug into his fingers and palms. Heaving, he pulled, blocking out the sharp, loud cracks of the ice. All his senses focused on the terror in Whitney's eyes as they somehow grew more desperate as her hands slipped further down the length of the branch.

"I can't hold--slipping! Help me!" Whitney screamed, losing any and all grip on her lifeline.

"Whitney!" Sean shouted as he watched her disappear under the icy waters of Wasp Lake. "Whitney!" he bellowed again as he scrambled forward onto the now fragile ice, hoping to see her rise back up to the surface.

The seconds that ticked by seemed to last an eternity.

"Oh, gawd, no," Sean sobbed as he realized the blonde wasn't coming back up. In a matter of about three seconds, he knew what had to be done. His cold hands scrambled to unzip his jacket as he turned to shout back at the shore.

"Help! I need help out on the lake! Please, anyone. I need help on the ice!"

Throwing his coat behind him, Sean's fingers hurriedly unlaced his left boot, kicking it off. The right boot proved to be an obstacle as he finally noticed his foot and ankle were both swollen. Not having any more time to waste, he left that one on as he slid his body forward.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Sean shouted one last time for help before sliding his body into the icy water. Gasping at the sudden sensation of cold, he gulped for air several times. He could feel his breathing increase, along with his heart rate. Once his body adjusted the best it could, he took another deep breath and dove under the water. Was that a scream? Sean wondered as his head went into the water.

Sean struggled to keep his eyes open as it felt like thousands of pins and needles jabbed into his body. Forcing them open, he searched hurriedly for any sign of Whitney. However, he quickly realized finding her could be a dilemma. Everywhere he looked was dark, the only light in the water from underneath the hole she had fallen through.

Plunging further down, he focused his search in the area that Whitney had been around as she clung to the branch and ice. Unable to see very far in front of his eyes, he waved his hands around, hoping they would find her by touch. The seconds ticked away, as did his oxygen. Sean knew he needed to rise back up for another breath but held off almost too long in his desperate search.

Breaking the surface, the teenager gulped in mouthfuls of air. His mind struggled to form a plan for his next dive while an intense feeling of coldness seeped into his body. It felt as if the cold penetrated every millimeter of his skin and kept going deeper and deeper into his body. Thinking that Whitney might have fallen backward as she went under, Sean determined that would be his next area to search. Mindful that the longer she was under the water, the worse the outcome would be, Sean shoved those terrible thoughts to the back of his mind, along with his own precarious predicament.

Diving back under, Sean tried to formulate a search grid of some sort. Unfortunately, once he moved away from the hole and its lifesaving light, his plan dissolved into a desperate waving of his hands. Refusing to give up hope, he kicked his legs to venture deeper down into the water, risking his own life he knew. Frustration began to creep in as his air dwindled. He needed light or help, but none would be coming.

Recognizing that he needed to head back up for more air, Sean struggled to hold back the rapidly growing pessimism he felt. Making it back under the hole, he began to kick upward when he caught a glimmer out of the corner of his right eye. Whipping his head in that direction, Sean squinted. Seeing nothing, he nearly gave up before the tiniest amount of light caused another glimmer.

Without much air left in his lungs, Sean swam his way toward that direction. Once again, the light caught the object and gleamed for a moment. Now closer, Sean noticed a blue sparkle. Whitney's pendant! Sean exclaimed in his head as he recalled the diamond sapphire pendant necklace that Whitney received from her father as a Christmas present and spent showing off to everyone these last few days. Frantically, Sean plunged his hands all around the gleam but found nothing. His lungs burning, he shoved his hands under the blue shimmer. At first, Sean wondered if he found seaweed, but then he realized he had grabbed Whitney's hair. Wrapping his hand around it, he gave a hard yank, pulling her body to him.

Relieved, but his time down to seconds of air, he grabbed a firm grip on her arm. Then, acting purely on instinct, Sean continued to kick his legs and pull her heavy body as his brain lost focus from the lack of oxygen. He fought hard not to give in to the temptation to open his mouth for air that wasn't there.

Finally, his head broke the surface, allowing him to grab the lungfuls of gravely needed oxygen. Finished, Sean turned and tugged Whitney up out of the water, knowing he needed to help her as quickly as possible. Still, seeing her cold, nonbreathing face sent shivers of terror down his spine that the frigid waters could never match. Does she really look almost bluish, or is the cold playing tricks with my mind?

With the added weight of their waterlogged clothes, Sean labored to hold Whitney up with him. Knowing that just finding her underwater didn't mean they were in the clear, he scrambled to think of a way to get her up and out of the water. Heaving her body upward, he tried to place her on the ice about, but the fragile surface gave way to her weight. Barely grabbing her sinking body again, Sean pushed them both forward into the area that just broke up. Resting his hopes on the next section being stronger, Sean hauled Whitney up again. Getting her upper body onto the ice, he pushed with every last bit of strength he had left. Finally, managing to get her all the way onto the ice, Sean even rolled her away from the edge.

Now, Sean needed to get himself out of the freezing water. His legs felt as if they were encased in concrete as he struggled to lift them up. Floating on his back, Sean managed to shimmy his body onto the ice just enough to roll over to safety.

Scrambling to his hands and knees, Sean crawled over to the motionless girl. Grabbing a firm hold on the collar of her coat, he dragged her across the ice until they were inside the shallower, solidly frozen waters of the cove.

Feeling safer, Sean moved to resuscitate Whitney. His brain raced back to Health class, the one the school forced all sophomores to take. One section of the course dealt with CPR, and Sean tried to remember as much as he could while his cold, useless fingers gave up their attempt to unbutton her blue coat. With a surge of adrenaline, Sean ripped her jacket open, sending the several large buttons flying.

Placing his hands on her chest, Sean began to give Whitney chest compressions. Up and down, his hands went. "Come on, Whitney, breathe. Breathe!"

Moving to the next step, he crawled to her head, opened her mouth, bringing his down to it. Pinching her nose, he took a deep breath and blew into his classmate's mouth. Seeing her chest rise from the air, he scrambled back down her body and gave her more chest compressions.

"Dammit, Whitney! Breathe! C'mon, breath!"

Over and over, he repeated the steps for CPR.

As Whitney failed to respond, despair began to creep into Sean. Am I even doing this right? He asked himself as tears started to slide down his cheeks.

"Come on, Whitney. Please wake up. Please! You can't die!"

The sounds of coughing and water being spit out brought more tears, but this time of joy. Hurrying back up to her head, Sean gently helped turn the blonde onto her side as she coughed up more water.

"Oh, thank gawd! Whitney's it okay, just take it easy," Sean softly told her as his hand rubbed her back through her cold, wet coat.

Intently focused on saving Whitney's life, Sean had blocked out all sights and sounds from his mind. That ended abruptly.

"You piece of shit!"

Snapping out of his and Whitney's private, little world, Sean only had time to see the fist racing toward his face before everything went black.