Page 74 of The Art of Loving Lacy
“He got hit in the head by the shark’s tail,” one of the guys yelled.
Dane’s felt for a pulse.No.With tears streaming down his face, Dane channeled all of his fear and all of his muscle into a third precordial thump. “Come on, you bastard!” He grabbed Rob’s wrist. “Faint pulse. Get a blanket.” He bent over Rob’s face and listened for breathing sounds. Someone covered Rob’s legs with heavy blankets.
“He’s not breathing,” Dane yelled. He couldn’t hear past the roar of the engine as they neared shore. He tilted Rob’s head back and held his nose closed; then Dane covered Rob’s mouth with his own and blew a desperate, heavy breath into his friend’s lungs. He lowered his ear to Rob’s mouth. “Come on. Come on,” he said through gritted teeth. He covered Rob’s mouth with his own again and breathed life into Rob’s lungs again, then listened for Rob’s breathing to kick in. “Come on, Rob.” Again he tilted Rob’s head back, plugged his nose, and covered his friend’s mouth with his. He breathed air from his lungs into Rob’s until he had no more air to breathe. Water dribbled from the corner of Rob’s mouth, and relief swept through Dane. He bent over and listened again. Rob’s shallow breathing was music to his ears. His pulse was thready. Dane yanked the blankets to Rob’s rib cage; then he began chest compressions one second apart.Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…When he hit thirty, he breathed for Rob again. He had to help the blood flow through his friend’s body. His arms trembled and shook as he administered thirty more compressions, then breathed air into Rob’s lungs.
Dane was still hunkered over Rob, counting compressions, when the rescue team climbed onto the boat. “Nineteen, twenty…”
“We got him from here,” someone said.
Dane continued. “Twenty-nine, thirty.” He bent over to breathe for Rob and a strong hand pulled him back. Dane twisted out of his grip. “I have to help him. His breathing’s shallow. His pulse is weak.”
Two strong men held Dane back as he twisted and fought to get to Rob. “Get the heck off me. I have to help him.”
Rob was already on a stretcher. They were taking him to the ambulance.
“Dane!” a deep voice hollered.
Dane shook his head, jolting himself out of his state of shock.
“Come with us. We have to check you out, too,” the man said.
“I gotta get to Rob,” Dane yelled, finally noticing the paramedic’s uniform.
“I’m a paramedic, and I’m taking you to him. You did good. He’s being taken care of.”
With Dane in his grasp, the paramedic guided him into the ambulance.
Chapter Twenty-Six
LACY HELD KATIE against her chest as she, Sheila, and Charlie burst through the emergency room doors. Her body shook; her mind refused to process Treat’s call.Dane’s in the hospital.Treat was a major supporter of the hospital, and they’d called him right away.Dane’s okay, but Rob’s on shaky ground. They had a diving accident. No blood, but Rob’s unconscious.
“My husband, Robert Mann, he was brought in. Diving accident,” Sheila said through her tears to the woman behind the registration desk.
“And Dane Braden, they were together,” Lacy said with Katie clinging to her. Katie had been crying since they’d received the call from Treat, and although Lacy was sure she didn’t understand what was going on, she panicked in response to Sheila’s and Lacy’s reactions. They’d packed up the kids and sped to the hospital.
A tall, African American nurse came around the desk. “Mrs. Mann, please, come with me. Unfortunately, your son will have to wait here. Can your friend watch him?”
Sheila shot a helpless look toward Lacy. Her brown eyes were red and swollen, and her makeup ran in streaks down her cheeks. Charlie stood beside his mother, his face the same brooding mask it had been earlier in the day.
Lacy could hardly breathe. “Go. I’ve got them. Go,” she said.Dane. Please be okay.She held her hand out to Charlie. “Come here, sweetie.”
Charlie took her hand.
The woman behind the desk said, “Your name?”
Lacy contemplated lying.Sister. Wife?Finally, she spit out her name. “Lacy Snow,” she said. “Is he okay?”
The woman scanned a clipboard. “Yes, there you are. He gave us your name. He’s okay. He was in shock.” The woman held up a finger toward Lacy, then said something to a male nurse behind her. “Mike can take you back to see him if you have someone with you to watch the kids.”
“Thank you.”The kids. Darn it.She felt her lips quivering and turned back toward the desk. “I don’t have anyone to watch them.”
The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry. We can’t allow them in the back.”
Lacy ran through possible solutions. She didn’t know anyone in Chatham. Not anyone she could leave someone else’s children with. She turned back to the woman behind the desk. “And the man he was with? How is he? Rob Mann?”
“I’m sorry, but we can only release information to family members or those who are on the release form,” the woman said.
Lacy groaned. She bounced Katie, trying to calm her down while her own mind ran in circles. “Can you let Dane Braden know I’m here, but that I have Rob’s kids and I can’t come back with them? I hate him being alone. I need him to know I’m here.”
