Did You Get What You Deserve?

~*James’ Point of View*~

I slid my arm around Alec’s shoulders and pulled her closer to me. We were sitting under a tree on the edge of the lake while Sasha, Matt and Cariad swam.

She turned her head to look at me, and her long, silky hair tickled my arm. I shivered, thinking of the thing I had to tell her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You seem uneasy.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it, baby. I’m fine.”

She smiled, and I couldn’t resist. I leaned forward and gently kissed her. She interlaced her fingers with mine, and my heart leapt at the touch of her hands. I pulled away, staring sadly into her eyes.

“Damn, girl,” I whispered, “what am I going to do with you?”

I tried to kiss her again, but she stopped me with a hand on my chest.

“No, stop. What is it? There’s something wrong, I know it.”

I sighed.

“I guess now’s as good a time as any. Dammit, I wanted us to enjoy this afternoon without having this stupid thing hanging over us.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly not having fun knowing there’s something on your mind that you’re not telling me.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay. Brace yourself, girl.”

I ran a hand through my hair as I thought how best to put it.

“Dad’s been offered a job. Or more, his company doesn’t need him any more so they’re transferring him instead of firing him.”

“How is that bad?”

“The job is in California.”

She stared at me.

“And… you’re going? You’re leaving?”

I nodded sadly.

“How long will it be for?”

I shrugged.

“Three years, possibly more.”

She made a noise half-way between a laugh and a sob.

“I can’t believe it. You can’t leave! I need you. I love you.”

“I know, I lo-”

I was cut off by shouting from the lake.

“Matt?”

Cariad and Sasha were treading water in the middle of the lake, looking around them. There was no sign of Matt.

“Come on, Matt, this isn’t funny!”

“MATT!”

Alec let out a panicked yell, and I didn’t have to wonder why. The last time we were at this lake, she almost drowned.

~*Alecsandra’s Point of View*~

Within seconds we had joined Cariad and Sasha in the lake. I dived down under the surface, blinking through the murky water, searching for any sign of movement. I could see nothing but weed and silt in every direction, so I started swimming farther out into the lake. The reeds near the edge brushed against my arms, but I ignored them and kept swimming. Suddenly a flash of movement caught my attention. As I whipped around, it passed, and I realised it had just been a fish… but what was that beyond it? I swam towards the dark shape, and when the last layer of silt had cleared I realised it was Matt. He was lying in the shallow waters near the edge, next to a large submerged rock. Judging by the cloud of blood, he had obviously swum head-first into it.

I grabbed him by his shoulders and dragged him to the surface. Gasping for air and yelling to the others, I pulled him to the shore and hauled him onto dry land.

James reached us first. Shoving me out of the way, he checked Matt’s pulse, swore and began giving him CPR. Sasha stood there, frozen, shivering, and Cariad began rubbing her arms to warm her up.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” whispered Sasha, “is he going to be okay?”

James barely glanced at her.

“My cell phone is in the pocket of my jacket. Go get it. Call 911.”

Sasha squeaked in fright and began sprinting in the direction of our picnic rug. James grimaced.

“Fuck,” he muttered, “they better get here fast. His head’s still bleeding and he’s not breathing.”

I turned and followed Sasha, to get the picnic blanket for Matt. When I reached the rug, she was on the phone to the emergency services.

“And he, I don’t know, he must’ve banged his head or, or- please get here soon!”

I took the phone away from her. According to James, one of my attributes is the ability to stay calm in a crisis. He must have been right.

“Hello?”

“Let me get this story straight, your friend was swimming, bashed his head on a rock and is now unconscious, right?”

“Right,” I confirmed. “His head is bleeding, he’s not breathing and he’s unconscious.”

“Is anyone doing CPR?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. Can you tell me your location?”

I told her the name of the lake and she said they’d have an ambulance there as soon as they could. I hung up and looked at Sasha. She was crying and shaking from cold. I grabbed the picnic blanket and put it round her shoulders as we walked quickly back to the others.

“He’ll be fine,” I said, “paramedics probably see these things all the time, it's no big deal to them.”

As we approached James, Matt and Cariad, I saw James sit back on his heels and heave a sigh of relief.

“He’s breathing,” he said, “and he’s not so pale.”

“Oh, thank god!”

Sasha flung her arms around James’ neck.

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

James shrugged her off so he could check Matt’s pulse again. Then he looked up at Cariad.

“Go wait for the ambulance,” he told her, “just to make sure they find us.”

She nodded and ran away. The rest of us sat in silence, during which I was suddenly struck by the fact that James, the youngest out of all of us (except for Cariad), had taken charge and acted more maturely than any of us could have done.

Gradually, we became aware of sirens in the distance that grew louder and louder until finally the ambulance came into view and stopped a short way from us. Three paramedics jumped out and hurried over to us. As they began checking Matt over and putting him on a stretcher, the rest of us backed away. I took James’ hand.

“You’re an extraordinary boy, James Way,” I said.