Part 17 (2/2)
Coach Stash nodded, his eyes wide with fear. The race stopped, and the cheering silenced. Kids and parents watched in shock, and a stricken Sam came running.
”Megan, Megan!” Jill shouted, swimming with Megan, and they reached the edge of the pool. The coaches grabbed Megan and lowered her onto the pool deck. One flipped Megan onto her back and started to administer CPR, but she coughed and gasped.
”Megan!” Jill climbed out of the pool and scrambled to kneel beside her on the watery deck.
”Stay back!” shouted one of the other coaches, stiff-arming Jill, but she brushed it aside.
”I'm her mother and a doctor,” she said, turning Megan onto her side, letting her cough out the water. Coach Stash, the other coaches, and all the swimmers gathered around while Jill kept a hand on Megan, who was spasming with coughs. ”Honey, let it come out. Cough it out.”
”Mom?” Megan said, weakly.
”I'm here.” Jill held her steady. ”You're okay. Everything's okay.”
Megan expelled the pool water, inhaling deeply.
”Just breathe, honey.” Jill sent up a silent prayer of thanks, and Sam came through the crowd of coaches, horrified.
”Is she okay?”
”Yes,” Jill answered, holding back tears of relief.
Later, Jill, Sam, and Coach Stash stood at the exit of the high school, where the ambulance was driving around to pick Megan up. A healthy pink had returned to her cheeks, and she was breathing normally, sitting wrapped in a yellow team towel. She'd taken off her swim cap, and her dark blonde ponytail hung down her back, its tip wet, like a brush dipped in black paint. She sipped water from a bottle, and Courtney sat next to her in a wet bathing suit and towel, providing moral support.
Jill touched Megan's shoulder. ”Feel better, sweetie?”
”Yes, I'm fine.” Megan glanced over her shoulder at the pool, where the other swimmers were visible through the windows. ”I don't have to go to the hospital, do I, Mom?”
”Yes, it's a good idea to have you checked out.”
”But can't you guys drive me, please? An ambulance is so embarra.s.sing.”
”It's safer this way, just in case.”
”Do we have to? I'm fine, now, I really am.”
”Let's do it this way, honey.” Jill patted Megan on the shoulder.
”It won't have the siren, will it?”
”I don't hear one.”
Megan set down the water bottle, then glanced back at the other swimmers again. ”Court, is he there?”
Courtney nodded, and Jill realized that Megan was embarra.s.sed in front of her new crush.
Megan looked up at Coach Stash, her eyes baleful. ”I'm sorry, Coach. I let you down, and the club.”
Courtney shook her head, her goggles around her neck. Her cute little mouth tilted down at the corners. ”No, you didn't, Megs.”
”Don't worry about it.” Coach Stash shot Megan a wink, his team towel over his soaking sweats. His wet hair was a s.h.i.+ny black helmet. ”Nice warm water, big-time pool. I felt like a swim, and so did your mother. Right, Jill?”
”Right.” Jill smiled, grateful for his kindness to Megan. ”You're fast, Coach.”
”If I'm not, I'm fired.”
Megan looked up at him. ”Will we lose now, Coach? Because of me?”
”Just focus on getting better.” Coach Stash patted her on the shoulder. ”You're our star, Megster. You'll always be our star.”
”I warmed up so well.” Megan shook her head. ”All of a sudden, my heart started beating real fast. It felt like I was going to die. Like it was going to jump out of my chest.”
Courtney looked over at Megan. ”Was it like that time we had the triple shot at Starbucks?”
”No, worse. A lot worse.”
Jill already had a diagnosis, and it wasn't a difficult one. ”Honey, when did it start, your heart beating so fast?”
”Before the race. My hands got sweaty, too. My palms.” Megan showed her hands, palms up. ”At first I thought it was pool water, but when I wiped it off on my suit, it kept coming back. It got worse when I got on the block. I thought it would go away, but it didn't.”
”Could you see okay?”
”Yes.”
”Hear any weird sounds?”
”No.”
”Dizzy?”
”No.”
”Any headache?”
”No, and when I dove, I couldn't catch my breath and my heart wouldn't stop, and then I just, I don't know, went unconscious.” Megan looked down. ”I drank my water, Mom, I did.”
”I know, honey.” Jill didn't think it was dehydration, and Megan had no history of heart problems or low blood sugar. Suddenly, an orange-and-white ambulance reversed into the driveway and braked, then the back doors opened and a paramedic sprang from inside, rolling out a gurney on wheels. The kids at the pool pressed closer to the window, and Megan groaned at the sight.
Jill helped her to her feet. ”Let's go, sweetie.”
Megan rose. ”Thank G.o.d there's no siren.”
Courtney got up, too. ”I've never been inside an ambulance. I think it's awesome, Megan.”
”Mom, can she come with us?”
”Sorry, I don't think that's allowed. You're stuck with me.” Jill motioned the paramedics over with the rolling gurney, and Megan lay down so they could strap her in.
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