Chapter Text
The first rule is that you don't take your eyes off them. Don’t look away - because if you do, and they slip beneath the surface where you can’t see them then your job just got harder, and their chances of survival just plummeted.
So you don’t take your eyes off them.
Beatrice couldn’t look away even if she wanted to. She’d watched it happen in slow motion – a moment of playfulness, of camaraderie between friends soured in a single second. One second of horseplay - one wild throw, one dramatic leap. One young woman who didn’t quite know her new strength. One crumbling ledge above a beautiful lake.
Ava fell, fell, fell.
When they heard her hit the water Beatrice was already running. Her sisters followed, or didn't follow, she could only see one thing.
Beatrice had memorized the signs of drowning once, on the tiled edges of her school pool.
By the time she reached the edge of the lake Ava was panic-stricken, head way back and mouth open, gasping. Beatrice fumbled at her heavy outer robe, shaking hands betraying her haste even as she scrambled to toe off her boots.
There’s a myth that it takes a long time to drown.
Rule number one, don’t take your eyes off them.
Beatrice hit the water hard, stepping gracelessly forward from her ledge and pressing down violently against the icy cold spray, stubbornly keeping her head from dipping beneath the surface with the surging of her arms.
Don’t take your eyes off her.
Ava was frantically fighting to stay afloat, chin bobbing barely above the lapping waters, arms churning helplessly. Beatrice swam harder than she’d ever swum, barely feeling the burn in her lungs from the cold, from her furious pace. Ava was right there.
A drowning person will be panicked. They will struggle and cling to anything they can. They won’t be rational. Beatrice had practiced this a lifetime ago, under bright lights and in air thick with chlorine. She’d swum in her pyjamas, awkwardly “rescuing” a bored, placid classmate.
Ava was blind with fear, that much was obvious. Beatrice reached for her, calling loudly, as clearly as her panting breath would allow.
“Ava! Ava listen to me! I’m going – Gonna pull you to shore! You’ve got to -” Ava dipped below the water, eyes rolling in fear. Beatrice grabbed her, hauling the struggling woman toward her, angling her own body below Ava’s as she tried to coax her onto her back. Ava fought blindly, gasping and pawing at the water, at Beatrice; blindly grabbing for anything solid.
A panicked swimmer can drag an unwary rescuer down with them.
“Ava listen to me. You’ve got to stop struggling. I’ve got you, I promise I’ve got you!” Beatrice’s legs burned, lungs burned, eyes stung. Her hands were firm on Ava’s hip and shoulder, forcing her up above the surface with powerful kicks.
Her swimming instructor had called it the “lifesaving jellyfish” to a chorus of tittering laughs.
Ava struggled weakly, clearly tiring. Beatrice was too. She’d shucked as much weight as she could in the frantic scramble down to the water’s edge, but Ava was in sturdy boots and her waterlogged layers pulled heavily at them both. “Ava please, stay still! I’ve got you! I’m not letting go, I’ve got you!”
Finally, finally, Beatrice’s words seemed to puncture the haze of panic. Either that or Ava was too exhausted to struggle. Beatrice gritted her teeth, treading water as she rearranged her hold.
“Gonna put my hand – under your chin. I'll pull you to- It’ll keep-” Beatrice spat out a mouth full of water and heaved in a breath. “It’s gonna keep you above water, I’ve got you.”
She’d been taught to tow from under the chin, to stop their head going under again. Your legs kick beneath them, and your spare arm can help pull with some sedate backstroke.
This was not Beatrice’s brightly lit school pool, and Ava wasn’t an apathetic classmate. She seemed to have calmed a little, but gripped Beatrice's wrist tightly, bordering on painfully.
Beatrice swam like lives depended on it. They weren’t far from the shore, and Beatrice’s heart drummed rabbit-fast even as she reached for the safety of the rocky ledge. Finally, finally she heard the calls of her sisters, craning her neck awkwardly to spy them waiting intently on the shore.
Mary was leaning out over the water, anchored by Lilith’s towering form. Camila hovered by their sides. Beatrice rallied her flagging strength,
Several hands grasped her, the overlapping garbled voices of her sister warriors blurred around her as she was hauled from the cold water. The stone was solid beneath her trembling form, warm hands pressed at her and voices clamoured to be heard, but she couldn’t make sense of their words.
Ava was flat on her back on the rock and gasping, heaving deep trembling breaths. Beatrice couldn't tear her eyes away, desperately soaking in the blatant signs of life.
Alive, alive, alive.
Beatrice’s ears rang and her limbs quaked with exertion and the ebb of adrenaline. She allowed herself to collapse slowly to the ground beside Ava. She sat hunched over on her hands and knees, staring blankly at the steady fall of icy droplets of water from her hair to the stone beneath her, just panting. Waiting for her heart rate to settle, for her limbs to regain their strength.
Suddenly there were hands on her again. Beatrice flinched violently at the warmth, feeling all at once the sickening chill settling in her bones.
“Beatrice? You ok?” Ava rasped from beside her. There was a hand on her face, brushing her sodden hair back. Ava was looking up at her, rolled half onto her side to reach up to her. Her fingers brushed delicately along her cheek and Beatrice automatically reached up, holding Ava’s wrist lightly. She huffed out a tired, involuntary chuckle.
“I think we should be asking you that really.”
“You did just do your best to drown yourself, girl.” Mary’s teasing voice was layered heavily with relief, Beatrice could feel it from all her assembled sisters, feel the tension easing from her limbs.
She could also feel Ava’s pulse thrumming fast but steady against the palm of her hand.
Camila dropped to her knees by Ava’s head, expressive face twisted in sorrow and ebbing fear.
“Ava I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have been messing around like that so close to the ledge, are you ok? You fell so far..” Camila’s soft voice trailed off as she looked up at Beatrice, eyes shiny with a hint of tears. “I’ll be more careful, Sister...” Beatrice dropped Ava’s hand and gathered herself to stand, ignoring the tremble that persisted. She took several shaky steps back, away from Camila and Ava, half turning to search out her discarded habit.
“We could all stand to be more careful, more aware of our surroundings.” Beatrice addressed the stone near Ava’s head. An enormous understatement as a placeholder, while she fought for her usual calm. Fought to think of anything other than a sickening loop of icy water and fear. Lilith stepped in closer to Beatrice, proffering an armful of cloth and reaching out to rub a warm palm across Beatrice’s back. The sodden cling of her undershirt brought on a violent wave of goose-flesh, and the clammy brush of wet hair on her neck made her teeth chatter.
“We need to move, find somewhere sheltered to settle for a while. We need to get you both dried out and warmed up as soon as possible.”
“These mountains have a load of little caves dotted around, our best bet is to find one and hunker down, thaw out our high dive champion and lil’ miss lifeguard over here.” Mary drawled out the new nicknames sardonically, eyebrow quirked as she fixed Beatrice with a pointed stare.
“Agreed. I’m freezing, lets get going.”