We heard the scraping sound again.“What in the world is going on?”I whispered.
We both leaned a little closer to the edge of the wall, peeking around the corner.
We didn’t see anyone when we stepped out, but then I noticed something dark floating on the surface of the hydrotherapy pool.
“Ezra,” I said, my voice uneasy.“It looks like someone threw something in the pool.Is that someone’s clothes?”
His expression tightened as we crossed the deck to the bubbling water.“Someone in their clothes,” he said.
Oh, no.There was a body in the pool, face down in the water.
Ezra, trained for moments like this, didn’t hesitate.He jumped into the water, cutting through it with quick, powerful strokes.He reached the body in seconds and maneuvered the man toward the edge.I dropped to my knees, heart racing, and helped pull him onto the deck.
“Oh, no,” I breathed, as I turned the man onto his back.“It’s Sebastian Caldwell.”
His spray-tanned skin was sallow, and his body limp.He wasn’t breathing.I pressed my fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse.Nothing.
“No pulse or respiration,” I said, my voice shaking.
“I’ll start CPR,” Ezra said immediately.His voice was steady, but his face wasn’t.“I saw a red phone on the other side of the hot tub.Call the medical clinic.Tell them it’s an emergency.”
Adrenaline propelled me to my feet.I ran to the phone and grabbed it, my hands shaking as I punched in111, the number listed for the clinic.
“You’ve reached the medical center on deck two.This is Nurse Tony,” a man answered.He sounded bored as if he were expecting someone complaining about seasickness or a headache.“What can I help you with tonight?”
“We pulled a man out of the hydrotherapy pool in the Resplendent Retreat,” I blurted.“He’s not breathing, and I couldn’t find a pulse.My partner’s doing CPR.”
The boredom disappeared from his voice.“I’m on my way.”
“Please, hurry.”I hung up the phone and raced back to Ezra, who hadn’t missed a beat with the compressions.“A nurse is coming,” I told him, breathless.“Anything?”
Ezra didn’t look up.His face was tight with focus, his hands moving steadily.“Nothing yet,” he said through gritted teeth.“Come on, buddy.Breathe.”
Sebastian’s skin looked waxy under the deck lights, his dark hair plastered to his forehead.Water pooled around him as it drained from his clothes.The wine stain on his shirt from dinner was faded, but still there.
My throat burned.“Come on, you jerk,” I whispered.“Don’t do this.”
Ezra tilted Sebastian’s head back and gave him two rescue breaths.
I heard footfalls from behind the bar area moving quickly toward us.I turned as a man in a white uniform appeared, a medical bag slung over his shoulder.
“I’m Tony,” he said, his voice brisk and professional.He dropped to his knees across from Ezra.“What do we have?”
“Found him face down in the hydrotherapy pool.No pulse, no breathing.We pulled him out and started CPR,” Ezra said, not stopping.“I’ve been doing it for a few minutes now.
Tony nodded, already getting to work.He pulled a stethoscope and a small device from his bag, pressing it to Sebastian’s chest.His jaw tightened.“No heartbeat.”He glanced at me.“Did either of you see what happened?”
“No,” I said, my voice dry and shaky.“We came up to the spa deck, and then a minute or two later he was just… there.We didn’t see anyone else.”
Tony grabbed a portable defibrillator from his bag and cut open Sebastian’s shirt.
“Okay, let’s shock him.”He placed the pads carefully on Sebastian’s chest.“Clear.”
Ezra leaned back, hands up.
The machine gave a high-pitched whine, then a sharp jolt.Sebastian’s body twitched violently.
I held my breath.
