“Okay guys,” I called to the group. “Get yourself into the water and duck right under.”
They all moaned a little, except for Frankie and a petite little girl called Sophia, but were soon dropping into the water and submerging themselves. Timothy, as usual with everything we did, struggled a little and bobbed around until he finally just pushed his face into the water.
“You okay?” I asked him, squatting down on the poolside.
Timothy gasped and nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s a bit cold, Sam.”
“I know buddy, which is why you need to get your shoulders under too.”
Timothy took a deep breath and tried to push himself under, but he just floated to the top again. Thankfully the pool was heated, albeit a low temperature, so he’d get used to it soon enough.
“Right, everyone against the wall and you’re going to show me a width of breast stroke.”
A couple of the boys giggled and Frankie and the two girls in the group rolled their eyes. I smirked to myself thinking that there were some aspects where Frankie was nothing like me.
* * *
The kids had done some drills and I’d just called them to my side of the pool using back stroke when I saw Timothy starting to struggle. He’d been in the middle of the pack, I guessed he’d either been hit by a flying arm or had cramped up. There was no real danger of him drowning, but because the others were all kicking and splashing, I couldn’t see him and my heart rate spiked. I blew two sharp whistles to indicate someone was in trouble and trying not to panic, looked amongst the kids who were in a cluster in the small section of pool we’d been using. After what can only have been a couple of seconds, I saw Timothy’s hands thrashing against the water as he struggled to keep afloat. Spotting the flash of the red costume of Paula the lifeguard on duty, out of the corner of my eye, knowing Timothy was too far away to catch the life buoy I didn’t hesitate any longer and dived in.
When I reached him, his limbs were lashing out and an arm smacked me right in the chest as he continued to panic. He was now getting tired and getting more anxious which was affecting his breathing, which in turn was intensifying his fear. Furiously treading water, somehow I managed to grab him under the arms and pull him against me. At first he fought with me, thrashing out with his arms and grabbing at my head, but once I got the crooks of my elbows under his arms pits he started to calm down.
“You’re okay Timothy,” I said, my mouth close to his ear. “I’ve got you. You’re not going to drown.”
He gasped in the air, his little chest heaving and tears mixing with the pool water on his face. As I swam backwards to the poolside, the poor kid began to sob, but thankfully let me pull him along without any further struggle.
When we got back to the side, all the other kids were standing along the edge, holding themselves tight and shivering. Sophie was comforting Molly, one of the younger girls, and Toby, the kid who always had a smart comment whenever Timothy struggled with anything, was crying quietly, his shoulders shaking as he swiped at his face.
As Paula and Kieran, another lifeguard, pulled Timothy out onto the side, my eyes searched for Frankie. He was standing right near the edge his body hunched over, hands between his knees and mouth open. My heart stalled as I looked at him and saw awe in his eyes and I had never felt so humble.
“These kids should have been sent to the changing room,” I snapped as I pushed myself out of the water.
“They wouldn’t go.” Paula looked up at me as she wrapped Timothy in a huge towel. “They wanted to be sure Timothy was okay.”
I looked around the pool to see the other groups that had been having lessons had all disappeared and my group were the only ones still there, their gasps and sniffles echoing around.
Kieran took over from Paula, checking Timothy’s breathing and pulse rate and asking him questions.
“Come on kids,” Paula said, ushering the group along. “Let’s get you all into the changing rooms.”
As they all started to file away, a loud screaming sounded around the pool. Everyone stopped to watch Timothy’s mother racing towards us calling out his name. As she got nearer, a small hand slipped into mine and when I looked down I saw it was Frankie’s.
At huge lump of emotion lodged in my throat as he stepped closer to me and wrapped his other hand around my wrist. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so tall and yet so small all at the same time.
“Oh my god, Timothy. Are you okay?” His mum threw herself at him, pushing Kieran out of the way. “I nipped out to get some bread from the shop on the corner. When I got back everyone was crowded around the café window, they were watching and Molly’s mum said it was you. Oh my baby.”
She pulled him into her arms, smothering him with kisses and wrapping the towel tighter around him.
“He’s fine,” Kieran said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve checked him out and there’s no damage, he’s just a little shocked and needs to be kept warm. Maybe a hot, sweet drink will help.”
“Oh god, I can’t stand the thought you might have drowned,” Timothy’s mother sobbed. “And I wasn’t here.”
“Honestly, he wasn’t in danger of drowning,” Paula added. “From what I saw he was panicking, but we got to him pretty quickly.”
Timothy’s mum looked up at Paula with tears in her eyes. “Who saved him?” she asked.
“Sa-.” Paula started, but Frankie cut her off.
“My dad,” he called out. “My dad saved Timothy.”
