The Uniter

Chapter One - Drown

   I was no more than six years old when I stood at the edge of a swimming pool for the first time. I looked down at my toes and could not see them past the protruding belly that overhung my my swim suit. I had approached the edge of the pool, my heart thundering in my ears as I stared out over the water. The swimming instructor, who I met only moments ago, crouched beside me and reminded that all I needed to do was to get to the other side. That sounded easy enough. I'd seen people swimming before, how hard could it be?

   My mother had signed me up for lessons that summer after deciding my asthma was becoming unmanageable. Studies had shown that swimming could reduce flare ups for asthmatics, and after being glued to an inhaler the past few months, I was hopeful that swimming would be my cure.

   The instructor pivoted beside me, video camera in hand as he positioned himself to capture the moments to follow. He struck a deal with my mother earlier that morning, asking if he could record instructional videos for the lifeguards. My mother gleefully accepted after he offered to reduce the cost of my lessons— she always loved a bargain. She left me at the pool, promising that we'd get ice cream when she picked me up in two hours.

   I could barely hear the instructor counting down from three as the first adrenaline rush of my life muffled my senses. I had heard of fight or flight before and I was very much feeling like flight was the more appealing option.

   "Three. Two. One. Jump!"

   I only hesitated for another second before I leapt from the pool's edge and plunged into the water. The sudden cold shocked my skin as I continued deeper. My nose felt like it caught fire as water ventured deep into my sinuses. The descent slowed as my buoyant six-year-old body reversed direction and floated upward. I peered through my goggles and could see the surface inching ever closer. I aimed toward the glow of sunlight, kicking hard to close the distance. My legs throbbed with pain by the time I broke through the water. I gulped in as much air as my little lungs could hold before I sank below the blue for a second time.

   There was no way that I was making it across this pool.

   Panic sank in swiftly as my limbs thrashed violently in the water. I knew I was only inches from fresh air, my arms scrambling to lift my head enough to reach it. No matter how hard I pounded my legs, I was not getting any closer. The panic turned to terror as I screamed into the water, air escaping my mouth in a steady line of bubbles. I watched those bubbles rise and I hated them for the ease of it.

   My vision darkened around the edges as I sunk lower into the pool. I was so used to aching lungs that I had just started to notice the pain becoming radiant in my chest. I screamed again, this time draining the last stores of oxygen that had remained. A reflexive inhale filled my mouth and lungs with the water I so desperately wished to escape. I coughed and choked as the fluid overwhelmed my airway.

   That was all I could remember.

※※※※※

   My parents were in the room with me when I woke up in the hospital. I was connected to an array of beeping machines with large displays flashing numbers and zigzags. A scribbling sound emanated from the equipment as a long silver needle stroked across a roll of graph paper in erratic motions. My parent's faces were glued to the scroll as if the information coming through shocked them to the core.

   "Mommy," I croaked. My breathing was labored as I stirred in the hospital bed. I peered down at my nose, taking note of the plastic tubing taped to my face.

   My parents both turned to face me, wide-eyed and mouths gaping. They quickly strode to my side, showering me with words of affection and kisses to my forehead.