Every so often the lights would flicker and the water would rise by a few inches. Once the reality of the situation dawned on me, I was right there by Sean's side, trying to support some of the orca's weight so its organs wouldn't collapse under itself.

But we couldn't keep that up forever. The animal was heavy and Sean was already exhausted from doing it by himself for so long. I realized then that his beeper text was actually an SOS.

"You sent me the numbers," I said in between gasps. "You'd know I would come?"

Sean shook some hair out of his eyes and shrugged. "Had a hunch."

I could hear the subtle gratitude in his voice. Somehow even in a situation as crazy as this, he managed to look cool.

"We should probably switch to the other side," he said.

"I can go over there and you can stay here," I replied, thinking it would be better to distribute the weight. Sean disagreed, saying his way was better.

That's when the baby orca gave a mournful cry. The poor thing sounded scared and injured.

"Sean, we have to think of something. What we're doing now barely counts as a bandaid."

Sean shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. "I know. I know!"

The lights flickered. The toilets ran. The water rose.

My breath caught.

"Sean. I know what to do."

I didn't wait for him to ask me what it was, nor did I stay to give him an explanation. I simply told him to hang in there a little longer.

"I'll be right back," I said, easing back from the orca slowly.

"Aqua," Sean called. "Wait!"

I ignored him and waded over to the sinks. There was no light switch that I could see, so I would have to do this the hard way. With trembling legs, I climbed onto the sink closest to the window and took off my sandal. The wedge heel wasn't that hard, but it would have to do.

I braced myself before I crashed my shoe against the row of light bulbs over the mirror.

"What are you doing!" Sean wheezed, shielding himself from the shower of glass.

I was praying for a miracle, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I just tried to keep my balance as I moved from one sink to the next, breaking the lights with my shoe and doing my best to dodge the mess as it rained down.

I was far from Sean and the orca when I got to the last sink. This light was stubborn. My shoe was studded with broken glass, so I had to be careful holding it.

But that last row of lightbulbs didn't want to break.

"Aqua!"

I felt myself slip on the ceramic. I could feel myself going down, so I threw caution to the wind and slammed my forearm as hard as I could against the last bulb.

Everything was slippery or covered in glass. I couldn't stop the fall. But I had done it. The bathroom went completely black.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. Sean's screams echoed through the chamber.

My back hit cold water. Deep, arctic water.

The relief of not landing on the floor was erased by the sheer shock of the merciless chill locking up my muscles. There was no time to get my bearings. I was caught up in a vortex.

I reached for something – anything – while I begged for air.

The call of the orca drew my attention first. Even though all feeling in my limbs were shutting down, I swam towards the sound. Or tried to.

I felt the cold, arctic current push me. Then a brush of something not so cold as my surroundings – the barest glimpse of warmth.

I snatched at it.

A hand locked onto mine. Strong and sure. Like this hand knew the way. Like this hand had been in these waters before.

By now, my lungs were burning. My muscles were submitting to the ice in my veins. I focused all of my willpower into the strength of my own grip. I wasn't letting go.

Despite the icy seawater, I let my eyes drift open. There were streams of bubbles traveling through the blackness. Another layer of blackness filled my periphery, carrying oblong shocks of white.

My orcas.

The hand still gripped mine. It had to be Sean's.

The current took us. Something massive and limber pushed against my back. The water pulled down, exposing my head. The next breath I took was too great for me. I heard Sean gasping right next to me.

Another push and we were tumbling down.

We were both still coughing and gasping as we slid across a tiled floor. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the sparsely lit space.

When I finally raised my head, I saw that we had washed up at the foot of a familiar carnival ride.

+++

Can you guess why Aqua's plan worked?? Let me know your thoughts!

Thank you all for reading. Drop a like if you enjoyed the chapter. It means so much to me as a writer.

Until next time,

~ Coco