-Jared-

Ingrid McKay.

Kind of an old-fashioned name, but she was a cute girl. Smart. Sweet. Easy to make blush.

I figured she'd be fun to pursue this summer.

I was lucky those kids distracted me with their horsing around, or else I would have just stared at her ass the whole walk back.

I settled into my seat, trying to stay alert, but fighting the daydreams my overactive imagination was bound to come up with. That, and it'd been a few months since my last girlfriend. Itches were begging to be scratched.

A terrified scream broke me from my thoughts. This wasn't a kid playing around scream or a fun scream.

This was an "oh shit" scream.

I leaned forward, scanning across the pool. I spotted a splotch of blood on the opposite end of the pool, seeping into the concrete.

And a very familiar figure in a noticeable swimsuit submerged in the pool, a red steak following lazily behind.

One of the other lifeguards, Chase, who was coming back from break, noticed the commotion as well and ran back to call 911.

"Shit..." I breathed out, feeling my pulse pounding in my ears. I ripped my sunglasses off of my face and tossed them to the ground.

I leapt out of my perch and dived into the water. Every second seemed to stretch on in sluggish agony as I swam towards her.

This was probably the first "true" emergency I'd had as a lifeguard. And I was terrified.

I didn't want to mess up. I didn't want to lose her.

I reached her body and grasped her by the waist with one hand, then held the back of her head gently with the other. I kicked furiously to bring us to the surface.

My senses were overwhelmed with the sounds of sirens and the gathering crowd around me.

"Get out of the way! Make some room!" I felt my voice bellow as I brought her to the edge of the pool.

Chase met me at the edge and reached in to help me bring her out of the water. He started to assess her breathing and pulse as I pulled myself out of the water.

"Ingrid...?"

Ah shit, her brother.

He lingered in fright behind Chase, his eyes wide at the sight of her blood.

I beckoned for him to come over to me and shielded his view of her with my body.

"What happened?"

"W-we were playing and she fell, hit her head..." He managed to stutter out. "I didn't mean for it to happen!"

I glanced back at Chase. He was only doing rescue breaths, so that was a good sign. I could hear the sirens getting closer.

"It'll be ok. Can you call your parents?" I tried to contain the shakiness in my voice. I couldn't let on that I was scared too. I had to be brave.

"My sister...she has her cell phone in her bag."

"Go get it and call them. Tell them the paramedics are coming."

He nodded, trembling, and took off to find Ingrid's bag.

I turned my attention back to Chase and Ingrid.

He stopped giving rescue breaths and she was coughing up water.

I knelt down next to her. "Ingrid, can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

"Ugh..." She coughed and moaned, but didn't open her eyes.

The crowd around us parted as two paramedics came through with a stretcher.

"What happened?" One of the paramedics asked as they pulled the stretcher up close.

"Some kids were horsing around and she fell in the pool. She's breathing and has a pulse."

The paramedics started to assess her quickly, taking vitals and giving report over the radio.

"Any obvious injuries?"

"I think she has a cut or something to her head, she was bleeding a lot..."

One of the paramedics spoke rapidly into their radio and one who continued the physical exam kept asking me questions. "Do you know anything else about her? Age? Name?"

I swallowed nervously, looking over at her brother who was returning with his sister's cell phone up to his ear. He looked ready to cry.

"She's my classmate, Ingrid McKay. Probably my age...so 17?"

"Ok, we're going to take her to the hospital. Can you two get the crowd to give us more room?" The paramedic ordered as he worked to secure her to the stretcher.

Chase and I nodded solemnly, then got to work. He started with crowd control, while I collected Ingrid's brother.

"Hey, why don't you help Chase and I? While we wait for your parents." I offered and waved him over to my side.

"Ok..."

- - -

"Jared?" Charlotte's gentle voice broke me out of my memory.

It had only been 5 days. But Ingrid was still in the ICU.

And I was having nightmares - more like "night terrors", according to my parents.

So here I was. At a therapist's office.

So much for being a hero.

"Uh, yeah?" I cleared my throat and tried to focus my eyes back on her. Her pencil hovered over her notepad.

"I asked if you had tried to visit your classmate since the accident?"

She asked that last session too. And the answer was still no.

"No... I haven't."

"Are you scared to?" She prodded.

I scoffed. "No."

Yes.

"I'm sure if you reached out to her family, they'd be overjoyed to have the lifeguard who helped save their daughter come visit?"

Are you kidding me? She's in an intensive care unit. I didn't save anybody.

"I don't even know where they live," I replied.

Another lie. News traveled fast in this small town. The neighborhood left a lot of balloons and flowers on their front door. She only lived a block away from me.

Charlotte set her pencil down and sighed. She raised her chin to look at me straight on.

"I know it sounds...strange. But I think you really need to see and understand the impact of what you did. This family is so grateful for your quick-thinking and actions. And I feel it'd be beneficial for you to feel some sort of good came out of the trauma you experienced."

Her gaze was piercing in me. No more Mrs. Nice Therapist, huh?

"That's your homework for next session. I want you to at least talk to her family, if not go visit her."

I fidgeted restlessly in my seat, glad this session was almost over. I don't know how this would help with my sleeping problems...

But I also really did want to see Ingrid. I was just so afraid of what she would be like.

Would she be chatty and her normal self? Or completely out of it to the world?

Shit, I didn't even really know what her "normal self" was. I only knew the booksmart girl saving me from failing chemistry.

"I'll give it a try," I muttered and ran a hand through my hair.

Charlotte smiled and set her notes down on the coffee table in front of us separating our chairs. "Alright. Good work today, I'll see you next week."

Yeah, Charlotte. We better hope you're right.