Page 96 of Inevitable
Her arms were almost immobilized, and she couldn’t really kick with her legs tangled up in the heavy rope.
Shewasgoing to be alright.
We had plenty of air.
And I’d get her loose.
But I still couldn’t quite let go of the sheer horror I’d experienced at the thought of my daughter drowning under my watch.
Wren was a good diver, but she was still a kid, and a junior diver.
She hadn’t been exposed to some of the crazy shit that could happen to a diver.
Seth had been extremely careful with Wren, but what had just happened was proof that things could happen even when a diver was cautious.
Wren looked relieved when she was finally free of the rope.
I flashed her theokaysign again, and she immediately sent it back to me.
I released an emergency sausage to the surface so Wren and I could be found easier and wrapped my arms around my daughter’s body.
I wasn’t fucking letting her go again.
I didn’t think we’d been swept that far away from the boat, so I started propelling the two of us to the surface.
Both of us removed our mouthpieces the moment we surfaced.
“That was kind of scary,” Wren said, keeping her hand on my shoulder.
Fear was still clawing at my gut, and my daughter thought the experience was kind of scary?
“I know I panicked a little,” she said woefully. “I think I was a little disoriented. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t move.”
“That wasn’t a little scary, Wren,” I ground out. “It was fucking terrifying for me.”
I usually watched my language around Wren, but the words had come out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Why?” she asked. “You’re an expert diver, and the current wasn’t horrible.”
“I wasn’t worried aboutme,” I said angrily. “I was worried aboutyou.”
Fuck!If I never saw Wren in danger again, it would be too damn soon.
“I’m okay, Dad,” she said in a calm voice.
“Yeah, well, I’m not,” I rasped as I looked around for the boat. “You could have died down there after you got tangled up in that anchor rope. And there are worse emergencies and a hell of a lot stronger currents that could have carried you away.”
“We don’t dive when the weather is bad or when there’s a possibility of bad currents.”
“We were careful today, and look what happened,” I replied harshly.
“It was a freak accident,” she argued. “What were the chances of me getting tangled up in that rope?”
“I don’t care. No more scuba diving. Ever. You might be smart, but you’re still a kid.”
“You’re being unreasonable,” Wren said.
Hell, I knew that, but I couldn’t stop myself.
