Emergency Rescue

As the top search-and-rescue diver in the country, I was used to high-stakes calls, but the one that came in on a rainy Tuesday morning made my blood run cold.

A ten-year-old boy had gone missing at Savage Covethe same place where my little sister, Grecia, drowned ten years ago.

Back then, Nora, my girlfriend and captain of the rescue squad, promised shed bring Grecia back safe. Instead, she cut my sisters safety line to hand the rescue credit to her partner, Victor. Grecia was swept into the abyss. Victor became a national hero, while I spent the next decade diving into the dark more than two hundred times, pulling 193 people back to life. I mapped Savage Coves deadly depths until I knew every currentso no one else would be left waiting in the dark.

But today, when dispatch sent the missing childs photo, I froze.

Behind him stood the boys mother. Her face was one I would never forget.

I turned the phone face down on the desk. Im not taking this dive.

"Sean, youve got to be kidding me, right?" The dispatcher laughed, assuming it was a joke. "Last year during the peak flood season, you dove forty meters into near-zero visibility mud to pull a trapped kid out of a shipwreck. You hold the active recovery record. If you say you cant do it, nobody else in this country can."

"Im not joking," I replied.

"Sean..."

"Im serious. I cant take this. Coordinate with another team. Don't waste any more time."

I hung up. But before I could zip my gear bag, the door slammed open.

Chief Harrison practically fell into the room, drenched in sweat. "Sean," he panted, gripping the doorframe to steady his breathing. "Don't leave yet. Just hear me out."

"Chief, theres nothing to discuss."

"The conditions at Savage Cove are a nightmare," Harrison urged, shutting the door behind him and blocking it with his body. "Our regular guys have been down there for two hours. Three rotation teams, and they haven't found a single trace."

He lowered his voice, stepping closer. "The boy who went under is Victor's son. Yes, that Victor, the owner of the biggest commercial diving firm in the state. His wife is Nora, the former rescue captain. If it weren't for their massive donations over the years, we wouldn't even have half of this high-tech equipment."

"Then use the equipment to find him," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "If the gear is so advanced, you don't need me."

Harrison lunged forward, grabbing my arm with white-knuckled desperation. "We tried! The sonar can't see past the blind spots in the underwater crevices. We need eyes down there. We need hands. Sean, I wouldn't swallow my pride to beg you if there were any other way."

I remained silent.

Harrison stomped his foot in frustration. "Are you worried about safety? I know Savage Cove is a death trap, but I swear to you, we have the best support on the shore. Dry suits, backup tanks, comms, whatever you want. I will guarantee your life with my own!"

"It's not a safety issue, Chief."

"Then what is it?"

"Personal reasons."

"Personal reasons?" His voice cracked, rising in pitch. "Sean, there is a ten-year-old boy suffocating at the bottom of a river, and you're telling me about personal reasons?"

By now, the news of my refusal had leaked. Several rescue team members gathered outside the open door, whispering.

"Sean, you're the backbone of this team," one of them called out. "If you won't go, who will?"

"Some hero he is," another muttered, loud enough for me to hear. "Just a coward who's afraid of a little current."

The insults started to pile up. I kept my face blank and checked my watch.

"Chief, you just wasted another five minutes. I'm not taking the job. Call someone else. Time is running out."

I brushed past him, but a voice from the back of the crowd cut through the tension.

"Your sister died in Savage Cove, didn't she, Sean? Is that why you're being so heartless? You're just going to let a kid die?"

I went rigid. My heart felt as though it were being squeezed by a freezing hand.

My phone screen lit up on the desk behind me. The ten-year-old boy in the photo had a bright, gap-toothed smile. He was the exact same age my sister had been when she died.

I closed my eyes. If Nora hadn't unclipped her line ten years ago, would my sister be alive today?

A sudden commotion at the entrance broke my thoughts.

A man in a sharp, tailored suit strode through the crowd. He didn't even look me in the eye. Instead, he snapped open his wallet and began throwing thick stacks of cash at my chest.

"What do you mean, you won't dive?" he sneered. "You want money? Here. Name your price."

Victor turned to Chief Harrison, his lip curled in disgust. "This is the savior you insisted on? Some legendary rescue diver? He's nothing but a mercenary holding a dying child hostage to inflate his fee."

He stepped closer to me, pulling out his phone. "Still not enough? I can wire you a hundred thousand right now. Five hundred thousand? Name it. Just get my son out."

The onlookers gasped at the sheer amount of money being thrown around.

I didn't move. My eyes were locked on the silver service medal pinned to his lapel.

Ten years. He was still wearing the honor he had bought with my sister's life.

Seeing where I was looking, Victor let out a cold, mocking laugh. "What? Jealous? I'm not like you, mercenary. I earned this medal with my life."

He puffed out his chest, playing the martyr for the crowd. "Ten years ago, right here in Savage Cove, the visibility was practically zero. My wife and I didn't hesitate for a second. We dove straight in. Unlike some cowards who sit on the shore and bargain with a child's life."

I stared at him, my throat tight. "Did you save her?"

Victor's smug grin faltered for a fraction of a second before he recovered. "In those conditions, no one could guarantee a miracle..."

I let out a soft, humorless laugh. "So, you didn't save her."

"I am indeed different from you," I said, stepping closer to force him to look at me. He had clearly forgotten my face, forgotten the broken brother who had stood on the shore ten years ago. "I don't dive unless I am absolutely sure. And I never give a grieving family false hope, only to drag them into a deeper despair."

Flustered and angry, Victor grabbed me by the collar. "Who cares if we couldn't save her? At least we didn't hide like cowards! You won't even wet your feet. What right do you have to judge me?"

The murmurs from the crowd grew louder, turning hostile.

"He's right. At least Victor tried ten years ago. Sean is just a greedy coward."

Their judgmental eyes stung like needles. They thought I was selfish, cold, and demanding a payout. I didn't care to explain.

Then, a woman stumbled through the doorway.

Her hair was a messy nest, and her expensive makeup was smeared with tears. Ten years had passed, but her face was still instantly recognizable.

The woman who had promised to bring my sister back, only to push her into the abyss, was standing right in front of me.

My fists clenched so hard my fingernails bit into my palms.

She didn't look at my face. She shoved Victor back and threw herself toward me.

"Please," she sobbed, grabbing my hand. "The Chief says you're our last hope. I don't know you, but I trust you. My baby is down there. He's only ten. He's terrified of the dark. He can't sleep without hearing my voice."

Her tears fell onto my shoes. "If you go down, I'll give you anything. Whatever you want. Just save my boy."

I took a slow, deep breath, feeling the decades of suppressed rage boiling in my chest. If they knew the real price of this rescue, would they still ask for it?

"I will go to the site," I said quietly.

Nora gasped with relief, squeezing my hand. "Thank God! Thank you, Mr... Mr. Shaw? Whatever your name is, my husband and I will never forget this."

"Don't misunderstand," I interrupted, pulling my hand away. "I agreed to go to the site. I didn't say I would dive."

Ten years later, I stood on the banks of Savage Cove once more.

The shore was packed with state-of-the-art equipment. High-powered sonar scanners, massive underwater floodlights, three top-tier rescue boats idling in the water. A dozen experts hovered over a folding table, analyzing underwater topographical maps.

"This is Victor's son," one coordinator shouted. "Spare no expense! Get him up!"

Standing on the periphery, a bitter taste filled my mouth.

Ten years ago, my sister had slipped into these exact same waters. Back then, there was only one cheap inflatable dinghy, a couple of standard nylon ropes, and Nora's empty promise.

But today, because the boy in the water belonged to a wealthy, influential family, an entire command center appeared within two hours.

What was my sister's life to them? A stepping stone. A sacrifice to polish their public image and pave the way for their lucrative diving empire. Even though they had only brought back a cold, lifeless body, they still wore the crowns of heroes, using that fake glory to build an empire.

A technician rushed over to the Chief, his face pale. "Based on the water pressure and the boy's tank capacity, the survival window is down to twenty minutes. His oxygen is almost gone. If we don't get a diver down there right now, he's dead."

"Sean, please," Harrison urged. "You're already here. Put on the gear."

I shook my head. "You have the most advanced sonar in the state, a top-tier medical team, and a dozen specialists. Besides, the boy's parents are decorated rescue heroes from these exact waters. Why should I be the one to go down?"

Nora flinched, not expecting me to bring up the past. Her lips trembled as she looked up at me. "Yes, we went down back then, but we were injured in that rescue! We retired to administrative roles years ago. Our physical condition isn't up to a deep-dive recovery anymore!"

Perhaps driven by a guilty conscience, she suddenly fell to her knees. Her knees hit the gravel with a sickening thud.

"Mr. Shaw, I beg you! I admit we aren't as good as you. We don't deserve the hero titles. But my son is innocent! Please, if you go down, I'll do anything. I'll admit whatever you want!"

She began to desperately knock her forehead against the rocky ground, bruising her skin. "Please! Save my son!"

Her agonizing cries ignited the anger of the crowd around us.

"Sean! Are you even human? How can you torture a grieving mother like this?"

"You're disgusting! She's on her knees, and you're still playing games!"

A couple of angry young divers lunged forward, grabbing my arms and shoving me toward the water's edge. "You're going down today, whether you like it or not!"

The waves of hostility pressed in from all sides.

I let out a raspy, dry laugh. "You all want me to dive that badly?"

I looked at Victor, then at Nora. "But even if I go down, even if I find your boy... how do you know I won't just unclip his safety line and let him drift away?"

"What did you just say?" Victor's face contorted with rage. He yanked out his phone and made a rapid call.

Within minutes, a flock of local reporters who had been waiting nearby rushed past the barricades, pointing cameras and microphones at us.

Victor stood before the lenses, squeezing out tears of outrage. "I didn't want to make this a public spectacle, but my son has been trapped underwater for over two hours. His oxygen will run out in ten minutes. And yet, this man, who claims to be the best rescue diver in the country, refuses to save him."

He pointed a trembling finger at me. "I offered him money. My wife fell to her knees to beg him. We've done everything. My son is dying, and this man is using a child's life to settle a personal grudge. Does a monster like this deserve to be called a savior?"

The live feed exploded. Online headlines began flashing: Top Rescue Diver Refuses to Save Drowning Ten-Year-Old.

The comments sections flooded with venom, calling for my head.

Losing his mind, Victor lunged forward, grabbed me by the hair, and dragged me toward the river's edge.

Taken off guard, I lost my footing. He shoved my head violently down into the freezing water.

The biting cold rushed into my nose, my eyes, and my ears. The crushing pressure of the river seized my skull, and a familiar, terrifying suffocation washed over me.

I closed my eyes.

The memory of ten years ago rushed back.

I remembered standing on this very shore, watching Nora and Victor climb out of the water, packing up their gear to leave.

I had fallen to my knees, begging them. "Nora, please, she's only ten! Just try one more time! Please!"

And she had looked at me with cold, distant eyes. "I'm sorry, Sean. We did our best. The current is too strong. A layman like you wouldn't understand the danger down there. We're lucky to have made it out alive ourselves."

My sister must have felt this exact same terror. The water filling her lungs, believing she was saved, only to be cast back into the dark.

Just as my vision began to fade into black, Victor yanked me out of the water by my hair.

I collapsed onto the mud, coughing violently, my lungs burning. My ears buzzed with the sound of rushing water, but Victor's triumphant sneer cut through the noise.

"How does it feel to almost drown?" he hissed. "My son is feeling that every single second! And you stand here doing nothing!"

No one in the crowd showed a shred of sympathy.

"Serves him right! If he had just done his job, Victor wouldn't have had to do that."

"He had it coming."

I wiped the remaining water from my eyes, staring at the couple through a blurred, bloodshot gaze.

"You want to know why I won't go down?" I rasped, my voice dripping with venom. "Because I'm afraid."

"I'm afraid that if I go down there, I'll become just like you."

Victor's face lost all color.

"Ten years ago, in these exact waters," I said, rising slowly to my feet. "You found her. But on the way to the surface, you unclipped her safety line."

Nora gasped, her body violently trembling as she stared at me. "You... you're... Sean?"