100-challenge
Prompt 010: Breathe again
Title: Drowning
She had hit the water like a rock, and the force had knocked her senseless. She knew that he hadn't meant to do it, but it had happened. He'd pushed her away from the instructor's attack, but pushed her right off the edge of the ridge in the process. She supposed she had been lucky that there had been a lake down below. But she hit hard and couldn't move. Her limbs were numb and the world seemed to spin around her. She felt water fill her lungs as she sank down toward the bottom of the lake.
Kathleen was vaguely aware of the two objects hitting the water near her. She tried to move her arms but found them limp and numb. She wondered if she'd hit the water hard enough to sever her spinal cord, paralyzing her. Something moved above her and her instincts urged her to do something, to take action. She tried to move her arms, put up a defense as the shadow grabbed her right arm, but her muscles wouldn't listen to her brain. Something grabbed her other arm. The downward force that was dragging her to the bottom became two forces pulling her up toward the surface.
Kathleen's head moved above the water, and she tried to take a breath, but her lungs were full of water. She grabbed at whatever she could and managed to grab a bit of cloth in one of her hands. The two pulled her to the shore and she felt her back land on something somewhat soft and warm. She opened her eyes and two figures leaned over her. She coughed and her hand went to her throat.
She tried to turn on her side and the two people helped her. She felt some of the water leave her throat and she continued to cough until she'd gotten as much out of her system as she could. She fought to take breaths and replace the water with air. One of the two people chuckled and Kathleen struck out, hitting the closest trainee.
"Well, seems Kathleen's good as new." Will chuckled and put a hand on Kathleen's back. "Did you break anything when you fell? That was one hell of a fall."
"I'm fine, and I wouldn't have fallen if not for him." Kathleen waving her arm at Fred, who was still rubbing the side of his face where Kathleen had hit him.
"Hey, I was trying to save you. The whole damn plan went south when that extra squad showed up." Fred crossed his arms. "John ordered us to fall back; we can just consider this as us falling back."
"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one that was pushed off a cliff. You jumped." Kathleen slowly moved to a sitting position and moved her back and neck, satisfied that nothing was broken. She was still taking deep breaths and periodically coughed up a bit of water. "When I can breathe again, I'm going to kick your ass."
Fred frowned and after a moment stood up. "I'm going to move away from here. I'll report to the squad leader and see what his new plan is." Fred took off at an all-out run across the sand and toward the forest.
Kathleen watched him run off, then lay back down on the sand, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Being nearly drowned in the water had left her soaked and cold and the sun's rays were a welcome heat source. Fred would be back soon with new orders for them. Until then, tough, she would use the time to just breathe.