Chapter 14

Jonathan held up as soon as he reached the 20-foot mark. He checked his air level and was not happy to find he was down to 500 psi. "Pushing it a bit much, Hart," Jonathan thought to himself, as he tried to slow his breathing. He had five minutes to hang here, plus the other 20 feet to go. The strong tide had him concerned about making it back to the boat. He didn't want the current to push him far from the ship. Jonathan wasn't sure he had a long swim life in him to get back.

Jennifer broke the surface in the middle of a storm, followed quickly by Paul and Hazel. She looked around her and saw two boats a good 500 yards in front of her. She was treading water as Paul and Hazel joined her.

Paul pulled his regulator from his mouth, and trying to speaking over the sound of the rain, asked her, "Are you okay?"

She looked at him, "I think so, why?"

"You're shivering hard enough I can see it."

She turned from him, looked back at the boats, and back to him, "Does one of those look like a fishing boat to you?"

He watched her before answering, "Maybe. Come on; I think we need to get you to the boat."

She shook her head, "I want to wait for Jonathan to come up. I don't know where he went. I need to find him."

Paul considered hanging with her for a few moments; however, when he saw lightning in the distance, he decided it would be much better to get all of them out of the water. "I think we need to go." Paul knew he wasn't always perfect at reading people. But he could tell she was not convinced, so he added, "What if he's already up and on the boat?"

Jennifer hadn't considered the possibility. What if Jonathan thought their best chance at reconnecting was the boat? All she wanted was to know he was safe. Hesitantly she relented, and the three of them made the long swim.

Looking around him, Jonathan thought it was odd someone was taking photos with a flash down here. He found himself wondering who was still under with him. When the second and third flash went off closer together, he began to get a sinking feeling it wasn't a flashbulb he was seeing.

The second and third strikes proved to the three swimmers the storm was quickly closing in on their area. Paul reached the boat first and was swift to get up the ladder. Nico was relieved to see them coming as they were the last two couples to come up. However, his smile turned to a frown when he noticed there were only two divers following Paul.

"Who's missing?" Nico asked him.

"Jonathan."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Jennifer's concerned, but I think she may have hypothermia setting in. She's shivering like crazy."

"Damn it." Nico turned and hustled down below deck.

With the next lightning strike hitting closer than anyone was comfortable with, a couple of the other guys jumped up to help get the ladies on board. Nico reappeared with a dry towel and a sleeping bag. When the tanks were off of the divers, Nico helped Jennifer unzip her wetsuit and wrapped the towel over her shoulders. "Where's Jonathan?"

"I don't k-n-n-n-now... I… I l-l-l-looked up... and… and... i-i-i-it was... dark... and I c-c-c-couldn't.. couldn't... see him." Jennifer's lips were blue, and communication was definitely a struggle. Nico indicated the sleeping bag, where he wanted her to sit down when lightning struck about 150 feet behind the boat.

The fact it was lightning on the surface made Jonathan decide the four minutes he had waited would have to be enough. He started to ascend again when he suddenly felt like someone pushed him hard, from every side. The compression was intense over every inch of his body. The water conducted enough of the lightning strike energy, so it did not harm him as much as make it tough to breathe. He looked at his gauges and saw he was down to 150 psi. It was time to go.

"There!" Paul called out. He was standing back out in the rain on the back of the boat, trying to find any movement. When Jonathan finally broke the surface, he was quick to locate him.

Nico was quick to join his side. "Where?"

Paul pointed, "There. See the white and orange? About 250 yards out."

Looking through the heavy rain, Nico had never been so glad to see the fluorescent orange dive vest in his life. The white dive suite Jonathan was wearing didn't hurt in the dark of the angry water, either. "Excellent!" Nico turned to the shivering body wrapped in the sleeping blanket. "Jennifer, we found him."

"What?" she looked up at Nico, still shivering.

He stepped closer to her, "Jonathan. It looks like we found him."

She tried to stand up and look, "Jonathan," but she stumbled. Nico caught her and sat her back down.

"Sit. We will get him in."

Paul reached down and took the white fins from Jonathan, who pulled himself up the ladder and sat down. He quickly began to remove his gear so he could move freely. One of the other guys grabbed his tank and set it in the rack on the edge of the boat.

Nico bounced over to Jonathan, "You had us all scared. Are you okay?"

"Yes," Jonathan answered as he started to stand. "I'm fine. Has anyone seen my wife?"

"She's here. I think she has some hypothermia symptoms, so we are trying to keep her warm."

"Then get us off this water!"

Nico ran off to tell Captain Paul it was time to go.

Jonathan made his way to Jennifer. "Sweetheart," he said as he slid in beside her. He pulled her, sleeping bag and all, against his body. "I am so glad you are safe." He kissed the top of her head and held her close.