Chapter 2 - Born in the Depths
Daniel stopped breathing. "No... no, not now! Just hold on!"
Valeria shook her head weakly. Her body wasn't giving her a choice.
Inside the submerged, freezing glass cage... labor began.
The water level kept rising. Every breath became a desperate struggle for oxygen. Daniel continued to bash the glass frantically until his knuckles bled and the metal casing of the fire extinguisher bent, but he couldn't break through.
The distant wail of sirens echoed outside, but the paramedics were minutes away. Minutes Valeria didn't have.
Valeria let out a gut-wrenching scream as another contraction ripped through her body.
Then... silence.
For a few terrifying seconds, no sound came from inside the glass cab.
Daniel felt his heart stop dead in his chest. He pressed his face against the cracked acrylic. "Valeria?!"
Waaaaah!
A sharp, frail cry broke through the ambient roar of the water.
A newborn baby’s cry.
Daniel fell to his knees in overwhelming relief, tears burning his eyes. "He's alive! Oh God, he's alive!"
Inside, Valeria scooped her newborn son into her arms. She pressed him against her cheek for one brief, fleeting second.
But the water was already up to her shoulders.
She looked at the rising tide, then down at her baby, and realized there was only one way he would survive the next sixty seconds.
With every ounce of strength left in her aching body, Valeria lifted the baby straight up over her head.
Higher and higher.
While her own body sank beneath the freezing surface.
"Breathe, my sweet boy..." she whispered under her breath, her voice bubbling. "Just keep breathing..."
The water reached her neck. Then her chin. Then her mouth.
Yet her arms remained locked straight up, lifting her son into the small pocket of air near the ceiling.
Outside, Daniel let out a primal roar and drove the edge of the extinguisher into the cracked glass one last time.
SHATTER!
A small hole spiderwebbed open near the top frame. It was far too small for an adult to crawl through... but just big enough for a newborn.
Daniel shoved his arm through the jagged hole, scraping his skin raw against the broken edges. "Give him to me! Valeria, hand him to me!"
Below the surface, Valeria took one last step forward. The dark water fully submerged her face. Only her pale, trembling arms remained above the surface, holding the crying baby aloft.
May you like
Daniel stretched his arm out as far as his shoulder would allow. His fingertips brushed against the soft blanket.
Just a few inches more.
