A Long List of Nevers - 10. Chapter 10

Caz had stopped breathing. Her eyes were still open and looking around in panic. Her chest tried to rise several more time before giving up. Her unbitten arm and her legs floundered for a moment before also going limp.

Carl took a deep breath then quickly leaned down and clamped his mouth over Caz’s mouth and nose. He forced air in. He removed his mouth after a second and allowed Caz to exhale. He covered it again and blew air into Caz’s nose and mouth again. He repeated this again and again, intermittently checking to see if Caz was trying to resume breathing on her own. But her chest remained inert. Her pulse was erratic.

Keith felt helpless. He had no idea what happened much less what to do. Wiping his earlier tears he gripped Caz’s hand. He murmured soothing words at Caz, struggling not to panic himself.

He looked at the people running towards them and was comforted by the fact that more than half of them already had their phones out and were doubtlessly dialing 000.

The first lifeguard reached them. Carl stopped his CPR efforts and quickly explained the situation, telling the guy to continue CPR indefinitely while he go and see what had caused it.

Judging from the wound, Keith already knew that it was a bite. But what’s more important is to know from what. It didn’t help that Australia’s waters were home to at least a dozen potentially fatal venomous creatures.

The lifeguard nodded quickly and took over CPR. Carl ran off towards the shoreline, backtracking through Caz’s footsteps. Keith remained beside Caz squeezing her hand gently. He was comforted a second later when there was an answering squeeze.

Carl ran for twenty minutes before spotting the pail Caz had been using to collect snails. It was overturned, the contents scattered on the sand. He hurried over. His eyes widened as he got near enough to see the contents. The distinctive shapes of the colorful shells were unmistakable, and several of them were quite large... and alive.

His throat constricting, he ran back towards where Caz had collapsed. By now several other lifeguards had arrived, all of them helpless with no clue as to what caused it.

Carl reached them and gasped out one word. “Conus.”

The lifeguards leapt into action, apparently having done this before. A guy with a kit took out bandages and quickly wrapped Caz’s bitten arm carefully from wrist to elbow, tight but not too tight as to impede circulation. They redoubled their efforts at artificial respiration.

Carl told one of the lifeguards where the cone shells were scattered. The guy immediately ran back to get them before a curious tourist decides to pick them up.

An ambulance pulled over in the road alongside the beach and three paramedics rushed out with a stretcher. They took over the lifeguards’ CPR efforts and attached a bag valve mask in place. Keeping her as immobile as they possibly could, they transferred her to the stretcher and hurried back to the ambulance.

Without Caz there, Keith let go of his emotions. He bit his lip hard. He had no fucking idea what to do. None at all.

Carl was immediately beside him. He wrapped Keith in his arms. “Keith. Keith, calm down. Calm down.”

Keith hugged back fiercely as he took big deep breaths. His hands clenched and unclenched on the skin of Carl’s back painfully, but Carl didn’t let go until Keith finally calmed down.

“You alright?”

Keith nodded against Carl’s chest.

“Ok, we’re going to follow them alright? Just stay calm. Don’t panic. You’ll be alright, yeah?”

Keith nodded again, slower this time and took another deep breath.

“Good. Come on.” Carl grabbed his hand as they dashed to where they had parked the ute.

“You’ll have to give me directions. I don’t know where the hospital is yet.” Carl informed Keith as he started the car up. “Just don’t panic, Keith. I know what you’re feeling right now because I feel exactly the same way. But right now, we need to be calm, we can panic all we want later.”

Keith could tell the speech wasn’t just for him, but for Carl as well. Behind his efficient movements he could see that Carl was also just barely keeping his own panic in check.

Keith told him about the road connecting the main beach to the hospital. It ran behind the nonresidential sector of Cronek and thus had little traffic aside from those actually going to the hospital.

“Will she die?” Keith asked bluntly as they drove.

“I don’t know, Keith.” Carl said softly, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

Cronek’s only hospital was small, but boasted advanced medical facilities capable of treating the dozens of hazards in the tropics, both in land and sea. But even the best medical care couldn’t save everyone all the time.

Carl sat on a bench on the balcony outside the hospital’s second floor. Keith sat beside him silently.

The glass doors opened and Carl turned immediately, expecting it to be the doctor. Instead Lee came through, looking haggard and still in his work clothes.

Keith stood up. His features contorted in anguish.

“I’m sorry.” He sobbed. “I’m sorry, Lee.”

Without a word, Lee rushed to Keith and took him in his arms.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Keith.” Lee whispered soothingly.

“But it is. Fuck, I should have watched her.”

Lee stroked Keith’s back. “Keith, you of all people should know Caz better than that.”

It was true. One of the reasons why she disliked Mrs. Jones was because she treated her like she was breakable. Keith sniffed. “I guess.”

“Come on. We’re in this together, Keith.” Lee let him go. “Have you spoken with the doctors?”

“Didn’t have the chance yet.” Keith replied. It had been two hours since Caz was brought here. She was still under close observation inside.

“Carl, you alright?” Lee turned towards the big man.

Carl nodded then hung his head. “I should have been watching too.”

Lee sighed. “Both of you. I’m not blaming any of you. You especially, Keith. You’re like a son to me and I know you’ll never do anything to hurt Caz. So stop this, okay? We all need to be here for Caz right now.”

They both nodded meekly.

“And Carl?”

Carl looked up.

“Thank you.” Lee said simply. “I spoke with the paramedics. The first moments were the most important. You identified what caused it quickly enough to stop it from becoming worse.”

“I should have warned her about it in the first place.”

“What did I just say?”

“No blaming. Right. Sorry.”

“So, tell me what happened.” Lee sat down. “What are cone shells anyway? I know about the box jellyfish, irukandji, stonefish, sea snakes, and others but I’m afraid I’ve never really paid much attention to snails. I didn’t even have any idea they were dangerous.”

“They usually aren’t.” Carl answered. “And most people don’t even know they are capable of stinging. Like the name suggests, it’s those colorful cone-shaped snails.”

“I got bit by once as a kid.” Keith offered. “Hurt like hell and it swelled for a few days, like getting stung by a bee. Other than that, I didn’t know they were that dangerous either.”

“Only a few species are really dangerous, but all of them are capable of shooting small harpoons and all of them manufacture different kinds of neurotoxins. That’s the reason why they don’t have antivenins, it’s a cocktail of poisons, varying from individual to individual, species to species.”

“What stung Caz?” Lee asked.

“Not really sure, she had a lot of live cones when I looked at that bucket. But what worries me is that she had, I think, several large Geographer’s Cones. Those are usually creamy white with red to brown patterns which look like an old map. But it’s hard to identify them, as their appearances vary a lot even within species.”

“How do you know this?” Keith asked curiously.

“I studied bio in uni.”

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. He would have thought Carl had gotten more ‘jockish’ courses or at least something related to business. Keith himself took art, no surprise there.

“The cause of death is usually because of respiratory arrest. Their voluntary muscles are paralyzed including the diaphragm and the throat muscles. They can’t breathe and they can’t talk. There is also a risk of cardiac arrest – the heart stops. They’re usually non-fatal for adults if the victim gets prompt medical attention. But Caz is just a kid… that ups the risk several times over.” Carl didn’t add that Caz was still at risk of going into coma in the next few hours.

“So as long as she is given some way to breathe and drugs to combat cardiac arrest, she’ll be fine?” Lee asked.

Carl nodded. They fell silent, not sure whether to take this information as good or bad.

“How come few of us know about this?” Keith asked. “We have signs for Irukandji and Box Jellyfish on the beaches, vinegar, shark nets, all kinds of stuff, but I’ve never seen a warning about cone shells. And I see them all the damn time on the tidal pools.”

Carl shrugged. “As I said, it’s usually non-fatal. And listing all the venomous creatures around here… you’d probably need a billboard.” He smiled ruefully. “There’s too many, and that’s not counting sharks.”

“But cone shells are a higher risk. Beach-goers usually look for shells. And they’re colorful so people are more likely to pick them up. From what the lifeguards said, this wasn’t the first time this happened here.”

“I know.” Carl said.

“We could tell Wazza and Pat about it.” Lee volunteered.

They spent the next four hours talking outside on how to avoid things like this in the future. More because they needed something to take their minds off the worrying. It was obvious that Lee was just as worried as they were, but he was the strongest of the three this time. He reassured them over and over again until both of them finally stopped trying to blame themselves for what happened. A nurse came by twice to update them on Caz’s status. They still weren’t allowed to see her. Some of their friends stopped by to offer support. Wazza and Pat brought them coffee and some food. They were all too worried to have much of an appetite but they accepted the coffee gratefully. Wazza readily agreed on the need for public education signs, and he promised to tell Sean about it in the next council meeting.

Kat was uncharacteristically subdued when she and Miri arrived. Keith had expected her to be hysterical, as next to Lee and Keith, she was one of Caz’s closest friends. But the fact that Miri was uncharacteristically making a lot of cringingly bad jokes was enough indication to Kat’s real state of mind.

The sun was setting when the doctor finally came out on the balcony. They ceased talking and stood up tensely.

“It’s good.” The doctor smiled. “The worst is over. She’s starting to breathe on her own again. It will still be a while before she can completely metabolize the poison, but from now on, she’ll be fine.”