Never Let Go

by Graysen Morgen

  “I know. Grandma talks about you all the time. She tells me how proud of you she is, even if you don’t come home much.” Caitlin looked at Finley. “I joined because I wanted to. I know swimming takes up a lot of my time, so I don’t know if I’ll even do it again next year, but right now it’s something I wanted to do, so I did it.”

  “Well, I’m happy for you. Speaking of swimming, how is that going?”

  “Great. I’ve already been told I’ll be on the varsity team because the coach was at our division championship meet, scouting me out. He said I might beat your record while I’m at Annandale,” she beamed cheerfully.

  “Oh, really? You think you can out swim me, kiddo?” Finley laughed.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to try.” Caitlin smiled.

  “How would you like to see what I really do every day?” Finley asked.

  “Really? I can come to work with you?” Finley heard that excited little girl that she missed so much.

  “Sure. I’ll talk to my Operations Duty Officer and see if I can get you up in a bird for a training mission or something.”

  “Wow! I can’t wait. Mom was so mad when I told her about ROTC. She even tried to get me out of it, but I guess she couldn’t. Dave yelled at me, and then he called the principal or something. I wanted to call you so badly.”

  “Well, I think you’re old enough to make a decision like that. You’re curious about the military and there is nothing wrong with that, obviously.” She grinned. “I’m sorry your mom gave you a hard time about it. She doesn’t like the military, and Dave, well I’m not going there.” She’d definitely be making a trip to Charleston to have a face-to-face talk with that son-of-a-bitch. “Hey, how about some ice cream?” Finley asked as she turned into the Dairy Queen on their highway exit.

  *

  Friday morning, Finley’s next shift day, she walked into the office of the Operations Duty Officer. He was the assistant to the commanding officer of the air base and the one who handled the aircrew shifts, flight schedules, call outs, and so on. She talked with him often.

  “How’s it going, Morris?” CDR. Douglas asked, sipping a cup of coffee.

  “Good. I took my kid out to Kennedy yesterday.”

  “Oh, my daughter and son loved it there. They both wanted to be astronauts when we left,” he laughed. “Did she have a good time?”

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t want to be an astronaut.” Finley grinned. “She joined the ROTC at school, which was news to me.”

  He nodded. “Does she want to be a Coastie?”

  “I don’t know. She’s also an award-winning swimmer like I was.”

  “I’ll talk to Captain Shultz and see if we can get her up in a helo, so she can see what you do every day.”

  Finley smiled. “That would definitely trump the space center.”

  “It does for me too,” he said.

  Finley walked out of his office and headed over to her locker to get her gear bag and do her preflight checklist. She didn’t bother to tell anyone else about Caitlin because she wasn’t prepared for all of the questions she’d be faced with.

  *

  Later that afternoon, Finley was part of a routine training mission when a call came in for a distressed boat thirty miles away. The helicopter turned around and plotted a course towards the sinking sailboat. The forty foot sloop had begun taking on water and was just about completely submerged by the time the helo spotted it.

  “Sector Merritt Island…Search and Rescue 6516. We are on scene. The vessel is 75% submerged. Two survivors still onboard. Deploying swimmer. Over.”

  “6516…Sector. Copy.”

  “Looks like neither is wearing a life vest,” Tracey said.

  Finley took a peek out at the boat when she sat on the edge of the open cabin door. The boat was on its port side, so the mast was down in the water and wouldn’t be a hindrance as she was lowered. She quickly attached the hoist clip to her swimmer harness and gave Tracey a thumbs up.

  “Swimmer is ready.”

  “Roger. Begin hoist,” Greg replied.

  Tracey tapped Finley on the chest once to indicate they had the go ahead. Then, she moved behind her and tapped her shoulder to signal she was starting the maneuver. “Taking the load,” she said into her radio as the hoist lifted Finley a few inches off the floor of the helo.

  Finley adjusted her harness and gave another thumbs up.

  “Swimmer is outside of the cabin. Swimmer is being lowered.”

  Finley kept her hands on the V of her harness as she moved closer and closer to the water. The helicopter was in a hover forty foot above sea level and forty yards from the sinking vessel to keep them out of the rotor wash.

  “Swimmer is in the water. Swimmer is away,” Tracey said as Finley raised her arm up with an open palm. She watched her release the clasp for the hoist and begin swimming towards the boat.

  “I’m Chief Petty Officer Morris with the Coast Guard,” Finley said, treading water a few feet away from the vessel. She noticed a man further up and a woman halfway in the water, clinging to the side of the craft. “I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to come off of the boat to do that.”

  “I’m going to drown!” the woman screamed.

  “Calm down, ma’am. Everything will be fine. What’s your name?”

  “Barbara,” she yelled. “I can’t swim! I’m going to die!”

  Finley turned around and gave the signal for the basket to be lowered. Then, she swam a little closer when a small wave pushed her up. “Okay, Barbara. You have to let go of the boat. I’ve got you,” she said, putting her hands on the woman’s waist.

  When the woman felt the touch, she let go of the boat and spun to cling to Finley’s head in one swift motion. Finley took a deep breath before she was shoved under the water. She made a quick adjustment that broke the woman’s hold on her. Then, she rose to the surface and pulled the woman to her from behind. “Be still and let me do the work,” she said as she began swimming backwards towards the basket.

  “Swimmer is approaching the basket with survivor one,” Tracey radioed, waiting for the signal from Finley to hoist the woman up.

  The woman began to panic when they swam into the rotor wash. The noise from the helo was loud, so she couldn’t hear Finley talking to her.

  “Barbara, you have to get inside the basket!” Finley yelled, holding it steady with one hand, while keeping the woman from going under with the other.

  The woman finally grabbed a hold of the basket and Finley shoved her up inside of it. “Hold on to the inside handles right here,” she added before giving the thumbs up signal.

  “Survivor is ready,” Tracey said.

  “Roger. Begin hoist,” Greg replied.

  Finley swam to the side as the basket slowly began to rise out of the water.

  “Swimmer is away.”

  “6516…rescue swimmer. Be advised, survivor one is distressed. No visible injuries. Over.”

  “Rescue swimmer…6516. Copy,” Greg said.

  Tracey pulled the basket inside the helo. Then, she helped the panic-stricken woman out of it and into a jump seat, before handing her a dry towel.

  Finley made it back to the boat quickly, where the man was still clinging to the handrail on the top of the cabin near the mast. “Sir, I need you to come off the boat and into the water,” she said.

  “No. I’m not leaving my boat,” he yelled.

  Finley shook her head. “Your boat is sinking and in another few minutes, it’ll be at the bottom of the Atlantic. Barbara is waiting for you in the helo. I need you to get into the water.”

  “No!” he shouted. I’m not going anywhere!”

  The man was acting delusional and she had no other choice, but to get on the boat with him. “Sir, I can’t let you drown. You have to come with me,” she growled, spinning him around. He was bleeding from a large gash on the left side of his head near his hairline and the entire left side of his face was covered in blood. “That explains it,
” she murmured, realizing his head injury was probably making him delirious.

  “6516…rescue swimmer. Be advised, survivor two has a stage one head injury. Over,” she radioed.

  “Rescue swimmer...6516. Copy.”

  She quickly gave the signal for the basket, then yanked him free of the rail he was holding. Finley dove into the water behind him, pulling him to the surface as he flailed around. “I’ve got you. Be still and I’ll have you out of the water in a minute,” she yelled over the loud noise of the helo.

  “Basket is in the water,” Tracey said as she watched Finley push the man inside of it. Then, she squeezed herself in with him, holding his head up. “Survivor and swimmer are in the basket,” she radioed. “He must have lost consciousness,” she added as it began to ascend towards her. “Basket is at the cabin door,” she said, pulling it inside. “Basket is inside. Cabin door is closed.”

  “Roger,” Greg said.

  Finley got out of the basket, then she helped Tracey get the man onto the backboard that she’d laid on the floor, all while kneeling in the tight space. He was breathing, but was unconscious and his pulse was low.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” Finley said when she put her helmet on. “Survivor one, Alert: nine; Injury: zero. Survivor two, Alert: zero; Injury: seven,” she added, giving the pilot her assessment.

  “Sector…Search and Rescue 6516. Be advised we are inbound with two. Survivor one, Alert: nine; Injury: zero. Survivor two, Alert: zero; Injury: seven. Survivor two is bleeding from a head wound and is unconscious. Over,” he radioed.

  “6516…Sector. Copy. Reroute to Cocoa Beach Memorial. Over,” dispatch radioed back, telling them to head directly to the nearest hospital.

  “Sector…6516. Copy on the reroute.”

  Finley put a large bandage on the man’s head, and applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding as she glanced at the woman in the jump seat next to her. She was obviously still terrified. Her skin was pale white, her eyes were closed, and she had a death grip on the shoulder strap of the seatbelt. Finley wished she could reassure her that everything would be all right, and they’d be on the ground soon, but the noise inside the helo was extremely loud. There was no use in talking to anyone who didn’t have a headset on. She relied on hand signals to communicate with the survivors who were alert.

  “Cocoa Beach Memorial…Search and Rescue 6516. Be advised, we are two minutes out. Over,” Greg radioed to the hospital.

  “Rescue 6516…Cocoa Beach. Copy. Emergency team is standing by.”

  Finley reached over, tapping the woman’s knee. She jerked back, opening her eyes widely. Finely held her hand up to calm her. Then, she held up two fingers and tapped the top of her wristwatch to indicate two more minutes.

  “Crew report, ready for approach?” Greg asked.

  “Ready,” Tracey replied.

  Finley checked the man one last time. “Ready,” she said.

  Thirty seconds later, the helo began to descend in slow motion until they felt the slight bump of the ground. Greg powered the helo down to an idle and Tracey slid the cabin door open. Finley jumped out, pulling the head of the backboard out with her. A handful of doctors and nurses ran across the helicopter pad, pushing a gurney. Finley helped them slid the man off the board and onto the stretcher as she gave a brief update on his condition. Then, as they were rushing him into the hospital, Tracey helped the woman out of the helo, and another nurse was waiting to walk her inside.

  “Sector Merritt Island…Search and Rescue 6516. Be advised, we are airborne. Over,” Greg radioed as they took off from the hospital. “Finley, are you good to continue 010?” he asked, checking to see if she had enough energy to go back to their training mission.

  “Roger on 010,” she answered.

  Sector Merritt Island…Search and Rescue 6516. Permission to continue Training Mission 010. Over,” Greg radioed.

  “6516…Sector. Negative on TM010. Return to base,” the dispatcher replied.

  “Sector…6516. Copy. Be advised, we are fifty minutes from bingo fuel. Over,” Greg radioed, letting the operations officer know they have enough fuel to continue the training mission.

  “Search and Rescue 6516…Sector ODO. Roger on the bingo mark. Double time back to base. Over,” CDR. Douglas, the Operations Duty Officer replied, taking over the dispatch radio.

  “6516…Sector. Roger on the double time,” Greg said. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he knew something was up. He and the co-pilot were the only two who could hear the dispatch radio calls. Everyone else in the aircrew was on a different channel. He pushed the button for the aircrew channel and said, “We’ve been pushed up to double time and rerouted back to base.”

  “What’s going on?” Finley asked.

  “No idea,” he replied.

  When they touched down, Greg powered down the helo and everyone climbed out. The loud speaker in the hangar announced, “Chief Morris, you have an urgent message in the Command Master Chief’s office.”

  The color in Finley’s face drained as she ran to the nearest phone in the hangar.

  “This is AST Chief Petty Officer Morris.”

  “Chief, your neighbor called thirty minutes ago. They were in a car accident, but everyone is okay. She said to tell you Caitlin was fine, just a little shook up, and they are back at home.”

  “Okay, thank you for letting me know.” Finley hung up the phone and turned around to face the Operations Duty Officer, who had come out of the dispatch office when the helo had arrived.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “My daughter’s been spending time with my neighbor and they were in a car accident.”

  “Oh, no. Are they all right?”

  “Yes, sir. Everyone’s fine. My daughter is a little shook up though.”

  “You’re relieved for the rest of the day. I’m looking forward to meeting this young lady, if she’s up for flying tomorrow. Capt. Schultz gave the go ahead for your request to bring her on a training mission.”

  “Thank you. She’ll probably be too excited to sleep.” Finley smiled, before rushing to change out of her shorty wetsuit and back into her flight suit. She didn’t notice her two friends watching her like she was a stranger to them, after overhearing the conversation.

  *

  Caitlin ran out of the house, diving into Finley’s arms as soon as she’d stepped out of the SUV. Finley picked her up off the ground slightly before setting her back down. Tears streamed down Caitlin’s face, and Finley felt a few of her own mix with them on her cheek.

  “Mom, I was so scared.”

  “I know, baby girl.” Finley wiped the tears from Caitlin’s face and walked inside the neighbor’s house with her.

  Finley found out the accident had been the other drivers’ fault. Her neighbor and her neighbor’s daughter had a few cuts and scratches from the broken glass, and some bruising from the airbags since they had been sitting up front. Caitlin didn’t have a scratch on her thanks to her seat belt and the fact that she was in the back seat.

  As soon as they walked back over to Finley’s house, she turned to Caitlin. “You’d better let me call your mom. She’s liable to freak out.”

  “I know,” Caitlin said.

  “I have some good news,” Finley added.

  Caitlin raised an eyebrow, waiting in suspense as she plopped down on the couch.

  “You’re coming to work with me tomorrow and flying with us on a training mission…if you want to of course. I won’t twist your arm or anything.” Finley grinned.

  “Oh, my God! Yes!” Caitlin cheered.

  “That is, unless you’re too sore. I’m sure you’ll feel stiff in the morning. I’ve been in a couple of fender benders over the years, and the next day is always hell.”

  “I still want to go. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay.” Finley smiled and headed up stairs to make the phone call she dreaded. She decided to place another call first.

  “Mom?” she murmured when the line p
icked up.

  “Hey, Finley!” Her mother’s voice sounded happy. “How are things going with Caitlin there?”

  “Great. I love having her around. I miss her so much.”

  “I’m glad you’re spending time with her. That kid needs you in her life more than you know.”

  “I know, Mom,” she sighed.

  “You sound like something’s bother you. What is it? Are you being transferred again?”

  “No. Not for another few months at least,” Finley replied. That’s the least of my worries at the moment, she thought. “Caitlin’s been hanging out next door with my neighbor’s daughter while I’m on shift. They’re the same age and the mother is a teacher, so she’s off for the summer. Anyway they were all in a car accident earlier today”

  “Oh, my God!”

  “She’s fine, Mom. They’re all okay. She’s just a little shook up. I think it scared her pretty good.”

  “Thank God she’s all right.” Jackie Morris paused as if a light bulb went off. “Ah, I see why you’re calling. You haven’t told Nicole.”

  Finley sighed. “Uh huh.”

  “Unfortunately, accidents happen, honey. The good thing is, Caitlin wasn’t injured. Nicole will understand. There is no better place for that child to be than with you, especially right now.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “I love you both,” her mother said.

  “Love you too.”

  She hung up the phone and finished changing clothes. She even contemplated having a drink first. It was already difficult telling her mother, even though Caitlin was fine. Surprisingly, she took it well. Nicole would be upset, and Finley wasn’t going to be the one holding her to reassure her their daughter was okay. That thought gutted her. Needing some renewed energy, Finley stripped off her flight suit and jumped in the hot shower to wash away the stickiness of the saltwater and revitalize her brain.

  *

  Finley toweled off and pulled on a pair of dark blue shorts and a light gray shirt with USCG on the front of it. Then, she sat on the edge of her bed and scrolled through the contact list in her phone.