Shock

"Katie!" Jeff's pulse raced as he saw his daughter head down the embankment. He trusted her skills, but he didn't trust the riverbank. And right now, he was already near panic about Hunter.

Urging Hawk back down the path and keeping an eye on Katie, he watches as she plunges into the water to pull Hunter out... Hunter... who was not moving. Horror shoots through Jeff's veins. How had this happened? This trail wasn't this dangerous... the river not that deep... had Hunter injured himself? Been knocked unconscious during his fall? It didn't really matter though - all that mattered was that Katie was trying to save his life.

Realizing Katie had dragged Hunter up onto a plateau-like place on the bank where the trail was closer to the river, Jeff steers Hawk that way around to avoid going down anything too steep. There he meets up with Katie's horse as well, as he quickly dismounts.

Rushing to Katie's side, he slides down beside her as she works at reviving Hunter. Gently holding the young man's head, he helps steady him. "Come on, Hunter," he urges quietly. "Breathe..."

As life-giving air is offered, Hunter's lungs finally reject the water they had received. His body tenses and automatically coughs, spitting up water. Waking up with a jolt, he instinctively rolls over, coughing and choking as his lungs try to get rid of all the water and intake the air they desperately needed.

Relief sweeps through Jeff as he gives Hunter's back several hearty pats to help him cough up the water. "Easy does it, easy..." 

Hunter is too weak to hold himself up and he collapses on his side, still coughing. Every muscle trembled as he shivered uncontrollably, and he tries to bring his mind out of the darkness. Feeling something forcing his eyes open, he resists, not able to focus on anything.

After checking Hunter's pulse and eyes, Jeff stands. "He's in shock. I'm going to go get the blanket." It had been intended to sit on for lunch - now its purpose had changed. Only when Jeff is untying the blanket from behind his saddle does he realize that his hands are shaking.

Still not sure what was happening, and still trembling, Hunter finally manages to slowly open his eyes. He blinks away some water that ran down his face from his soaked hair, and through blurred vision, the first thing he sees is Katie's face. 

"K...Katie?" Was he dead? Was he alive? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was being caught underwater. That thought alone is enough to give him another surge of terror.

Coughing again, he reaches out to try and find Katie's hand.