Allistor kicked his legs, surfacing quickly and taking in a lungful of air.  As fast as he could he swam over to the spot he estimated the bear would be and ducked under the surface.  A couple strokes downward, and he was able to reach the cub.  He grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and kicked upward again.  As soon as he was back at the surface, he rolled over onto his back, dragging the cub onto his belly as he kicked with both legs and stroked one-armed over to the nearest shore.  Hitting shallow water, he stood and lifted the cub out of the water to set him in the grass.

The cub’s body was limp, and it clearly wasn’t breathing.  He feared he’d accidentally killed it and felt ashamed.  With nothing to lose, he lifted the bear back up and gripped it around its belly from behind.  He squeezed gently, doing a sort of Heimlich maneuver that did succeed in pushing a good amount of water out of the animal.  After a second squeeze, he put the bear cub on its back and used one hand to clamp its jaw shut.  With his other hand, he formed the best seal he could around its nose, then blew into it.  He tried this several times, watching as the cub’s chest rose slightly with each forced breath.

He didn’t know how to check a bear’s pulse, or even if its heart was in a place where CPR would work.  “Come on, little Fuzzy!  Don’t die on me!”  He breathed into the cub’s nose again, then shook him.

There was a splutter, then the bear inhaled on his own.  A moment later, it did it again.  Allistor stepped away as the cub rolled onto its belly and puked out a bunch of water.  It took another wheezing breath, then mewled like a kitten in pain.  Fuzzy tried to get his feet under him and failed.  Allistor didn’t know what to do except sit and watch, give him some time to recover.  He nervously scanned the forest around them, still expecting mama bear to make an appearance.

After several minutes of retching and labored breathing, Fuzzy seemed to grow stronger.  Allistor figured it was the system’s rapid healing.  “That’s right, buddy.  Get your feet under you.” Allistor spoke softly, aware that the bear could hear him just fine.

As a sort of apology, he removed a piece of grilled turtle steak from his ring and tossed it to the cub, who couldn’t quite reach it where it landed.   With a growl, he got unsteadily to his feet and moved forward enough to take the steak.  Then he plopped back down and began to gnaw on it.   By the time he was finished, he was breathing much better.