“You mean Rico's own body killed him?”
“In a way.”
Ciara felt guilty. “Why didn't I know? I could have helped him?”
“Not much is known about secondary drowning, as it's called,” Lazaro said. “But with more and more people spending time in the oceans, more research is being done.”
“Research? I've never heard of secondary drowning.”
“It's a relatively new term. Nothing is known at this time. The researchers are doing experimental therapies—respiratory therapies—to learn how to make a person—what you say—expel fluid from the lungs?”
“If we could have known that, we could have saved Rico.”
“It's only in the experimental stages. Till now, many people die from this thing, this secondary drowning. There was nothing you might have done for Rico—”
“We could have tried,” Ciara said. She stoo
