I think aspiration pneumonia is fine. Pretty easy to get in a situation like that, especially if the water is less than clean and if she's in less than optimal health at the time, and it can be quite serious. I doubt she'd develop it within the course of the torture (I'm assuming this isn't going on for days straight but correct me if I'm wrong), but she might start showing symptoms within a day or so, maybe up to a week after the incident. Depends on her conditions, how long before she gets help, if that help includes antibiotics that might slow or mask the pneumonia, etc.
Well, who knows what's in the ocean--microbes and all that fun, invisible to the naked eye jazz. :P
She is in normal health when first abducted, but it does go on for several days, a week to ten days at most. I have it mentally planned that they dunk/"drown" her at least four separate times, and of course, they're not giving her dry clothes or much care in between. the last two times might be closer together and longer--the last is the longest because i have a partial scene written out where they haul her out of the pool and she's lying at the head villain's feet hurling up copious amounts of seawater because of how long she was under.
she is a doctor so i also want her to recognize the signs of it starting but, of course, helpless to do anything about it.
Bronchitis is associated more with smoke inhalation, exposure to dust--dry stuff--than water aspiration. I'd definitely say go with pneumonia, though you might also want to be thinking about hypothermia, depending on how cold that water is. A quick Google turned up this paper (Pneumonia Associated With Near Drowning), which looks like it could be helpful to you.
Suffering from chronic bronchitis myself, I'd say your best bet would be the pneumonia angle. You're having her beaten and almost drowned repeatedly over at least a week, plus she's given no opportunity to get dry or warm. So she'll be very chilled, this is going to lower her resistance to infection and make it very much easier for her to get pneumonia of any sort.
It's unlikely that she'd start getting ill after the second or third dunking unless they're spaced about a week apart, but she'd probably be feeling pretty crappy and of course if she's a doctor she'd know what would be the likely outcome of the treatment would be for her. But definitely by the time her friends rescue her she's going to be in real trouble.
And for what it's worth I have never had any of my bouts of bronchitis turn into pneumonia - although I have had pneumonia once, from sitting in a draft.
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She is in normal health when first abducted, but it does go on for several days, a week to ten days at most. I have it mentally planned that they dunk/"drown" her at least four separate times, and of course, they're not giving her dry clothes or much care in between. the last two times might be closer together and longer--the last is the longest because i have a partial scene written out where they haul her out of the pool and she's lying at the head villain's feet hurling up copious amounts of seawater because of how long she was under.
she is a doctor so i also want her to recognize the signs of it starting but, of course, helpless to do anything about it.
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i just needed the bronchitis vs pneumonia thing figured out. thanks for linking to that paper! i'll have a look at it in the next couple days.
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It's unlikely that she'd start getting ill after the second or third dunking unless they're spaced about a week apart, but she'd probably be feeling pretty crappy and of course if she's a doctor she'd know what would be the likely outcome of the treatment would be for her. But definitely by the time her friends rescue her she's going to be in real trouble.
And for what it's worth I have never had any of my bouts of bronchitis turn into pneumonia - although I have had pneumonia once, from sitting in a draft.
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