Saving Her

A rugged-looking man with shoulder-length hair parted in the middle emerged from the sea and swam toward the lifebuoy. He held the unconscious woman with his left hand. When he reached the orange ring, he sighed in relief. 

The men on the lower deck hurriedly pulled the rope. Someone lifted Angel from the water and laid her on the deck.

Just as the man who saved Angel dragged his exhausted body from the water, Leoric, and the steward emerged from the sea.

"Come up! The woman is found!" Someone shouted from the deck. Leoric and the other man swam toward the yacht.

A steward performed first aid on Angel who appeared lifeless with closed eyes and pale face. While administering compression, the man who saved her kneeled by her side.

"Let me do it. I am a doctor," he said calmly as he pushed the steward away. He began performing compressions at a rate of 120 per minute, but the woman showed no response. He checked her pulse and frowned when he felt that it was very weak.

The doctor put his palm on the woman's forehead and tilted her head back. He was about to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when he felt a cold aura behind him. He paused.

"Let me do it as I am her husband," Leoric said coldly.

"The woman's life is hanging by a thread. You are still thinking about reputation and irrelevant things." the doctor scolded him but stepped aside when he received a glare from him.

Leoric pinched Angel's nose and tilted her head. Then he leaned down and blew air into her mouth. He alternated between doing compressions and breathing into her mouth. 

Emily wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, watched gloomily as Leoric tried to revive Angel. She wished in her heart that the bitch was already dead.

After what felt like an eternity, Angel coughed, and her chest began heaving up and down. The people around her let out a sigh of relief.

She opened her eyes only to meet Leoric's cold glare.

"Tala. Did you find her?" She looked away from Leoric and asked no one in particular.

Before Leoric could reply, Angel slipped back to unconsciousness.

Leoric asked if there were two women who fell into the water. However, no one responded as they only saw Angel jumping into the sea.

The doctor reached out to check Angel's pulse.

Mr. Graystone, she is still very weak. We should take her to the infirmary first. It is very cold here, and it is not good for her body.

Leoric lifted Angel and followed the doctor to the infirmary.

"Leoric, why are you carrying her? You can let the doctor carry her instead." Emily stood from where she was seated and followed Leoric. 

"Go to your cabin and change, Emily, or you might catch a cold." Leoric did not answer but dismissed her instead.

Emily pursed her lips. "I don't want to."

"Be good and go!" Leoric said in a stern voice, which scared Emily. She knew that Leoric was in a bad mood. She stomped her feet and left for her cabin.

The yacht had four decks. The entertainment room was on the upper deck, while the infirmary was on the lowest deck. It took Leoric only a few big strides and two turns to reach the infirmary.

The room was small. There was only a single bed for the patient, a small table and a chair for the doctor, and a two-seater couch where patients who did not need to lie down could rest.

A sliding door separated the infirmary from the doctor's sleeping quarter.

Leoric gently placed Angel on the bed and stood beside it. He looked down at the pale woman lying on the bed, a bit lost.

"Excuse me, Mr. Graystone. I need to put her on a drip," the doctor said in an expressionless voice.

Leoric came back to his senses. He stepped aside and sat on the couch.

The doctor flicked the back of Angel's left hand and skillfully inserted the needle into the vein, which bulged after the flicking. After regulating the fluid's flow, he hesitated before placing the stethoscope on her chest.

He opened a hanging cabinet, took out a woolen blanket, and covered the patient with it.

"You were the one who fished her out of the water?" Leoric asked in a calm voice, his face not displaying any emotion.

"Yes." The doctor replied while recording Angel's vitals on a notebook.

The doctor thought that the man's husband would thank him for saving her life, but he was surprised when he heard his question.

"Is there another woman in the water? I heard her call the name Tala."

"Maybe she was just hallucinating. She was drowning, and it is not unusual for her to see things." The doctor said matter-of-factly.

"You did not answer my question." Leoric retorted.

"Uhmm, I thought I saw a flowing white dress, but when I reached her, there was no one else." He shared what he saw.

"I also dived underwater and searched for her. It was so dark I couldn't see a thing. How did you find her?" Leoric was indeed curious.

The doctor looked at the domineering man seated on the couch. 

"Would you believe me If I say that it is luck? I saw a faint light concentrated in that area. It could have been a school of fish or some sea organism capable of emitting light. And then, I saw a white dress..." The doctor paused, and for a brief moment, sadness appeared in his eyes.

"I see. Let me know if she gains consciousness." Leoric rose from the couch and exited the infirmary.

Alec Boden, Jeffrey Ross, Mike Gray and Winston Wood were all gathered at the upper deck. They were among a select few men who were allowed into Leoric's circle. They were all smoking and enjoying some wine while they watched the four escorts they had hired frolicking in the pool in their bikinis. These men were accomplished businessmen, who were both Leoric's friends and partners.

"I am surprised by Leoric's actions. Do you think he cares for his wife?" Jeffrey asked with interest.

"Are you dreaming? You do know that he detests her, right?" Alec chuckled and blew a ring of smoke from his cigarette.

"But didn't he save her? He was even the one who carried her to the infirmary. I was hoping that I could have the chance to hold her." Winston, the playboy son of an oil magnate, butted in. He has not seen a woman with such a lovely figure at a young age.

"Are you stupid? Of course, he has to save her. Otherwise, what would people say if they learned that his wife died on their wedding night? Wouldn't he lose too much face?" Mike Gray, who was normally silent, interjected.

Leoric, who ascended from a ladder from the side, has a dark expression on his face. "If you have nothing better to discuss, shut your mouth."

The four people who were busy talking earlier were silenced by Leoric's domineering aura.

A few minutes after Leoric left the infirmary, a sneaky figure entered and looked at the person lying peacefully on the bed. Even when she was so pale, her face was still beautiful.

The person wearing a black hoodie took the throw pillow from the couch, approached the bed silently, placed it over Angel's face, and applied pressure to it.

Angel's hands clasped the bed sheet, the only visible sign of her struggle to live.