“It’s so late, where are we going?” Jane asked curiously as she followed Patrick.
Patrick held Jane’s hand and their fingers intertwined. He glanced at her sideways, his thin lips curling up as he spoke in a magnetic voice, “It’s a beautiful place that you’ll love.”
“Really?” Jane smiled lightly. What was this man up to? It certainly piqued her curiosity.
Patrick led Jane to the garage and chivalrously opened the car door for her. “Get in, my wife.”
Wife… The term was too ambiguous.
Jane pretended to be angry and pouted at Patrick, “Who is your wife? You have some nerve!”
Patrick raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to Jane’s ear. His deep voice sounded like a cello playing, low and melodious. Coupled with his intentionally rising tone, it was both sweet and teasing.
“Who else but you?” he said.
Jane took a deep breath before changing the subject. “Alright then, where are you taking me? Let’s go already.”
Patrick nodded before starting the car engine.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jane looked out of the window at the night scenery outside. They seemed to be getting further away from downtown; although familiar roads passed by her mind vaguely without any specific memories attached to them.
Suddenly, she saw an expanse of sea ahead of them; memories flooded back into her mind, “Are you taking me to the beach?”
The beach was where Patrick had proposed marriage originally; they made promises here together while accompanying each other through life’s ups-and-downs.
Thinking back on those beautiful moments made Jane feel sweet inside; she turned towards him with pursed lips, “No wonder you said it would be a surprise.”
“Do you like it here?” Patrick looked down at her from above with tenderness shining through his eyes that only appeared when he faced her directly.
“I love it,” replied Jane nodding happily while feeling sweetness spreading throughout every cell of hers.
After their engagement, they were both busy working so they rarely came back here again until now.
Once they got out of their car on arrival, Jane lifted up both arms feeling cool sea breeze blowing against herself which relaxed all over body.
Looking calmly at this moment, Patrick knew bringing Jane here had been right choice since being there could relieve all stress off Jane’s shoulders.
“How’s it going? Are all your work troubles gone?” Patrick took off his jacket and draped it over Jane. “It’s chilly by the beach, don’t catch a cold.”
Jane smiled wryly and sighed, “As expected, you understand me the best and can alleviate my stress.”
Just as the two of them were sweetly chatting away, they suddenly heard faint cries for help.
“Patrick, did you hear that? It sounds like someone is calling for help.” Jane closed her eyes seriously to determine where the sound was coming from. “Over there, let’s go take a look.”
The two of them furrowed their brows in concern and hurried to the beach. An old lady had fallen into the sea and was desperately shouting for help. As they listened to her breathing getting weaker and weaker, Jane couldn’t help but worry.
“The old lady seems to be running out of strength.” Jane anxiously looked into the distance but didn’t see any lifebuoys nearby. She jumped into the sea alone in desperation to swim towards the old lady.
Seeing Jane jump down made Patrick worried; he took off his jacket without hesitation and followed behind her swimming towards where she was headed.
The cries for help gradually weakened until they couldn’t be heard anymore; this made Jane even more anxious because she feared that grandma might not have enough energy left in her body.
When Jane rescued the elderly woman, she noticed that the old lady was trembling all over and had already fainted. No matter how she called out, the elderly woman remained unresponsive. “Wake up, madam, madam…”
“First, bring her to the shore,” Patrick calmly suggested, supporting the old woman’s body as he swam towards the shore.
Due to floating in the water for too long, the elderly woman’s body was chilling, and her lips were turning pale.
Jane, trailing behind, cradled the elderly woman’s body and attempted to wake her up. “Madam, wake up, you’re saved…” Unfortunately, Jane’s voice went unanswered.
“Patrick, can you still hold up?” Jane, concerned about Patrick’s well-being after swimming with her for so long, asked.
Patrick shook his head slightly, indicating to Jane not to worry about him; he was fine.
On the shore, Jane tried pressing the elderly woman’s acupoint, but after attempting three or four times, there was no response. “Let me perform CPR on her; it’s faster this way.”
Every moment was precious in the rescue effort. Jane quickly and rhythmically compressed the elderly woman’s chest, attempting to help her expel the seawater from her stomach.
“Madam… madam…” Patrick tried to wake her up by her ear.
Unfortunately, both of their rescue efforts were unsuccessful. In desperation, Jane was frantic and suddenly she urgently tapped Patrick on the shoulder, “Patrick, call 911 and get her to the hospital.”
She had been so busy trying to save the woman that she forgot about calling an ambulance.
Seeing Jane’s worried expression, Patrick gently lifted his arm and patted her back. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
Jane grew up with her grandfather and had a special affection for elderly people. When she saw the old lady fall into the sea, she couldn’t help but think of her own grandfather.
While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Jane stayed by the old lady’s side and performed CPR every few minutes.
When they heard the sound of sirens from afar, Jane finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Where is the patient?” Several nurses rushed out of an ambulance in haste asking questions. “What is her condition?”
Jane slowly replied, “Here it is. The patient is an elderly woman who fell into the sea unconscious. I performed CPR on her but she hasn’t woken up yet.” She briefly explained what happened to them.
The nurses nodded in agreement as they carefully placed the elderly woman onto a stretcher.
“We’ll follow you guys in our car,” said Patrick as he drove behind them closely while accompanying the elderly woman to go to hospital together with them.
Inside the hospital, the doctor who received the notification was already waiting at the door. Upon seeing the stretcher, they immediately brought a bed, saying, “Come on, make way, we have a patient to rescue.”
Jane and Patrick stayed until they saw the elderly woman being taken into the emergency room on the stretcher before finally leaving with relief.
From the candlelit dinner to the beachside rescue, the two of them had been busy all night. When they returned home, they found it was already midnight. However, Jane was unusually awake; the recent experience with the elderly woman who fell into the sea had left a strong impact on her.
“Patrick, I feel like life is so fragile,” Jane said as she sat by the bay window, recalling the events that had just transpired. The elderly woman’s cold body, so close to her, lingered in her thoughts.