Upon hearing this, Joseph’s expression immediately became strange, his pupils trembled slightly, and he pushed Patrick’s hand away.
“What are you doing? I don’t need it,” Joseph said with a hint of pride and dignity in his voice as he gritted his teeth.
Patrick didn’t say anything but took a step closer to Joseph, which startled him.
“I said I don’t need it. I can…” Joseph didn’t finish speaking before Patrick grabbed him by the neck and pulled him aside.
Patrick didn’t let go of his grip. If he hadn’t released him in time, Joseph would have thought that he was going to kill him.
“Patrick, what are you trying to do?”
Joseph was confused by these actions. The swaying of the ship made it difficult for him to stand firmly on his feet.
“If you want to die so badly, then don’t get on the lifeboat. Don’t bother others after you fall off,” Patrick said without any softness or interest in such trivial matters except for Jane’s sake.
“You!”
Joseph turned pale from being choked by Patrick’s words. He wanted to resist but was too weak due to the swaying of the ship. However, Patrick quickly put a life jacket on him without showing any mercy or hesitation towards Joseph’s struggle against it; thus making it hard for him even breathe properly at first glance upon wearing one.
Joseph glared at Patrick as he lifted up his head but saw that he had already gone back over near Jane without even sparing a glance at himself.
Feeling awkward about this situation now more than ever before, Joseph shouted towards where Patrick had gone, “What about you then?”
However, Joesph did not receive an answer from Patrick because he was already taken onto a lifeboat by crew members.
He turned around anxiously looking back at Jane who was still on deck while also taking notice of her being accompanied by Patrick beside her side. Although originally wanting to ask crew members if they could take Jane along with them, he swallowed those words down again.
“Patrick! You better protect Jane well! If anything happens to her, I won’t spare you!”
On deck, Jane tightly held onto Patrick’s hand. Although she knew that water came naturally easy for someone like him, she couldn’t help feeling worried under these dangerous circumstances especially since he himself wasn’t wearing any life jacket yet.
Sensing her anxiety, Patrick lowered down his head and most part of his body shielding hers from rainwater, “It’s okay, I’ve been through worse situations than this.”
And indeed, it was true. Patrick had experienced countless near-death experiences throughout all these years.
Looking at Patrick’s tightly pursed lips, Jane suddenly felt a hint of sourness in her heart. She touched Patrick’s cheek and whispered, “I’ll be with you from now on.”
Patrick lightly kissed Jane’s fingertips and held her waist. Compared to the others’ panic, Jane and Patrick were much calmer.
They were the last group to board the lifeboat. Although the tornado had passed, there was no improvement in the situation at sea.
The huge waves tossed the lifeboat up and down like everyone’s emotions right now.
Jane tightly grasped onto a nearby handrail with a serious expression on her face. When she turned her head, she saw that the cruise ship was gradually sinking.
“The waves are coming! Quick!”
Just then someone on board shouted out loud. Jane looked over and saw a huge wave approaching not far away.
Everyone on board panicked for a moment, even some of the crew members’ arms trembled as they paddled their oars for survival rafts.
“Don’t turn! Let the bow face directly into windward waves; don’t ever meet them sideways!”
Jane grabbed hold of one of crew member’s arms and helped him paddle while correcting their slightly tilted boat body back into position again.
“Everyone hold tight.” Even as windswept waves approached them all around them, Jane remained calm as she directed everyone else onboard to safety in an amazing way that soothed their nerves completely.
As giant waves came crashing down upon them all at once, even Jane couldn’t help but look worried too until Patrick hugged her close to his chest.
With a loud bang echoing in her ears, it seemed like something exploded nearby. Jane felt a whirlwind sensation as the icy seawater struck her body.
Emerging from the water, Jane coughed up a mouthful of water, turning to see the chaotic scene around her. There were numerous floating objects on the sea.
As they were the last to evacuate, they were still close to the original cruise ship. Jane speculated that these scattered items had fallen from the ship.
Jane didn’t waste a moment; she found a floating board and placed her upper body on it. The seawater was very cold, making her body uncomfortably numb.
However, Jane had no leisure to care about her discomfort. She scanned her surroundings, diligently searching for Patrick’s figure.
The massive waves had overturned even the lifeboats, and Patrick, without a life jacket, was in greater danger than the others.
Jane wiped the water off her face and examined the items floating on the sea, attempting to locate a lifeboat. Instead, she spotted someone thrashing about not far away.
“Help… help me…”
He was a young man who seemed to know how to swim, but everything that had just happened had scared him so much that he couldn’t use his hands and feet properly.
Jane didn’t hesitate when she saw this. She pushed her board towards the young man and swam over to him.
The distance between them wasn’t too far, so it wasn’t too difficult for Jane to reach the young man. She reached out and pulled him up onto the board.
The young man had swallowed quite a bit of water and was now coughing violently. Jane searched around for any other boards or floating objects that could help keep them afloat.
“Thank you… for saving me,” the young man said as he caught his breath.
“Don’t talk, conserve your energy,” Jane replied sharply. She didn’t have time for small talk with this person right now.
The young man shrunk back at her tone of voice and obediently remained silent, although his eyes were still fixed on Jane’s face.
“Jane!”
Just then, Patrick’s voice rang out from not too far away. He had found a large board with several survivors on it.
Jane breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this and helped the young man onto the board with her before joining Patrick on it as well.
Patrick looked carefully at Jane before relaxing slightly when he saw that she wasn’t hurt in any way.
“I’m fine, what about you?” Jane asked as she squeezed Patrick’s shoulder in concern.
Patrick shook his head in response. The storm had subsided by now and they were all temporarily safe for the moment.
“When we encountered the tornado, people on board already contacted those on shore so they should be able to find us soon,” Patrick said calmly. Besides, there were people he knew on shore who would be informed of today’s accident promptly enough to send rescue teams out quickly enough.