33
1310 Words
-Don Jones-
Eri excused herself from my group of friends and Hane followed.
I couldn't blame her.
She obviously felt like the odd one in the midst of my friends even though most of them had also bought their wives.
Few minutes later, Hane came back alone.
“How about Eri?” I asked.
“She told me there was no need to follow her and that she just wanted to check out the place.” She replied with a small bow of the head.
“She just wants to check out the place? And you allowed her to go alone?” Was that stupid of her?
Either way, the thought made me a little annoyed, and possibly unnecessarily worried.
It's not like she's a child.
“I apologize sir, but she'd said she'd be fine.” She seemed to be noticing the annoyance in me, and probably thought I would get her fired.
But then again, why would she stupidly leave Eri alone.
And why would Eri go on a walk in a place she knew no one.
There was really no need to overreact. She wasn't a child.
But then again she didn't know her way in this huge place, what if she got lost or something worse.
“I don't understand why you tag along and don't even stay with the main person you're here to be at service to.” I scoffed, sitting up straight
Maybe I should just enjoy this dinner party,
I'm sure she's fine.
For some reason, my mind didn't agree with that.
What is wrong with this Eri of a girl?
Gosh.
To cool my mind, I would assume it'd be best to just go get her, so I rose to my feet.
“Do you know which direction she left?” For some reason, my head wouldn't stop throbbing.
It felt like Eri— I know this might sound crazy— but it felt like Eri was in trouble.
Hane shook her head, seeming to start getting alarmed. “I don't know sir, she just said she wanted to check around.”
In a little adrenaline pop, my feet scurried out of the party, drawing the attention of some people.
Others shouted my name, but I ignored that.
I just couldn't brush off the thought that Eri wasn't safe in this huge place.
“Mr Jones, what's wrong?” Hane and some other people were running behind me.
What if nothing was wrong with Eri and I was just alarming people for no reason?
“Eri!” I screamed her name at the top of my voice.
At least if she was close by she should hear me, right?
When I got no reply, my body seemed to start a slight panicking.
My initial plan was to search for her by the garden, but then the pool came to view.
It was too far away to notice if anyone was inside, but just the sight made my heart rate increase.
It felt like the pool was calling my name. Like Eri was trying to let me know…
No!
She can't be in there.
But that didn't stop me from rushing to the pool.
My heart broke when I saw Eri lay lifeless on the floor of the extremely clean pool.
“No! Eri!” Without second thoughts, I threw off my suit, jumping into the pool and ignoring the shouts of my name.
While inside the pool, it was difficult to see with the water obstructing my sight.
But once I sighted Eri, I swam to her, where she just lay there like one who was gone.
No!
My heart was beating faster when I carried her just to realize she was ten times heavier.
No God. Oh no please I'm begging You to not let her die.
I managed to hold her in position, kicking hard on the water to move upward.
Once on the surface of the pool, I let out a huge breath I'd been holding.
A lot of people had gathered at that moment, gasping at her sight.
They assisted me in pulling her out of the pool to the floor, before I followed.
“Call an ambulance!” I screamed, my brain going crazy.
It was not helping to ease my frustration when I noticed some people taking videos.
I felt my eyes become glassy. “No Eri, you must not leave me alone.”
With trembling hands, I tilted her head back and lifted her chin to open her airway then leaned closer to listen for breath sounds and feel for air on my cheek.
I was sure my heart stopped beating when I heard and felt nothing.
***
-Darien Stan-
I was so surprised when Don had told me Eri had drowned in the pool.
What on earth was she doing in a pool?
When Ash had invited me to his dinner party, I couldn't attend because I had to finish some business.
Don had sounded so afraid when he called. He said they had administered her to one of Ash's hospitals.
The elevator dinged and the doors separated, so I ran out of it to see a worried Don walking to and fro the hallway in front of the room Eri was in.
Hane also looked similarly anxious, just sitting on a hospital chair.
I scurried towards him, but he seemed too worried and didn't notice my presence at first.
He was trembling like mad.
That explained a lot. His mind was obviously travelling through different possibilities.
“Oh my, Don, have you heard anything from the doctors?”
At the sound of my voice, he pivoted to me and for the first time since I'd been friends with Don, I saw something I'd never seen before.
Tears.
He was crying.
“You need to calm down man!” I had to shout when I saw how his body was trembling.
He was as pale as ever, looking close to passing out.
A glare was hurled my way.
“Are you telling me to calm down!” He barked, but I could tell how his body was not in a right state.
“If you hurt yourself, it won't mean she'll get any better.’
“Shut up! Just shut the f**k up!” He ran his hand through his hair, not bothering to wipe the unending tears that kept pouring from his eyes. “None of this would have happened if we'd just returned two weeks ago when it was one month in the honeymoon.”
“Trust me, she's going to be okay.” I tried to assure him, but I wasn't even sure if that was the truth.
Hopefully she was fine.
A nurse came out of the door, and before I could fully turn to her, Don had bolted past me to her.
Hame followed behind, while I went to stand beside him with a racing heart at what we might hear.
If anything was to happen to Eri, I don't know what'd become of Don at this rate.
“We've been able to get the water out of her lungs which is very good.”
Her words came as a big relief, visibly relaxing all tensed shoulders.
She turned to Don. “She's going to be alright. If you hadn't done the CPR you did at that moment, we might be telling another story.”
With that, she walked away like she no longer cared about us.
Now it was my turn to stare at Don whose smile was the widest I'd ever seen on him.
He had performed CPR?
I had no idea.
Well, he had gone for swimming classes and was also taught in the class how to save a drowning person.
All that mattered was that she was safe and Don could get back to normal.
- Writer
