Page 97 of Teach Me Your Ways

39

GRADY

Ihauled Lina’s limp body toward the boat, my arms burning from the weight. “Felix! Get the emergency oxygen!” I shouted.

The boat captain leaned over the side and grabbed Lina under her arms while I pushed from below, lifting her dead weight onto the deck. She was completely unconscious, her skin pale. I hoisted myself up and immediately rolled her onto her side, checking her airway. Water trickled from her mouth.

“Is she breathing?” Cece’s voice was tight with fear as she climbed aboard behind me.

I pressed my ear to Lina’s chest. Faint, but there. “Barely. Felix, where’s that oxygen?”

Felix thrust the emergency tank into my hands, his face white as a sheet. I fitted the mask over Lina’s face and cranked the flow rate to high. Her chest rose and fell shallowly, but at least it was moving.

“What the hell happened down there?” Felix demanded, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered.

“She was trapped under a beam,” I said through gritted teeth, keeping one hand on Lina’s pulse point. “The whole section was unstable. When I found her, she was unconscious, her regulator was out of her mouth. No telling how long she’d been breathing water instead of air.”

Her tank was scraping empty when I found her. She’d probably panicked inside the wreck, her heavy breaths burning oxygen faster than usual.

We worked quickly. Cece knelt beside us, loosening Lina’s straps and tugging at the wetsuit zipper. Lina gasped, her eyes squeezed shut, forehead creased. She dragged in deeper breaths, shoulders heaving.

Then, suddenly, her eyes opened. Her pupils were dilated but alert. Her chest rattled with ragged breaths as she stared at Cece, then flicked to me.

“Grady,” she rasped, voice raw. Then she lunged, arms wrapping around me. I froze for a moment, stiff as a board, but the gratitude that shook her embrace dissolved my tension. It was pure, unadorned thanks, no heat or suggestion behind it. Just a thank you for not letting her die.

I said the first thing that came to my mind. “You’re welcome. But Cece found you first. If she wouldn’t have pointed it out, you would have been down there a lot longer. Too long.”

I was kicking my ass for not paying closer attention. Now that it was clear Lina was going to be okay, I was furious.

Lina shifted and gripped Cece’s shoulders. “Cece, thank you. You saved me.” Her voice cracked a little.

It surprised me to see Lina truly grateful. I wasn’t sure she was capable of feeling any real emotions beyond her own wants. Cece had tied off the dive line and saved both of us. Going in that wreckage could have been a disaster. Thankfully, Cece kept her cool and knew exactly what to do. I stepped aside while Lina offered a trembling forehead-to-forehead hug.

I watched, chest tight, blessed by the moment but feeling dangerously reckless. We’d just had a professional disaster. Lina veering off and panicking risked her life in the wreck. She also risked any funding we might get. She risked my career. And Felix’s. We were the seniors on the trip and she’d nearly killed herself. The dean would have lost her shit and I have no doubt Lina’s family would have personally sued me into oblivion.

After a few breaths, Lina pulled back. Her gaze was a mix of embarrassment and relief.

“What happened?” I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

“I… I don’t know. I felt like my lungs were closing up. It was too dark in there. Too cloudy. I couldn’t tell which direction led out. I went left at the junction…” She looked stricken. “I panicked.”

It was textbook: diver disoriented by silt, hyperventilation kicking in, freaked out and forgot every ounce of training she had.

“Why did you go in the ship?” I asked. “Especially without telling anyone?”

Lina’s face crumpled. “I just wanted to find something. Something important. Like Cece did yesterday.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I know I screwed up. I know I could have died. But I felt so useless out there, just swimming around while you guys were making all the discoveries.”

“So you decided to risk your life?” I asked, voice rising. “And mine? Do you have any idea what could have happened if that beam had shifted while I was pulling you out?”

Cece placed a hand on my arm, her touch burning through my anger. “Grady, she’s okay. We’re all okay.”

I whirled on her. “This time. What about next time? What happens when she decides the rules don’t apply to her again?”

“There won’t be a next time,” Lina said, struggling to sit up. “I swear. I’m done. I never want to feel that terrified again.”

Felix cleared his throat. “Maybe we should head back. Get Lina checked out by a doctor, make sure there’s no signs of decompression sickness.”

I nodded curtly, still seething. The captain was already firing up the engine. As we headed back to shore, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. The image of Lina’s unconscious body trapped under that beam, her regulator floating uselessly beside her, kept flashing through my mind.