Save Me Chapter 17
James
While Wren and my sister laugh loudly as Cyril resurfaces and splashes water at us, I stare after Ruby, who has become a dark, blurred spot beneath the water's surface. At first, she was thrashing wildly, but now she's not moving at all. Something's wrong.
"If she knew we've seen the play dead trick before, she wouldn't pull this off," Wren says, extending his hand to Cyril to help him out of the pool.
Ruby still hasn't surfaced. Deep down, I know something is seriously wrong. My heart is pounding like crazy, and I take a leap.
"James, I don't think she's really in trouble..." I don't hear the rest of Lydia's sentence as I dive into the water. With long strokes, I swim to Ruby, wrap an arm around her torso, and pull her up.
She's not moving.
"Ruby," I gasp as we resurface. I shake her. "Ruby!"
Suddenly, she flails her arms. She coughs and struggles to breathe, and I hold her tightly pressed against my chest to keep her from going under again.
She's completely beside herself. "Get me out of here," she demands shrilly. "I need to get out of here!"
I nod and swim with her to the edge of the pool. Then I lift her up by the hips and set her down on the pool's edge. Again, she coughs loudly and thoroughly, trying to rid herself of the water she inhaled in that short time. I pull myself up by the edge and sit down beside her, holding her as she retches.
"Get me away from here." Her voice is a broken croak that shakes something deep inside me. I stand up and help Ruby to her feet. She keeps her gaze down, but I can still see the tears mingling with the water droplets on her face. When she's standing on both feet again, she sways to the side. I feel her trembling all over, and I crouch down a bit to lift her up. She doesn't even protest, burying her face in my neck so no one sees that she's crying.
Angrily, I turn to Cyril, whose grin has faded.
"You fucking bastard," I say quietly. I would have preferred to shout it in his face, but I don't want to scare Ruby.
With her in my arms, I turn and go outside through the back door in the conservatory.
Percy takes a while to come, but he brings towels and clothes to change into. Ruby avoids my gaze as I wrap her in several towels and start drying her off. She is still trembling all over. Percy silently hands me another towel, which I spread out on her head. Then I squeeze the water out of her hair. I'm probably overdoing it, but I'll keep rubbing her dry until she stops shivering. Even if it takes all night.
Suddenly, her body is shaken by a silent sob. I freeze. It's surprisingly painful to see someone as strong as her cry, and I have no idea what to do. I can only keep drying her, gently stroking her back in circles, and then ask Percy to hand me the Maxton Hall sweatshirt he also brought.
"Can you unbutton your blouse?" I ask cautiously.
Ruby gives no sign that she heard me. Since I doubt she could manage anything with her trembling fingers, I pull the sweatshirt over her head without further ado. I slide the fabric down over her body and then start blindly unbuttoning her blouse. Once it's open, I carefully push it off her shoulders and then help her thread her arms through the sleeves of the sweater. I'm about to put the hood on her when she raises her hands and grasps my forearms. Her fingers are still ice-cold.
In the next moment, she lets her head sink forward onto my chest and takes a deep breath. Her breathing is just as shaky as her whole body. I find it awful to see her like this.
"This is all my fault," I murmur.
Ruby lifts her head from my chest and looks up at me. Her eyes still glisten suspiciously, but now it seems she has regained some composure. She looks like Ruby again. The stubborn, battle-ready Ruby who doesn't let anyone push her around. A huge weight falls off my chest, and a feeling spreads through me that feels both heavy and light at the same time.
I turn away from her and unbutton my own shirt to put on the second sweater Percy brought.
"Come on. Let's take you home," I finally say, holding the door of the Rolls-Royce open for her.
She gets in, and I slide onto the seat next to her. As Percy starts driving, I let my head sink against the backrest. Suddenly, the alcohol kicks in again, and the world spins a bit faster than it should.
Ruby moves next to me, and I glance at her briefly. She has pulled the sleeves of my blue sweatshirt down to her fingers so that her hands are completely hidden under the fabric. The urge to reach out to her overwhelms me. I quickly look away again.
"I'm terribly afraid of water," Ruby whispers into the silence.
I have to restrain myself from looking at her. I think she feels safer if I keep staring out the window and not at her. "Why?"
It takes a moment before she answers. "My dad likes to fish. He used to take me on his boat, and we spent whole weekends on different lakes. When I was eight, we had an accident."
Her body tenses next to mine, and I sense she is trapped in a horrible memory. Her breathing becomes irregular. Now I do reach for her hand and clasp the fabric over it with my fingers.
She feels small and fragile, though I'm sure Ruby is the exact opposite of fragile.
"What happened?"
"We were rammed by a larger boat that didn't see us. Ours was completely destroyed, and my dad was thrown hard. His head snapped back, and a vertebra was shattered."
I squeeze her hand briefly.
"Since then, he's been in a wheelchair. And I've had a terrible fear of water," she finishes quickly.
I believe there's much more to the story, but I don't press. What she told me is enough to give me an idea of what she must have felt when Cyril pulled her into the pool.
"I'm sorry," I say, feeling utterly foolish at the same time. She just shared one of her most traumatic experiences with me, and all I can offer is a lame apology.
"It's okay. You're not like your friends." Her hand emerges from under the sweatshirt, and she cautiously reaches for mine. I intertwine our fingers and hesitantly stroke the back of her hand with my thumb.
"That's not true," I murmur, shaking my head. "I'm exactly like my friends. Worse, even."
She barely shakes her head. "Right now, you're not."
For the rest of the ride, we sink into a mutual silence while I ponder what she has just confided in me. Ruby eventually dozes off, and her head slips onto my shoulder. Her hand never lets go of mine, and thoughtfully, I continue to stroke her skin with my thumb, which fortunately is now warm again.
After twenty minutes, we arrive at Ruby's house. The lights are still on inside, and I should wake her. But I can't bring myself to do it, not when she looks so peaceful.
"She's a sweet girl, Mr. Beaufort," Percy's voice suddenly sounds through the speaker above my head. I look forward, even though the partition is up. "Don't mess it up."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I reply.
But I don't let go of Ruby's hand.
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