Jackson smiled as he dropped anchor, looking down at the clear waters. He could see a school of bright yellow fish dart past the propellers. Holly grinned as she joined him at the railing, almost buzzing with an excitement that Jackson found contagious.
“It’s so pretty.” She sighed, watching the vibrant schools dart through the coral reef below.
“Want to get a closer look?” He bent down to a box behind the captain’s chair, pulling out two new snorkel kits and two sets of flippers.
“I’ve never snorkeled before.”
Jackson shrugged, passing her a mesh bag of gear. “You’ll love it, I promise.”
Holly stuck the flippers on her feet and tightened a mask around her face. “Attractive.” The tube in her mouth muffled her voice comically.
He laughed, but still thought she cut a fine figure in her black string bikini, even with the bulky mask. “Adorable.”
Jackson was first in the water. He pulled the ladder of the large pontoon boat down after him. “Come on, the water’s great.”
Holly bit her lip, adjusting her goggles for the fifth time. “Are we going to get eaten by sharks, or something?”
“Nah. Everything in these reefs is so tame from all the tourists. Besides, there aren’t any big sharks in this area.”
“Comforting.” She sat on the edge of the diving dock and gingerly dipped her feet in the water. “Just don’t let me die, okay?”
“Come on, Holly, it’s just a bit of water. You grew up on Lake Michigan!”
“Yeah, a lake, Jackson. Not an ocean.” She eased herself into the water. “I’ve never even seen the ocean before this.”
Jackson’s eyes widened. He remembered her saying she hadn’t been on vacation much, but he hadn’t considered she’d never been to the beach or swam in salt water. “Fair point. Well, I promise you won’t die. People snorkel around here all the time. Once you get into it, you won’t regret it.” He pulled his mark over his face. “Just follow me.”
He dipped under the gentle waves, looking back as Holly joined him, awkwardly but steadily, trailing at a short distance. He slowed up to swim beside her and he spied an octopus beside a rocky outcropping. The creature seemed rather uninterested in them, making it safe for a closer look, its arms waving. Jackson pointed down before taking a deep breath and diving toward the bottom. He motioned for Holly to join him. When she dove down alongside him, Jackson noticed she did so without hesitation, apparently growing comfortable with the latest pursuit.
Once the octopus had retreated back to its hideaway, Jackson swam upward, pleased as Holly surfaced, her face split in a wide smile. “Feel better about this?”
“This is amazing,” she gushed. “Let’s go look for more! I want to see a starfish and some giant conches and some little seahorses.” Without waiting, she replaced her mouthpiece and dunked back under.
Jackson hurriedly followed. As they swam at a short distance, he kept glancing in her direction. She paused, surrounded by a hoard of silvery fish. With her hair floating around her head and a group of aquatic creatures at her hips, she looked like a mermaid. Jackson thought she’d look rather nice in a seashell bra.
He turned away, scanning the ocean floor for a conch shell. Although they couldn’t take the shell from the reef, Jackson at least wanted to bring her one to see up close. He spied an empty cream-colored shell at the bottom. He shot down and scooped it up, speeding up to the surface to show Holly.
The water was tranquil and eerily empty without the telltale bubbles and splashes of a snorkeler.
“Holly?” Jackson called out. No one answered.
He dipped back below sea level and scanned the reef. The terrain was ragged with high bunches of coral and low, rocky caves. Jackson’s heart began to race as he swam, his head whipping from side to side, searching for any trace of her. He prayed she was just exploring, holding her breath as she investigated a cluster of starfish and not trapped in an underwater tunnel.
But as a group of blue fish cleared his view, he saw her, her mask gone, golden hair floating in the current. Her body was limp, but her arms waved unnervingly with the current. Holly wasn’t moving.
Jackson powered toward her, ripping off his cumbersome mask. When he reached her lifeless form, he tried to yank her upward, but her foot was caught. The strap of her flipper was hooked on a bent rock. He leaned downward, pulling her foot free and dragged her to the surface. When they hit air, he willed Holly to cough, breath, anything, but her lips were blue and he didn’t feel any movement in her chest.
As he pulled her wilted body onto the diving deck, he cursed his selfish decision to set out without a crew. He thought the pontoon would be prime for snorkeling, as well as getting some alone time out in the ocean. But now he swore he’d never be so self-centered again. He had driven boats countless times, taken the proper safety course, but he had never performed CPR on a real person.
His hands shook as he tried to remember what he’d learned in his middle school boating class. When he couldn’t think straight, he began pressing on her chest, recalling an episode of a medical drama he’d watched. Her body was cold and he felt an odd sense of guilt as he banged on her breastbone, worried he would hurt her, although Jackson knew it was his only chance to save her life.
“Please, Holly, please!” Jackson gritted his teeth and took a breath, blowing air into Holly’s lungs. “Come on, baby, breathe.” He repeated the motion several times, growing more terrified at each passing moment. The likelihood of brain damage, if she lived, was becoming more plausible with every passing second.
Holly suddenly opened her eyes and turned over, violently coughing up seawater, emptying her lungs. Jackson grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her shaking shoulders as she heaved in deep breaths. He silently thanked the heavens as she sobbed into his chest, his arms tight around her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, petting the wet hair from her cheeks.
“I’m okay,” Holly coughed and answered, her voice raspy. “I just wanted to see…there was a weird long fish…its teeth…it snapped at me.”
“Probably a barracuda,” Jackson said, pulling back to look into Holly’s face. “Are you sure you’re all right? I’ll radio back to the resort for a medical team to meet us at the docks.
She shook her head and tried to stand. “I’m fine. I don’t want to go back.”
“Holly, you could have died. You need to see a doctor.” His voice wasn’t as firm as he would have liked, but he helped her up to the main deck and into a large cabana lounge.
Holly flopped back onto the sheets, her breathing slowly dropping back to its normal pace. “I’m okay now. I just want to lay here for a while. Thank you for saving me.”
Jackson pressed his lips to her forehead. “I promised I wouldn’t let you die.”
She smiled wryly. “At least you’re a man of your word.”
“Are you positive you feel all right?” He reached into a mini fridge next to the lounger and passed Holly some water.
“Yes.” She adjusted herself against the pillows and rubbed at her chest. “Ow. I think I’m going to bruise tomorrow.”
Jackson sat beside her, taking her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said, closing her eyes. “I feel very Sandy right now.”
“Sandy?” He repeated quietly. He briefly wondered if she was disoriented from oxygen loss.
“Yes. This whole thing is very Danny Zuko of you.”
“You’re talking nonsense.” Jackson began to seriously worry, as it was clear to him that Holly had forgotten his name. He reached over for the radio. “We’re going back to shore.”
Holly’s eyes snapped open. “You don’t know who Danny Zuko is? Jackson, you might be the businessman in this relationship, but you have a hell of a lot to learn about quality film.”