My Wife's Sinking, I'm Guarding the Big Catch

I called over to the guy fishing beside me. "Frank, grab the cooler. I need somewhere to put this fish."

Instead of moving, Frank Zimmer stared at me like I'd completely lost my mind. "Your wife's about to drown, and you're worried about a fish? Aren't you the head of the rescue team? How can you just stand there?"

I waved him off. "The guys can handle something this simple. They don't need me jumping in."

Before I could say anything else, someone snatched the fish out of my hands and tossed it straight back into the lake.

It was Ryan Kane, one of the guys on my rescue team. He stared at me in disbelief. "That's your wife out there! Your pregnant wife! If you have even an ounce of decency left, get in there and save her!"

I glanced toward the lake. Several other members of the team had already jumped in.

"I'm on vacation. I'm not responsible for rescuing anyone today." I turned back to Ryan. "You, on the other hand, just threw back a fish I spent all morning trying to catch. You owe me a new…"

I never got to finish.

Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and shoved me into the lake.

I was completely caught off guard. I hit the water hard and swallowed several mouthfuls before I managed to surface.

Ryan stood on the shore, looking down at me. "Man, I don't know what happened between you two, but this isn't the time to hold a grudge. Her life is at stake. Get over there and help her while you still can!"

Claire West was barely 30 feet away. At my speed, I could have reached her in seconds.

But I only wiped the water from my face, turned around, and started swimming back to shore.

I never looked back at her, not even once.

"Get back there!" Ryan was so furious that his voice shook.

I ignored him.

Once I reached the shore, I climbed out, wrung some of the water from my soaked shirt, and calmly began packing up my fishing rods and tackle.

Behind me, the others finally managed to pull Claire out of the lake and immediately started trying to revive her. But her face was deathly pale, and she wasn't responding.

By then, a crowd had begun to gather.

Ryan took one look at Claire and nearly lost it. "Gary, what's going on with you? Whatever you're angry about, you can't seriously have forgotten that Claire saved your life!

"A year ago, you went missing for five days after a landslide hit during a mountain rescue. Everyone else thought you were dead, but Claire refused to give up.

"She went out in the pouring rain and kept searching until she found you. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be standing here right now! And she lost her baby because of it. Are you really going to stand there and let her lose another one?"

I didn't even look up as I continued packing my gear. "If she loses another baby, I guess she's just unlucky. What's that got to do with me?"

Ryan froze.

Everyone around me looked ready to tear me apart.

Phones immediately swung in my direction, and cameras practically shoved to my face.

"Get this guy on camera! Let everyone see what kind of monster he is!"

Someone had already started a live stream. The title was impossible to miss. "Pregnant Woman Drowning While Rescue Captain Husband Keeps Fishing."

The comments poured in almost instantly. Within minutes, there were already more than 10,000.

Annoyed, I pushed aside a phone that was practically touching my face, slung my bag over my shoulder, and started to leave.

Then, Claire suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water.

The ambulance arrived at almost the same moment. The paramedics rushed over, fitted an oxygen mask over Claire's face, and lifted her onto a stretcher.

Ryan pulled open the ambulance doors. He hesitated for a second before turning back to me. "Come on, get in!"

I didn't stop. "I'm not a doctor. What good would I do in an ambulance?"

With that, I walked off in the opposite direction without looking back.