Take My Breath Away

Matthew stared across the water. He saw the woman fighting against the sea currents. 'Damn it!' He didn't even know how long she'd been there!

Without thinking, he shrugged out of his suit jacket and threw it aside. Then he kicked off his shoes and rushed into the ocean.

'Rika, don't be afraid! I'll save you!'

When he swam to where he last saw her, she had already disappeared again in the dark of night. The normally calm Matthew began to lose it. "Rika!" he shouted frantically.

He could see Erica's head above the waves again. "Matthew! Over here! Blub..."

Fortunately, he was close enough to hear her. He quickly swam over to where she was, and held her tightly in his arms. "Don't be afraid, Rika. I'm here! You're safe now..." The man was so gentle and caring that Erica almost felt guilty.

'Well... he's certainly being sweet!' He was as gentle as he was when he rushed to the campus to save her the other day. The fact that he was like that made her love him even more.

"You okay?" Matthew asked breathlessly. Erica nodded. "Stay right there," he said, and with that, he dove under the water, coming up behind her. He hooked his arm around her waist, and swam with his legs and other arm, making sure to keep her head above water. Together with his wife, he made for shore.

When they were back on the beach, he took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "Everything good? Are you cold—" He realized something, and it overrode any concern he might have had for her.

Erica could swim. She loved to do laps in the pool at the villa. She was actually quite good at swimming. That only meant one thing: she tricked him again!

Knowing the jig was up, Erica quickly put her arms around his neck and said fawningly, "Don't be angry, okay?"

What else was she supposed to do? He was ignoring her, so she had to see if she still had a place in his heart.

And as it turned out, she did have a place in his heart. His little freak-out there in the water was proof of that. She felt happy about that.

Matthew said nothing. He grabbed his suit jacket and wrapped it around her tightly.

Erica raised her head and looked at the man expectantly. "Matthew, you like me, don't you?" Otherwise, why did he get so anxious when he thought she was drowning?

Her sudden question made the man pause. He not only liked her, but he loved her more than life itself.

However, he couldn't just tell her that. What if she told him she didn't like him at all? He was afraid to hear her answer. His heart would be broken.

And he didn't want to lose face, either.

Finally, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Was it fun?"

How could she joke about being in trouble like that? He was so angry he really wanted to beat her. Couldn't she see that?

"Matthew, answer me!" Erica insisted.

But the man still didn't make a sound. He walked off and found his shoes, and when he came back, he scooped her up in his arms and made his way towards the road.

"Matthew..."

"Erica Li!"

"What?"

Matthew threatened in a cold voice," If you do something like this again, you won't have to jump into the sea. I'll throw you in myself!" Then he would jump in too, because he couldn't live without her.

"So I did a bad thing. I'm sorry. Still angry with me?"

In order to prevent her from doing such a horrible thing again, Matthew nodded and said, "Yes! Just don't do it again. You'll piss me off. And if I get pissed off enough, no one can calm me down!"

Except her.

Erica sulked silently. His words stung her heart.

"Achoo!" She had a sneezing attack, expelling the contents of her nose three times in a row.

All because she jumped into the sea in late autumn, Erica caught a cold the first night they spent in South City.

And in the middle of the night, her fever spiked, with a high of 38.5 degrees Celsius.

Standing by the bed, staring at the thermometer, Matthew was speechless.

Erica was pretty healthy. She rarely got sick, taking after her father Wesley. She was active and energetic.

But today, that was not the case. She had a bad cold, and a fever on top of it.

It wasn't hard to guess why. The sea was cold, she was on her period, so she was more susceptible to disease. Matthew was pretty sure that was what was going on.

He decided to call the hotel's front desk. "Please call a doctor immediately to Room 2206."

"Okay, Mr. Huo. I'll get on that right now," the receptionist said.

More than ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Matthew opened the door and saw the hotel manager and a doctor standing outside. "Mr. Huo, this is Doctor Liu, the director of department of internal medicine in the military hospital here."

After some simple greetings, Matthew moved aside and said, "Please come in."

Doctor Liu took Erica's temperature and did some basic examinations. Then he told Matthew, "No need to worry, Mr. Huo, it's just a cold and fever. I'll prescribe some antipyretics for her. If the fever gets bad enough, get her into an ice bath and give us a call."

"Okay, she's on her period. Be careful when you prescribe anything," Matthew reminded him.

Whatever the medicine was, it had side effects. If possible, he didn't want her to take the medicine, especially on her period. Besides, Erica had already downed a dose of cold medicine before going to bed.

Doctor Liu nodded. "I'd also like you to try other methods before giving her any meds. She should be getting plenty of fluids, so make sure she always has some water by the bedside. The ice bath is also an option. If things don't get any better, then you can start her on the medicine."

"Got it."

After the doctor's visit, the hotel manager assigned someone to go pick up the prescription. Then the manager asked, "Shall I get someone to apply alcohol to Mrs. Huo's body?"

Matthew refused, "I don't think that will be necessary."

It was his fault Erica had a fever. If he had not gotten angry with her, she wouldn't have tried to hurt herself in this way.

Alcohol as a cooling solution wasn't supported by any science, anyway, and it would be potentially dangerous to do that. Erica was pretty ill, and she didn't need to suffer any more ill effects. Coma, heart attack, alcohol poisoning, all of these were fatal on their own. And all of these were reported in connection with using topical alcohol.

He wrapped an ice cube in a towel and put it to her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes. "Matthew," she called. Her voice was hoarse and weak.

"I'm here."

Her face was still red. It was obvious her fever hadn't broken yet.

"I... I feel bad..." Erica struggled to move, but could only manage an inch or so.

Matthew took her hand and felt sorry for her. He wished he were the one who caught a cold and had a fever. "Where does it hurt?"

"My skin hurts, my head hurts, my whole body hurts..." She didn't lie this time. She felt pain all over.

It was normal to feel this way in the grip of fever. The man sighed helplessly in his heart and suppressed his emotions. He pretended to reprimand her harshly, "Maybe you'll be smarter next time."

Erica curled her lips. "I can't believe you! I'm sick, but you still harp on me!" She knew it. He didn't love her!

Matthew didn't have the heart to nag the woman anymore. She was always lively, but she was now lying weakly in bed. He let go of her hand and poured some water into the g

"I can't get up... I feel so heavy."

Matthew wasn't going to let her sit up by herself. He sat on the bedside first and then helped her up, letting her lean in his arms.

Then he took the glass of water to her lips and said, "Come on, open your mouth."

Erica opened her mouth and took a sip of water. It helped clear the bitter taste from her mouth. "Got any juice? I'm also kinda hungry. I need sweet stuff."

'What?' She was sick, but she still asked for things like that? He asked indifferently, "Really? How about a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles, Liuzhou river snails rice noodles, or steamed vermicelli rolls?"

His words lit up her eyes. "Sounds great!" She was pretty hungry, and her mouth was watering already!

Matthew was really pissed off this time. With a gloomy face, he said, "In your dreams!"