Rescue Me(23)

He looked up at Meredith for a brief second and the fear she felt was reflected in his eyes. Was it too late?

After a few more attempts at resuscitation, her body convulsed and water spewed from her lungs.

There was a collective sigh of relief and Cole rocked back on his heels, his head dropping down between his knees.

Someone had called the paramedics and they rushed forward, taking over from Cole. The young woman, who looked to be no more than sixteen, was crying as her mother enveloped her in a hug. As she was tended to by the medics, Cole rose shakily to his feet.

Meredith ran to his side. He looked unstable and leaned on her for support. She helped him to a nearby chair. "Someone get a blanket," she called out. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded wordlessly.

"What do you need?" she asked, wrapping the blanket someone had handed her around his shoulders and rubbing her hands up and down his back to provide warmth.

"I'll be fine. I just need a minute. Too much adrenaline. I'm in overdrive right now."

Someone else brought him a bottle of water, and after a few moments he seemed to be fine.

But then Meredith realized she was the one shaking. She didn't understand it, but she had been absolutely terrified for him. For the girl too, of course, but the idea of losing Cole had caused a strange sense of loss to rise in her chest. It didn't make the slightest bit of sense. She barely knew him, but she felt such an intense surge of emotion that she couldn't stop tears from trailing down her cheeks.

"Hey," he said softly, looking up at her and stretching out a hand to wipe away her tears. "It's okay. I'm okay. It's over."

His expression was gentle as he smiled at her, but he didn't bother to hide the cocky smirk that stole across his lips. "I didn't know you cared."

She swatted at him lightly, but there was no anger behind it. She laughed through her tears. "You scared me."

"Just a day in the life," he joked, but his eyes were serious as he studied her face. "Come on, I can walk now. He stood and wrapped an arm around securely around her waist. "Let's go check on her.

Right, the girl. Meredith had been distracted by her relief at finding that Cole was fine.

They walked over to where the medics had finished checking her out. "How is she?" Cole asked the mother.

The woman turned red-rimmed eyes on him and threw herself into his arms. "She's going to be just fine. I don't know how to thank you enough. You were a true hero out there."

Cole patted her head somewhat awkwardly as she clung to him, and Meredith thought he looked embarrassed by the praise. "I'm just glad I was here when it happened. How did it happen?" he asked, a bit more sharply.

"She loosened her life jacket once she was out there. Said it was too restricting and she couldn't move. I don't know what we would have done without you." She burst into sobs all over again.

Meredith looked on as Cole consoled her for another moment, then extricated himself and went to check on the teenager.

She couldn't figure out why she was so desperate not to leave him now, but she didn't want to let him out of her sight. When he finished up a few minutes later and led her up the beach, looking much more like the strong and assured man she'd become familiar with, she wrapped her arms around him without thinking.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she murmured, tucking herself into his chest.

"I'm fine now. Worried about me, were you?" The cockiness was back, but she didn't care. She nodded against him, not wanting to let go. It was crazy, but she thought maybe extreme events caused these reactions in people. That's what she had to chalk it up to. She couldn't actually care this much about a man she didn't really know.

He guided her back to a chair that was secluded from most of the beach goers and sat down, pulling her onto his lap with his arms around her protectively.

"So, what were you saying before we were interrupted? Something along the lines of you don't want anything to do with me?"

She sat up and pinned him with her eyes.

"Maybe just a little," she admitted with a rueful smile.

"You can't resist me."

"Arrogant."

"So you've said," he teased. "Apparently with good reason."

Meredith had to laugh. "You never stop, do you?" But all the fight had gone out of her. Knowing she shouldn't but no longer caring, she leaned up to place a soft kiss on his lips. His arm tightened around her. It felt so good to be right there with him. She was about to deepen the kiss when she heard her brother's voice around the corner.

"Cole? They said you'd come over here."

They broke apart just as he rounded the corner.

"Jesus, man, I just heard. I don't know where we'd be right now without you."

Cole stood up. "Brandon, that never should have happened. There are some serious safety issues that need to be addressed."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. Not for the first time, Meredith wondered just what all was going on with the resort. Brandon worked tirelessly to bring it to the finest level, but it seemed as if things were going wrong at every turn.

"I'm just glad I was here. But you need someone on staff that can oversee this kind of stuff. Safety classes and all."