There's No Such Thing as Second Chances

Rescue

The grid search was not like what I expected. I thought we would be covering a lot more ground but it seemed like we weren't moving at all.

"Are we going to go any faster?" I yelled over at Porter and found myself getting more and more impatient.

"Not really the way to go. It's dark so we need to move slower so we don't miss anything. I know you want to find your wife, but this is the best way to do it"

I didn't tell him that she was my ex wife or that I left her for someone else, somehow I didn't think I'd get the same kindness from him if he knew.

"There" I saw something in the water and my heart started beating out of my chest. I swear to god it was a person "PORTER over there"

I pointed in the direction and he slowed the boat to a stop. 

He came out and grabbed the big light from me and started scanning the water.

"Holy shit" he whistled and ran back to the helm. He began to turn the boat around and steered it over in their direction.

There, floating on a piece of rubbish, was a person. Whether they were alive or dead was yet to be established.

"Hello, can you hear me" I yelled and watched for any movement but did not see any.

"Ok. I'm going to get as close as I can and lower the pulley. When I near them grab them and pull them on. Can you do this?" He asked in a highly excited voice.

I nodded my head, having a hard time swallowing. I don't think he actually expected for us to find anyone.

I made my way on to the pulley and we approached the floating object slowly.

"Hellooooo" I tried to get the persons attention but they weren't moving.

As we neared them I dressed myself in safety gear and hooked myself to the boat with its up rope. I wasn't the best swimmer so I was hoping I wasn't going to fall into the water.

The boat was almost touching the object so I leaned over and pulled it towards me.

I saw the person stirring and I recognized right away that it was not Charlie.

I manoeuvred the piece of wood so the person was just in my reach and started pulling them on to the pulley.

The person was not that big but I never carried dead weight before and it was a lot more difficult than I imagined.

After what seemed like forever I got them over and Porter pulled us up.

"Cmon. Help me bring them over here" he jumped onto the pulley and grabbed their legs while I put my arms under theirs and brought them on board.

He leaned down to check their pulse and breathing while I took in the figure before me.

The person was a woman well into their sixties or seventies and looked rough.

I knew what this meant right away.

"We have to bring her back, don't we?" I looked away trying to hide the tears that were now flowing freely.

"Yes, but as soon as the medics take her, we will be back out here. This is a good thing Derrick. If she's alive, there are others. Your wife is sure to be out here somewhere" he gave me a reassuring smile and made his way back to the steering wheel.

"I know, I know" I put on a brave face, "do you have extra blankets or anything to keep her warm?"

"Not anything more than what I already gave her" he frowned.

I took off my jacket and placed it over her and sat on the ground pulling her head on my lap.

I couldn't exactly cuddle her but wanted to give her some of my body warmth. 

My mind wandered to Charlie and I began to cry again.

She must be so scared, so cold, so lost.

If I didn't do this she would be home right now, cuddled on her favourite chair by the fireplace writing her next novel.

I would come home and she would have had dinner ready and we would sit and laugh and talk about our day, the neighbours, our friends.

"Did you hear about Fred and Lexie?" Charlie crinkled her nose at me and I knew this was going to be bad, "he was having an affair with their nanny. She came come early and found them in bed. At least they used the guest room"

"No way, that's horrible. Poor Lexie, but I never did like Fred. He acted like he was better than everyone else." I took a sip of my wine and tried to remember how the nanny looked like. Petit and blonde, I think. She was pretty hot but not worth the trouble of a divorce.

"Well not all men are as loyal as you" she got up and kissed my forehead before clearing the table.

That was the first year of our marriage.  I never imagined cheating on someone like her. She was perfect in my books.

Why did I hire Helena? I should have seen that I was putting myself in a bad situation.

Why would I invite someone like that into my life. It was like Fred and the nanny. She was there and made him feel desirable, wanted, needed.

You think to yourself. Just once. She won't find out. What she doesn't know won't hurt her....

...and then your mistress gets pregnant.