Out on a holiday with my boyfriend, Jack, and my good friend, Eva, a catastrophe occurred. As the floods came, we waited for the rescue helicopter to come.

As I fastened the safety rope, I noticed that my metal safety clip had been swapped for a plastic ring.

Climbing up the rope ladder, Jack said nonchalantly, "Eva's luggage is heavy. She needs another safety clip, so I gave her yours. You can wait for the next rescue."

I replied in a panic, pointing at the water level already past my chest, "But I can't swim!"

Jack replied irritatedly, "Naomi, stop causing a scene! You're a strong swimmer, what's a little time in the water? Eva is my boss's relative. If something happens to her, my promotion is gone. Why can't you understand that?"

"Which matters more? My life or her luggage?" I reached for the rope ladder when he kicked my hand away.

"I've studied the waters. The flood won't rise so quickly. It will at most be at the level of your neck. You won't die!"

I said nothing further. Watching the floods rise crazily, I quickly pressed my family's special alarm on my wrist.

"Didn't you say you couldn't swim? Why are you still toying around with that stupid thing?"

I told Jack Lewis about it before, but he refused to believe me. He still thought that I was lying to him.

I ignored him and pressed the emergency alarm.

The muddy waters were already past my chest. I could barely stand straight. Every wave brought dirt and other objects, causing me to slip.

Jack was already a third of the way up on the rope ladder. He carried a huge waterproof suitcase while shielding Eva Sanders in front of him, climbing up with difficulty.

Fastened upon Eva were two metal safety clips, glinting shinily.

"Jack, give me the safety clip back!" I raised my head and yelled, my voice hoarse and drowned out by the thunder of the helicopter blades.

Jack looked at me impatiently. "Naomi, enough! I've already told you that I'll come back for you on the next trip! Why are you being so unreasonable?"

Eva popped her head out and said sweetly, "Naomi, surely you don't mind? Remember how brave you were when you rescued Jack back then? Let us witness that brilliance again today."

A pang of guilt flashed across Jack's face at the mention of the past, but before he could say anything, Eva continued, "Jack has been promoted. Since you, Naomi, are still so out of touch with the world, the burden falls on me.

"In the trunk are all the gifts for Jack's colleagues. A promotion is a huge thing. He has to share his achievements with his colleagues. Am I right, Jack?"

"What a caring person you are," Jack said dotingly, his guilt long gone.

He added, "Naomi, Eva's right. We have to bring the gifts back. As a punishment, you'll have to wait here for us."

"Jack, it's not that I don't want to wait. The flood is coming soon, "I tried to explain, but Eva interjected.

"There aren't only gifts for the colleagues in the suitcase. There are also gifts for you. Don't complain if it gets wet."

Then, she deliberately shook the suitcase, 'accidentally' letting the waterproof bag with my documents and phone slip out, falling into the water down below.

"My belongings!" I yelped.

I tried to grab it, but a wave hit me in the face, forcing me to retreat while I accidentally choked on some water.

"Oh, no!" Eva yelled out exaggeratedly while winking at me.

"Naomi, my hand accidentally slipped. You won't blame me, right? You're such a good swimmer. Perhaps, you could even get it back."

I was coughing my lungs out, yet I glared at her.

Jack furrowed his brows. "It's just a stupid bag. What matters the most is you're safe. You should quickly find higher ground to wait for us. Don't cause us more trouble!"

I was so furious I chuckled. The muddy water was already up to my chin. I had to tiptoe to be able to breathe, yet I was the one causing trouble?

"Jack, I beg you. Pull me up! I can't hold on much longer!"

I had been in the cold waters the entire night. I was exhausted. If it were not for my strong will to leave, I would have given up a long time ago.

However, Jack was blaming me for causing a scene.

"Naomi, stop pretending. You were still swimming well the last time you rescued me. Stop pretending to be weak. Who are you putting on a show for? The water's just at your neck. You can just swim! Don't play the victim!"

Eva sneezed, and Jack instantly pulled her into his arms.

"Eva, are you alright? Have you caught a cold from being in water for too long?"

Eva feigned pushing Jack away. "I'm fine. I'm not that weak. Jack, don't do this. Naomi is watching us."

"Let her watch. You're her best friend. I should care about you. She, on the other hand, has been so petty on who should get rescued first."

Jack stressed on the last sentence, clearly saying it out loud for me to hear. What he did not know was that I completely lost my ability to swim after I rescued him.

He insisted on showing off and swimming out into the deep that day, but ended up being taken away by a strong current. His friends did not dare to rescue him. Only I, recklessly without thinking, plunged in to save him.

I pushed him with all my might, inching him close to the shore. At last, I finally managed to hauled him up to shore, but at that instant, a hidden current flung my calf toward a jagged rock.

My tendon tore on the spot.

The pang of agony emptied me of my strength and I started to drown. Had the lifeguards on the beach not found me and saved me in time, I would have been long dead.

The doctors said that the muscles and nerves on my leg had suffered irreparable damage. I could never swim with high-intensity again.

"Jack, I'm not lying to you! My leg hit a jagged rock the last time I saved you! I could no longer swim!" I shrieked with all my remaining strength.

Jack noticed how pale I had gone. He felt that something was off with me. Just when he wanted to pull me up, Eva pretended to be shocked and covered her mouth.

"My God, Naomi, you were hurt? How could I not know about this? That day when I picked you up from the hospital, the doctors said that you only had a sprain and all you needed to do was rest.

"You even said that thanks to Jack, you had gone through a near-death experience and you could brag about it for the rest of your life."

At that, Jack retracted his feet once more. "Naomi, continue with your lies then. Your leg was hurt? You really would come up with lies just so that we would rescue you first."

"Jack, don't blame Naomi. After all, she's your girlfriend. It's only normal she feels this way seeing you save me but not her. It's all my fault. If I didn't buy so many gifts for your promotion, Naomi wouldn't have to wait."

Eva clutched onto Jack tighter while trying to so-call justify my reaction.

Jack patted her on the back in consolation while turning to me, rebuking, "You hear that? Naomi, I was wrong about you! Eva is so much more understanding and mature! Can't you be more like her? Stop causing a scene. It's annoying!"

Perhaps realizing that he had lost his cool, he added, "Naomi, I'm only doing this for our future. As long as I please Eva, and once I get promoted, I'll let you buy anything you want. Why are you so stubbornly focusing on a safety clip?

"Just wait for a while. I've studied the water. It won't rise so quickly. Once we head back, I'll properly make it up to you."

I could barely hold on any longer, clinging to a fractured length of eaves floating beside me and scrambling toward the rope ladder. The cold rungs of the ladder were right before my eyes.

I reached out, almost about to touch it when Eva's foot slipped, stepping hard right on the back of my hand.

An excruciating pain shot right through me. I yelped. The force knocked me backward and I plunged into the water completely.

"Oh, no! Naomi, I didn't know you were below. Are you alright? Come on, now. Stop fooling around. Otherwise, Jack would get worried."

I thrashed desperately in the muddy waters while Eva and Jack looked on as if they were watching a spectacle.

The will to survive drove me to a frantic struggle. I paddled as hard as I could with my hands and feet. I clawed my way back to the eaves just right before the current could sweep me away.

When I popped my head out of the surface, gasping for air, I heard bawls of laughter coming from above.

"See. I told you Naomi could swim. She's just joking around."

Jack looked relaxed. "Alright, Naomi. I know you like joking about, but this isn't the time to do so. Eva and I will head up first."

Then, they continued climbing up.

As the rope ladder went further away from me, I yelled with all my might, "Wait up! There's still someone here!"

Eva turned to look at me, her eyes gleaming viciously.

She rocked the rope ladder as she moved up. Her foot struck a loose tile on the neighboring roof.

The tile, covered with mud, came hurling toward my face. I immediately jerked my head aside, but it still managed to graze my ear.

Blood streamed down my face.

In a flinch, I had let go, and the flood dragged me under again.

A throbbing pain spread from my ears as I choked on dirty, muddy waters. My lungs were burning.

Instinct to survive overruled anything else. My arms flailed wildly, finally grabbing onto the corner of the eaves poking above water.

My fingernails were cracked, flesh mashed and raw, but I could not care less.

I poked my head out of the water and gasped for breath once more. Blood streamed down my face, mixing into the muddy water.

Jack, on the rope ladder, saw my face. He stopped in his tracks and said, "Eva, I think something's wrong with Naomi."

"Jack, I-I'm feeling a little dizzy. My hands and legs are numb."

Eva's feeble voice immediately interrupted his thoughts. She slumped onto Jack, causing the rope ladder to sway.

Jack looked concerned. He instantly hugged her tightly, comforting her, "Eva, don't worry. Hold on tight to me. We'll be up soon."

Jack turned to look at me, a little worried.

Eva buried herself in Jack's arms and looked at me, smiling.

"Naomi, you've put on a good act, even using blood. You had me believe you for a split moment. Don't you think your joke has gone too far? You've scared Jack. You should be punished when we get back."

Jack's gaze at me instantly changed.

"We can just ignore her. She's doing just fine, and her acting is superb. She's still strong. If not, how could she so quickly hold on to the corner of the roof?

"Eva, I'll take you up. Naomi's doing alright. She won't die." He turned around and hugged Eva even tighter.

I was about to lose it as the waters were at my chin. They were soon rising above my nose.

I grabbed onto the eaves and begged them once more. "I'm begging you to take me with you. At least, take me to a shallower place. Get the helicopter to go slower. I'll just hold onto the ladder. Wouldn't that work?"

I tried to grab the rope when Eva screamed and buried herself in Jack's arms.

"Ah! Naomi, don't shake it! I'm really afraid!" Eva whimpered.

She added, "Naomi, don't be mistaken. I'm not hugging Jack on purpose. I'm just really afraid! The ladder is swaying so much!"

Jack held her tightly before turning to yell at me, "Naomi, are you nuts?! Are you trying to get Eva killed too? She's your best friend! Besides, if anything were to happen to her, Mr. Chapman will kill me!"