I No Longer Needed My Husband to Save Me

To support Gavin Cooper’s work, I waited in our first-floor home with our son, who was burning with a high fever, while the hurricane raged outside. Yet as the head of the local emergency response team, he gave the last remaining life ring to his childhood sweetheart, Wendy Harper, on the tenth floor. When I voiced my dissatisfaction, he berated me over the phone. “Luna, you’re my wife. I can’t abuse my position for personal gain. I have to set an example. “But Wendy is different. She’s a widow raising a young daughter, so I have a responsibility to make sure they’re protected.” Once again, his argument about putting the greater good first won me over. That was until the floodwaters swallowed the first floor, and I hurriedly called the command center while holding my barely breathing son in my arms. The person on the other end apologized before informing me, “Ma’am, Mr. Cooper registered Miss Harper and her daughter as the first people to be evacuated. You and your son were placed in the final group.” As I watched my son slowly stop breathing, my heart turned to ash. “System, I accept your recommendation to leave this world with my son.” “Gavin, my son and I will never need you to save us again.” Chapter 1 “There’s no need to send a rescue boat to the first floor of Building Three. Concentrate our resources on Building Five.” Gavin Cooper’s calm voice came through the rescue team’s radio. I floated above the floodwaters, holding my son’s hand as I listened in silence. “But Mr. Cooper, your wife called earlier and said the water had already risen to her neck.” The young rescue worker sounded anxious. “You just joined the team, Jack. You don’t know Luna well. She tends to exaggerate.” Gavin sighed helplessly. “She knows I’m on the front lines, so she deliberately made things sound worse. She wants me to make an exception and rescue her first. “I’m in charge of emergency response. If I give my own family special treatment, how can I expect anyone else to respect the rules?” Jack fell silent for a moment. “But your wife said Teddy has a high fever…” “I know Teddy’s health. He’ll be fine after taking some medicine and getting some sleep,” Gavin interrupted. “Wendy Harper is raising her daughter alone in Building Five, and her daughter has asthma. She can’t afford any unnecessary distress. “Take the rescue boat to Building Five immediately. That’s an order.” The radio went dead. Jack sighed and had no choice but to turn the boat toward Building Five. The boat’s propeller churned up the water as it passed over the bodies of my son and me. Our bodies were trapped between the living room sofa and the ceiling. Teddy’s favorite superhero toy floated on the water beside the half-eaten bowl of spaghetti I hadn’t had time to finish. “Mom, why wouldn’t Dad let the police come save us?” Teddy looked up at me, confusion written across his pale little face. I crouched down and stroked his insubstantial hair. “Because Dad had someone more important to save.” “But I’m freezing, and it’s so dark in the water.” His lips trembled as he pouted. I couldn’t bear to see him like that, so I immediately summoned the system. “System, open the passage to another world.” The system’s mechanical voice rang out. “Host, the passage is ready. You may leave at any time.” But Teddy suddenly grabbed the hem of my clothes. “Mom, I want to see Dad one more time. I want to ask him if he stopped loving me because I was a bad boy.” The faint hope in my son’s eyes made my chest ache. Even in death, he was still thinking about the father who was always preaching about the greater good. “System, delay our departure by two days.” “Understood, host. Permission to remain has been granted. The countdown is forty-eight hours.” I held Teddy’s hand as we drifted with the current toward the temporary shelter. The shelter had been set up inside the city sports arena, which was brightly lit. Gavin stood in front of the command station in his raincoat, checking the evacuation list. Wendy sat beside him, wrapped in a blanket as she held her daughter in her arms. “Gavin, am I causing you trouble? If you hadn’t come to save my daughter and me, wouldn’t you be with Luna right now?” Gavin set down his pen and turned to look at her. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. You and your daughter are a priority case. Saving you was part of my job. “Luna is an adult, and Teddy is six years old. Even if they were trapped on the first floor, they could have climbed onto a cabinet and saved themselves.” He picked up a cup of hot water from the table and handed it to Wendy. “Drink this. I don’t want you catching a chill.” I watched the scene in silence. That was the blanket I had washed and put away in the closet two days earlier. Before Gavin left, I had packed it in a waterproof bag and asked him to take it with him, worried that he would get cold while working overnight on the front lines. Now it was wrapped around Wendy. “But wasn’t Teddy running a fever?” Wendy accepted the cup with both hands and asked cautiously. “It was only a fever. It wasn’t going to kill him.” Gavin’s voice remained indifferent. “Luna is just too pampered. She thinks the whole world has to revolve around her.” “I’ll have a word with her once the floodwaters go down.” Teddy suddenly tightened his grip on my hand. “Mom, did Dad stop caring about me because he doesn’t love me?” Chapter 2 I pulled Teddy into my arms, unsure how to comfort him. Gavin took a medicine box from his pocket. It contained Teddy’s spare fever medication. “Wendy, take this, just in case.” Gavin pressed the medicine into Wendy’s hands. It was the fever medication I had begged Gavin to bring back with him. He hadn’t returned, and he gave the lifesaving medicine to someone else. But it was already too late for Teddy. “Mr. Cooper, the water level around Building Three has risen again.” A woman in charge of the emergency supplies hurried over, looking flustered. “The first floor is completely flooded. Should we send someone over to check on them?” Gavin frowned, a flash of displeasure crossing his eyes. “I already said Building Three isn’t our concern. “Luna knew the water would rise. She’s perfectly capable of taking Teddy to the second-floor stairwell to stay safe.” The woman hesitated. “But I tried calling your wife earlier, and her phone was unreachable.” “She turned it off on purpose because she’s angry with me.” Gavin let out a cold laugh, completely certain of himself. “She pulls this every time I get busy with work. Just ignore her. The more attention you give her, the more she’ll carry on.” He turned to Wendy, and his voice instantly softened. “Wendy, are you hungry? I’ll have someone bring us two boxed meals.” Wendy shook her head and put on a considerate expression. “I’m not hungry. Supplies are limited, so save them for people who need them more.” Admiration appeared in Gavin’s eyes. “See? I wish Luna were even half as sensible as you. She only cares about her own little corner of the world. She has no sense of the bigger picture.” The woman standing nearby frowned deeply. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed her words. I held Teddy’s hand and stood in front of them. Teddy reached out his small hand, trying to touch Gavin’s face. “Dad, Mom wasn’t angry with you. Her phone fell into the water.” His hand passed straight through Gavin’s body without touching anything. Teddy froze, staring at his own translucent palm, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Mom, Dad can’t hear me.” I pulled him gently into my arms and patted his back softly. “It’s okay. We don’t need him anymore anyway.” Just then, the landline on the command desk rang. “Mr. Cooper, we were patrolling near Building Three and found a phone.” “There’s a photo of you with your family inside. It must belong to your wife.” Gavin’s expression darkened. “Where did you find it?” “Outside the first floor of Building Three. It was hanging from a tree branch beside the security bars.” Gavin was silent for two seconds before letting out a derisive scoff. “She really knows how to put on a show. She even threw her phone out. Forget it. She’s probably watching you from the second floor. “Take the patrol boat to Building Eight. There are still several elderly residents waiting to be evacuated.” The call ended. Gavin rubbed his forehead, looking exhausted. Wendy thoughtfully walked behind him and massaged his shoulders. “Gavin, you look exhausted. Why don’t you rest for a while?” “I’m fine. I’m not tired.” Gavin patted the back of her hand. “As long as you and your daughter are safe, this little bit of hard work is nothing.” I watched their familiar interaction, but I no longer felt anything. In the past, I would have started a huge fight with him over details like these. He always accused me of being petty and reminded me that Wendy was a pitiful single mother, telling me to show more compassion. Now, I no longer had to wear myself down over such pointless nonsense. “System, how much time is left?” “Forty-six hours, host.” I nodded and led Teddy to a corner, where we sat down. Chapter 3 The sky gradually brightened, and the rain finally began to ease. The water level started to recede slowly. More and more survivors arrived at the shelter, filling it with cries of relief and grief. Gavin hadn’t slept all night, and dark stubble covered his chin. He was arranging the day’s rescue operations. “Today’s priorities are pumping out the water and clearing the mud.” He pointed to several locations on the map. “Send both high-powered pumps to Building Five first.” Jack voiced an objection. “Mr. Cooper, Building Five is on higher ground, so the flooding isn’t serious there.” “Building Three is in the lowest area, and the first floor is still underwater. We should pump the water out of Building Three first.” Gavin didn’t even look up as he refuted him. “Building Five may be on higher ground, but important community records are stored in its basement. “Wendy also has many belongings left by her late husband in her home. If they’re ruined by the flood, it would be devastating for her. “Building Three only has old furniture. If it gets damaged, we can apply for some government assistance later.” Jack’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “But your wife and Teddy are still in Building Three! What if they didn’t make it upstairs and are still trapped on the first floor?” Gavin’s face turned ice-cold. “Jack, are you telling me how to do my job? I told you Luna wouldn’t be that stupid. She knows how to stay safe. Going to Building Three now would be a waste of public resources. “I’m in charge here. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. Do as I say!” Jack gritted his teeth and turned away to carry out the orders. I watched Gavin’s self-righteous profile and found it almost laughable. He was always like this, using the most noble-sounding excuses to justify the most blatant favoritism. Community records? Personal belongings? To Gavin, even a single photo album belonging to Wendy’s late husband mattered more than the lives of Teddy and me. Teddy leaned against my leg, no longer crying. He stared quietly at Gavin as the love and admiration he had once felt for his father slowly faded away. “Mom, Dad said we were wasting resources.” Teddy’s voice was barely a whisper. “If I’m not worth saving, does that mean I’m trash?” My chest tightened, and I crouched down to pull him into my arms. “You’re Mommy’s precious boy—the most precious boy in the world. Your dad is blind. We don’t need him anymore.” Teddy nodded obediently. “Okay. I only need Mommy.” By noon, most of the water had been pumped out of Building Five. Wendy followed Gavin into the basement with her daughter. She rummaged through a cardboard box and pulled out a photo album. “Thank goodness. The pictures weren’t damaged.” Tears of joy filled Wendy’s eyes as she hugged the album tightly. Gavin stood beside her and let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I knew pumping out the water here first was the right decision.” He took out his phone and glanced at the screen. There were still no missed calls from me. Gavin snorted and slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Luna has gone too far this time. She couldn’t even send me a message to let me know she was safe. Once I’m done with all this, I’m going to make her write a formal apology.” Wendy wiped away her tears and gently tried to placate him. “Gavin, don’t be angry with Luna. She may simply be terrified. When you go home, make sure you comfort her.” “Why should I comfort her?” Gavin frowned. “She’s spoiled because I’ve indulged her for too long. The slightest problem sends her into a tantrum. This time, I’m not going to be the one to apologize first. She needs to realize what she did wrong.” I stood behind them and watched Gavin’s confident expression. He was certain I was still huddled in the second-floor stairwell, trembling as I held our son. He was certain that all it would take was a crook of his finger, and I would obediently come running home. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the truth. He had personally locked the first-floor security door from the outside. He said that we needed to be extra careful during a hurricane to prevent break-ins. When the floodwaters surged inside, the pressure was so powerful that I couldn’t open the door. Chapter 4 At three that afternoon, the pumping operation at Building Three finally began. Only a few low-powered pumps remained, so the water receded at a painfully slow pace. Gavin ate a boxed meal at the shelter and changed into a pair of rubber boots. He finally decided to return to Building Three and check on me. “I’m going to see if Luna’s finished throwing a tantrum.” He said it casually to one of his colleagues. Teddy and I floated slowly behind him. The floodwater in Building Three had receded to knee level. Mud and debris covered the area, filling the air with a foul, fishy stench. Gavin reached the security door on the first floor and furrowed his brows. The lock was caked with mud. He jabbed at it with his key in disgust for a long while before finally managing to open the door. “Luna, stop hiding and come out.” Gavin pushed the door open, his voice edged with impatience. “The water’s gone down. How much longer are you planning to stay upstairs?” The apartment was deathly silent, broken only by the steady drip of water from the ceiling. Gavin waded inside. The living room was a complete mess. The sofa had overturned in the water, and the television lay smashed on the floor. He glanced at the indoor staircase leading to the second floor. It was empty. There was no sign of Teddy or me. “Luna, have you completely lost your mind?” Gavin raised his voice, anger creeping into his tone. “Where did you take Teddy? Did you go running back to your parents’ house? “I’m warning you—if you dare leave today, don’t bother coming back!” He shouted and walked toward the bedroom. The bedroom door was half open. Gavin kicked it wide. “Come out!” But his voice abruptly cut off when he saw what was inside. The bedroom window had shattered, its glass scattered across the floor. When the floodwaters rose over my head, I had used the last of my strength to smash it, hoping someone would hear my cries for help. In the corner beneath the window, two bodies floated in the water, tangled together.