She couldn't see anything but she refused to give up. She came back up to the surface for air and then dove down again scanning under the water for any sign of Paulo. She remembered he had on bright red swim trunks so she searched for any signs of red under the water.

She swam out farther and dove down again, looking around when she caught a slight glimpse of something red off in the distance. She kicked her feet and swam with all her might to get over to it and as she got closer she could see that it was Paulo! She got all the way over to him and saw that he had been knocked unconscious by the wave.

She pulled on his arm but he was stuck tight to something. She saw that the cord that had been around his ankle attached to the surfboard had gotten tangled in some logs and branches under the water.

She fought her way back up to the surface to take a deep breath and frantically dove back down to Paulo, putting her mouth over his to give him a breath since he had been deprived of oxygen so long. That would buy him a little time. She swam down to his ankle and pulled as hard as she could to loosen the strap that had him caught on the tree. After several hard tugs it finally broke free and she grabbed her arm around his chest and started kicking her feet hard towards the surface but he was heavy.

Adrenaline was rushing through her in that moment giving her strength and all she knew was she couldn't let her husband die. She finally made it up to the surface and gasped with her lungs burning as she took in a deep breath and panted.

She leaned back with Paulo back against her front, hooking an arm under his and across his chest. She used her other arm to pull through the water as hard as she could to propel them backwards towards the shore.

She kicked her feet as hard as she could and paddled with her free arm, battling against the pull of the strong waves that wanted to carry them both back out to sea. A tall wave crashed really hard over them pushing them back under the water, and her grip on Paulo loosened for a minute but she was able to get it back.

She kept fighting and as she got a little closer to the beach she had a rush of adrenaline that helped her fight the rest of the way and she pulled him up onto the sand. His lips were starting to turn blue and she pressed her fingers into his neck and didn't feel a pulse, so she knew she didn't have much time. She leaned his head back, pinched his nose and breathed really hard into his mouth and then started doing chest compressions.

She pinched his nose and breathed into his mouth again and saw his chest rise as it filled with air. She put her hands together and pushed on his chest in hard thrusts to get his heart to start pumping as tears rolled down her face.

"Come on Paulo! Please!" she screamed. "Please come back to me! You can't die!" she pleaded as she did more chest compressions with tears streaming down her cheeks before giving him another breath.

"Paulo! Come back to me! Please!" she sobbed as she did compressions and breathed into his mouth again.

Suddenly he splurted and water came out of his mouth and he coughed and gasped for air. She turned him on his side to help the water come out easier and he coughed and gasped some more.

"Paulo!" she cried out happily. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

He blinked a few times with a distant look in his eyes before he finally looked up at her with a confused look on his face.

"What happened?" he asked hoarsely, as he slowly sat up.

She didn't even answer. She just threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.

"I thought I had lost you," she cried. "You scared me so bad," she sobbed, as she hugged him even tighter and buried her face against his neck.

She finally pulled back from the hug and Paulo was sitting there with a dazed expression on his face, clearly still out of it.

Right then a heavy downpour of rain started and she yelled, "We need to get you inside," as she stood and helped him onto his unsteady feet. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and put her arm around his waist to help him walk as they were pelted with stinging rain. He was quite a bit taller and bigger than her so helping him walk was pretty difficult but they finally made it to the back porch and she slid the sliding door open and he was about to collapse on the bed.

"Oh no. Let's get you into a hot shower to warm up," she told him, directing him towards the bathroom. She could hear the rain pinging against the metal roof and the wind howling through the open windows.

She sat him down onto the toilet and closed the bathroom door before starting up the shower and making the water hot. Steam quickly started to fill the tiny room and then she helped him off of the toilet and into the shower. She went to leave and he grabbed her hand and said, "Will you stay in here with me?"

She looked up into his hazel eyes and for the first time she saw warmth in them. She hesitated before quietly saying "Ok" and sliding the shower door closed behind her.

They both stood there under the spray of the hot water in silence, her still in her bikini and him in his swim trunks.

"I thought a hot shower might make you feel a little better," she said, looking down at the floor of the shower.

"You were right. I'm starting to come out of it," he said with an exhale, raising his arms and running his hands through his hair.

"What happened?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is getting hit really hard by a wave and then everything just went dark."

"I saw you get hit by that wave and then your broken surfboard came up but you didn't so I knew something was wrong. I grabbed a life buoy and swam out to where I saw you go under. It was so hard to find you down there because it was cloudy but I finally spotted your red swim trunks and I saw that you were unconscious and tangled around a tree under the water. I gave you a breath and it took a minute but I finally got you loose and started pulling you towards the shore. It was really hard because the waves were so strong, but I got you to the beach and then I gave you CPR."

"Wow," he said, looking at her in awe with soft eyes. "You saved my life."

She looked down at the floor of the shower again, feeling self conscious and softly said, "Yeah."

Then she was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. It was awkward at first with her arms straight down and her standing there stiffly but then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, laying her head against his chest.

He held her there in his arms under the spray of the hot water and whispered, "Thank you."

Hearing that made her eyes burn and she sniffled. "I thought I had lost you," she choked out. She laid her head against his chest and started to sob and he rubbed her back to comfort her.

"I'm sorry I put you through that," he said softly. "I should've listened to you and gotten out when the waves started getting so rough."

She lifted her head and looked up into his eyes and said, "It's alright. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I am now," he said looking down at her. "Thanks to you."

He exhaled, pulling her into another hug and holding her against him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

After a while, he said, "I'm ready to get out. I think I need to get off my feet and rest for a bit. I've got a pounding heading and I feel like I got hit by a semi truck."

"Ok," she nodded, shutting the water off as he opened the shower door. He grabbed a towel and dried off and she did the same before going out to the bedroom. He didn't even hesitate to peel off his wet swim trunks in front of her and he dried off before pulling on some boxer briefs from his suitcase.

He climbed into the bed with a sigh as his head hit the pillow, pulling the covers around him and closing his eyes. It was obvious that he was wiped out.

She dropped her towel and got dressed in a nightgown before slipping into the bed beside him. She could hear him breathing heavily because he was already asleep. She was so grateful that he was okay that she wrapped an arm around his waist and snuggled her body up against his. The sound of the rain hitting the metal roof was actually kind of peaceful and pretty soon she was asleep too.