Armand glanced at the man and took over the water immediately. He opened the lid and passed it to Theresa. He called her in a low voice, “Theresa, wake up. Have some water.”
Theresa didn’t respond at all. No matter how Armand called her or shook her body, she was still in a coma.
The man in the camouflage uniform reminded him, “Pinch the area between her nose and upper lip.”
Armand passed the water bottle into the other hand and pinched her.
After a moment, Theresa woke up but still looked quite weak as if she would faint again. Armand put the water next to her lips and whispered, “Drink some water.”
Theresa’s dried-out lips were creased. As soon as they parted, the skin on the surface cracked, and blood oozed. Her throat was dried out as if it was on fire. It had burned all the water on her body. Suddenly, she tasted the water, starting to gulp it down.
They could hear the sounds when she was gulping.
There was half bottle only, which couldn’t completely ease her thirst, but she had some energy slightly.
“We came here in groups of two. When I fell in here, my colleague was next to me, so I’m sure he will inform others to rescue us soon. Please don’t worry,” said the man in the camouflage uniform.
Upon hearing his voice, Theresa turned around slowly, only to find another man there. Now she understood where the water was from.
“We’ll be rescued. Hang on!” Armand said in excitement while holding her.
Theresa blinked. Her curled eyelashes slightly shook. Through the dimmed light, she could tell how excited Armand was.
Recalling what he had said to her, she lowered down her eyelids gently.
Right then, someone was shouting at the entrance of the cave, asking if anyone was down there.
The man in the camouflage uniform stood up and looked up to speak back to the entrance. Soon, a rope was tossed down from above. They were told to pull the rope when they were able to grab it, so people above would know the length and stop tossing it down.
The man in the camouflage uniform was waiting there. Soon, the rope was tossed down. He looked at Armand and said, “You guys go up first.”
Armand grabbed the shirt that he took off to put it on Theresa. After she was decent, he carried her to the entrance. The man in the camouflage uniform grabbed the role and walked to Armand. He checked on Theresa and said, “She’s quite weak. When they pull her up, it would be difficult for her to take care of herself. Why don’t you go up together?”
Armand nodded in agreement.
The man tied the rope on Armand’s waist and reminded him, “Cling your back to the rock as tightly as possible. Put her in front of you to reduce the injuries on her.”
Theresa had wounds on her feet and legs and looked quite weak. Obviously, she needed to be taken care of. Otherwise, her condition would become worse.
Armand understood. The man in the camouflage uniform pulled the rope to notice people above that they were ready.
There were only three people above. When they were pulling, they felt that there must be more than one person on the rope, so they called another two over to pull them up together.
Armand’s upper body was naked. When his back was rubbing against the rock, he heard the slight sounds. He was fine in the beginning. However, when it lasted long, he felt the burning pain from his back.
He just creased his brows slightly and didn’t pay much attention. All he wanted was to go up and send Theresa to the hospital as soon as possible.
After a while, the people above saw them. They moved the rope to the middle so that Armand’s back wouldn’t rub against the rock again. Boyce watched them be pulled up. When arriving at the entrance, he bent over to take Theresa from Armand’s arms. “Let me take care of her.”
Armand looked up at him. In silence, he passed Theresa to Boyce.
With others’ help, Armand came up from the entrance of the cave. On the ground, he untied the rope in a hurry. The team leader said, “Let me do it. You can’t do it.”
They had special ways to tie the rope, so ordinary people couldn’t untie it. The knot was quite unique.
Armand urged him anxiously, “Please hurry.”
The leader didn’t speak. He only showed Armand how fast it would be by his practical action. After the rope was untied, Armand went to Boyce and reached out. “Give her to me.”
Boyce cast him a glance, only to find that he was weak as well. There was a certain distance from there to the car, so he was afraid that Armand wouldn’t make it when carrying Theresa in his arms.
“I can do it.” Armand knew what Boyce was hesitating about.
Since he said so, Boyce couldn’t insist. Right now, Armand must perform well in Theresa’s presence. While Boyce was about to hand Theresa back to Armand, she said in a weak tone, “Could you please carry me out?”
She looked at Boyce.
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