“Twenty-three-year-old Harriett Hardy boards the yacht owned by her fiancé, Richard Templeton, in 1938. The ship disappeared when it entered the Bermuda Triangle on July 26. The ship and occupants have never been located. Miss Hardy was an outspoken believer in the Bermuda Triangle and feared going through it.”
I looked closer at the picture. The woman was the same doctor I had seen on the ship. The one I kept running into, with the red hair and green eyes.
Dr. Harriett Hardy.
Fifteen
I slammed the book shut and closed my eyes. Sleep and dreams would never be as bad as the past three days had been. I willed myself to sleep to escape my horrible life.
I was awakened by the door opening, some time later. The book with Harriett’s picture still sat next to me on the bed. I focused on the door, wondering what tragedy was walking in now.
Jessica frowned at me. “You okay?” She came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “You never came back.” She put her hand on my head to check my temperature.
I sighed. “Joey said Marcus had sex with some girl under the stairs. You don’t need a guy like that, Jessica. What are you doing with him?”
She took my hand. “I know, Autumn. Why am I bothering with Marcus?” she asked, more to herself than to me. “Must be some kind of vacation psychosis.” She chuckled.
Vacation psychosis? Did that exist? Maybe that was my problem. “What’s vacation psychosis?”
She laughed. “A joke, honey. Kidding.”
Oh, well. “You never told me what Joey did to Mom. Why does she hate him?”
Jessica sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t you remember? You were there.” She shook her head. “He was very upset that his dad started dating Mom so soon after his own mom had, you know. He thought his dad was betraying her memory or something.” She leaned over and straightened up the brochure collection on the table. “He tried so hard to break them up that Skip stopping seeing Mom. And Mom was devastated.” She got up and started digging through her clothes. “Anyway, it all ended fine because they got back together and Joey calmed down, but she’s never been able to let that go. We were all miserable for a while because of him.” She shrugged. “But it’s in the past. We can’t change it, right?” She sighed. “I’m going to the comedy show for a little fun after all this seriousness. Want to come?”
I shook my head. “I’m just going to hang around, maybe get something to eat. Have fun at the show.”
Jessica left for the comedy show, and I got dressed. I understood why Joey had done what he did when he was younger, in this reality. The thought of any other man besides my dad, especially after he’d just died, with Mom made me cringe. Dad loved her with all his heart. Picking someone new was the equivalent of going to the pet store and picking out a new puppy the day the last one died.
I couldn’t say I blamed him for his attempt at breaking them up. I might have—would have—done the same thing when it was new.
But now, I only wanted to see Mom happy. If a new guy treated her right and loved her, I’d be fine with that. And it looked like Joey had gotten over his selfishness, too.
Thank God.
My stomach grumbled. When was the last time I’d eaten? Taking my dinner to go from the buffet line seemed like a great idea. Eating out by the pool, alone, seemed even better. After I got a roll and chicken noodle soup, I headed outside and made my way to a table near the railing, so I could listen to the sounds of the ocean as the ship sped toward home.
And away from the Bermuda Triangle and this mess I’d been living.
Quiet voices near the pool disturbed the silence. I looked over to see Joey and Marcus arguing. Both of them stood stiffly, arms ready to throw some punches.
I left my food and walked over to them. When they saw me, they stopped talking.
“Guys. What’s going on?” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Nothing, Autumn. Go get some rest,” Joey said. “We were just, um, talking.”
They glared at each other. “Are we done?” Marcus glared at Joey.
“No. Later.” Joey stepped toward me. “Come on, Autumn.” He grabbed my hand to lead me away.
Jessica walked around the corner and saw the three of us.
“What’s going on, guys? I’m all dressed up with no place to go. Anyone up for the comedy show?”
They both stared at her. I got it that she was beautiful, but the minute she showed up I no longer existed. After both of them had been chasing me before, the way they ignored me now shot down my ego with a bazooka.
Joey dropped my hand. “I was just helping Autumn to the cabin. She needs some rest.”
“Why don’t you help her with that, and I’ll take Jessica to the club,” Marcus said. He slipped his arm around her waist and turned her toward the elevators.
Joey tugged on my shirt lightly. “Come on back to the cabin, Autumn.”
I turned to him. The pure and innocent look on his face hit me in the gut. Joey didn’t deserve the way I’d been treating him since January. He really was different than I’d thought. He was nice. He was sweet. He was one of the last honest guys on the planet.
I was staggered at the realization that Joey meant something to me. And now, with this cancer, I had no time left to act on it.
I lost my grip on the railing and almost fell. He caught me by the arms and steadied me.
“What’s the matter?”
I grabbed the railing again. “I really don’t care about resting, Joey.” A tear slid down my cheek. “I’m as good as gone. If we don’t get home soon, I’ll die.” I looked back at the ocean and the darkness beyond it. “I’m sure of it.”
He took my face in his hands. “Autumn, you know how much I care about you. Please don’t talk like that. Even if you don’t care about me, too, I want you to get better.” He dropped his hands from my face and slid them down my neck to my shoulders. “For you, for your mom. For Jessica.”
I tried to escape his grip. I didn’t want to hear any more, but he held me tight. “Joey, I don’t know why you care about me so much after the way I’ve treated you.”
“Autumn Rayne, please. If you think there’s a chance for us, even the tiniest chance, tell me. I don’t care that you’re sick. I just need to know if we can be together.”
More tears spilled over my cheeks. I didn’t know if my heart could take Joey on. After spending so much time pushing everyone away, I didn’t know how to let someone in.
Jessica ran over to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from him. “I walk away for ten seconds and turn to see her in tears.” Marcus followed behind her, asking her when they were going to the club. Ignoring him, she continued talking to me. “What’s going on? Why are you crying?” She glared at Joey as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “What did you do to her?”
Joey and I stared at each other. Jessica reached out and shook my arm. “God, Autumn, answer me! What’s wrong?”
I released Joey’s gaze and looked at Jessica. “I don’t want to continue the medication. My life is over anyway, so why bother?” Maybe taking a tumble over the ship like Joey had would end my worries. “Just let me live my last days without all the tubes and IV bags.” As I spoke the words, I realized what I was now living—Mom’s life. IVs. Liquid life. Bed rest. The final stop? A coffin, just like Dad, if I didn’t escape the Triangle before it was too late.
She narrowed her eyes at Joey. “What the hell did you say to her?” She put her hands on her hips. “Giving our parents grief wasn’t enough for you? You have to torture my sister, too? Forget the club, Marcus. I’m taking Autumn back to the room.”
Marcus stood next to Jessica and glared at Joey. Joey planted his feet, readying for the fight that appeared sure to happen.
Marcus opened his mouth, but Joey cut him off. “Stay out of this, Marcus. You aren’t part of this family.”
Jessica pulled me behind her toward the elevators. “Let them work it out. I
don’t want you to get hurt if things get bad. I’ll come back and check on them.”
I stared at them as she dragged me away and around the corner, stumbling as I fought with myself over whether I should go with Jessica or see what was happening between the guys.
“Wait, Jessica.” I stepped up to the corner and peeked around. “I just want to hear what’s going on.”
“Forget them, honey. You need some rest. Come with me.”
As we turned to go, I heard them arguing and stopped. Marcus’s voice floated toward me.
“…isn’t she your sister? You know, that’s kind of sick.” He pushed Joey. “Incest is disgusting. What’s the matter? Can’t find a girl who isn’t related to you? Rayne deserves someone better. Someone with money and a way to take care of her.” He looked Joey up and down. “That, my friend, is not you.”
Joey pushed Marcus up against the rail. They struggled as they both fought to get control of the other. In a tangle of bulging muscles and heavy breathing, they scuffled dangerously close to the edge.
As I watched, I noticed the railing they were fighting against had a gate that was starting to give way. I screamed from where I stood. “The gate’s opening! Look out!”
With my stupid illness slowing me down, I got to them just in time to see the gate swing open. Joey and Marcus tumbled over the edge, a jumble of arms and legs struggling against gravity. I heard screams as they fell, voices that were swallowed up in the dark night.
I looked over the edge. Jessica ran up behind me, put her arms around my shoulders, and gasped.
Joey and Marcus lay motionless in a heap on the deck below.
Sixteen
“Oh God, oh God, no!” Jessica screamed. Her words were sucked up by the wind.
I grabbed her arm. “We have to do something, Jessica! We have to help them! Let’s go!”
She yanked me away from the edge and ran to the pool area and found the stairs, dragging me behind her.
“Help! My friends just fell over a rail! They’re hurt!” I screamed, but no one was around to hear my cries. Where the hell was everyone?
We bounded down the stairs to the site of the fall. It felt like hours, but we must have only been away from the ledge above for a minute or two.
Joey and Marcus remained motionless. I couldn’t bring myself to walk over to them to check if they were alive. Death was not something I was good at handling. Especially with the reminder of Dad.
Joey lay on the deck on his back with Marcus slumped across his stomach. Joey’s right arm rested next to him, but his left arm was hidden under Marcus’s body. Joey’s legs jutted out straight from under Marcus.
Blood pooled under Joey’s head.
A lot of blood.
Marcus’s body seemed to have had the better deal, having landed on top of Joey. But his face had obviously kissed the deck. His hair flopped over his cheek, so I couldn’t see how much damage he’d taken, but his head twisted at an odd angle from his neck.
I froze about ten feet from them. Jessica ran to them, kneeling next to the heap of arms and legs that were spread out and bleeding.
She placed a finger on each of their necks and blew out a breath. “It’s okay, Autumn. They’re both breathing. Come here. Help me.”
Though my legs felt like they were made of cement, I made my way toward the bodies. Blood and broken bones didn’t rank high on my list of things to experience up close and personally, either.
“I can’t see where Joey’s cut, and Marcus’s neck is not at a good angle. We have to be careful moving him.” She glanced around the deck and located an emergency phone. She ran to it and yanked up the receiver, but put it back down a second later. “Freaking great. No dial tone. Stay with them while I go get help. I’ll be right back”
I stared down at her without speaking. She wanted me to babysit broken bodies? “Can’t you use your cell phone?”
She grabbed my arm and shook it. “Listen to me, Autumn! They need help, and I’m going to get it. Stay here. They need us to be strong, okay? Can you do that? I’ll get help quicker just running inside than trying to figure what number to call.”
I nodded. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My brain was done.
She pulled me down by my arm. “If they come to, make sure they don’t move. Tell them help is coming. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”
“Uh, okay,” I whispered. She left me kneeling next to them, feeling the most helpless I’d ever felt.
I wanted to cry and scream and run and freak the hell out. But I knew it wouldn’t do any good.
So, I sat there and stared up at the stars instead of looking at them. Pretending I was just stargazing on a beautiful ship in the middle of the ocean was easier than facing the lives that hung in the balance at my feet.
Joey groaned. I snapped my head down and opened my eyes wide. Thrusting my hands out in front of me, I lightly grabbed his arm.
“Joey, don’t move. You’re hurt. Stay still, okay? Jessica’s getting help.”
He groaned again, and his eyelids fluttered. He reached around to the back of his head and pulled his hand back out.
Blood dripped from his fingers.
As soon as he saw the crimson liquid, he gasped and wiggled under Marcus.
“Joey! Stop moving! You and Marcus are hurt! Lay still.” I put my hands on his chest and pressed lightly, hoping to keep him down and calm.
But then Marcus moaned, and Joey noticed Marcus was on top of him. “Get the hell off me!” He growled, now struggling to push Marcus off.
I shoved his chest back down. “Joey, stop! His neck is hurt!”
But Joey didn’t hear me, because with one giant shove, he flopped Marcus off him and sat up, pushing my hands away at the same time. His face displayed confusion. “What happened? Where’s Jessica? Why am I bleeding?” He glanced around and saw Marcus slumped over next to him. “What’s wrong with him?”
I grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down on his back. “Joey, you’re bleeding. Stop moving around, dammit! Jessica went to get help.” I looked at Marcus, lying still like he’d face-planted after a night of heavy drinking.
“Let me check on Marcus. Lay still.”
I got up just as Jessica ran over with two men in white coats.
“Autumn! I told you not to let them move. What happened?”
I watched as the men ran over to Marcus and knelt next to him. One had a black bag with medical equipment in it and the other carried a plastic neck collar like the ones I’d seen in the movies.
A tear escaped my eye. “I tried, Jessica. I told Joey to stop moving but he pushed Marcus off him and he hasn’t moved since.”
One of the men held Marcus’s neck still while the other leaned down and spoke to him. “Sir, can you hear me? Sir? Are you all right?”
Marcus groaned and coughed. When he spoke, it sounded like he was talking into a pillow—probably because his face and the ground shared the same space.
“Sir? Can you talk?”
Marcus coughed once more, slowly turned his head, then opened his eyes. “I can’t feel anything below my neck.” His words came out dazed and questioning.
Jessica sucked in a breath. “Oh, my God. His neck is broken. Marcus, do not move.”
Could Marcus truly be paralyzed? By now, the other man was checking out Joey’s head, but Joey could move everything and seemed to be okay. The guy kept Joey on the ground as he examined his head, pointing out the cut on his scalp that bled so much. I watched Joey touch the back of his head, then check out his bloody fingers again.
I burst into tears. If Marcus was paralyzed, it was my fault. Because I hadn’t been able to stop Joey from moving him.
I was worthless.
Jessica grabbed me and pulled me from the deck. “Come on. They’re being taken care of now. Let’s take care of you. We can check on them later, right?” she asked, glancing at one of the men.
He nodded. “The help desk will direct you to the ship’s hospit
al. We’ll take them there first and stabilize them. If anything else needs to be done, we’ll arrange emergency transport. Are they traveling with you ladies?”
“No, they both came with family. I’ll give you their cabin numbers so you can contact each of their families.” Jessica passed along all the necessary information while I just tried not to pass out.
Still holding me to her, Jessica dragged me away when she was finished talking to the medical guys. My energy drained like a dying battery. I slowed down and leaned against the wall near the elevators. My breathing was labored.
She grabbed my arm. “What is it?”
I struggled to catch my breath. “I’m losing the battle, Jessica. I’m losing. Tonight has been too much on me.”
She slipped her arm around me to keep me steady. “I’m taking you back to the room right now. Don’t worry.”
“Well, how do we know if they’re okay? I’m not sure I want to leave them.”
“You heard the medic. They won’t do anything without contacting their families first. Plus, you need some rest. Let’s take care of you now, huh?” We got on the elevator. I pressed the button for the ninth deck and leaned against the back wall of the elevator, staring at Jessica’s back.
I grabbed my head. If this was what insanity tasted like, I preferred real life. Even with all of its faults.
It would be a long time before I took another cruise after this.
Once inside our cabin, Jessica settled me on the bed and gave me a pill she claimed would calm me down.
It didn’t. For some reason, it made my mind race, my skin crawl, and my head hurt.
I climbed out of bed and headed toward the door.
“What are you doing? Get back in bed. I have to go find the boys’ families in case the ship’s staff can’t contact them, and I don’t have time to chase after you.”
I backed away from her, opened the door, and stomped toward the elevators with as much energy as I could muster. My heart pounded in my ears. Cramps riddled my legs. I ran until I made it to the back of the ship, out of view of other people and away from the disaster that my life had become.
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