Locke’s head jerked up and she could see the fear in his eyes. “It’s not as bad as you think,” she added hurriedly, tightening her grip on him. “Elliot’s already jumped in; she might be unconscious. We should get her to the hospital.”
Locke nodded once and swallowed hard before he steered the boat around to where Elliot held Nicole in the water. Her head lolled to one side and Rebecca grasped the side of the boat, fearing the worst.
Elliot caught her eye and mouthed, “She’s breathing.” Rebecca sank onto a seat before her knees could sag in relief.
Everything would be all right, she told herself. It had to be.
***
Waiting room chairs should be more comfortable, Rebecca thought hours later from the Mackinac Straits Hospital in St. Ignace. Surely I can’t be the only person to want to sleep in one. She glanced at Locke sitting ramrod straight next to her. He hadn’t said much since the accident, and she knew he was thinking about Emily.
“It’s not the same,” she said to him in a low voice. “Nicole will be fine. The doctors didn’t seem too worried; surely if they were, they would have sent Michael or Haley out here by now.”
Locke nodded. “How’s Elliot doing?” he asked.
Rebecca glanced over and sighed. “He still hasn’t changed out of his wet things,” she said.
“He won’t leave the room in case he misses something. Try again for me, will you? He might be convinced if you ask him.”
Rebecca rose and walked over to where Elliot was sitting in the corner. “Elliot,” she said, touching his face to get his attention. His cheek was rough; his five o’clock shadow was not a shadow any more. “You need to get out of your wet clothes or you’ll make yourself sick.”
Elliot raised his eyes slowly to look at her. “It’s all right,” he said listlessly. “Why don’t you let Locke take you back to his parents’ house? There’s no use in everyone being miserable.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
He tried to smile at her. “Thanks,” he said.
She pushed the clothes the Shaws had brought with them into his arms. “Please, go. I’ll come and find you if we hear anything.”
Elliot stood up. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he promised before walking slowly out of the room.
Rebecca stared after him. It seemed as though he had aged thirty years in the past few hours. “He’ll be all right,” Locke said from his chair across the room. “He just feels terribly, horribly guilty.”
“Guilty? What for? It wasn’t his fault she stood up on the side of a moving boat.”
“No, it’s not,” Locke agreed. “But he thinks if he had been paying more attention to her, she wouldn’t have been desperate enough to do something crazy.”
Rebecca tried to formulate an argument to that but couldn’t. Nicole had seemed a little possessive lately. “If that’s what he’s thinking then the fault is just as much mine as it is his,” she said after a long pause.
“Not true.” Locke snorted. “It was her own fault, plain and simple. Elliot just needs to realize that, and there’s nothing you can do to help that.”
“I guess you’re right,” Rebecca said. She glanced at him. “That’s kind of ironic,” she told him.
“What’s ironic?”
“You’re saying it wasn’t Elliot’s fault that Nicole had her accident. How is that any different from what happened to Emily?”
Locke froze. Then, slowly, he buried his face in his hands. “You’re right,” was his muffled answer. “There’s no difference at all.”
Rebecca walked over and put her arm around him. “It’s okay,” she said softly, running her hand through his hair. “These things take time. Just think about it, will you?” Locke nodded and she let go of him. She shivered, wishing she hadn’t let Cassie convince her to wear such a flimsy dress. Why were hospitals always so cold?
Sit down,” Locke ordered. “You can borrow my jacket.”
She sank gratefully into the seat next to him and tried once more to get comfortable. It had been one of the longest days she had ever experienced and she couldn’t keep her eyes from closing.
Someone sat on her other side and pulled her head down to his broad shoulder. “Do you feel better now?” Locke said, obviously amused.
“Infinitely.” Elliot’s voice rumbled in her ear.
The next morning, Rebecca awoke feeling groggy, uncomfortable, and alone. She stretched her legs out and sighed. Then she remembered why her muscles felt as though they had been tied in knots and sat up.
Locke was slouched next to her, gently snoring. There was no one else in the room. In the seat that Elliot had occupied in her dreams was a piece of paper with her name written on it.
‘Rebecca, Thanks for everything yesterday. I hope you enjoy this. E.’
She flipped it over. The day’s date was on the top left, directly above Elliot’s by now familiar byline.
Courage
By Elliot Winters
How does it start? The proverbial saying is that you get up on the wrong side of the bed. Then you miss your mouth and jab your toothbrush up your nose. You spill your morning coffee all over your white shirt that really should have been washed before you put it on your body… the list goes on and on, and now you have the makings of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Now, if you’re like me, you have one of these days on a fairly regular basis. Or more often, if you’re really unlucky. They say the true test of a man is the way he treats his bad day. All right, I’m the one that said that. But it’s still true. It takes all sorts of courage to make it through a bad day, and I saw plenty of courage today. Unfortunately, I displayed little of it.
But it might be useful to some of you to see what a truly courageous person does. This afternoon a group of friends and I were journeying across a fairly large lake when one of the members of our group hit her head and fell unconscious into the water. I must confess that almost everyone in that boat stood around like idiots for way too long. Everyone except the one girl that no one expected to rise to the occasion. No one but me, that is.
She took charge, barking out assignments like a drill sergeant, and within minutes the situation was under control. I floated there, treading water and wondering why she had been calm enough to remember that I had been a swimmer in high school, even reminding me to take off my shoes.
Afterwards, she melted a little, and I now sit in the ER waiting room watching her sleep on my shoulder while I try to type as quietly as I can with one hand. She was composed enough to save a person’s life. Can I be courageous enough to save my own heart?
For my sake I can only hope I can.
Chapter Ten
Elliot’s column fell to the floor when the door opened. Haley came into the waiting room, her face pale and drawn.
“How’s she doing?” Rebecca whispered. She put her foot on the sheet of paper and dragged it under her seat.
“Not too bad,” Haley sighed. She sat next to Rebecca and leaned her head back on the wall. “The doctors say she has a skull fracture and a mild concussion, but she’ll be all right.”
“Aren’t they worried about the fact that she nearly drowned?”
Haley tilted her head to look at Rebecca. “She didn’t nearly drown,” she pointed out. “You made Elliot jump in before she could get any water in her lungs. Nicole’s lucky you were in that boat with us; she could have died before anyone did anything helpful.”
The words of Elliot’s column filled Rebecca’s head. “That’s what Elliot said,” she mused. “But you’re not giving yourself enough credit. Someone would have snapped out of it before–”
“Don’t,” Haley interrupted wearily. “I’m not in the mood to listen to you be humble. Stop arguing and let my brain unwind.”
Humility? She’d been accused of many things before, but being humble wasn’t usually one of them. Rebecca opened her mouth, intending to disagree, but she looked at her frien
d and changed her mind. Haley had closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She looked like she’d been up all night. The room was silent except for the sounds of Locke’s waffled snoring and the buzzing of the waiting room clock as it ticked the seconds slowly by. She wondered what Elliot was doing.
“I should get back to Chicago.” Haley’s voice finally broke the silence.
Rebecca blinked at her. “Huh?”
“I can’t imagine telling my mother about Nicole’s accident over the phone.” Rebecca thought about Mrs. Tanner. She was a very sweet woman, but she did tend to overreact. “Elliot said he’d stay here as long as we need him. I don’t envy him; once she’s out of the hospital and starts to feel better, she’s likely to be horrid.”
“Will she be released anytime soon?”
Haley closed her eyes as she spoke. “They want to run a few more tests to be sure her brain wasn’t damaged, but after tomorrow I think she can leave. I don’t know what to do with her, though. She probably won’t get back in a boat, so that leaves the house on the island out, and we don’t know anyone else up here.”
“I’ll stick around until my job starts,” Rebecca said. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the grimace from her face.
“What do you mean you don’t know anyone up here?” Locke said from his chair. His eyes remained closed. “What am I, chopped liver?”
Haley sat straighter in her chair. “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” she protested. “Nicole’s not the easiest person to live with under ideal circumstances, and you’ll have to live with her at her worst. You can’t know what you’re saying.”
Locke laughed to himself. “You don’t know my parents,” he said. “They’re the type of people who would love Nicole back to health. Heck, by the time they’re through with her, you might not even recognize her.”
Sighing, Haley gave in. “Let me talk to Nicole about it,” she said. “If she agrees, and your parents really don’t mind, we’ll take you up on your offer.” She paused. The room was silent save for the sound of the clock. “And thank you,” she added. “I’m more grateful than I can say.”
“When do you want to leave?” Rebecca asked.
“As soon as I can collect my things and get on a plane. Mom and Dad will want to know what happened.”
“I’ll get your clothes from the house if you want to stay with Nicole,” Rebecca said. “I need to get out of this dress, anyway.”
“I’ll take you over to the house.” Locke stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “I’ve had enough of hospitals to last me a lifetime.”
Rebecca handed him his jacket, smiling gratefully. “Thanks,” she said simply.
Haley yawned. “Rebecca, do you want to see Nicole before you go? Cassie’s still in there with Michael, and she’d probably like to talk to you.”
When Rebecca nodded, Haley stood up and led the way down the hall. Nicole was asleep on the bed. A large bruise on her head the only indication that she had fallen. Elliot was sitting next to her, his head bowed as he held her hand. He glanced up when Rebecca and Haley entered the room and gave them a half-hearted smile before he returned his gaze to the floor.
Rebecca looked over at Cassie and Michael, who were speaking quietly in the corner. She trailed her fingers along the foot of the bed as she walked across the room to sit next to her sister. “Have they found anything serious?” she asked in a low voice.
“No, and they think she’ll be all right to leave the hospital tomorrow. I should probably get her things from Locke’s house.” Cassie sighed.
“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it. Locke’s going to take me over to the island to get Haley’s stuff. Why don’t I just get everything while I’m there? I doubt anyone will be in the mood for more vacationing after this.”
Cassie leaned over and rested her cheek on Rebecca’s head. “That would be great,” she said, relief evident in her tone. “Do you need Michael to help? Nicole has an awful lot of stuff.”
“I’ll go,” Elliot said without looking up. “Just give me a few minutes to talk with the doctor and I’ll be ready.”
Cassie squeezed Rebecca’s hand as she stood up. “Thanks again,” she said. “If you can’t get everything I’m sure we can make another trip when things are more stable.”
Rebecca smiled at her as she left. When she got back to the waiting room Locke was standing on a chair, trying to turn the television from an all news station.
“I don’t know why they insist on showing depressing news in hospital waiting rooms,” he grumbled to himself. “Like there’s not already enough depressing news in here without having to hear about things that are out of your control.”
Rebecca watched, bemused, as Locke flipped through the channels before stopping at the Cartoon Network. “That’s much better,” she said.
Locke hopped down from the chair and dusted his hands on his pants. “I didn’t know how long you were going to be,” he said defensively. “I was preparing myself for a long wait.”
“We’re actually leaving as soon as Elliot speaks with the doctors. I volunteered to get everyone’s things. You don’t mind, do you?”
Locke came over to sit beside her. He ruffled her hair and draped his jacket over her shoulders. She leaned against him, grateful for the warmth. “Of course not,” he said. “The luggage fit in my boat once, didn’t it? Why’s Elliot coming?”
Rebecca shrugged. “I think he needs to get out of the hospital. He didn’t look too good.” Her mind wandered to the column he had left for her to read, still stuck under her seat. “How did he find time to submit a column last night?” she asked, half to herself. “I couldn’t have been sleeping that soundly. And he didn’t have his computer with him.”
Locke grinned. “You were out,” he said. “A tornado could have come through the emergency room last night and you would have woken up in Canada, not knowing how you got there.” He chuckled at her affronted look. “I brought his computer over from the boat last night,” he went on. “It was really quite touching to watch; you were asleep on his shoulder, and he had to type with his left hand. He was very careful not to wake you.”
Rebecca slumped down in her chair. “I’m so confused,” she said.
Locke slouched down in his seat so they matched. “Has Elliot done something stupid again?”
She sat up abruptly and grabbed the piece of paper from under her chair. “He writes stuff like this all the time, and yet he’s still courting Nicole. What am I supposed to believe?”
Locke was silent as he read Elliot’s words from the night before. “You have a point,” he admitted. “It’s like he can’t decide what he wants… something available and safe, or something forbidden and dangerous.”
“I’m not dangerous.”
“Not to me, you’re not, but you are the worst sort of danger to Elliot. If he let himself admit that he’s fallen for you again without a backup plan, he might never recover.”
Rebecca wondered what Nicole would think if she knew she was just a backup plan. “So what should I do?” she asked, turning her head to look beseechingly at Locke.
He wrinkled his nose at her. “Beats me,” he said. “I’ve never been in your situation before.”
“Neither have I,” she sighed, “neither have I.”
***
The ride to Mackinac Island was silent save for the sound of the engine as it propelled them away from the mainland. Rebecca watched the clouds as they scuttled across the Sky. She never seemed to remember that Mackinac could be unseasonably chilly, even at the beginning of July. She brushed a strand of hair from her face, and as she did so, Locke’s jacket slipped from her shoulders.
“Here, use mine. It’s warmer.”
Elliot retrieved Locke’s coat from the floor of the boat and placed it on the seat next to him. He shrugged out of his and watched as she slid her arms into the sleeves. “Thanks,” she said. “Won’t you be cold?”
Elliot shrugged and went back to his inspection of the waves. When th
ey arrived at the dock, he hopped out and walked quickly up to the house, leaving Rebecca and Locke to make sure things were secure.
“What’s up with him?” Locke asked, staring after Elliot.
Rebecca opened and closed her mouth, not sure what to say. It was as though the Elliot from the day before had disappeared and had been replaced by his evil twin. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. She handed Locke both his and Elliot’s jackets. “I don’t think I’ll be needing these anymore.”
Locke grinned tightly at her and they started up the hill to the house. “I’ll tackle Michael and Cassie’s room if you want to start with the girls’,” he said. “Divide and conquer and all that.”
“I might take a shower first, if that’s okay with you.”
Locke wrinkled his nose. “That’s not a bad idea,” he said with a straight face. “You stink.”
“You’re a fine one to talk,” she retorted before catching his smirk. “You smell far worse.”
Locke threw his arm around her shoulders and laughed. “Someone needs to keep their sense of humor intact,” he said. “Seeing as it’s not going to be you or Elliot, that leaves me.”
Rebecca looked at him from the corner of her eye. “You’re taking all of this quite well,” she noted. “Or is this just a really good acting job?”
Locke was quiet as they climbed the steps that led to the porch. “It’s not an act, exactly,” he said finally. He stopped before Rebecca could push the door open. “I think I’m just trying to put things in perspective, that’s all.”
Impulsively, Rebecca kissed him on the cheek. “That’s a big step. I’m glad I was here to see it.”
Locke gazed down at her. “You’re the main reason why I’m able to do it,” he said. “If you weren’t like the little sister I never had, I’d marry you, no matter what Elliot did to me.”
Blushing, Rebecca opened the door. “I’ll take that as a compliment, big brother.”
“You should, sis. You should.”
***
Once she was clean Rebecca felt much better. She gathered up the few things she had unpacked and placed them in her suitcase before setting it outside her bedroom door. Then she tackled Haley’s room. Haley had more clothes strewn about than she had, but not as much as Cassie. She didn’t envy Locke his self-appointed task.
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