Break Line

by Ellie Mack

  “Thank you.” Kai shook his hand, grateful that Nathan was alive. “How long before we know whether or not the surgery is a success?”

  Doctor Kelley sighed. He expected the question, but the answer was never easy. “That will depend greatly on him. He’s in good physical health, no major issues like diabetes, so he should heal well. Probably within the week, but maybe longer. At this point, we monitor him closely and say a few prayers.”

  “He's stable but we don't know how his body will react. Time will tell. Sometimes we work for hours to stitch a patient back together, only to have infection set in, and they still lost the limb.” Dr. Kelley squirreled his face up a bit, as he glanced over his papers. “They are rare though, the shark attacks, despite what the news would have you think. Mr. Fletcher should make a full recovery. That much we know.” He offered Kai another firm handshake before walking back through the doors to surgery.

  Nathan was riding an A-frame, hitting the peak just before it curled. He maneuvered his board down the slope, ready to shoot the tube. Then suddenly, the wave backwashed, and he wiped out. He caught air as his board launched upward, and he came down face first in the white water.

  Bubbles surrounded him as he pushed off the bottom to break the surface. Millions of bubbles. Red bubbles. Sharks darted toward him. Dozens of sharks swam by, taking a bite out of his leg. He tried to hit them on the nose, but they were too fast.

  Another shark hit him from behind, biting the back of his thigh. The sea was red with his blood. He could feel the riptide pulling him further out as he fought against the current.

  Another hit by a larger shark, this one clamping down and shaking him violently.

  Nathan’s eyes shot open. There was a bright light, white walls, and tubes. He fought to get the thing off his face. His monitors began beeping.

  An unfamiliar face rushed toward him.

  “Mr. Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher, calm down. Don’t pull on your lines. Calm down. We’re here to help you.”

  He fought the lady for several minutes until he had no strength. He furrowed his brow as he tried to focus. She had a nametag on her clothing. Nathan squinted to make it out. Louisa.

  He blinked several times as her face came more into focus, and he could see two men standing on either side of his bed. He was in a hospital bed. Nathan eased his head back into the pillow behind him and glanced around the room. Kai sat on the edge of his chair, leaning toward Nathan slightly.

  Dawn patrol ride, he was catching a wave when he’d been hit by a shark. His leg! He remembered now. A shark had bit his leg and he was swimming to shore.

  He nodded to Kai as he settled down in the bed.

  Nurse Louisa adjusted the tubing for the mask over his face and injected something into his IV line. A deep burning sensation began in his vein, traveling up his arm for a few seconds before a woozy feeling swept over him.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll let Dr. Kelley know that you’re awake.”

  “Brah, you had me worried,” Kai admitted and moved the few steps across the room to his cousin. “You’re lucky I like to be prompt, or I may not have gotten to you in time. You lost a lot of blood.”

  Nathan moved the mask from his face. The nurse could put it back on later if she needed.

  “Thanks, man. I owe you my life, cuz.” Nathan scooted up in the bed a bit, reaching for the controls to raise the bed up at an angle.

  “You been out for three days, brah. You woke up a few times but drifted back into unconsciousness. Doctor said it’s normal with trauma.”

  “How bad is it?” Nathan was almost scared to look. All he could feel in his leg was a deep burning.

  “It’s not good. You were in surgery for a long time and they had to work to reattach a lot of muscle tissue and nerves. You have two steel pins holding your bones together brah.”

  Nathan rested his chin on his chest. He turned his legs in and out. The slightest movement in his left hurt causing him to wince. He slowly pulled back the covers, holding his breath for a few seconds before seeing his leg bandaged from the top of his thigh down over his shin. He let it sink in as a small bit of relief flooded his mind.

  Nate turned to his right side, feeling the effects of the IV push the nurse had administered. His eyelids began to droop.

  “I need to get back to work, cuz. Been here for most of the last three days, and things are piling up. Leilani has been holding down the fort, and she needs a break.” He dug Nate’s phone out of his jacket pocket.

  “Here’s your phone. I didn’t want to leave it here with you unconscious.”

  “Give Leilani a kiss from me for taking up your time. And thanks again.”

  “No prob. We’re ohana. That’s what we do.” Kai shook his hand and walked out the door.

  A few minutes later, Nurse Louisa came in to check his monitors. She saw that he had removed his mask again and began to reach for it.

  “How about some food first. I’m starving here.” Nate opened his eyes, still groggy but his stomach backed him up with a loud growl.

  She stood upright, arms crossed over her chest. “I suppose we can do that. It has been a few days since you’ve eaten anything.” She pulled a paper out of the drawer of his tray. “Here are your choices, circle one from each group and I’ll be back in just a minute to pick it up. Would you like something to drink?”

  “Juice would be nice.”

  Nathan pored over the menu offerings. His stomach growled as he read the choices, feeling like he could eat one of everything. He opted for the pulled pork sandwich, side salad, tropical fruit bowl, and a slice of pineapple crème cake. His mouth watered just reading them, and he felt as if he could chew the paper itself.

  “Here we go.” Louisa set the cup of ice and can of soda on the tray. “Have you made your choices?”

  Nathan nodded as he popped the top of the can.

  “This is exactly what I had for lunch – good choices. I’ll see if I can sneak you a shave ice as well.” She winked at Nathan as she left the room.

  He checked his phone for messages. There were several texts and voicemails from the university. He dreaded listening to all of them, but contacting his secretary was his first priority, then the dean, and a few others. He’d have to start working through them. He set the phone on the tray and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.

  Nathan flipped through the channels, searching for something, anything, to break the silence.

  Doctor Kelley walked through the door. “How are you feeling, Mr. Fletcher?”

  “Good, I guess, but my leg burns.”

  “Let’s look at it, shall we?”

  The doctor pulled the rolling stool close to the bed. Taking out a pair of blunt-tipped scissors, he began snipping away the bandages. He handed the old bandages to the nurse to discard in the biohazard container.

  “You’re lucky Mr. Wanoki found you when he did. You lost a lot of blood. Five units during surgery. Let’s see what we have here.”

  Nathan sat up a bit to look at his leg. His left thigh was a roadmap of staples. A nine-inch arch covered the middle part of his thigh.

  “Can you roll to the right, so I can inspect the back of your leg?”

  Nathan rolled toward the side of the bed, feeling a pulling as he tried using his leg to help him turn.

  “Just roll from the hip, I’ll move your leg for you. You don’t want to strain any of the tissue.”

  Doctor Kelley inspected his work for a few seconds, then helped Nathan roll onto his back. He eased slowly onto the stool. Leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him, he began, “You have some mottling and redness around the wound. The interior tissue doesn’t seem to be responding as well as I had hoped, but there are still a few things we can try. You’re not going to be able to put any weight on that leg for a couple of weeks, and then we will get you set up for physical therapy. You should be able to walk on your own after twelve weeks.

  Nathan hadn’t considered that he wouldn’t be able t
o walk. “But I will be able to walk, right?”

  “You should be able to as long as your leg heals.” Doctor Kelley stood, tucking his glasses back into his pocket. “I’ll leave instructions for them to change your bandages three times a day. We'll do a round of antibiotics through the IV along with the pain meds. The swelling should subside in the next day or two. Then we can see for certain what we’re dealing with. I’ll be back later this afternoon to check on you.”

  Nathan flipped mindlessly through the television channels. He was going stir crazy in his room with nothing to do. He had called the department secretary to see if she could bring some of his teaching materials and arranged to transfer his classes to Brad Thompson for the remainder of the semester. It would be a cut in pay, but they agreed to keep him on staff.

  The dean had visited after lunch, hanging around just long enough to hear that Nathan was making progress. They discussed his leave of absence, and the dean approved to make the transfer to Brad. As much as Nathan wanted to return to teaching, he currently was in no position to do so.

  A group of his students stopped by, bringing him a basket with snacks, books, sudoku puzzles, a stress ball, and a T-shirt that they had designed for him, proclaiming him “Best Professor”. These were his top students. Each had their own questions–some about his class, some about the shark attack. And Eddie, the class cut up, but brilliant student, asked if this was Nathan’s way of getting out of grading papers.

  Before they left, they had him smiling and laughing with them. This was one of the reasons he'd gotten into teaching in the first place, the energy and excitement of his students was infectuous. He needed this now more than ever. He asked them to visit him again or else he'd instruct Brad to give pop quizzes every Monday.

  The volunteers came by with their cart of goodies later in the afternoon. A seek and find word search booklet caught his eye, and he thought that would at least keep his mind occupied for a bit. He wasn’t much for games on his cell phone, but he was currently reconsidering that as he flipped through the channels once again. He found a station that was music with a list of what was on scrolling across the screen. He found the control button to turn off the screen and leave the audio then found the Sudoku puzzles and a pen.

  Nathan was a wiz at these and worked through half the book before coming to one that stumped him. It was difficult to think with the rising pain and pushed the button for the nurse. He set the puzzle book aside, turning the screen back on and began flipping through the channels again.

  The station landed on a family show where the dad was hugging his two small children. Tears welled in his eyes as he realized that he would have to call his former in-laws and tell them to postpone bringing his girls to Hawaii. There was no way he could care for them if he couldn’t walk. He’d have to reconsider the nanny and housekeeper. That would give him something to focus on until his secretary brought his lesson materials.

  Claire, his secretary, recommended a woman named Vera for the position of nanny/housekeeper. He would have to call her to see if she could start with once a week for the housekeeping and then take the nanny position whenever the girls were able to come. He missed his children.

  Somewhere between a commercial for denture cream and the heartwarming family story, he drifted into a semi-conscious state. The family was out on a lake in a small boat. The youngest had her hand in the water.

  He didn’t notice the shaking or the cold sweats at first. A gunshot was heard onscreen.

  The combat zone in Kuwait, he had been wounded, but never considered that he might die. Three men in his unit were killed when their jeep hit a landmine, but he still felt that he led a charmed life and would come out all right. Every conflict and exchange of fire flooded his mind in a series of flashbacks.

  His pulse quickened, and the cold sweats began. He began to shake, his stomach was in a knot, and his jaw clenched tightly.

  “Are you all right, Mr. Fletcher?”

  The C.O. barked his name out, “Fletcher, you’re on point. Eyes wide open.”

  A barrage of bullets whizzed by over his head as he hit the ground, belly crawling to a vantage point.

  Someone had hold of his leg. Oh God, he didn’t want to be captured in this land.

  He tried to recall the training the counselor went through with him for the PTSD. His mind was blank. Why would he have a flashback now?

  “Mr. Fletcher?” Brittany gently shook his leg. He seemed to be fixated on something only he could see in his mind. Beads of sweat trailed down his temples to his ears.

  “Mr. Fletcher?”

  Her face came into focus. What was the nurse doing in Kuwait? Slowly, reality came back to focus in his mind.

  Nathan stared blankly at the nurse.

  “Is there anything I can get you, sir?”

  He vaguely heard her.

  He was racing down the street through a barrage of bullets. Sanchez and Marler were up ahead. Marler took a bullet to the chest, Sanchez was hit in the shoulder, and Nathan was hit in the arm. They kept moving for cover, ducking behind a partial wall of a building that had been bombed. Marler slumped to the floor as Sanchez called on the walkie for backup and a medic. They were safe for the moment.

  “Marler is hit. He needs help.” It came out dry in a monotone.

  “Pardon?” Worry lines creased her brow as she stepped back from his bed to enter a note for the doctor.

  “I’m fine.” He tried to mentally shake off the flashback and force his heart rate back to normal.

  “How long have you been having trouble with your PTSD, Mr. Fletcher?”

  “I haven’t." It was a lie and he knew it. He felt uneasy, recalling his counseling. "Well, at least not before today, not for about six months.” He adjusted the blankets up around his chest feeling an inner chill that no amount of blanket would fix.

  “Your medical files state that you have been prescribed medications, I can have the med tech bring those in for you.” She continued to type things on the computer.

  Nate nodded. He had no interest in starting back on those meds, but now, he was shaken. He made a mental note to find a counselor about the PTSD. He’d beaten it before, he could do it again.

  “Damn it!” He exclaimed aloud, angry at his current condition as he considered what he could do. Maybe if he scooted into a wheelchair he could get outside of this room and get some fresh air. Being outdoors with the smell of the salt air would help.

  “Can you help me into the wheelchair? I’d like to go outside.” He threw the covers off, unprepared to see the mess that was his leg. His leg looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. The initial shock didn’t stop him though; he had to get out of this room if only for a few minutes.

  The nurse called for transport to wheel him outside for a break. “I think that might be a good idea, Mr. Fletcher. I know I’d feel all cooped up after a few days myself.”

  Another nurse came in to assist her in moving him into a chair. Brittany continued to enter her notes as Dwayne, the transport, wheeled him down the corridor.

  Sitting in the warm sunlight was refreshing. He’d always been the outdoors type. He watched as people came and went. Glancing over to a couple of picnic tables, he noticed some staff members enjoying their lunch together. A dark-haired woman caught his eye as she turned to the woman sitting next to her. She flashed a brilliant smile as she made some hand signals just before they started laughing. Even from the distance, she was beautiful.

  Nate watched as they cleared off their lunch debris and headed inside. Simply watching her made him smile. He waited until they were gone before he pushed himself back through the door he’d exited. The person who had transported him down from his room stood at the information counter talking to the woman there.

  “Let me help you there, Mr. Fletcher.” The transporter pushed him to the elevator and back to his room, and then helped him move from the chair to the bed.

  The warm sun had made him feel drowsy and he dozed off within minute
s.

  This wave was perfect. He got his feet under him, crouched on the board, standing just as his board crested the wave. It was the best ride of any he’d managed, he felt a thrill of success, a new boldness and pride in his own accomplishments. He’d set out to learn to surf and he’d mastered it!

  If only his family were here to be part of his victory, but they were back in Oklahoma.

  He turned back up the wave, angling down the wall as the wave curled behind him. It was amazing! His fingers grazed the wall of water to his left as he balanced perfectly with the unstrained ease of an accomplished surfer.

  Kai was riding the same wave about twenty feet down the pipeline. He flashed his cousin a shaka, grinning from ear to ear as the adrenaline pumped through his chest.

  His fingers grazed over something hard. He turned to the left at the wall of water, and a shark stared back at him. In a flash, it opened its mouth snapping at Nathan’s hand. He pulled his hand back, but the shark was too fast and it clamped down on his leg.

  Back and forth, it shook him in the wall of the wave. He could have sworn he saw laughter in its eyes.

  His eyes flew open. His heart pounded within his chest, his pulse erratic, and he could barely catch his breath. Nurse Louise was shaking his leg, trying to wake him.

  “I’m sorry to wake you Mr. Fletcher, but I need to get your vitals.”

  He threw the covers aside, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, not an easy task as his right leg was stiff and the slightest movement sent zings of pain all the way down to his toes. Nathan reached for the wheelchair that sat pushed against the wall. He eased onto his right leg, hopping a step toward the chair and turning to sit. As he did, he bumped his left leg against the front edge of the wheelchair causing intense pain.

  “Uuuuunnngh!”

  Pain shot up his leg from just below the knee to his hip in a throbbing, sickening wave. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, tangling his foot against the peddle rests on the chair.