by Jill Sanders
Becca shoveled food into her mouth as quickly as she could. It helped settle the nerves that raced through her, and by the time they walked out the door, her body felt more energized.
The docks were pretty empty. It took Lori and Becca almost ten minutes before they found the small room where Ronny’s mother was sitting with the search party.
Barbara rushed over to Becca and hugged her. “This is Sean’s mother, Lori Farrow.” She nodded to Barbara. “This is Ronny’s mother, Barbara.”
The women shook hands and then hugged one another. “I guess since we’re in this together. Call me Lori.”
“Barbara.” The women smiled at one another. “Here, I was just getting an update.” She nodded towards the table where three people sat. A woman and two men dressed in Coast Guard uniforms sat working on laptops.
When they walked up, the woman, who was around Becca’s age, stood and nodded to them. She was shorter than Becca and had rich dark hair that hung in an intricate braid down her back.
“Miss Lander.” She nodded to Becca. “We met yesterday. I’m Carmen Stanches. I’ll be your eyes and ears today.” The woman’s accent was light and her voice was soothing enough that Becca remembered hearing it the night before.
She nodded. “This is Sean’s mother, Lori Farrow.”
“Mrs. Farrow.” The woman nodded. “Please, sit. I’ll fill you in on the morning’s news.”
They sat across from her as the two men continued to punch away on their computers.
“The search was called off around one last night, due to visibility. This is a standard practice and the search was picked up again just before dawn.” She handed them each a bottled water. “So far, we haven’t spotted anything.” She continued quickly. “Which is good news. We’ve set up a grid.” She turned her computer around. “This point”—she tapped her screen—“is where your boat was. And this”—she tapped a blue point—“this was the last place Ronny was seen and where Sean would have gone to look for him.”
Becca nodded her head. “This chart shows the currents and weather.” Becca watched fake waves move across the screen, and then another bubble appeared. “This is our search radius.”
She closed her eyes and fear sunk in again. It was all too big. So much water to look in.
“Now, other than something else such as outside forces messing with them, the men should…”
“Outside forces?” Lori broke in.
“Sea life,” Carmen said, looking down at the screen.
“I’m sorry.” Becca shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Miss Lander, we’re known to get an occasional shark attack. It doesn’t happen often, but when…”
Becca’s hearing stopped working at that point. Everything started fading to white, and she felt her entire body float away into the abyss.
Chapter Seventeen
There was a loud bang, and then something terrible was stuck in front of her nose. She reached up and pushed the hand away, wanting nothing more than to sink back into the darkness.
“Here now, take deep breaths,” Lori Farrow said, running her hands over Becca’s face. “Easy.”
“Here,” a rich voice broke in. “In case she’s sick.”
At the thought, Becca’s stomach rolled and the eggs and toast she’d shoveled into her mouth less than half an hour ago threatened to surface.
“Try some water,” Ronny’s mother said.
“Becca, can you sip some water?” Lori’s face came into view.
She nodded her head and wished more than anything to be left alone so she could slip back into the abyss again.
When the cool water touched her tongue, she woke with full force and sat up, sputtering a little. Then she swallowed a mouthful again and felt the cold liquid spread throughout her.
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Sharks.”
“No, honey.” Lori took her face in her hands and waited for Becca’s eyes to meet her own. “They’re okay, I just know it. Besides, Barbara’s husband assured her that the water is too warm this time of year for sharks.”
Becca closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t know if sharks liked warm or cold water, but just hearing the reassurance made her feel a little better.
“Do you think you can get up?”
Becca’s eyes opened and she realized she was sprawled out on the floor.
When she’d made it back to her own chair, she looked over at Carmen.
“What about my brother-in-law?” She looked off towards Barbara. “And Stan? Did they join the search?”
Carmen shook her head. “We don’t allow civilians to join in the official search.”
“The men rented a boat and joined it as private parties. They’re searching right along with the Coast Guard,” Barbara said, patting Becca’s hand. “Don’t worry; they’re keeping us posted as well.”
Becca nodded and then looked down at her watch and did a quick calculation. Twenty-two hours. Sean and Ronny had been missing for twenty-two hours now. Closing her eyes, she felt like crying.
“How long?” Her voice came out a little too soft. So she repeated her question a little louder.
“How long until what?” Carmen asked.
“How long can a person last in the water?” She looked between the women.
“There’s no set time. We’ve rescued people who were just slightly dehydrated after three days. The waters are warm. If they found something to use as a flotation device, there’s a good chance of survival.”
Becca nodded and sighed a little. “Sean’s a great swimmer. Don’t worry,” Lori whispered. “If he found Ronny, then I’m sure the two of them are safe.”
Becca nodded and then looked over to Ronny’s mother. Lori was right. Sean did this kind of thing all the time. He’d told her about some of the missions he’d been on. Not the details, but the basics of what he’d been doing for the last four years.
Besides, she remembered that just before he’d returned to the water, he’d been so happy that he had finally decided that this is what he wanted to do in life.
Ronny. She closed her eyes and remembered how skinny and wiry the kid had been. If Sean hadn’t gotten to the kid before…She shook her head and tried to clear those thoughts from her mind.
They sat in the small room for hours, comforting each other as they waited for any news.
Around lunchtime, they walked to the small place that served sandwiches at the entrance of the docks and grabbed some food. When they walked back into the room, Carmen updated them that she’d heard from Allen, Charles, and Stan. They were still with the Coast Guard and didn’t have anything to report.
For most of the day, Becca sat in silence, feeling numb. Memories of the last few days rolled through her mind in a garbled mess. On several occasions, she caught her head rolling towards the back and her eyes closing.
“Why don’t you two head back up to the room. I’ll call you if we hear anything more,” Barbara said softly.
Lori nodded and took Becca’s hand. “Come on, honey.”
Becca followed her past all the happy families splashing in the pool, past the couples walking hand in hand, and up the cold elevator. The one that she and Sean had kissed in just a short time ago.
When they walked into the room, memories flashed painfully behind her eyes.
Lori walked her over to the bed, and she sat down. Her eyes were too dry to cry anymore, so Lori sat next to her and cried for the both of them.
*******
It was the voices that woke her. Hearing a male voice caused her to sit up quickly.
“Sean?” she screamed and looked around. Instead, she saw Allen, Charles, and Lori sitting across the room. There were trays of food and the men were shoveling it in their mouths quickly.
“I’m sorry, babe,” Allen said. Setting down his fork, he walked over to her quickly. “Did we wake you?” He sat next to her and hugged her.
She shook her head, no, and held onto him.
“Any
thing?” she asked into his shirt.
He shook his head. “We plan on heading back down to the office and waiting until we hear something more.”
She shook her head. “You need some rest.” She looked between Charles and her brother-in-law. The pair of them looked exhausted.
He nodded. “Yeah, Lori was just telling us that.” He smiled a little. “I’m was just getting some food then I was going to call your sister and fill her in.”
She nodded and got off the bed as Allen went back to finish his food. She walked into the bathroom and freshened up. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was shocked. She looked like she’d lost ten pounds.
She’d gotten a nice tan during the trip, but now she was pale as a ghost. Her eyes had dark rings under them and looked hollow. Her hair was in a tangled mess and when she tried to run a brush through it, her head hurt and she gave up. She tossed it up in a bun instead.
Sean’s light jacket was on the back of the bathroom door, so she grabbed it and wrapped it around herself. She took in his scent and swore that she would never forget it. Not like Nick’s.
Then her knees went weak as she realized that twice in her life she’d lost the man she loved.
*******
By the next evening, she was exhausted. Her body wouldn’t keep anything down and her mind refused to shut off unless she was on the verge of passing out. Allen had convinced Sara to demand that Becca fly home and, with the help of Sean’s parents and Ronny’s folks, she was strong-armed into a cab and taken to the airport with her bags in tow.
She’d refused and had even screamed and cussed at Allen at one point but, in the end, they had won.
The search would continuing with or without her being there. Lori had gone with her as far as the security stand in the airport.
“I’ll text you updates on the hour,” she promised as she hugged her good-bye.
Becca had nodded, but desperately wished she could avoid getting on the plane and heading home.
When she arrived at her gate, she was half an hour early and sat down to wait. Her eyes focused straight ahead of her without really seeing anything.
Just as they called for her plane to start loading, she stood up and happened to glance at the televisions screens. Her heart skipped, then jumped so hard in her chest that her feet actually left the tile floor. Then her head was spinning as she felt the world tilt once more as sweet darkness overtook her.
Chapter Eighteen
Sean was fighting for more than just his life. When he pulled Ronny towards him, and he put the regulator back in his mouth, he could see his eyes roll to the back of his head. His own body was screaming for more oxygen, but years of training assured him that he could wait a few more seconds. When he saw the kid’s chest rise and fall twice, he switched over to suck in some air himself. They shared the regulator, back and forth, while they were stuck in the quicker moving currents that were dragging them farther out to sea. He tried to fight the flow, but since Ronny wasn’t moving much, he just couldn’t get them out of the fast moving water.
Finally, he was able to push them to the edge of the current and felt the change in the water instantly when they were freed from the flow. As they made their way up towards the surface he continued to share his oxygen with Ronny and prayed that they hadn’t strayed too far from civilization.
When they finally broke through the surface, Ronny’s body was convulsing. Sean held the kid as he upchucked water over and over. He even spit out some that had trapped in his lungs. It felt wonderful to breath freely again.
When the kid finally settled back down, Sean had a chance to look around for the boat. Instantly, he knew they were in trouble. Everything looked different.
They were far enough out that they had lost sight of land, so most people would have been fooled into thinking they were in the same place. But Sean knew better. The currents were different and there was the fact that there were no boats in sight.
When he’d gone back in the water for Ronny, there had been a string of diving boats that lined the coral ridge area popular for diving.
Now, as he glanced around, he couldn’t make out any boats. He tossed off his heavy tank, making sure to keep any brightly colored tubes that were attached.
It was hard to hold Ronny and tie the small pieces of bright yellow plastic around their wrists, but he managed.
“You got to help me out here, buddy.” He shook Ronny a little.
“I can’t. I can’t keep this up. I feel sick to my stomach,” the boy said softly. “Where’s the boat?”
Ronny looked around. His eyes were a little glazed over and red around the edges.
“Looks like we got pulled out a little ways. We’ll need to start kicking to get back. Think you can help?”
The kid shook his head no. “I’m spent.”
“I know. That was some jolt we got back there, but we’ve got to…” Just then, Sean felt it, more water pushing at them. This time it was a burst of colder water from a different angle. This water was stronger and a whole lot faster as they were moved quickly down the strong current. Their bodies turned and he held on to Ronny as they were shoved again from a different angle.
“Damn!” He growled as he locked his arms around Ronny’s chest. “Hang on. Looks like we’re going for another ride.”
Ronny started crying and fighting against the current that was dragging them in the opposite direction. Water filled both of their mouths as they fought to stay above the surface.
“No, don’t fight it,” he said loudly as the water pounded their legs and chest. “We’ve got to move with it for a while, and then we can edge out of it.” He felt the kid’s legs and arms relax. “Good. When I say kick, start kicking. Don’t waste all your energy; we don’t know how long we’ll be out here.”
The kid nodded.
“Okay, kick,” he yelled. They kicked their legs in sync for a while and when the water turned warmer and slowed down, they relaxed again. “Great. Good job, Ronny.”
“Ron,” the kid said, spitting out some water.
“Ron,” Sean smiled. “What do you have on you that’s bright colored?”
The kid thought about it. “There’s the key chain floaty with my hotel key on it that my mom made me carry…” He broke off as he reached inside his wet suit and pulled out a little orange life ring key chain. Sean laughed. “You know, so I wouldn’t lose it. She thinks I’m such a kid.”
Sean bit back a remark and tied the key ring to the kid’s wrist. “Anything else?” He knew the bright yellow strip down their suits would help, but he wanted more just in case, so they wouldn’t been missed from the air.
“Nope, that’s it.” He sounded scared. “How deep of shit are we in?”
Sean chose not to answer right away. Instead, he moved his body behind Ron’s and made sure he had a good hold of the kid. “Well, it looks like those first pushes knocked us out quite a ways. Probably out past the long string of islands to the East of Nassau. The second, colder one seemed to knock us in the opposite direction. So, if my calculations are correct, we’re floating right beside the long stretch of land.”
“That’s great. That means we can swim to shore.” The kid’s voice rose.
“Well, the problem is, we’re pretty far out. We’ll rest a while and then start kicking together.” He nodded to his right. “That way.”
Ron nodded. “How do you know so much?”
“It’s what I do. I’ve spent the last four years of my life in the water working for the Special Forces.”
The kid was quiet for a while. “I thought Special Forces worked on land and took out the bad guys?”
He chuckled. “Some do, and some work as divers recovering sunken secrets or infiltrating areas that boats and foot soldiers can’t get to.”
“Wow, really? That’s cool.” The kid’s voice grew with excitement.
“We’ve got to save all the energy we can. How are you feeling?”
“Well, I was feeling a litt
le sick at first, but I’m okay now. A little thirsty and my throat hurts.”
Sean nodded, feeling the same. “We’ve got about three days before dehydration sets in, but we’ll be back on dry land way before then. Okay, let’s start kicking together.” He turned their bodies until Ron was in front of him as they floated on their backs. “Just use your legs. Ready? Go.”
They kicked for roughly twenty minutes and then rested for another twenty. They did this over a dozen times and when the sun went down, the temperature of the water followed.
In between kicking, Sean floated in the water and thought of Becca and the possibility that he’d never see her again. His mind refused to accept this, and every time he started to doubt his ability, he’d start kicking again, harder and faster, so he could get back to her and hold her again.
Halfway through the night, Ron started shaking, and Sean could tell the kid was getting weaker. He took his turn kicking without his help. Sean’s muscles were screaming for hydration and his stomach had stopped growling hours ago.
His head was feeling a little light, but he fought it back by focusing on an image of Becca. He continued to fight the currents during the night. He let Ron sleep, making sure to hold the kid’s head above water as he took shifts kicking and resting.
When the sun rose, he made sure to point himself away from it and kick towards what he hoped was land. He glanced at his watch every so often and, out of the sheer will to live, would kicked his tired legs.
Ron had been in and out of consciousness all night. The skinny kid had reached dehydration before he had, and he could feel the kids muscles grow tighter.
Sean was so focused on seeing Becca again that when he heard the sound of a motor, it didn’t register at first.
“Hey!” He started screaming and kicking his legs towards the sound, which woke Ron, who started trying to move his arms and legs. “Together,” he said in the kid’s ear. Ron seemed to understand, and their legs matched pace. “Raise your arms if you can,” he told Ron, who tried to lift his arms above the water, but was too weak.