Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m fine. Just a little shaken up and waterlogged.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said gruffly. “C’mon, let’s get you on the ship and get you cleaned up.”
His hands clutched at me like he was afraid he was going to trip and fall. I took it slowly and made sure we were steady before stepping from the tender onto the ship. Julo’s strong arms reached out to help.
“Lucas is waiting inside, and we have towels and a blanket,” he said. “Freya is making him a hot drink.”
“I’m fine,” Cal muttered.
“You’re not fine,” I said. “You’re literally bleeding from your face.”
We made it up the steps to the main deck, and I practically carried him inside to the sofa where a nest of towels and blankets waited.
“This is too much,” Cal said. “It’s just a cut. Give me a Band-Aid.”
I ignored him and led him to the towels, helping him down since he was clearly still unsteady.
“What happened?” I asked Jin, who stood there looking guilty and concerned.
“It was my fault.”
Cal interrupted. “It was an accident. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Jin continued. “A flying fish landed in the boat and surprised me. I jumped and slipped and accidentally knocked my BC overboard right onto Cal’s head. The tank was still attached.”
“I didn’t know about the fish,” Cal said with a weak smile. “That explains things.”
Jin allowed himself to grin. “Jade scooped it out and tossed it back in the water, if you can believe that.”
Cal snorted softly. “No way.”
I could tell he was trying to play off his pain and exhaustion, so I asked everyone but Lucas to give him some space. Even though I couldn’t settle enough to sit down, I kept hold of his hand while Lucas took a look at him.
“Just a reminder, I’m a vet, not a physician,” Lucas muttered, dabbing the cut on Cal’s face with an antiseptic pad.
“You were an EMT in college,” I reminded him.
“Only so I’d have an excuse to stay at school with my boyfriend for the summer.” He shined a penlight in Cal’s eyes and seemed relieved by whatever he saw. After asking him a few questions, he concluded, “If you have a concussion, it’s mild. We’ll wait and see how you feel after a little while. If you get dizzy or have a slow reaction time, we’ll reassess. Meanwhile, this cut on your face will probably be okay with butterfly bandages.”
“Maybe we should take him to the hospital in Tortola just in case,” I suggested. “Or I can fly him to Miami.”
Cal’s cheeks turned pink which was ten times better than the pale face he’d arrived with. “I don’t need a hospital. I just need to lie down for a few minutes and catch my breath.”
As Lucas worked on the cut, I helped Cal take a few sips of the drink Freya handed me. “It’s a warm lemonade. Julo’s mom swears by it.”
Lucas finished and sat back. “You’re going to have pain from that bruise on your cheek. I’d recommend taking ibuprofen and keeping with it till morning at least. You might try an ice pack too.”
“I’m fine. Thank you for bandaging it.” He moved to stand but was clearly still shaky.
“I’ll help you downstairs,” I said, sliding an arm around his waist and helping him down the stairs and into our stateroom.
As soon as the door was closed behind us, he turned in my embrace and planted his face in the crook of my neck, holding on to me in a surprising hug with a death grip. “Just for a second,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I wrapped my arms around him and held tight. “Shh, it’s okay. For as long as you need.”
“Just scared me, that’s all. I thought I’d pulled Mia down with me. Thank god she’s okay.” His voice was muffled against my skin, but it still sounded so young. He was only twenty-three. How many times would he have had a scary moment like this in his past? Probably not many.
“It scared me too, and I wasn’t even the one it happened to,” I admitted softly. “When I heard you were hurt, I almost threw up.”
He pulled back and sniffed. Tear tracks smudged the tops of his cheeks, and I wiped them away carefully with a thumb.
“At least I’m the one it happened to instead of Mia or Jade. They probably wouldn’t have ever gone diving again.”
His hair was stiff with salt, and he still had crusty spots of blood on his neck and hands.
“C’mon, let’s get you rinsed off in the shower, and then you can get in bed.” I took him by the hand and led him into the bathroom where I leaned into the large marble shower to turn on the water.
“I think I swallowed a gallon of seawater. I feel like I ate dead plankton.” He reached for his toothbrush and started brushing while the water heated up in the shower. “I’ve taken my mask off underwater a million times. I’ve lost my regulator plenty of times. I’ve even done classes where all of our kit was removed and we had to find it all and redress at depth.”