Chapter Eleven

Day Five Evening, Day Six Morning

Kate had Ryan gather pillows and blankets from the berths. They set them up on additional cushions removed from the galley seats so they could sleep together. Sam's pain had heightened and she'd given him another pill. Thankfully, the narcotics were helping and he'd fallen back asleep.

The makeshift tourniquet posed a dilemma, but Kate decided his chances of keeping the leg were slim and it was his life she was more worried about. Bottom line, if she took the tourniquet off, he would quickly die from blood loss. She'd gone through the first aid kit looking for anything that might help. It held suture supplies, but there wasn't enough skin to bring the two sides together and sew and with the extent of the damage it probably wasn't a viable option anyway.

Kate wracked her brain over things she'd read. Thoughts of gangrene, blood poisoning, and massive infection ran through her head until she thought she'd go crazy.

Settling Ryan so she would sleep proved easier than it was for Kate to shut her brain down. Each time she closed her eyes during the night, the jaws of a giant shark tried to eat Ryan or Sam and it startled her awake. The bumps against the hull didn't help and they were getting on her nerves and heightening her anxiety.

In her childhood, Kate had interacted with many ocean animals, knowing they had different personalities and were smarter than most gave them credit for. This shark was sticking around longer than she thought it would. Was it too old to hunt? Was it injured? She knew more about sharks than the average person because of her father's research but nothing she remembered helped her figure out what the shark's goal was.

Sam drifted in and out of consciousness. Ryan slept through the night, her young mind overwhelmed and exhausted. They were both asleep when the first rays of sunlight shone into the cabin. Kate finally decided sleep wasn't happening and checked her phone. Still no signal. She sent another text and received the same failure message.

She needed to use the bathroom. That's when she remembered the electric water pump wasn't working either.

They could use buckets of sea water in the toilets so they could flush. Kate would eventually need to send Ryan back to the engine room to switch over the grey water tank valve so it would empty into the ocean. They had a gallon container of water in the galley that would provide drinking water.

Her thoughts turned to other problems such as cooking. They had an emergency supply of sterno fuel cans. It wasn't the greatest solution but she was glad they had them. With water and food taken care of, she switched mental gears to their rescue.

Her father would notice something was wrong when he didn't hear from them. He might wait twenty-four hours before notifying the Coast Guard. Another yacht could see them too. There was an emergency flag onboard and also a flare gun.

Survival was her focus. Kate was determined that Sam would survive until help came.

"Mom," Ryan called from outside Kate's berth.

"Come in, I'm changing into something comfortable," she replied, having slept in her swimsuit with a T-shirt. "Is your dad awake?" she asked when Ryan entered the room.

"No," Ryan shook her tousled head of hair and rubbed sleep from her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Ryan's tiny shoulders went up and down in a small movement that said everything.

"I need morning hugs," Kate told her and Ryan eagerly ran to her mother. Her arms formed a cocoon of warmth around her daughter, the touch seeking to shield Ryan from the harsh reality of their predicament. Ryan nestled against her and Kate herself found solace in Ryan's familiar scent and steady heartbeat. They stayed that way for a long time.

"It's time to make breakfast," Kate said when Ryan finally pulled away. "We have a lot to do, but I need coffee before anything." Dammit, she thought silently, the coffee maker wouldn't work without electricity. She would make do with the Sterno cans for boiling water. Coffee was a priority this morning.

"You want a ride to the stairs?" Kate asked her.

Ryan eagerly climbed into her lap and Kate wheeled them to the chair lift. Her arms were still sore from the previous day but the ropes had turned into a lifesaver. Ryan scampered up first and then hand over hand, Kate made it to the top. She settled in her above deck wheelchair and they made their way to the galley.

Sam, wrapped in a blanket, continued sleeping. She had given him another pill an hour before she got up and he might be out for most of the morning.

"I'm going to need lots of help today," she whispered to Ryan.

"Okay. Do you need me to take care of Daddy?"

"Absolutely, but you're also my legs. We need to hoist the emergency flag, which is in one of the containers on deck. I'll let you pull the rope that raises the flag after we eat. We also need a bucket to fill with sea water so we can flush the toilets."

Ryan's eyes grew larger. "Don't put the bucket in the ocean or the shark will get you."

And why hadn't Kate thought of that? They were surrounded by water that she couldn't use. "Smart call and you're right. No ocean water. The bucket can be filled from the tank in the engine room. How does cereal with milk sound?" The fridge wasn't running, and the milk would go bad quickly. They would be eating the food from the refrigerator today, hoping for rescue before the sun went down.

"Can I have the good kind of cereal?" Ryan asked.

Kate had allowed her to choose one sugary brand for the trip. "Absolutely. At times like this, sugar is good for us, so I'll join you."

Ryan smiled as Kate got out the bowls and milk. She made Ryan's first, but before she poured milk into her own bowl, Sam groaned.

"You eat, and I'll check on your father," she said.

Kate wheeled herself over with his water bottle. They managed to get half of it down the evening before and he needed more to help replenish the blood he'd lost.

She placed the bottle on the floor, put one hand beside it, and braced her other on the opposite side of the chair in order to lift herself down. Her arm muscles silently moaned at the overuse. "Hi," she said when she saw Sam watching her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a shark bit me," he replied but smiled gently. "How bad is my leg?"

"Bad and you have a tourniquet to stop the bleeding."

"That must be what hurts so much."

Kate handed him the water. "You lost a lot of blood and you need to drink this. I can get you another pain pill too if you need it."

The yacht gave a small jolt.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

Kate glanced at Ryan, whose face was scrunched up. She was also biting her lip in fear. She understood what was making the sound, though Kate hadn't told her.

"I think you have a secret admirer," Kate said lightly to Sam.

"What?" he asked, not understanding what she was illuding to.

"The shark. He's been bumping the yacht since his snack got away." She motioned her eyes toward their daughter, and Sam took the hint.

"I'm a yummy fellow," he said lightly. "Are you okay, Ryan?"

She left the table and leaned down to her dad. "Can I hug you?" she asked.

"My hugs usually cost money but there are a few free ones for smart little girls," he told her. Ryan leaned against her father, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Ryan's back trembled and then she said, "I'm scared, Daddy. I don't like sharks." She tightened her grip on her father and cried.

Sam looked over Ryan's shoulder at Kate. She gave him a sympathetic smile glad that he was awake enough to alleviate Ryan's fear and a little bit of her own.

"You had better not tell grandpops that," he said gently to Ryan after a few moments. "That shark was hungry, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I had seen it coming, I would have used my kung fu moves to stop him. The shark got lucky."

Ryan giggled and sniffed. She turned in the direction of her mother and she appeared calmer.

"Do you think you could eat something?" Kate asked Sam. "The fridge isn't working, and we need to eat what's inside before it goes bad."

Sam's expression changed. He realized what she was telling him. They were in trouble. "I don't think I can help with the food, but I would take a sports drink. I know we brought some."

"I know where they are, Daddy. I'll go get you one." Ryan disentangled herself and ran from the galley.

"How bad are we?" Sam asked as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"Our priority is getting you medical help. We have enough food and water to last a month even if we lose most of what's in the fridge."

"What about that damned shark?"

"It can't get to us, and as long as that's the case, I'm not thinking about it," she told him.

"What's the plan?"

Kate gave a small shrug. "We wait for my father to notify the coastguard and for them to find us. It should be in the next twenty-four hours."

Ryan came back with an orange sports drink and handed it to her dad. He drank the entire bottle, which was good news as far as Kate was concerned.

"I'll take you up on that pill," he said. "I need to pee, and getting to the bathroom won't be easy."

"Will the plastic bottle in your hand work?" Kate asked. "You shouldn't move."

"Oh joy, I get to be part of the bathroom humor," he said and offered Kate a smile. He took her hand. "Thank you. I'm not sure how you got me out of the water, but you saved me."

Tears formed in her eyes. Yesterday she was thinking about divorce, and today, she was thinking she couldn't lose this man.

"I love you," she said simply, understanding that she had never stopped loving him and that had been why she'd dragged her feet for so long. "No shark was going to eat you."

He kissed the backs of her fingers before he rested against the pillow again.

"Ryan, can you grab the pain pills for me? I placed them in the top drawer by the sink."

Ryan jumped up and at the same time, the shark hit the boat harder than before.