Chapter Sixteen
Day Seven, Afternoon
Kate and Ryan spent an hour working with the spearguns. They were too large for Ryan, but she assisted Kate in attaching the spear and figuring out how the rubber tubes worked and made the spear eject.
"These are dangerous," she explained. "I'll place them back into storage and move the other items to the scuba container so I can get to the spearguns quickly." Ryan was inquisitive but she understood when something was unsafe and would leave it be.
"Is help coming?" Ryan asked.
"Your grandpop is working on rescuing us," Kate said. "He had our last location, but we moved away from there. It will take time to find us, but he will, I promise."
"Is Daddy getting sicker?"
"He is, and I'm more worried about him than the shark. Maybe you can get him to sip more of the sports drink."
"I'll bribe him with kisses," Ryan promised.
"It's a deal. Let's go check on him and eat some lunch."
They found Sam talking incoherently with labored breathing. Dark circles beneath his eyes made him appear gaunt even with his flushed skin from the high fever. His upper body was half off the makeshift mattress, with the blanket thrown aside. ‘Shark' was the only word Kate understood.
"We need to get him situated again and bring his temperature down," she calmly explained to Ryan, keeping the fear from her voice which wasn't easy. "If you want a snack, you can have one. It may be a bit before I prepare lunch."
"I'm good," her daughter said.
After rearranging Sam back on his makeshift pallet, they brought up another half bucket of water to cool him down. When she finished, Kate left a wet towel on his chest and one on the back of his neck. He still felt warm, but he'd stopped moving around as much, which was a good sign.
Kate was doing everything she could and she knew it wasn't enough. Sam was in serious trouble and the loss of his leg was no longer a factor. This was about his survival and she was fighting on many different levels. Her inadequacies didn't help and all she could do was move forward.
Lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly. Kate removed the crust from Ryan's sandwich and cut it into a triangle the way she preferred it. Her daughter was convinced they tasted better this way. Kate ate hers with globs of peanut butter, a small amount of jelly, and an oblong cut. She placed chips on the table, and they drew straight from the bag.
Kate was exhausted. She hadn't slept the previous night and dropping face first into her food was a very real possibility.
"Do you think your old mom could take a nap?" she asked Ryan after they cleaned up and stowed the dishes.
"You're not old," Ryan chided. "I'll listen for the shark and let you know if he hurts the boat." Ryan was as serious as a doctor preparing for major surgery.
"Grab your coloring books," Kate told her. "You can sit at the table or down on the floor while I sleep."
"Go to bed," her five-going-on-fifteen-year-old told her. "I'll stay with Dad."
This was a lot for her daughter, but Kate could barely see straight. An hour of sleep in her bed would be wonderful. She thought about setting the alarm on her cell, but she was starting to worry about the inability to recharge so decided to shut it down.
"Don't let me sleep too long," she said. "If your dad wakes up, come and get me."
"I'll sit with him, color my pictures, and listen for the shark."
Kate wheeled over and kissed Ryan's cheek, the light touch giving Kate comfort. "I don't know what I would do without you."
Ryan smiled and began flipping through pages of a coloring book to decide what to work on. Kate surprisingly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She woke up after the sun went down. There was a solar light next to her, and when she groped her way to the upper deck, she heard her daughter talking.
"He found the red hat under the tree."
When Kate entered the galley, Ryan was reading a book to her father. His eyes were open, and his skin didn't appear as flushed.
"It's dinner time," Kate said. "I slept longer than I expected."
Ryan jumped up and gave her a hug.
"I've been reading to Daddy. Some of the words are too big, and he said I could make them up."
"She uses ‘poop' a lot," said Sam, a smile in his voice.
Kate gave Ryan a stern look and then laughed. "You and your poop humor." Her daughter just grinned. She turned back to Sam. "How are you feeling?"
"The pain is a bit worse, but my stomach has settled."
"Unfortunately, the pain pills could be the cause of the stomachache. Do you still want one?"
"I think I do. My leg feels like it's in boiling water, and it's getting worse. The bandage should be changed."
"It's going to hurt," she told him.
"I'll let the pain pill take effect before you get started and maybe add some wine."
"Do you feel like food?"
"Broth only, but I'm thirsty for water. Ryan forced me to finish an entire bottle of sports drink."
"Broth and water coming up," Kate said and gave Ryan a high five for making Sam drink the fluid.
He ate less soup than she wanted, but he drank more water than she thought he would. Kate felt better after the nap and she felt encouraged by Sam's change too, though she was not looking forward to removing the bandage. She boiled water using the smallest pot they had on board and added it to the colder water in the bucket so it was warm.
When her preparations were finished, she told Sam it was time for the wine.
"My stomach can't handle it. You have a glass," he told her. "You'll need it as much as I needed the pain pill."
Kate didn't argue and drank a large glass before she got started.
"It needs to soak a bit first," she told him when she was ready.
"Whatever you feel is best." With Ryan's help collecting towels, it was time.
Kate had used the last ace bandage to wrap around the towel covering the wound. She unwound it and poured water slowly onto the bloody towel that remained.
Sam hissed but managed not to cry out. Kate remembered the times after her accident when she couldn't act like a baby because of Ryan. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad because sometimes she thought screaming would have been better.
She massaged Sam's neck and shoulders until she was ready to remove the towel. "Does this feel okay," she asked.
"It feels too good." He groaned and circled his neck when she switched to his shoulders.
"I think your leg has soaked long enough. Are you ready?" She squeezed his fingers.
"Get it over with."
"You're sure?"
"It's got to be done."
Kate didn't have his confidence. She was afraid to see the damage, especially if there was the infection.
"I have peroxide, but it will hurt," she said. "Once we have the towel off, I can pour it on if you think you can handle it."
"I'll handle it," he said.
When he saw his leg, he would know the outcome, no matter what she did. The towel came off easier than she expected. She peeled it back and examined the torn flesh and mangled wound. The area around the wound was bright red with dead pieces of grey skin. The entire leg was still purplish.
"There's no hope, is there?" Sam asked as he looked at the damage.
"The most important thing is to keep infection away."
Kate glanced at Ryan, whose expression was scared again. She couldn't tell him the truth in front of her. Sam followed her gaze.
"Come here, Ryan, and hold my hand," he told her. "I might cry when your mom pours the medicine on."
Ryan scrambled over quickly. She leaned against Sam's chest and took his hand. His other hand went to her hair and smoothed his fingers over it.
"You won't tell anyone if I cry, will you?" he teased.
"It's our secret," she whispered against him.
"Do it," he said.
Kate decided to pour half of the contents on the wound. If she did it slowly, the pain could grow where he couldn't take it anymore, and she would need to stop. She was too worried about infection at this point.
Sam cried out, and Ryan clasped her arms completely around him. His head lifted and then rested back against the pillows.
"I've got you, Daddy," Ryan told him.
"I know you do." It came out strangled, and his fingers shook when he smoothed her hair again.
Kate wiped the surrounding skin gently and cleaned the wound as best she could. Sam remained stoic and didn't make a sound after his first outburst. Ryan hummed softly and rocked slightly.
By the time Kate finished, Ryan was asleep.
With a little help from Sam, Kate moved Ryan to a cushion she pushed beside him.
"She told me she fell into the water," Sam said once Ryan was settled.
Kate sat on the floor beside them. She covered her eyes with her hands at the memory.
"I thought it got her. I still can't believe it attacked seconds after she was out of the water. I never want to go through something like that again." She looked into Sam's eyes. "It's hunting us. I know that sounds ridiculous, but this is not normal shark behavior." She took a breath. "I've been thinking."
"That's dangerous," he said lightly.
Kate was hopeful that if he were joking, he was improving. She'd been thinking a lot about what she needed to tell him about the shark. The idea was crazy on the surface, but each layer worked when you considered their present circumstances.
She gave him her shark theory, which helped work it through in her head again. "Male great white sharks have known to travel and hunt in pairs. At first, I thought the shark in the net might have been a meal for the shark that bit you. I think this one, as stupid as it sounds, is out for revenge against the yacht."
"I was right. Your thinking is dangerous."
"The shark looked me in the eyes again, and its stare did not feel curious. It was exactly like the one who spy-hopped. What if that shark is the one that bit you? Maybe the shark in the net lived for a while caught beneath the boat. The other shark followed us and now blames our boat for its friend's death."
"And it wants revenge?" he asked skeptically.
"I know it sounds ridiculous."
As if it knew about their conversation in the galley, the shark chose that second to hit the hull again.
"Or maybe," Kate said, "it's hungry, and we just happen to be the ready meal on board."
"Out of the two of us, you're usually the more rational. Is there something you're not telling me?"
There was. Kate explained what her father said about the missing teens. "That attack wasn't normal either."
"You think this could be the same shark or same two sharks?" he asked. He no longer sounded doubtful.
"It's crazy, but something strange is happening. White sharks have been known to attack boats and tip smaller boats over, but it's very rare. The teens and now us. It just seems too coincidental for it not to be the same sharks."
"Do you think the coast guard will find us?"
Kate chuckled. "You know my father. If they don't, he'll come out himself if he isn't already searching. I'm going to go outside and shoot off another flare, just in case."
He took her hand.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too." She covered his hand with her other one. "Don't forget that."
Kate wheeled herself to the deck and shot off a flare, knowing Ryan would be disappointed she slept through it. She glanced at the water and turned her head in the direction of a long distance splash off the starboard side. The shark just had to remind her it was still out there.
But then, in the distance, she heard the haunting call of the blue whale. A deep, melancholic moan that echoed the mysteries of the oceans. They were the lowest-frequency sounds made by any animal on earth and traveled for hundreds of miles underwater. Blue whales were highly endangered, and hearing this sound was special. The call was a poignant reminder of everything Kate loved about the endless depths of the ocean.
For some reason, the sound cemented in her mind that she was smarter than any damn shark.