Chapter Nine

Day Four, Afternoon

Kate sat frozen, completely paralyzed by what she'd just witnessed. Her cry faded into a sharp keening noise with no realization she was making it. The attack happened so fast that she momentarily wondered if it was her imagination. Her eyes scanned the water. No Sam. Then, like a bullet, his head shot above the surface, his expression startled, completely unaware of what had happened.

But Kate knew.

"Ryan, get the boat hook!" she yelled to her daughter, coming out of her trance, not taking her eyes away from Sam.

"Mom!" Ryan screamed.

Kate spun in her chair toward her daughter, but Ryan was looking in horror at Sam. No, it wasn't Sam who caused the reaction, Kate realized when she turned back. An enormous shark fin cut through the water a few yards behind Sam. The creature turned and swam closer, allowing Kate to see the massive jaws with multiple rows of deadly teeth. It rolled slightly and bumped Sam with its snout. Sam's body moved another foot from the boat. The shark slowly made another pass before it disappeared.

"Grab the boat hook!" Kate yelled again. She slid off her chair onto the swim platform and inched her body toward the water.

"Don't," Sam called, his eyes now wide with understanding and resolve.

"Move as little as possible," she told him calmly even though she felt the exact opposite. Ryan slid the boat hook beside her, and she grabbed it. "Grab hold of my shorts at the back and hold me as tight as you can," she instructed her daughter. The boat hook was retractable, and she pushed down on the lever and pulled on it until it was a foot longer. "Sam, grab this," she said, thrusting the hook toward him.

He didn't reach for it as he gently waded in the water, his body barely moving. "Sam, you must grab hold." He still didn't move, so she moved closer to him.

"Mom don't go in," Ryan whimpered, her green eyes the size of saucers.

Kate ignored her panic. "Keep holding tightly to my shorts, but don't get on the platform," she said. The shark could attack again any second. Great whites enjoyed befuddling their prey with a solid hit. When their target was close to death and had given up the fight, they usually followed up with a bite that had four thousand pounds of jaw pressure behind it. She had to get Sam out of the water.

She thrust the pole toward her husband and turned it in her hands so the hook got him beneath the armpit. She pulled with everything she had and heard Ryan's deep grunt as she held onto Kate's shorts. Sam's body hit the hull.

"Help me get you out of the water," she yelled at Sam. His hands reached for the platform. She grabbed him around the shoulders and tried to roll away to bring him out, using every bit of her upper body strength. Ryan could no longer hold onto her shorts and let go after a small grunt.

"Help me, Sam, please," she begged. "I won't let go of you."

He finally understood and used what strength he had left to get onto the platform. At the same time, a horrible sound came from his mouth, a mix of pain, fear, and determination. Blood immediately covered the deck. They were still too close to the water. Kate moved back, pulling Sam with her. Each agonizing inch felt like a mile. She didn't look at Sam or the blood, she focused on the water. Her useless legs wouldn't help and she had to lean forward, pull him back with her arms, use her arms to pull herself back and start all over.

The shark came to the surface, its powerful body rising up, watching them, then lowering slowly until it disappeared again. It was the incentive Kate needed to make the final pull that got Sam clear of danger.

"Move my chair," Kate told her daughter.

"Where?" Ryan asked, her voice raw with heavy tears.

"Closer to me," Kate replied.

Ryan situated the wheelchair, and Kate moved her legs so they dropped over the platform onto the deck side. She had to release Sam long enough to get herself into the chair. His glassy eyes didn't give her confidence that he wouldn't roll back into the water and if that happened, he didn't have a chance.

"Help pull me away from the platform," Kate told Ryan. "We need to get him inside the cabin. It will be easier if he's partially on the chair."

As Ryan struggled to pull the chair back, Kate grabbed Sam and used her arms to pull him against her chest. His legs made a thud when they hit the deck.

"Are you with me?" she asked, but he didn't answer. He'd lost too much blood, and she had to revise her plan.

"Ryan, go inside and grab the first aid kit. Bring it here and then grab all the clean towels from the cabinet."

Kate leaned down and used her hand to push against the side rail, allowing Sam's body to slowly spill onto the deck. She lifted herself from the wheelchair and dragged her body closer to Sam's legs.

A huge chunk of skin and meat had been torn from his thigh, exposing bone and muscle. Blood continued flowing, which made it the first priority. She grabbed the knife from his belt and slit the leg of his wetsuit, pulling it up on both sides until the cut flaps were above the wound. She tied them together as best she could but knew it wasn't tight enough.

Ryan's hands shook when she pushed the first aid kit toward her mom. "Is he dead?" she asked.

"No, and he's not going to die," Kate assured her, even though she didn't know if Sam could survive long enough for help to arrive. "You did good. I need to stop the bleeding," she said. "I've tied off his leg. He's going to need water to drink. Grab the towels and then go back for his water bottle."

Ryan stayed frozen, staring at the jagged shark bite where her father's leg was once whole. Sam's body convulsed for a few seconds before he went still again.

"Ryan, I need those things right now," Kate snapped. She hated to sound mean, but Ryan was in shock, and there was no time for it.

Ryan rushed from the deck with small whimpers of distress trailing behind her. The yacht gave a slight jolt, and somehow Kate knew it was the shark. Was this the shark caught in the net? Nothing made sense, and her thoughts were all over the place. She needed to slow her breathing and think.

Deep breath in, hold, deep breath out.

She pulled Sam's arm until she could grasp his wrist and check for a pulse. It was there. She looked at his leg again. So much blood had pooled in the wound and continued flowing onto the deck.

"Here," Ryan said.

Kate took the towels from her daughter. Ryan's green eyes were huge, puffy, and red from crying, but she was responding to what Kate said.

"Come here," she told her and lifted her arms. Ryan launched herself at her mother from a foot away and wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. She kept her head turned away from her father.

"You're doing great, and you're helping dad," Kate assured her, inhaling Ryan's scent to help calm herself. "I need to get a better tourniquet on his leg to stop the bleeding. I'm using his wetsuit right now, but I need something that's more effective. You did so good and the first aid kit will have something I can use. After I've slowed the bleeding, I'll go inside and radio for help. We're going to be okay," she insisted.

Ryan trembled against her chest and sniffed in deeply, not letting go.

"I need you to keep being strong," Kate told her.

"Is he going to die?" Ryan whispered.

"No, but we need to get him comfortable and call for a helicopter."

"Okay, can I help?" Ryan asked, then sniffed again. The words, though soft held the strength Kate needed from her.

Kate pushed Ryan back, kissed her temple, and gave her a quivering smile.

"For now, hold your dad's hand. Can you do that?"

"Can he hear us?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe. Talk to him and tell him he's safe."

Kate opened the first aid kit, knowing it was inadequate for what they needed. She went through the heavy plastic box and pulled out several items. The stretchy athletic wrap would need to do as a tourniquet and she unrolled it.

"I'm right here, Daddy. Mommy is going to save you."

Her daughter had more faith in Kate's abilities than Kate had, but the words still caused her lips to tip upward.

"Ryan, run inside and get the wooden spoon from the drawer in the galley and bring his water bottle." Kate knew she needed to give one command at a time, but her words were as jumbled as her thoughts, and it was difficult.

Ryan thankfully came back with the spoon and the water.

"I'm going to untie the wetsuit where I knotted it," she said, speaking the words aloud to help her focus on what was needed. "Hold the spoon out to me until I have the ace bandage in place."

Kate took the water and placed it beside them. She carefully untied the wetsuit before she arranged the stretchy bandage beneath his leg so she could tie it. Blood gushed onto the deck and made her hands slippery. She took the spoon from Ryan and pushed it beneath the tied bandage. She then turned it, tightening the tourniquet until the blood flow slowed. Once that was done, she grabbed towels from the stack her daughter had brought and put pressure on the wound.

Sam groaned. The towel quickly soaked with blood.

"Daddy, I'm here," Ryan told him. She hadn't called him daddy in years.

"Take this," Kate said, handing her daughter the water. "See if he'll drink a little."

Ryan poured some water into her father's mouth.

Green eyes, just like his daughter's, opened.