Forever and a Day (39 page)

“Xander, where is your rope?” She exclaimed and pointed at his wrist, “I—I don’t want to lose you.”

He nodded and saw where he left the rope, he crawled over and tied himself off, “Halo I am going hook up the sea anchor, it should help us a bit as the stabilizers don’t seem like enough.”

“Ok.” She shrugged.

Xander quickly tied off the anchor and unzipped the flap and managed to toss it out into the ocean as a swell hit them, almost pitching him out of the flap and into the dark sea, he felt Halo’s hand grab at his waistband and steady him. He found his grip and closed up the flap, “Thanks!” He said out of breath.

“I think one dip in the ocean is enough for a while…” She attempted a smile.

He moved to the middle of the raft and beckoned her close, “Halo, come on over here to the middle. It’ll be better for you here, don’t worry.”

She managed to crawl over as and he held out his hand and steadied her. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her, “Would it be ok if I put my arm around you—I mean so I can keep us from bumping into each other?”

“Of course you can, silly.” She replied and fought down another heave. He pulled her close against him and he finally noticed how tiny she felt next to him, but the feeling he got from holding her was heavenly. He felt her relax as she settled in next to him for the night.

Morning came and Halo was asleep up against him, one hand around him and the other holding her bucket. The daylight did not bring them any respite as the swells continued growing. Xander’s first worry was the raft flipping, the anchor and stabilizer were doing their job, but if it got any worse, things would get very tense.

Halo began coughing which turned into an all-out fit, he swiftly helped her get upright and patted her back gently, “Oh! Please don’t Xander.” She exclaimed hoarsely.

Xander felt pin prickles shoot through him at the thought of hurting her, “Oh! I’m so sorry. Is it your back?” He gave her a pained look.

“Yeah, from Johnny the asshole, its ok you didn’t know.” She began coughing again.

Xander looked at her with worry, “Halo? Did you aspirate when you vomited last night?”

He watched her look up from her bucket and gave him such bleak and miserable look that it wrenched at his heart. She nodded at him and he rubbed her arm in sympathy, “Is it hard to breathe? He asked concernedly. She shrugged, “Still feel like stuff is in your lungs?” He continued.

She looked up, “Yes, it hurts from coughing I think… Xander, am I going to be ok?”

“I think so. Try and make sure your coughs come from deep so you can make them productive.”

She nodded, “Is that what you did back home? Take care of people?” She asked quietly as another large swell rocked them.

“Uh, yeah… we have a service that offers elder and senior care and services. Not sure I mentioned it on my bio, but I’m a Certified Nurse’s Assistant and an Emergency First Responder through the state of Oregon.”

“Oh? And what does that mean?” She asked holding a heave back.

He chuckled, “It means I’m allowed to change bedpans… and give meds as well as administer advanced first aid.” He smiled.

Halo tried to nod but instead thrust her head in the bucket, dry heaved and began another round of coughing.

Xander looked away and out of the window, he saw nothing but a wall of dark water where there once gray. His hackles came alive with a tingling frenzy and he hollered to Halo, ‘Oh shit! Forget the bucket! Hold on!”

Suddenly the raft went nearly vertical as they ascended a wall of water. Xander saw the top of the raft start to rotate over as if it was going to flip. With cheetah like speed, he let go of Halo and launched himself towards the shuddering top, throwing all his body weight on the teetering raft edge. Then as suddenly as they went vertical, they were now racing downward. Xander flung himself towards the rising opposite side, throwing his weight against the rising vertical edge of the raft. He heard Halo call out to him.

“Xander! What’s happening?”

Then the raft crashed hard onto the water and began climbing another a huge wall of rolling water, “HALO! Just hold on! Stay in the middle!” He bellowed and launched himself yet again towards the rising end of the round raft. He saw her nod and she began coughing as she gripped the webbing tightly and looked up at him with fear.

“Are we in a storm?” She yelled out in a hoarse voice full of fear.

He shifted as they sped down the huge wall of water and landed with a hard slap then began an upward climb, “It’s the Cyclone!” He managed to say as he once again launched himself, using his body weight to try to keep the raft from flipping.

“A TORNADO?” She shrieked.

“NO! Cyclone is a hurricane! Sorry!” Another hard slap that shook them hard as the raft struck the water and began to rise again. He repeated the process of using his body weight, “The cyclone is making these waves!” He managed and began concentrating on anticipating the rhythm of the gargantuan swells.

“Just hold on! If you end up in…” he shifted again to the opposite side, “the water activate your vest!” He saw her stare up at him in terror and his heart about stopped at her look, “I won’t let you down!” He shouted to her as he anticipated the rise of the raft and lurched past Halo to the other side, “Watch out for my rope!”

Like hell, he was going to let her down! He thought with a fury. Had they not been through enough? He screamed in his mind. He swore that he would keep her alive until his last dying breath then launched himself to the rising side of the raft once more.

Halo watched her Mystery man run up and down inside the raft. Her hands were white knuckled in a death grip at the webbing, utterly terrified. She knew if she let go with even one hand she would be thrown against the side and possibly out of the raft. She could only watch Xander with his teeth gritted in fervor as he fought to keep the raft from flipping. She could only pray and put her trust in him, he got her out of two bad situations already. Hopefully this one would be the charm… then she recalled her dream and her fear suddenly turned into horror.

Xander lost track of time as he rushed up and down inside the raft, hoping his weight would be enough to keep them from flipping. His legs and back were burning and crying out for respite but he pressed on knowing if they flipped, it would be game over in these waves. Hours passed as his movements became jerky and uncoordinated due to exertion. To keep at it he began repeating a mantra in his mind: Please let her live.

With every wobbly step, he repeated it. Eventually the day’s strain turned into exhaustion and overcame him. His vision became tunnel like then suddenly all he could see was blackness, finally he stumbled and fell.

In a panicked hoarse voice he cried out, “Halo, help me up please! I—I can’t stop!”

Halo saw his pale, sweat soaked face and her heart hurt for him. She let go of the webbing and pushed him down as she ran up to the top of the rising raft yelling hoarsely at him, “My turn! Take a break!” She knew when to anticipate the rise and fall of the raft as she had watched Xander do for hours on end and ran up the opposite side, “Get some water!” She watched him nod and grip the webbing for support.

He got to the water, nearly tripping her, and got the whole thing down in one long pull. He grabbed another and timed Halo’s movement and got back to the middle just in time. He gave her what seemed like ten minutes then called out to her, “OK! I’m good! Come rest, we’ll take turns!”

She gave him a stern look and yelled back, “Fine, when you look tired it’s my turn!”

He readied himself and as she got to the middle, he quickly handed her the bottle of water and started to launch himself and then it felt as if they were in mid-air, “HOLD ON!” He cried out in alarm. He grabbed onto her and waited for the crash onto the ocean or the flipping of the raft. For a long moment they waited. They both looked at each other in surprise then he turned to look out of the window and saw the ocean was subdued and night would be upon them shortly.

“It’s calmer!” He shrieked and they both began laughing and hooting joyfully. Halo wrapped her arms around him and held him tight in a squeeze as he did the same to her.

“It is! Oh my! It is!” She rocked him back and forth for several long moments, “My God Xander, you must be exhausted! You were doing that all day.”

Xander could only nod as the feeling of her holding him was absolutely incredible. The words: Forever and day kept repeating in his mind. Never in his life had he felt the way he did with her arms wrapped around him. He knew this was it: his fear coming to fruition… he was going to be lost to her forever. He quickly let her go and cleared his sore throat, “Too intense… I am exhausted. How are you doing?”

“Still coughing, but ready to pass out. Do you think it’s safe enough for both of us to sleep now?” She asked.

He nodded and gingerly tried to stretch his aching muscles, “I think so.” He grabbed a blanket and handed it to her. She wrapped herself up, laid down in the middle and looked expectantly at him.

He looked around and found the other blanket, wrapped it around himself and began to move off to the side. Her voice stopped him cold in his tracks, “Hey Superman, it is a bit chilly… would you mind if I borrowed some of your body heat?” She patted the webbing next to her.

“Uh…” He began to stammer and watched her smile up at him.

“Xander, if you don’t want to its fine.” She inadvertently gave a little pout then coughed. Clearing her throat she continued, “Let me ask this, if your wife were here would you fault her for wanting to keep warm?” She gave him a little shrug.

Jesus H Christ, he thought. Her logic was right on the money, but she had no idea of his feelings for her. He stammered again, when nothing came out right he simply shrugged and laid down on his back next to her, “I uh, I—I…”

“Shh…” Halo shushed him, “its fine Mr. Mystery man. I won’t bite.” For now, she thought and cuddled up next to him.

She watched his chest rise and fall with every breath as he looked up at the ceiling of the raft in deep thought. He seemed afraid to look at her. It took him about ten minutes before his eyes closed and his rhythmic deep breathing signaling a deep sleep like earlier. With a smile, she turned her back to him and pushed herself as close as humanly possible to him. Just as she was drifting off, she felt his arm come over her and scoop her in close to him.

She held her breath and waited, all she heard was his deep breathing. “Oh my!” she mouthed quietly, he is sound asleep and here they are spooning together. She realized with a grin that her body molded perfectly into his. His strong arm under her breasts sent butterflies through her sore belly. This feels so damn good! She tried to remember if she ever felt quite this way and was at a loss to call up a past memory of anything like it. If he were not married, things would soon be very different. With a smile on her face and the feelings of a long lost lovers embrace around her, she fell fast asleep in her hero’s arms.

“Mi cabeza…” Sarah moaned as she held her head in her hands.

Joel came awake in an instant and glared at her, “Fucking English!”

“Sorry. My head hurts bad, Joel.”

Joel turned to see JJ sprawled out and unconscious across the raft from him. From his vantage, he could see the huge purple bruise on her temple. He cursed at himself for falling asleep and not dumping JJ overboard during the choppy seas.

“Joel? I don’t see anyone out there.”

“Who the fuck knows where they are, they should have headed east like I did. I fucking paddled all Goddamn night to save your ass. The ocean was rougher than shit too.”

Sarah turned to JJ and gasped with her hand going to her mouth, “Joel! JJ looks really bad.”

“Well fucking go check on her then…”

Sarah crawled her way over to JJ and tried to rouse her. With consternation she looked to Joel, “She’s not waking up. Her head is swollen up bad she’s so pale… what should I do?”

“How the fuck should I know?” Joel shouted.

Sarah shrank back and looked away then noticed the pockets in the raft. With a sidelong glance at her boss, she scooted over and opened it. There she found a packet holding a silver emergency blanket. She held it up to Joel, “Can I cover her up?”

“Why the fuck are you asking me? You take care of the bitch, my arms feel like they are on fire.”

Sarah nodded and proceeded to cover JJ up. She searched around and not finding any cloth she took off her blouse, dipped it in the ocean and after wringing it out, she placed it on JJ’s forehead. Not knowing what else to do she scurried back to her place away from Joel.

Sitting down she noticed the yellow ELT behind Joel’s back. She thought she heard it emitting a beep and cocked her head to hear it better.

Joel saw where Sarah was looking, “Come here.” Joel demanded.

Tentatively she began crawling over and as she neared, he reached out, grabbed her arm hard, and jerked her next to him.

“Ow!” Sarah cried out as he kept his grip on her.

Sarah winced and cried out as Joel grabbed a handful of her hair, “W—what did I do?” She stammered.

“Shut the fuck up and listen you fucking whore… There is going to be an investigation with the NTSB and the FBI…”

“What’s the NTSB?”

“It’s the fucking government that investigates planes and shit, so shut the fuck up… I am going to tell you everything that you remember and what to say.” Joel growled and wrenched harder on her hair.

About the time Joel finished his side of the story to Sarah the sound of a helicopter caught their attention. They both looked out and saw the dark gray shape of a military helicopter bearing down on them in the early morning light.

“Fuck…” Joel grumbled and stared at Sarah. “Fine, JJ lives but you better stick to the story or I will have Simo kill every single member of your family—and I can do that from inside a jail cell…”

“Y—yes Joel…” Sarah stuttered and swallowed hard as she recalled the visage of Mr. Simo.

Joel peered out from under the cover and he saw a gray helicopter with Navy markings on it begin to hover above them. He frantically waved to them and he could see the sailor at the door wave back. The sailor made a motion like a boat with his hand and pointed to the East. Then held up one finger and pointed to his watch. Joel nodded emphatically and waved back.

Joel looked to Sarah, “Is the bitch still breathing?”

“Yes, she is still breathing. She doesn't seem too good.” She replied afraid he would get angry.

Joel watched as the helicopter began make a wider and wider circle around them, he didn't think they were going to go away. He knew he should have dumped JJ overboard, but he was too fucking tired and fell asleep.

Half an hour later, a large odd-looking Navy ship came into view. As it loomed closer, he saw large white letters on the ship: L 421. He could not make out what nation the ship belonged to. The ship suddenly turned away from them and he could see the stern now. It looked like there was a huge ramp coming down. The big ship slowly made its way backwards to them. They got to about twenty feet away and a sailor in a life vest and a dark blue uniform heaved a line to him. He reached out and grabbed it, the sailor made a tying motion and Joel tied it to a strap. Suddenly they were moving quickly towards the towering ship. He felt them hit the solid ramp and the continued up a ways.

Several sailors came running up as Joel peeled back the cover. The first man there came up to Joel and addressed him.

“Ensign Taylor, sir. How many aboard?”

“Just two besides me, one has a bad head injury.”

“Are you able to walk sir?” Joel nodded to him.

The Ensign reached in and grabbed Joel's hand and helped him out as other sailors swarmed the now dry docked life raft. As Joel was ushered away into the hold of the big ship, he saw them assist Sarah out and put JJ on a stretcher and ran her past him.

“Sir, please accompany me.” The Ensign led him up several flights of steps and down a long hallway to the medic and examination room. When he went in, he saw an officer and the medic.

The man who looked like he was in charge addressed him. “Welcome aboard the HMNZS Canterbury. I am Captain Stewart with the New Zealand Navy. This conversation is being recorded, sir. Please identify yourself.”

“Joel Kirby Miller sir, we went down on the Virgo Charter flight to American Samoa.” He replied quietly, looking down.

“Mr. Miller, are there other survivors?” The Captain asked with urgency. He watched Joel as he continued to look down at his shoes. “Sir, we must facilitate a rescue as reports of heavy seas are coming this way as we speak, anyone out there will most certainly perish. Mr. Miller!”

Tears began rolling down his cheeks and he looked up into the Captain’s eyes, “They are all dead. A—a another raft got out but, but it was empty… I—I think the plane sucked them down. Halo…” He paused and choked, he knew he just signed her death warrant, “… is dead. He fucking killed her… I couldn’t help her!” He cried out and felt the comforting hand of the Captain squeeze his shoulder in sympathy.