The Price of Fame - KJ1 (31 page)

“She’s not breathing, but she has a pulse.” Her voice shook and her whole body trembled, but she put everything aside except the thought of saving the other half of her soul. Nothing else mattered.

She laid Kate out and rolled her onto her side, clearing her mouth and then compressing her abdomen, emptying her stomach of water. She checked again for breathing and pulse. The pulse was there, although weaker, and she still wasn’t breathing.

“Miss, we’re at the shore now.” There was a hand on Jay’s shoulder.

“Let us help you get her onto the sand.”

“Hurry, I have to save her. I have to.”

The look of agony on her face told the man all he needed to know.

“We’ll do everything we can, miss.”

Two passengers who had been watching from the shore met them as they hit the sand, grabbing the dinghy and beaching it and helping the crew member lift the unconscious woman out of the boat and onto the ground.

Jay dropped to her knees by Kate’s head, checking one more time for a pulse and breathing before tilting her head back, pinching off her nose, and beginning mouth-to-mouth. This couldn’t be real; it had to be a nightmare, that’s all. The only sounds she could hear were the beating of her own heart hammering in her ears and the whoosh of the air she was breathing into her lover’s lungs. In between breaths, she watched for the telltale rise and fall of the chest, listening with her ear by Kate’s mouth for escaping air. For an agonizing minute, nothing happened save the continued rhythm of the mouth-to-mouth breathing every five seconds.

Tears streamed down Jay’s face as she leaned over one more time, breathing life into the woman without whom she was sure she would die.

“Please, love,” she pleaded, “please don’t leave me now, I couldn’t bear it. I need you so much. Please, please stay with me.” She turned her head to the side, placing her ear near her lover’s lips and watching her chest.

Just as she was about to turn and give another breath, Kate coughed weakly and made a choking sound. Quickly, Jay inserted herself behind her upper back, sitting her up a little to clear her airway. Kate coughed 188

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several more times, gasping for air, her lover holding her tightly from behind.

“Jay...” It came out as a hoarse whisper.

“Shh. Don’t talk now. You’re okay, love, you’re going to be okay.”

She rocked Kate back and forth in her arms, forgetting for a moment about her head injury, ignoring that there were other people present, blocking out everything except the feeling of life coursing through the body pressed against her chest.

After a moment, Kate leaned to the side and vomited, Jay soothing her and rubbing her back.

“Miss, she really needs to be checked out. We have a doctor aboard the ship.” The young crew member pointed in the direction of the cruise ship, which was now plainly visible from this side of the island. “We could take you on board and let him have a look. She took a nasty blow to the side of her head, it could be dangerous still.”

“Thank you, you’re right. Are you sure that would be okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the other crew member smiled at her. “I’m sure Doc would be happy to help. He’s always complaining about being lonely.”

Jay looked around for the first time, noting the crowd of people that had gathered. She also noticed that the sailboat had been towed safely onto the sand. She wiped her eyes self-consciously, never letting go of Kate, who was wheezing and semi-alert.

Seeing the indecision on Jay’s face, one of the male bystanders said,

“We could lift her into the dinghy for you.”

“That’s very sweet, thank you.”

“No problem, and don’t worry, we’ll be careful not to move her head.

Okay guys, give me a hand.”

With that three other burly men stepped forward, gently grabbing Kate and lifting her into the dinghy. Jay never let go of her lover’s hand and scooted in behind her in the boat as the men helped the crew members give it a shove off.

Within minutes they had arrived at the side of the large cruise ship, several more crew members meeting them and attaching lines to the dinghy so that it could be lifted mechanically out of the water and up to deck level, where a stretcher and the doctor were waiting. For the first time, Jay realized that the crew members must have been in contact with the ship by radio, transmitting news of the emergency and getting everyone ready to assist. She was grateful beyond words.

“I don’t know how to thank you two. You saved her life; I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“No, no, miss. You saved her life, we just lent a little bit of a helping hand.”

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There was no time for more talk just then because the mechanical lift ground to a halt, the crew members and doctor springing into action, transferring Kate to the stretcher and carrying her to the infirmary.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Hanratty,” the medic said, noting that the small blonde woman hadn’t moved from the patient’s side or let go of her hand.

“I...” Jay cleared her throat around the emotion that still threatened to choke her. “I’m Jamison Parker and this is Katherine Kyle.”

“Nice to meet you both. Trust me, I promise to take good care of your friend.” He smiled kindly at Jay, who looked as if she might collapse herself. “Do you want to sit down for a minute?”

“No,” she said too quickly. She didn’t want to let go of Kate’s hand, couldn’t bear to lose contact with her.

“Okay, well, let me tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a quick look at her, then x-ray her head. I understand she took a nasty blow, is that right?”

Jay simply nodded, unable to answer around the lump in her throat, knowing it had been all her fault.

“Don’t worry, young lady, I’m sure she’s going to be just fine, and from what I hear, she owes that to you. You’re quite a hero.”

“I don’t feel like a hero. If it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have gotten knocked in the head in the first place.”

“Excuse me,” a voice said weakly from the stretcher. “Jamison.” Kate motioned her lover to lower her head so that she could make eye contact with her. “This was not your fault, it was an accident. Stuff happens. I love you, and I’m here with you and that’s all that matters, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Look me in the eye and say that like you mean it, Scoop.”

Jay smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours. “Okay, Stretch,” she said more strongly, glad beyond measure just to be able to hear her voice.

“That’s better. Okay, Doc, let’s get this over with, I’ve got a vacation to get back to.”

“That’s the spirit,” the doctor said, and proceeded with his examination.

Outside, the two crew members were talking amongst themselves.

“Man, that poor woman took a hell of a whack to the side of her head; that boom was really moving.”

“No kidding, she sailed about five feet in the air before she landed.

You could tell by the way she hit the water that she was already out cold.

Sank like a stone.”

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“The cute blonde did all right, though, finding her so quickly. Must have had some training; she knew just what to do.”

“Yep, handled everything by the book, just like they teach you. Come to think of it, that was pretty amazing, considering how shook up she was. Did you see the way her hands were trembling?”

“Wouldn’t yours have been if it had been you? Jesus, her friend would’ve been dead, or at least brain damaged, in another minute or two.”

“You think something’s going on there?”

“You mean do I think they’re more than friends? Hell, I wish my wife would look at me the way they looked at each other. Yeah, I think something’s going on there.”

“Too bad, they’re both awesome looking. Nice bodies, too.”

“Man, you need a girlfriend.”

“You got that right. By the way, the captain says we can use the dinghy to take the two of them back to the main island if the tall one checks out okay. We can tow the sailboat behind. It should be alongside by now, they were bringing it with the other dinghy that went out to cover the passengers we left on the island.”

“Good, I’d like to see it through, make sure they get back all right. I feel bad for the kid. You know she’s got to be thinking it was all her fault. Bet she’s gonna have trouble sleeping tonight.”

“Yeah, can’t say I envy her. I wouldn’t want to live with that.”

“If the wind hadn’t picked up just then like it did, she would have been fine.”

“Yeah, and with the direction it was blowing, we could hear the instructions, but she obviously couldn’t. Her friend was telling her the right thing. If she could’ve heard her, she probably could’ve made the correction in time. Poor kid.”

The ship’s captain joined them.

“Hi, guys. Any word on our visiting patient?”

“She and her friend are in with Doc right now.”

“Good, I think I’ll take a peek.” He opened the door to the infirmary.

The doctor glanced up at the sound of the door opening. “Hi, Bert.

How are you?”

“Fine, Jake, just fine. How’s our guest doing?”

“Captain Bert Higgins, I’d like you to meet Ms. Jamison Parker and Ms. Katherine Kyle. Ladies, this is the man in charge of this tub.”

“Hey, old man, watch how you talk about your home. Hello, ladies, it’s a pleasure to meet you both, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

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“Captain, we can’t thank you enough for offering us your facilities and the assistance of your crew. The doctor and your crew members have been fantastic.”

“You’re quite welcome, Ms. Parker. We’re all happy we could help.

Do you have everything you need? We’ll be docked here for another few hours, and I’ve instructed the boys to take you back to the main island when you’re ready. We’ve got the Javelin, too, and you can tow that behind.” He noticed that Jay was shivering slightly, which made sense, since she was wearing only a wet bikini. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, Katherine.” The doctor turned his attention back to his patient. “Here’s the deal: you’ve got a pretty bad concussion and you’re going to have a heck of a headache for a while. The bump should go down by tomorrow morning as long as you ice it every now and again. I don’t see any skull fracture, which is a good thing. Your pupils are still a bit dilated and your vision isn’t as clear as I’d like, but I think that will resolve itself by tomorrow. It seems as though your brain is working fine, and your hearing is clearly superior. As for your lungs, you took in quite a bit of water and that’s got to clear your system. You and your friend here managed to get rid of most of it, but there may be some hiding in there. I’m going to give you some antibiotics just in case; can’t have you developing pneumonia on your vacation, after all. I’d rather you didn’t lie flat tonight and I don’t want you sleeping for too long with that concussion. Jamison, your job is to wake her up every two hours or so to make sure she’s all right. No heavy exertion for the next couple of days, and you should probably stay out of the sun tomorrow. Otherwise, you’re going to be just fine. You’re young and strong and you obviously have a hard head.”

“Hey, I think I should resent that!”

“Who are you kidding, Stretch, you know he’s right.”

“Whose side are you on, anyway?”

Captain Higgins returned at that moment carrying something in his hand. “Not that you two don’t do those bathing suits justice, mind you, but you looked a little cold. I thought you could use these.” He held out two brand-new sweatshirts bearing the ship’s logo and likeness.

“You didn’t have to do that, sir, but thank you.” Jay took the offered clothing, keeping the medium for herself and giving the large to her partner.

“Bert, I think these lovely ladies are ready for transport anytime you’re ready. That is, unless you have any questions, ladies?”

“Doctor, we can’t thank you enough.” Jay threw her arms around him and hugged him briefly, which made him blush.

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“If all my patients were like you two, I might actually enjoy my work.” He winked as he and the captain helped Kate off the examining table.

The injured woman walked slowly toward the door, shaking hands with the doctor and thanking him on her way out.

“Jamison, can you wait a second?” He motioned to the captain to walk Kate out.

She looked at him expectantly.

“Listen, you’ve been through quite a trauma yourself. Watching your friend go overboard and nearly drown, saving her, doing mouth-to-mouth; that takes a lot out of you, especially when it’s someone as important to you as Katherine clearly is.” He looked at her kindly. “I want you to know that what you did was extraordinary. You saved her life. She wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for your quick thinking and good reactions. You did better than most professionally trained personnel under a heap of pressure. I’m very proud of you.” He noticed that she still hung her head.

“None of that would have been necessary if I hadn’t screwed up in the first place. And enough hours with Resusci-Annie ought to prepare anyone for mouth-to-mouth. I’ve never been so glad to be a certified lifesaving instructor in my life, believe me. At the time I took the course and started teaching it was just a way to earn extra money lifeguarding at the college pool.”

“Well, the training certainly paid off. And, young lady,” he added, lifting her chin with his fingers, “to hear Katherine tell it, you were doing just fine out there. Sometimes circumstances have a way of wreaking havoc with us, and there’s not much we can do about it. She doesn’t blame you; in fact, she’s more worried about you than she is about herself. When you stop to breathe, this is all going to hit you pretty hard.

When it does, remember how lucky you are to have each other and count your blessings, not your faults. Now go on, she’s waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Doctor,” she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, “for everything.”

By the time they got back to the villa and got settled it was late afternoon, and it was the first time they had been alone together since the accident. Jay moved around the room, putting away their things, opening and closing the drapes, keeping herself busy doing anything and everything except looking at her lover.