Chapter 11 #3
Let me know that you’ve gotten this message!”
He tapped a button on his phone screen to end the call.
“You guys go—” he said again.
“Hey, no! Please,” Wes told him. “You go be with your people and Chloe and I will enjoy some of this beautiful ocean air and
the sight of the sea with the sun setting over it all! We’re the odd ones out here, really, and—”
“I hardly think of the two of you as the odds one out!” Edward told him.
Chloe laughed softly. “It just means that compared to you all, we’re computer and cybersecurity illiterate! You guys go! Please.
We’ll wait, and if she calls you, Edward, just give us a call.”
“Gotta get your number,” Edward said.
“Of course!” Wes gave it to him.
There was nothing that anyone could ever draw off the number he’d given; cyber techs who were absolutely amazing were seeing to it that nothing could be culled off their phones, whether someone had the number or even the phone itself.
“Come on, oh, great chief!” Jeff Henderson told him. “We’ll get a great table and we’ll be able to describe all the specialties
to our latecomers when they get there!”
The group, now including Gina and Jonas, moved on. When they were gone, Wes looking at Chloe.
“Do you think that something is wrong?” he asked her. “With Sally? You know that she’s not on our list—”
“But she might be on someone else’s list!” Chloe told him. “Wes, I’m even thinking that maybe we should look for her.”
He frowned, but nodded slowly. “If you think so.”
“Not ‘as I wish?’” she asked.
He shrugged and smiled. “That, too. But she might be on her way out here.”
“I’m having one of those feelings—”
“Then by all means, we’ll look!” he said.
“You don’t think that she’ll look at her phone and call Edward if she’s all right?” Chloe asked. “It doesn’t matter. One of
us can stay here. Oh, I don’t know what cabin she’s in. We’ll need to call and get someone on a list—”
“Aha! I can help there. I know what cabin she’s in,” Wes said.
“How?”
“I saw her coming out behind us one morning when we were heading to breakfast. She’s just two doors down from us, two doors
toward the aft, starboard side, same as us. Should we head to her cabin?”
Chloe nodded. “Wes, she has such a thing for Edward! She just wouldn’t let him go anywhere without her, knowing that he does
want her to be with him.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Wes rose. They left their almost untouched nonalcoholic beers on the table and headed back into the hallway, hurried to the elevator, and then to their deck.
Wes moved on ahead, reaching Sally’s door and nodding to Chloe. He started to knock at the cabin door.
It hadn’t been fully closed.
His knock caused it to open, and he looked back quickly at Chloe, frowning, before pushing the door open the rest of the way
and hurrying in.
She followed him.
Sally was there; she was dressed and ready for dinner, but lying on her bed, hands folded over her chest, as if . . .
As if she had been prepared for a viewing at a funeral parlor.
Chloe rushed over to stand behind him; he was checking her breathing, checking her pulse.
“Wes!”
“She’s alive—we’re going to need help!” Wes said. “It looks like anaphylactic shock. She’s allergic to something—she must
have an EpiPen somewhere!”
Chloe instantly looked around for the woman’s purse. It was on a little table by the door; Sally had been heading out when
whatever had hit her had occurred. Chloe didn’t suffer from allergies herself and certainly not severe allergies, but . . .”
“EpiPen!” she exclaimed. Because, thankfully, it was there in the woman’s purse.
Wes apparently knew what he was doing; he gave Sally the shot while telling Chloe that she still needed to get the doctor
to the room as quickly as possible.
She picked up the cabin phone, said it was an emergency, and she was quickly connected.
Dr. Brendan Kilbride was there mere minutes after she dialed.
He was quickly by Sally’s side. He asked what she’d eaten recently, if they knew what her allergies were . . .
They didn’t. But Sally was already breathing more easily.
Her color was returning.
Kilbride had been kneeling by Sally’s side. He rose and looked at Wes. “She should have known to grab that pen herself. She
must have gotten hold of something that contained nuts—at least, I’m thinking it was probably nuts because they’re one of
the biggest known allergens for a large, large number of people. She’s smart, she knows . . . She had an EpiPen but she hadn’t
used it?” he asked.
“There’s a group of us who tend to have dinner together,” Wes began to explain.
“Ah, yes, Edward’s group. I keep an eye on all my patients, even when they have someone as incredible as George, a most unusual
circumstance!” Kilbride said.
“Anyway, when she didn’t show up, Chloe thought we should check on her.”
Kilbride stared at Chloe. “You saved her from drowning yesterday, so I heard.”
Chloe shrugged. “I happened to see that she was stuck before the lifeguard did,” she explained.
Kilbride smiled and nodded. “Wow. You people are pretty humble about being lifesavers. I mean, it’s a nice thing, and I know
that Edward is very grateful to you both. Now, I’m sure Sally is, too. You’ve saved her. Twice.”
“I can’t figure out why she didn’t save herself!” Chloe murmured.
“She probably had no clue until it was too late for her to still be thinking in any way that was coherent. Anaphylaxis doesn’t always result in blotchiness or a blocked airway.
Sometimes it can result in a dizzy spell or even fainting!
Maybe she thought that she just needed to rest for a minute.
One way or another, you’ve saved her life.
Again. But I’d like to keep her down in my little hospital for the night and keep an eye on her.
I’m going to get a few of my nurses up here and we’ll take her down.
Come and see her whenever you like. She should be conscious soon and she may fight the idea of being watched, so . . .”
“You don’t need to worry. I know who to talk to who will come down and convince her that she must stay,” Wes said.
Kilbride laughed. “Edward?”
We nodded.
“Great. That means she’ll have a nurse with her, as well,” Kilbride said.
“Wow. Seems like a rough trip—” Chloe began.
But Kilbride laughed. “No, trust me, I’ve had trips with serious accidents, serious illnesses . . . A ship becomes a floating
village. People are human—and sometimes, more daring than they should be. So far we’re not doing all that badly this trip.
The EpiPen did its work. I’m just a cautious man who likes my patients to stay well. But, for now . . . I think she’ll be
out a bit longer if you want to tell Mr. Thompson what has happened.”
“Thank you!” Chloe told him.
She glanced at Wes. It was time for the two of them to head to Italian Night.
She waited until they had left Sally’s cabin behind to speak softly to Wes.
“I don’t get it! I’m sorry, I can’t believe that this was an accident.
Edward said that they’d been together and, of course, no one knows what makes anyone else tick, but I could swear that he really cares about her.
Oh, and if she was with Edward, she was with George.
George wouldn’t have let someone sneak anything into anyone’s food or drink.
But, Wes, this couldn’t have been an accident.
Definitely not after yesterday! Was she meant to be a drowning victim?
And if so, why? I mean, now this is getting really crazy.
Sally doesn’t own or even work for a computer company! ”
“No,” Wes said thoughtfully.
“What are you thinking?” Chloe demanded.
He paused, turning to look at her. “I think we need to be very observant when we give our friends the news about what has
happened. I agree with you. Two accidents in about twenty-four hours? And you’re right. Why would anyone target her? We need
to figure out who did and why.”
Chloe nodded and they hurried onto the elevator and then to the steakhouse where Italian Night was taking place.
Edward was looking upset. His phone was in his hand.
When they arrived, he stood immediately, looking at them with hope and then confusion.
“Where is she? Did you two just leave? I’ve dialed Sally again and again—”
“She can’t answer the phone,” Wes said evenly.
“Oh, no! Oh, no! What happened?” Broderick asked.
“She’s not—not—not—” Celia stuttered.
“Dead?” Jeff asked, his voice sounding sick.
“No, she’s not dead,” Chloe assured them, watching the group. “She did eat something that she’s allergic to. But she’s going
to be all right! She’s being taken down to the hospital. The doctor wants to watch her overnight, but she had an EpiPen and
she’s going to be fine.”
Edward sank back into his chair and then bolted out of it again. “I have to see her! I have to see her right away. I’m, uh,
sorry, I won’t be staying for dinner.” He started to walk away, but turned back and looked at Wes and Chloe. “Thanks, thanks
so much. How did you know, how—”
“Oh, when she didn’t come, we decided to try and find her. Her cabin is just down from ours,” Wes explained.
“Right, right, thank you, thank you!”
Edward rushed out. George was instantly up on his feet. He nodded to Wes and Chloe and quickly followed Edward out.
“Wow,” Broderick murmured.
“Well,” Daniel said, “that’s a damper on our dinner party. But, hey! She’s going to be all right! So, I say, let’s eat!”