Chapter Ten
Day Four, Afternoon
Sam’s eyes remained open while his gaze stayed unfocused. Kate didn’t know if he was aware of what was happening or not.
“You’re okay,” she said. “You’re out of the ocean and on the deck of Ryan’s Gift.
He didn’t respond.
“Stay with him while I radio for help,” Kate told Ryan, trying to stay calm. She didn’t need to tell her daughter to keep away from the rail; she doubted Ryan would ever return to the water. The horror in Ryan’s eyes was something Kate would carry with her for a long time.
Kate scooted away from Sam, using her arms, which were at their limits and made the process more difficult. She grabbed the wheelchair and moved it so she could lift herself into it. This was one of the harder things she had learned in the rehabilitation center, but it was the most important. Once she was situated, she was able to wheel around Ryan and Sam to get inside. She rolled past the galley up the short ramp to the control center.
The entire console was dark, not a single light blinked.
“No way,” she said aloud as she realized the significance of what she saw. She lifted the radio and hit the speaker button knowing what she would get.
Nothing.
“Crap,” she growled and looked toward the galley. There were no lights there either. They had blown another fuse. She resisted the urge to cover her eyes and scream. If she started, she might not stop.
Deep breaths, she silently reminded herself. Slowly what she had to do came into focus. First, she would get Sam inside, where she could see him while she used the two-way to communicate with Ryan and talk her through changing the fuse. Kate hadn’t thought about the accessibility of the engine room when they remodeled the yacht, and she cursed herself for it now. She wheeled back onto the deck.
With Ryan’s help, they got Sam partially onto Kate’s lap. He thankfully went in and out of consciousness and didn’t seem aware of what was happening. Kate pulled on the wheels and Ryan pushed from behind. It was a long, exhausting process. When they were finally in the galley, Kate had to stop and take a break.
“Grab the cushions from the bench seat and place them on the floor,” she told Ryan and waved her hand in the general direction of the table, too tired to move quite yet.
After Ryan situated them, Kate took a deep breath, ready to continue. She rolled as close to the cushions as she could manage and literally pushed Sam from her lap. She moved back a foot so she could go down to the floor. She then dragged and pushed, limb by limb, to get him fully on the make-shift bed. It cushioned him from his head to his butt with his legs hanging down slightly. It didn’t look comfortable but it kept his injury lower than his heart by two inches.
An idea flashed into Kate’s mind. “Go to the lower deck and grab some pillows,” she told Ryan. “We need to get his chest upright.” Blood circulation and keeping his injury below his heart were something she had read about in the past.
Ryan returned with the pillows and they began the arduous task of dragging him higher up the cushions. Once they had him propped up slightly, Kate sat on the floor beside him, breathing heavily, and smoothed his hair from his face.
His eyes blinked open, his expression strained.
“Are you with me?” she asked.
“It was a shark,” he mumbled.
“Was it the shark in the net?” Kate asked.
For several long minutes, he didn’t speak. Kate had about given up when he answered, “No, the one in the net died. I never saw the one that attacked—” A seizure stopped his next words. His entire body shook, and his eyes rolled back in their sockets.
Kate held onto him, murmuring softly until the tremors stopped. When they did, his eyes closed and his breathing settled.
“I need to check the tourniquet,” she told him although she didn’t know if he could hear her. There was blood on the floor, and she would swear they left a gallon behind on the deck. The cushion was now soaked and his biggest enemy was blood loss.
Sam whispered something, but she couldn’t understand.
“Ryan, please get my backpack from my berth. It’s inside the closet.” Once she had the pill bottle open, she took out two pills and placed her hand towards her daughter.
“If he opens his eyes, make him take these,” Kate said.
She replaced the bloody towel with a dry one. There was a lot of blood in the open wound, and it soaked through the towel too quickly. She lifted it and saw jagged skin, blood vessels, strips of muscle, and bone. He would most likely lose the leg.
No, she wouldn’t think those things. Keeping him alive was the important issue.
She’d read that a tourniquet could stay in place for several hours without harming a limb. It was all she could remember.
“Take these, Daddy. Drink the water. A little bit more,” Ryan cajoled her father.
Kate waited for him to get the pills down. When his neck relaxed, she twisted the spoon a half turn. Sam moaned but didn’t open his eyes. She pulled her cell phone from her backpack and checked for a signal. Nothing. She sent a text to her father just in case it could go through. A failure icon immediately popped up on the screen. She would try again later.
“Okay, Ryan baby, we need to talk,” she told her daughter. “You did a great job getting your dad to take the pills.” Kate hugged her then leaned away. “We blew another fuse, and I can’t get into the engine room with my chair.” Kate handed over her cell and realized her hands were still shaking. “I need you to go down there and take pictures for me. Can you do that?”
Ryan nodded, her large innocent eyes filled with distress and glistening with unshed tears. Kate had no idea if Ryan understood the danger her father was in.
“Once I have the pictures,” Kate continued, “I can tell you how to put in a new fuse.”
Ryan slowly absorbed what Kate was saying and she looked toward the hallway that held the short flight of stairs that went to the berths. Ryan knew where the lower hatch was located and Kate waited patiently for her to figure it out.
“Okay, Mommy.”
Kate wanted to hug her again, but they needed help as soon as possible. Ryan’s legs wobbled slightly as she left the galley with the phone in hand, looking entirely too young.
Kate checked Sam’s pulse, internally cursing because they had no internet and she couldn’t look up how to care for him. His heart rate was slow when she compared it with her own. Sam’s pale face looked like a death mask, which made everything worse.
Ryan finally came back and handed Kate the cell. She looked through the images, processing what she was seeing. A picture was nothing like seeing it with her own two eyes but she had to make do.
“Good job,” she whispered as she went through the photos again in frustration that she didn’t want Ryan to feel from her.
Sam groaned and opened his eyes a small bit. They remained unfocused. Kate needed him on a higher surface, but his weight was beyond what she could lift.
“Give me his hand,” Kate told Ryan, who had moved between her mother and father.
Ryan lifted his hand and Kate took it. She gently squeezed his fingers as she leaned over to reach him.
“I need your help,” she said and waited. His eyes seemed to focus slightly. “We’ve blown another fuse,” she continued. “The radio won’t work.” His eyes remained open, which gave her hope. “Ryan took pictures of the engine room, but I’m still not sure where the fuse is located.”
She handed the phone to Ryan. “Move up to his head so you can show him the images.”
Ryan shuffled over and went to her knees. She scrolled the phone so he could see the individual pictures. After about a minute, Sam closed his eyes.
“We can wait until the pills take effect,” Kate said, hiding her exasperation at her own inability to do more.
“No,” he whispered, the sound ragged. “I don’t know if she can do it.”
“She will if you show me where the fuse is,” Kate promised.
His eyes opened again and he studied the last photo. “This is the inverter,” he said and showed Ryan where it was in the image. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
Kate had Ryan grab the toolbox from below the seat where they’d removed the cushions. When Ryan handed it to her, she went through it and found several different fuses.
“Put these in your pocket,” Kate said. “I don’t know which is the right one, but it will match the one you remove. It goes in exactly like you take it out so pay attention when you remove it, okay?”
“I’m scared, Mommy. It’s dark down there.”
Of course it was. Thank goodness Kate had the flash on for the earlier photos. She felt like an idiot for not thinking about the darkness and how terrifying it had to be in these circumstances.
“I know you’re scared,” she said even though her heart broke for what she was asking. “You’ve helped so much and I know you can do this. Grandpops will be so proud of you when you tell him how much you helped your father.” Kate removed a flashlight from the toolbox and handed it to Ryan. Looking into her child’s eyes, Kate saw the frightened little girl. Ryan’s lower lip trembled to hold back tears. She was being asked to do more than any child should ever be asked.
“Okay, I’m ready, Mommy,” Ryan replied shakily.
Kate smiled in relief and squeezed her hand.
“Grab the two-way radios, and you’ll take one with you. I’ll be right here. If you get too scared, tell me, and I’ll go to the hatch opening and wait for you.” She didn’t want to leave Sam but it might be the only way this would work.
Ryan looked from her mom to her father and Kate knew she understood. Ryan walked to the handhelds and handed one to her mother. Kate studied the image of the inverter on the phone again.
“This is what you’re looking for,” she said and enlarged the image. “This area right here on the box lifts up, and that’s where the fuse goes.”
Sam’s eyes were still shut, and she hoped she gave the correct location. If not, they would adjust. Armed with the flashlight, radio, and fuses, Ryan, looking heartbroken, trudged back to the engine room.
Kate checked Sam’s pulse again. He didn’t stir.
Something hit the yacht with a thump. Kate’s entire body jumped.
What the heck was the shark up to? Was it angry that Kate took its meal? The yacht was too large for a shark to take down. Eventually, it would give up and move on. Maybe the dead shark attracted it. Sam said he cut it loose, so its first easy meal and then its second were taken away. Her thoughts flashed to the teenagers who disappeared and had their boat destroyed by two sharks, but she immediately cut it off. Sam and Ryan were what was important.
Once they had the power restored, help would come.
Her gaze went to Sam. His deathly pale skin worried her. Heck, the two-ton animal beneath the yacht terrified her.
The radio crackled, and Ryan’s voice came through.
“Mom, I took it out and put a new one in,” she said.
Kate was so proud.
“Okay, you need to hit the second button on the right.”
“This one?”
Kate smiled. “I can’t see it, sweetie. There’s a digital display on the box where you changed the fuse, and it’s the buttons below it. The second one on the right. If it works, the panel will light up.” Kate had seen the buttons in the phone image and had barely made out the on switch. It had to be it.
A few seconds later, Ryan’s disgruntled voice came through the radio.
“It didn’t work, and it smells bad in here.”
“What kind of bad smell?” Kate asked.
“Like something burned.”
Great. Kate didn’t think things could get worse, but she was wrong.