Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Cassius
We leave from Navy Pier to get on a boat that’s going to give us a tour.
My sisters and I have never been on a boat before.
Chrissy is thrilled, while Cammy looks nervous.
I’m too focused on them to know how I feel.
Or maybe that’s my way of dealing with my own nerves because my stomach does feel a little funny.
We take seats at the top of the boat so we can get a better view. Chrissy takes the seat closest to the water and immediately leans over the edge to look down. I flinch to reach for her but stop myself.
She’s fine; stop worrying.
Cammy is on her right side, me on hers, and Harmon on my other side at the aisle. We’re three rows back and the seats are quickly filling up.
I glance down at Harmon’s hands that are resting on his lap as he looks out at the buildings across the way.
I want to hold his hand, but we haven’t had a conversation about PDA.
His sexuality is a big thing for him, always feeling like he had to hide it, so if he isn’t ready for this yet, that’s okay.
I don’t want to push it or make him feel obligated. Now isn’t the time to talk about it.
Once everyone is settled in their seats, a man in a bright yellow shirt and matching bucket hat comes up the stairs and picks up a microphone at the head of the boat.
“Good afternoon, riders!” The sound echoes around us.
A few people respond with “hello” or “hi.”
“Thank you for riding with us today. My name is Michael and I will be your guide for this extravagant journey we are about to partake upon.” He’s very animated, good at his job, and goes on to explain some safety rules and what to expect from the trip that will be about an hour long.
An hour. I can totally handle an hour on a boat.
It’s not like we’re going out to sea. Though, maybe I should mention that I don’t know how to swim…
Neither does Chrissy. Cammy was the only one who was confident enough to take swimming in gym in high school.
At least she’d be able to save Chrissy if the boat went down.
I nudge Harmon and lean closer. “Do you know how to swim?”
“I do. Why?”
I sit straight again. “Just wondering.”
Okay, good. If the boat goes down, I’ll be saved too.
Hopefully…
When the boat moves away from the dock, Harmon takes my hand.
I look at it, then at him. He still looks as cool as ever, staring at a particular building across the way, so I don’t think this has anything to do with nerves.
It doesn’t seem like he noticed what he’s doing.
He just did it. I smile to myself and settle into my seat more.
As the tour gets going, I listen to what Michael is saying, but I’m much more fascinated by the city and everything going on. It’s all so beautiful, and though the history on the buildings is fascinating, I’m enjoying the visuals so much more.
Until we get to one building in particular.
“Alright folks, eyes up on your left. Here you will see the spectacular Timeworks building. This building was originally completed in the late 1980s, part of Chicago’s postmodern river revival.
It wasn’t always called the Timeworks building, though.
That happened when Harmon Stone, CEO of Stone Timeworks, moved headquarters from Houston, Texas, to this lovely big city we are currently floating in.
” I can’t help but glance at Harmon from the corner of my eye—he looks as if they aren’t talking about him and what he’s done.
Cammy is also giving him a curious look, while Chrissy is too excited to hear a word this guy is saying.
“Once the building was purchased, renovations were done to preserve the original structure of the building while modernizing the interior. Every single window on that building was replaced when Mr. Stone purchased it because the old ones didn’t let in enough light.
Who would have thought? A CEO who isn’t a vampire!
” He chuckles, and so do some of the passengers.
“Now, if you look all the way to the top of the building, you’ll see where his company conducts business while the floors below are utilized by law firms, tech companies, and other businesses.
Everyone, let’s wave at Mr. Stone up there and hope he sends us all free watches. ”
Ninety percent of the people up here wave. I don’t know how to react, but Harmon laughs to himself, shaking his head. I’m glad he finds this humorous… because I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone right now.
The tour goes on, and I learn a lot about the history of the buildings around the river, but mostly, I get to see the city from a boat, and that’s pretty damn cool.
“Do you mind if we wait?” he asks when the tour is done and everyone is de-boarding. I glance at Chrissy, who is hanging off the side to look at the water, hoping to see a dolphin.
“Not at all.”
When the last people are walking down the aisle, Harmon walks over to Michael, who is messing with the microphone wires. I watch their exchange and strain my ears to hear the conversation. I can’t imagine Harmon saying anything bad, but I want to know what they’re talking about.
“I enjoyed your services today,” Harmon says politely.
“Oh, hey. Thanks a lot. I have to keep it lively so it doesn’t get boring.”
“Of course. I’m Harmon Stone, by the way,” he says, offering his hand.
Michael’s eyes go wide. “Shit, man. I didn’t know you’d be on the boat. I would have had everyone wave right at you instead.”
Harmon chuckles. “Kind of you, but of course unnecessary. Anyway, your comment had me thinking. I’m not sure if you could point me in the right direction, but I’d like to speak with someone about setting up a partnership.”
“Partnership?”
“Yes, sir. I’d like to offer coupons to all your riders.”
“Oh snap—damn, that’s real cool of you. So, uh, it’s actually my uncle who owns this whole thing. I can get you in touch with him.”
Harmon digs into his inside pocket and pulls out a business card.
“My information is on here. Have him give me a call. I’ll be in the office tomorrow.”
“Totally. Thank you so much. This is so cool of you.”
“You both ready to go?” I ask Cammy and Chrissy, who are chattering quietly about a group of guys sitting on a bench a short distance away.
When we’re off the boat, I lean closer to Harmon. “That was really cool of you.”
“It’s business,” he says, brushing it off.
“Is it? What will you get in return? Free tickets for life?”
He smiles. “Perhaps.”
“Where are we going next?” Chrissy asks excitedly, turning to walk backwards.
“Watch where you’re going,” Cammy chastises.
“And don’t be rude,” I say.
“It’s fine,” Harmon adds. “We’re going to the Museum of Science. Lots of fun and interactive things.”
I huff a laugh. “You’re going to enjoy the Museum of Science?”
“I’m going to enjoy the three of you enjoying the Museum of Science.”
I bite my bottom lip, smiling as I hurry to catch up to my sisters.
“Oh, no. You’re not getting out of this one,” I say, grabbing onto Harmon’s arm and pulling him behind the partition.
“I couldn’t pos—”
“You could, though—and you will,” I say with a laugh, moving beside Chrissy and Cammy.
I reach forward to slap the red button on the wall, and then a countdown projects on the wall across from us, right above our shadows. “Pose!”
Chrissy pops a hip, Cammy raises her arms, and I put bunny ears over Harmon’s head. The countdown comes to an end, the lights go bright, and then our shadow is burned into the wall but slowly fading.
“Quick, get a photo!” Chrissy says, grabbing onto Cammy and shaking her.
“I’m trying!” she answers as she pulls her phone from her pocket and tries to take a photo. “Damn, it disappeared.”
“Guess we have to do another,” I suggest as I push the button again.
We all pose in similar ways, but this time Harmon puts his arm around my waist. Cammy is ready to snap the photo of the shadows this time and gets it perfectly.
Chrissy bounces over to the next exhibit, and we follow, knowing she’s in the lead for this place. My face hurts from smiling so much today, but even more so since being here. I’ve never seen Chrissy have so much fun before. Cammy too.
We end up in an area explaining weather. Chrissy goes right to the giant ball that looks like it has electricity inside. Cammy goes with her, both of them nervous about putting their hand on it, afraid it’ll shock them. They laugh, nudging each other and trying to get the other to do it first.
“They’re having so much fun,” Harmon says as he watches them, hands slipped into his front pockets.
“Yeah, they are,” I agree, shoulder bumping him. He glances at me. “Thank you for this.”
A small smile crosses his lips, and his gaze goes back to my sisters.
Cammy rolls her eyes and presses her hand to the giant ball, her shoulders relaxing when she feels nothing. Then Chrissy reaches for it. When they get bored of that, they go over to a tornado simulator.
“I made reservations for us at Pierre’s. It’s a few blocks over, but we have to be there in a little over an hour.”
“We can handle that. We’ve been here a while already.”
I could definitely eat right now, so I’m sure in an hour, we’ll all be starving.
We follow Chrissy and Cammy over to the tornado thing that looks like it may actually produce a tornado.
Chrissy asks the staff standing there a million rapid-fire questions.
He answers as thoroughly as he can, but she keeps asking more, and he’s struggling to keep up.
She’s so excited, the happiness in her eyes evident.
The smile is burned into my face at this point.
There are no other emotions from me today.
Just happiness. Pure happiness. I blindly grab Harmon’s arm.
Even though I thanked him for this, it’s not enough.
It feels like it’ll never be enough. This day has been amazing.
Being able to go out and do fun things with my sisters, as a family?
I never thought we’d be here. I never thought my sisters would get to experience this sort of life. But here we are, all thanks to him.
The staff is explaining why a tornado forms in the shape it does when Chrissy freezes. Her body stiffens, and instead of reacting… I freeze too. I know this feeling all to well—it’s just been so long...
The way the air pulls tight around my chest, not allowing me to breathe. The way my brain starts counting before I tell it to, knowing it’s what needs to happen. I know what comes next, and for one useless second, I’m begging it not to happen. Not now. Not today.
Everything around me dulls, like the world is being dragged underwater.
I open my mouth to call her name, but nothing comes out.
She drops to the ground before I can make my feet move.
People around us scream. The staff stands open-mouthed. Cammy and I reach her at the same time, dropping to the ground beside her. She’s already convulsing, drool coming from her mouth.
“Get her head, Cammy,” I say as calmly but firmly as possible. We’ve done this before, we can handle this.
Cammy is already crying, and I’m already looking at my watch to time it. If it stops within a few seconds, she should be fine. Quick seizures happen. But… this isn’t stopping. It isn’t slowing. She’s foaming at the mouth, her body tight and jerking.
“Somebody call 9-1-1!”
“I’m on the phone with them,” Harmon says. His eyes meet mine, and a million emotions go through me. All I see staring back at me is guilt and fear. I pull my attention from him to care for my sister.
“Hey, Chrissy, I’m here,” I say, scooting closer to her head.
Her body is still jerking. Cammy has tears pouring down her face.
“We’re right here, Chrissy. You are okay.
You’re going to be o-okay.” My last words come out raspy because we’ve already surpassed the one-minute mark, and she hasn’t had a seizure this long in a long fucking time.
I don’t know what this means or why the fuck it had to happen now, here, today of all times.
She just wanted to have a good day. She wanted to have fun. We were all having a good day, and now this…
“Cass, it’s not stopping,” Cammy cries.
“It’ll be fine, Cammy. She will be okay. Chrissy, you are okay. We’re here.”
Staring at my watch only makes me want to throw up, so I focus my attention on Chrissy, on talking to her and telling her that she will be okay and we will not leave her. I tell her the ambulance is on the way and she is safe.
She seizes for over four minutes and stares off blankly while breathing in sharp, heavy pants for the next two until the paramedics show up.
Harmon handles speaking with them, thank fucking god, because I can’t handle that right now. I don’t know what just happened. I don’t know—
“She’s never seized that long, Cass,” Cammy says, hand over her mouth as she watches the paramedics put her on the stretcher. “What if she’s—”
“Don’t,” I snap, grabbing onto Cammy to hug her. She buries her face against my chest, grasping onto my shirt. “Don’t think like that. She’s fine. We’re having a good day, and this is just a simple seizure.”
“It’s never been that long,” Cammy repeats. “It was… so long.”
“She’s fine, Cammy. She will be fine.”
She has to be.