Chapter Thirty-Five
Present: Day Five at Sea
“I think she’s dead,” Beth shrieks.
I jump to my feet, forcing Beth’s betrayal to the back of my mind as my medical training takes over. Pushing past Beth, who feels like a stranger to me, I rush to Emma’s room.
I flick on the lights, then swear as we remain in darkness.
“Shine a light on her,” I order Beth.
I press two fingers to Emma’s carotid as Beth shines the flashlight on Emma’s pale face. At first, I feel nothing.
“Is she dead? Can you feel a pulse?”
“Shh.” I hold my fingers to Emma’s neck for several more seconds before feeling a weak, thready pulse. I keep my fingers there for ten more seconds, counting her pulse before withdrawing my hand.
Russell’s heavy footsteps tromp down the steps. “What’s going on?”
I turn, seeing the beam of his flashlight move behind Beth.
“She’s got a pulse, but she’s bradycardic—it’s only forty-two.” I lower my head toward Emma’s nose and mouth while I press my palm against her chest. “She’s still breathing.”
“Thank God,” Beth heaves. “But then what the hell is wrong with her?”
I extend my arm toward Beth. “Give me your flashlight,” I say sharply.
I take the light from Beth’s hand and pull down Emma’s blanket, thinking of Russell’s gun now hidden in my stateroom.
I run the light over Emma’s whole body, half expecting her to be lying in a pool of blood.
I lift her shirt, but there’s no trace of any injuries on her long, toned body.
Of course not, I think. If Russell had shot her, we would’ve heard the gunshot.
I shake her unmoving form by the shoulders. “Emma! Wake up.”
Her head flops limply to the side. I scan the sides of the bed and turn to Beth and Russell.
“Was she drinking before she laid down?”
“No,” Beth says. “Not that I know of.”
The only thing on her bedside shelf is an empty bottle of Gatorade. I turn her on her side and stick my fingers into the back of her throat.
Behind me, Beth gasps. “What are you—”
Emma gags and vomits orange liquid as I withdraw my fingers from her mouth. I hold her steady, keeping her on her side so she doesn’t aspirate before sticking my fingers down her throat a second time. She gags and vomits again. This time, her glassed-over eyes flutter open as I hold her.
“That a girl. You’re okay,” I tell her.
I twist toward Beth. “Help me prop some pillows behind her to keep her head up. Russell, get her some water,” I add while Beth crawls on the bed beside me.
Emma moans, and I help her lie back on the pillows Beth arranged. Her eyelids close.
“Here.” Russell hands me a cold bottle of water.
I take it from him. “Emma. Hey, stay awake. Okay? I’m gonna give you some water.”
Her eyelids open slowly.
“I’ll help you. Just take a drink.”
Emma sighs and opens her mouth as I tilt the bottle toward her lips.
“There you go. That’s great,” I praise her after she swallows.
I get a rancid waft from Emma’s vomit on the bed next to us.
“I’m so tired,” she groans.
“I know you are, but you need to drink more water, okay?”
I help her take another sip.
“Did you take any pills before bed?”
“No,” she mutters.
I glance at Beth, who stares back at me blankly, then turn back to Emma before I become consumed by Beth’s messages to my husband.
“Did you have alcohol?”
Emma shakes her head. “No.”
I hold up the half-full water bottle. “I need you to drink the rest of this. We need to flush out your system. You should also have some caffeine. It will help stimulate your heart rate and increase your blood pressure, which I’m sure is low.”
“What happened to her?” Russell asks.
As if he doesn’t already know. I swing my light toward his face. He stares down at Emma with seemingly genuine concern, then looks to Beth and me for an answer.
“Russell, I think there’s an energy drink in the fridge. Can you bring it to us?”
“Sure.”
Emma coughs, and I take the nearly empty bottle from her hand. I help her sit up higher, making sure she doesn’t choke.
I hold onto her upper arm with one hand and place the other on her back. “I think you might’ve been drugged.”
“Here’s the energy drink.” Beth shines the light on Russell’s hand as he holds out the cold can.
I take it from him and pop the tab before helping Emma take a sip. She takes the can from me.
“You got it?” I ask her.
Beth shifts her flashlight beam onto me. “How did you know it was something Emma drank?”
After making sure Emma has a steady hold on the energy drink, I let go. “Instinct, I guess. After seeing she had no obvious injuries.”
“You did this to her. She would’ve died if I hadn’t come in when I did.” Beth’s voice simmers with hatred. “You killed Nojan, Gigi, and now tried to kill Emma. None of us are safe with you on this boat.”
I turn from Emma toward Beth, expecting her to be facing Russell. But she’s staring straight at me.
Beth lifts her flashlight toward my face. “Just like you killed Courtney twenty years ago.”