10. Margot
TEN
Margot
I ’m not sure when or if it was something I decided, but I knew I wasn’t going to let this kid wake up scared and alone in an emergency room. I would walk to the hospital. Although, I looked down at my bare feet. My silk pajama shorts were stuck to my legs. They dried this way after I pulled the boy in from the capsized Sunfish. My tank top stuck to my chest and it was tight on my skin. I looked like shit. I felt like shit.
Caleb wanted to help. Maybe because he felt how desperate I was. How deep and rooted the desperation that was buried inside me had now started to become my scent. My state of being. It wasn’t about the book. Or the rejection. Or the weight of the Blue Heron. It was who I was now. He saw it.
I had convinced myself after a week on the island I wouldn’t see him. That maybe he had moved away, and he was gone. Like the ghost of him, I had created in my mind. When he pulled up to the dock, my chest tightened. My skin prickled. I didn’t know if he was a mirage or a hero. Fantasy or torture. He had haunted me for so long that I didn’t know how to look in the eye and believe any of it was real.
Caleb walked across the gravel lot. His boots kicked up dust. I waited for the inevitable speech about how I should go home, and someone would call with an update when there was one. I also knew that meant no one would call me because I was not a relative. I was not that little boy’s mother.
He cleared his throat. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Talked to one of the guys back at base. He has a buddy over here with a truck he’s not using. We can borrow it and ride to the hospital. He said we can use it for the night if we need to keep it that long.”
I stared at him. I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t the inevitable speech.
“You still want to go?” he prodded me to answer. “I can tell him we don’t need it if you changed your mind. It’s cool if you want me to take you back to the island.”
I nodded. “Of course. Yes. I want to go to the hospital. Where’s the truck? Where does this guy live? How did you pull this off?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. He had filled out even more in the last seven years. “It’s not far. Can you walk? Or errr…” His eyes traveled along my legs to my bare feet. “There’s a surf shop across the street. We could stop in. Flipflops? T-shirt? Maybe a hat?”
I blushed, running my fingers through the messy tangle of hair. “I don’t have my wallet with me. I jumped in like this when I saw him tip over and…” I didn’t think about anything when I saw him except that I had to pull him out of the water. I didn’t know until now I even had an instinct like that inside me.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. But maybe go for the sales rack. Unless you want me to check the cutter for a Coast Guard T-shirt and pair of shorts?”
I remembered I shoved the blanket away when he offered it. It was still an option. Although, I didn’t want to walk through the hospital with a green wool blanket wrapped around my body. Wearing oversized men’s clothes was just as appealing. But this? To let Caleb buy clothes for me? He didn’t owe me anything.
“I’ll pay you back,” I promised. “As soon as we get back to Marshoak. Every penny of it.”
“It’s fine. Really, don’t worry about it.” We started to walk toward the surf shop. The Hang Ten sign for the store was bright yellow, almost neon.
A group of bells jingled when we walked inside. “I won’t take long.”
I found the discount rack and flipped through the shirts. Some were obnoxious, and designed for tourists. It didn’t matter as long as I could put on something clean and dry for the hospital. I gathered a pair of board shorts, a T-shirt with the Hang Ten palm tree logo on the back, and a pair of tan flip flops in my arms. I met him at the register.
“Is that all you need?” he asked.
“I think so. Can I change after you pay for it?”
He looked at the cashier. She eyed my pajamas and smacked her gum. I prayed she didn’t ask why I looked like someone he hauled in from a shipwreck.
“Dressing rooms in the back. But I need to cut the tags.” She rolled her eyes. “You can’t do it. Store policy.” She pointed to a hand-written sign over her shoulder.
“Of course.”
I waited while he handed her cash for the new clothes, and she took her time to snip each of the tags. It felt like ten minutes passed before she handed me the bag over the counter. I snatched it and ran to the dressing room. I didn’t bother to save my clothes. I left everything behind, sliding into the flip-flops. I emerged from the dressing room more anxious to get to the hospital.
“Which way?” I was almost out the door when I asked. Caleb was right behind me.
“Over here.” He made a turn away from the marina.
We walked in silence until we made it to the friend of friend’s driveway. Neither of us knew what to say.
“He said the keys are under the mat.”
I stared. “This is legal? We aren’t stealing the truck?”
He slid behind the wheel and reached under his legs for the keys. “Completely legal.” The truck started and I felt a sense of relief as he pointed us toward the hospital.
Pointe Harbor Memorial was a small hospital. A regional medical center in the area for people who lived on the island and in nearby towns. I knew if it was something serious, they would send the boy to one of the bigger hospitals two hours away. We pulled into the parking lot, and I said a silent prayer that they could treat him here.
The emergency department consisted of three rows of seats covered in orange vinyl, a few potted plants, and a woman behind a desk.
Caleb nodded at her. I noticed how she responded to him. Her eyes lit up a little more than they had a moment ago.
“Hi, there.” He leaned across the counter.
“Hi to you.” She dropped the pen in her hand. “How can I help you today?”
“We’re looking for a kid that was brought in maybe twenty, thirty minutes ago? I brought him over from Marshoak Island. We were wondering if we could get an update and talk to the doctor.”
She pushed her lips together when she spotted his Coast Guard badge. It was clear she wanted him to notice the bright red shade she wore. She picked up the phone. “Hold on for me. Let me find out what I can for you.”
Caleb turned to face me. “We’ll be back there and get to check on him in a few minutes.”
“I see that.” My eyes widened. Did he know he had this kind of power? I wanted to blame the woman behind the counter for being a pushover, but I got it. He was hot. Fucking, sex-on-a-stick hot. Was it possible, even hotter than I remembered?
“Everything okay?”
I pivoted to stare at one of the potted plants. “Yeah. Yeah, just nervous. About the kid.” I wanted to close my eyes and pretend I hadn’t just remembered every inch of him. “I was thinking how I don’t know his name.” I sorted a mental list of what it could be. Owen. Finn. James. Maybe it was Lucas. “Or how old he is. What do you think? Eight?”
Caleb seemed to think for a second. “He could be.”
“Eight’s a little young to be out on the sound like that alone. But he is small. Maybe he’s ten.”
“I learned to sail at six,” Caleb defended the boy.
“By yourself? Your parents let you out there alone at six-years old?” When I was six I didn’t go anywhere without my mom following right behind me.
I met his gaze. “Not alone. I always had a buddy. Everyone on Marshoak Island knows how to take out a Sunfish.”
“Right.” I nodded.
We were interrupted by a woman in blue scrubs.
“Hi. Are you here for the little John Doe?” she asked. Her eyes were soft. She wasn’t wearing makeup and I wondered how long she had been on the emergency room shift.
“Yes.” I pushed past Caleb. “How is he? Is he awake? Can I see him?”
I felt strong hands squeeze my shoulders. “Hold on. Slow down. Let her talk.”
I glared at him from the corner of my eye.
“Why don’t you two come with me and we can talk a little about his condition?” We followed her through the double swinging doors. My nose was hit with the smell of antiseptic. I covered it quickly with my palm. It wasn’t a great shield. That smell could permeate anything.
She led us into a cramped room and closed the door. I didn’t want to sit. “Neither of you know who he is?”
I shook my head. “I saw the accident,” I explained. “I pulled him in when I realized he wasn’t swimming.”
“I got the call when I was out on patrol and here we are,” Caleb offered.
The doctor exhaled. “I wish I had more medical history. At least a medical authorization to tell you more. Since you two are the only ones who have been with him, I can tell you he’s stable. He’s not awake. There’s a bad bump on his head that’s swollen and starting to bruise. I’m sending him up for a CT Scan. I’ll know more then. But I do feel good that he’s young and seems healthy. That’s me going off a big hunch at the moment. Not something I like to do.”
“When will he wake up?” I blurted.
“I wish I knew.” She grimaced. “Let’s see if we get anything back on these tests, first. Meanwhile, we’re trying to find his parents so if either of you could assist with that, it would be the most helpful thing you could do.”
“Thanks, doc.” Caleb winked, and I wanted to punch him. My appreciation for the ride, the clothes, and the truck was waning.
“Of course,” she responded with a smile and left us alone.
I groaned with frustration. The reasons piled up.
“I could call the base and see if there is an ID on the boat yet. Maybe the parents have called it in. Someone would report a missing sailor.”
“Yeah, you should go. You don’t have to stay.” I wanted to shove his muscled arms out of here.
“I’m not leaving. I’m going to make a phone call,” he explained.
I sighed. “But you could leave. You don’t have to stay.”
He cocked his head. “Are you trying to get rid of me, Margot?”
I closed my eyes. “No.” I plastered a fake smile on my face.
“How would you get back to Marshoak Island if I take off now?”
“There’s a ferry,” I answered.
“Right. The ferry.” He leaned against the wall. When he folded his arms, his biceps seemed to fill half the room.
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “You don’t have to worry about me, you know. I’m fine. I’m just watching out for the kid, that’s all.”
He reached into his back pocket, opened his wallet, and began to finger through some bills. “Here.”
I gawked at him, feeling the rage seep through my skin. “No.”
“You don’t have anything on you. Take it.”
I hated that he was right. I hated that he was planning when I couldn’t. I hated that he seemed to care what happened to me, even though he knew what happened the last time he did.