11. Caleb
ELEVEN
Caleb
D amn. She was stubborn. I also knew she was strong. Athletic. Fearless. She rescued that kid. He was alive because of her. I knew guys who failed the course because they panicked when it came to saving actual people in the water. I couldn’t dismiss what Margot had been through today, even if she kept trying to push me away. The adrenaline would fade, and she was going to be left with a hollow shell. I didn’t want to see that happen to her—not after she saved him. She shouldn’t be alone, even if she thought that was what she wanted.
I held the folded bills between us. She glared at me. “If you don’t want the money, then I’ll just stay.”
She bit her lower lip. That was the other thing about her. She was beautiful. Every time I looked into her eyes there was the slightest quiver under my ribcage. And she was a fucking mess. I could tell. But here I was, offering her whatever I could to get her through this day. I couldn’t explain it. Why I was doing it. Why I wanted to stay. Again.
Her green eyes seemed to hold me in place.
“I can figure it out. You don’t have to do everything for me.”
“I’m not doing everything for you,” I argued. It was also a lie. I knew I would do more if she would let me.
The door handle moved, and we jumped. A nurse peeked her head inside. “Dr. Mason said I could find you here.”
“Is he already done with testing?” Margot asked.
“No. It’s going to take a little while. She said you can see him if you’d like.”
Margot nodded and rushed to the door. I was right behind her. The nurse led us through the emergency room to a curtained stall at the end of the open room. She pulled back the mesh and blue fabric.
“You can sit with him until we take him up.” She motioned to the chairs and walked away.
Margot took a seat. “Hi,” she whispered. “I’m Margot. You know, the girl who jumped in and swam out to get you?” She followed up with nervous laughter. “Now we’re in Pointe Harbor at the hospital. I’m sure the doctors told you that part. But don’t worry, we are trying to find your parents. They’ll be here soon. Really soon.”
I stood at the end of the bed, watching her. Watching the lines on the machines next to him move up and down.
“Right, Caleb?” Her eyes moved to me.
I looked at her. “You want me to talk to him?” I spoke quietly.
“Yes. Talk. Say something.”
“Like what?”
“Like everything is going to be okay.”
I cleared my throat. I had never done anything like this before. It seemed silly. “Hey, buddy. Yeah. She’s right. Margot’s right. I’m sure your parents will be here soon. And umm, I’m Caleb. I’m a captain in the Coast Guard. I got called to bring you in when your sailboat capsized. So, yeah, that’s how you got here.” I shrugged in Margot’s direction. I knew she wanted me to say more, but I had no idea what there was to say to this kid I had never met and who wasn’t even awake to hear it.
“Why don’t I make that call to the base?” I suggested. “See if there’s a lead on the Sunfish? I’ll be back.” I strolled away from the curtained area, heading back to the front desk. I was sure the receptionist would let me use the phone.
“How’s the little boy?” She smiled up at me.
“Not really sure yet,” I answered. “Do you have a phone I could use? I need to call the base on Marshoak Island.”
“Oh, of course. Come around here.” She unlocked the small latch on the pass-thru on the side of her desk. “I have lots of phones. Let me get you an outside line, honey.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” I ignored how she tacked honey on the end.
I waited while she tapped an extension and handed me the receiver. I heard the dial tone and pressed the numbers for the base.
“McCormick, yeah, it’s Captain O’Connor. Any updates on that Sunfish I called in about an hour ago? Has anyone claimed it?”
“No. Not yet.”
“No one called in a missing kid?”
“No. Not yet.”
I shook my head. I was certain the parents would be on their way. But no one had even started looking for the boy.
“Hey, I’m up at Pointe Harbor Memorial.” I felt the receptionist’s eyes following me. I motioned for a pen, and she handed one to me. “Call me at this number and leave a message. Someone will find me and get it to me. All right?” I repeated the phone number for the hospital.
“Sure thing.”
I handed the phone back to the receptionist and grinned. “If they call back and leave a message, can you send someone to find me?”
“Oh, I’ll come find you myself. Don’t worry.” She smiled.
“Thank you. It’s important we get a lead on the parents.”
I had to wait for her to let me out of the desk so I could retrace my steps to the kid’s stall. As I approached, the curtains rustled. Two men rolled him past me. Margot’s expression was hard to read.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“They are taking him for the scans. Did you find his parents?” Her eyes widened and I knew she wanted an answer. A good answer. The right answer. The one that would end this hellish nightmare for her and the kid.
“They’re working on it. But nothing yet. They’re going to call as soon as they find them.”
“I don’t understand. How is this possible? How does someone not know he’s missing yet?”
I wished I had an explanation. “Want to get some coffee?”
“And add to the tab I already owe you?”
“I’m not keeping track.”
“I’ll let you buy the coffee, but I am keeping track.”
Stubborn. As. Fuck. She didn’t care that she was wearing a five-dollar T-shirt we just bought. She wasn’t willing to let up on anything.
“The cafeteria is this way. I saw a sign when I was at the front desk.”
We wandered through the hospital halls. The arrows pointed right left and right again. A few of the visitors nodded at me when they saw my badge. I was used to it by now.
“Is it always like this?” Margot asked.
“Like what? What are you talking about?”
“The seas part and the women fall on their knees when you look at them.”
I groaned. “I don’t think that’s happening.”
“You just don’t see it happen. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening.” She rolled her eyes as we each picked up a Styrofoam cup from the dispenser.
“You want to explain what you’re talking about?”
She blew out a huge breath. “If you’re that oblivious to it, then no. I don’t.”
She added sugar and cream to her coffee, stirred it, took a sip, and added more sugar.
“What?” she questioned.
“Nothing. I just remember that’s how you always drank your coffee.” Fuck. I regretted it as soon as I said it.
“You still drink yours black?” Her eyebrows moved high.
“Yeah. Because it’s easy. Simple. I don’t even have to stir.” I followed her to a table near the window. It looked out onto a courtyard of the center of the hospital. The shrubs were planted in a neat row. There was nothing unique or special in the design. I wasn’t sure that it would lift anyone’s spirits to sit in this particular courtyard, especially when the water was close by.
“I wish there was something else I could do. Some way to figure out who he is.” She was lost in thought about the kid again or avoiding the elephant in the room. The huge elephant that was sitting on the table between us.
“Are you working on getting the Blue Heron running like a real marina?” I asked.
She looked at me with those big green eyes over her cup. “I have no idea what to do with the Blue Heron.”
“You might not stick around, then?” It was a blunt way to ask why she bothered to even be here.
“I’ve been getting that question a lot and I still don’t have an answer.” She took another sip of coffee. “So you still live on Marshoak?”
“On the base. We have quarters. It’s not bad. They let us out every once in a while,” I goaded.
She blushed. Damn. She was still pretty.
“Sorry about Walt. I heard he passed a few weeks ago.”
Her eyes darted to the top of the coffee. “Yeah, well it was a shock to me. I haven’t seen him or talked to him since…” her words trailed off.
“Where have you been living since then?” I waited for information to flow. I wanted her to give me more. Tell me more without having to pull every damn detail from her lips.
“New York.” She glanced away quickly.
“New York? As in the actual city? That’s far. Not to mention the exact opposite of this place.”
I waited for her to offer more, to fill in the blanks. Instead, she started to make lines in the Styrofoam with her thumbnail.
“Well, since you asked, Margot…I went to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut. I put in for my legacy spot at the base here and was granted orders on the first try. I became a rescue swimmer and I’ve been back here ever since.”
Margot looked up. “Shit.”
“What?”
“You’re really doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“You want me to do that conversational thing. The part where we pretend we just met or some bullshit like that?”
“I’m just talking, Margot. That’s all.” There was a long pause, and I didn’t know how to fill it anymore. I gave up. “Want to see if the kid’s done with the tests?”