Chapter 9
Catalina
Watching the dolly roll away was the same as seeing her hopes crash and burn in real time. She might as well let her body sink into the carpet fibers and let ants feed on her carcass because surviving like this (as the world’s smallest woman) had to be impossible.
Right when she was about to do something wild, like seek comfort by throwing herself into Trey’s arms to weep against his chest, the dolly stopped. Her breath froze in her lungs as she stood waiting for something to happen, wishing the spark of hope wasn’t completely extinguished for them.
“Is that power strip ours or the resort’s?” A male voice echoed above her.
“That’s ours.”
The power strip! Her hope jolted back to life. “Trey!” She ran to him, grabbing his forearm. “We need to get to the power strip.”
They sprinted to it, hoping to beat the impending heavy footsteps behind them.
Luckily, the power strip was relatively close to the chair.
Trey was able to jump, pulling himself on top of it first before turning to grab her arm and pulling hard enough to cause them to tumble onto the black plastic surface of the strip.
As she struggled to right herself, she pushed Trey toward the pocket of holes dotting the surface.
The stress of the situation led to sweat breaking along the surface of her chest and neck, and her hands shook.
“Get inside one of the holes! Do it!” At this point at least one of them had to make it, and she figured Trey had a better chance since he was more athletic than her.
“I’m not leaving you.” Before she could stand, the foolish man she had married began dragging her to the nearest three-prong outlet, shoving her feet first into one of the more roundish openings.
She fit easily inside, the top of it reaching her shoulders, but an ominous shape, reminding her of the Star Destroyer from Star Wars, passed overhead.
Instead of a spaceship, it was a fleshy hand reaching for their current mode of transportation.
She turned, seeing Trey wasn’t secured inside a hole like herself and the power strip was already tilting up.
“Trey! Get in!” she shouted, her voice catching on a sob of desperation, fearing they might soon be separated and hating the thought.
He flung himself forward, sliding on his stomach, and slipped face-first into the nearest empty outlet.
The whole lower half of his body, ass and legs, stuck out.
Her bag on his back prevented him from fitting inside fully, lodging him in this awkward position.
She cursed herself for insisting they bring the bag, hoping it wouldn’t be the reason Trey got hurt.
There wasn’t time to react further, because she jerked into the plastic barrier in front of her as the power strip tilted on end as though held cord first. She locked her jaw into place, gripping the edge so hard her knuckles turned white, praying Trey was at least somewhat safe.
With the wind whipping her hair around, stealing her breath, it was as if she was on the scariest theme park ride she’d ever been on, one with malfunctioning seat belts, giving her the constant fear of being flung into oblivion at any moment.
“Are you okay?” came Trey’s muffled shout from somewhere inside the power strip, bringing at least a small measure of relief on her part. “Cat! Talk to me!”
All Catalina could manage was answering Yes through gritted teeth.
The speed they traveled, made it hard to concentrate on anything else.
She was unsure if her response reached Trey’s ears.
Catalina briefly snapped out of her frozen state and gasped when one of Trey’s flip-flops hit her on the back of the head before continuing its path of hurtling toward the vast abyss below them.
She squeezed her eyes shut, convinced she’d see the rest of her husband soon flying past, and she couldn’t bear the thought. “Trey!”
“Cat!” he called back.
That’s what they did for what felt like the longest minute of her life, taking turns calling out each other’s names because at least it was some assurance the other was there and secure.
When she did manage to crack her eyes open, she was relieved to see they were making their way to the dolly and, in particular, the top cardboard box.
The box was quite full, and it was nice they’d end up at the top of everything inside, but she did worry about getting trapped if they should tape and seal the box.
There wasn’t long to ponder this before there was a sudden feeling of free fall as though the power strip had been tossed in the air.
She couldn’t even scream, tightening every muscle in her body, preparing for a hard landing.
When it did hit the inside of the box, it rattled her brain hard, and she was certain she cracked her teeth from the impact.
Through her disorientation, Catalina managed to hear a voice overhead say, “Okay, that’s it. We need to get all this stuff down to the dock. They got us a boat to get to the real transportation.”
The lighting above the box changed as the dolly started moving forward. With unsteady limbs, she pulled herself from the outlet, fearing she’d turn around and Trey wouldn’t be there.
She was never so relieved to see him and his dangling legs, sans flip-flops, in her life.
It took everything in her not to run and kiss the ass sticking out from the outlet, but her limbs were having a hard enough time keeping her upright and the dolly’s movement didn’t help.
She expected him to pop up, with his usual big goofy grin lighting his face, but when his form remained still, her heart dropped deep into her gut. Why wasn’t he moving?
“Trey?” When she reached him, she shook one of his legs. “Trey!”
He remained still. Was he dead? She felt like vomiting as panic rose in her, a chill running along her spine.
Getting on her hands and knees, she pushed against him, sliding her arm into a small space between his body and the edge of the hole, searching for skin in a vital area.
She found what felt like his neck. His skin was warm.
He always ran hot, which was something she loved, especially when LA experienced a chill and she had forgotten to bring a sweater.
Being able to cuddle into Trey’s toasty embrace was nice, and she may never experience it again.
“Please be okay,” she said, pressing her finger to his skin in search of a pulse, a sob on the verge of ripping from her lungs. Her own pulse stuttered until she felt the steady beat of his, a relieved breath escaping from her in a shuddering gasp.
It wasn’t ideal for him to be unconscious, but it was better than death.
She tried to yank him from the outlet, first pulling on his legs, then his torso.
Her last resort was clutching the strap of her bag, which remained wrapped around his torso.
The strap was made from heavy woven canvas, and she crossed her fingers it would stay together.
Bending her knees, she gripped it, using every muscle within her in an attempt to haul his body upward. “Come on,” she groaned.
The upper half of his body eased from the power strip.
She felt a thrill when his face appeared, his eyes fluttering and his brow furrowing together.
“Trey. Baby.” It was at that moment a jostle from the dolly caused the strap to slip from her hands, and he bonked his head on the plastic edge, sliding into the outlet again.
Dammit!
The good news was he at least said, “Ow,” and groaned as he became more conscious.
Rushing to his side, she kneeled beside him, giving up on the strap because her arms were jelly at this point. “Trey? Can you hear me?”
“Cat?” Her name came from inside the power strip, sounding weak. He said something else, but she couldn’t make it out.
“Here, can you pull yourself out?” Though already exhausted, she did her best, with his help, to pull him from the hole. There was a worrying angry mark on his forehead, but she was happy he was at least awake.
“Hey,” he said, a slow grin spreading across his lips as he gazed at her.
“You made it with me.” His eyes struggled to remain open, reminding her of those times when he was sleepy or a little drunk.
He’d always get cuddly in those moments, and it took everything in her to keep him at arm’s length when she’d rather wrap him in her arms.
“Yeah. Did you hit your head?” She inspected him, brushing her hands across his face. He winced when she touched the red spot on his forehead. “Do you remember who you are? Who I am?”
“Yeah, you’re the sexiest woman in a white bikini I’ve ever seen.” His face turned serious, his eyes dark. “I want to get into your bikini bottoms so fucking bad.”
Even with the less than ideal circumstances of their situation, the rush of heat prickled along her skin, but she dropped her hand from his face as though done with her evaluation and not the least bit affected by his words. “Okay, well, if we survive this thing, I’ll let you try them on.”
Before he could argue about her deliberately misunderstanding him, the bright glare of sunlight spilled across them, causing them both to blink against it.
Along with it came a cool breeze and the scent of salt water in the air.
They were outside of the resort, and with this transition, the ride became rougher, as if they were traveling over cobblestone or a brick patio.
For the life of her, she couldn’t recall what type of ground covering existed outside of the resort.
It felt like a lifetime ago that she had last traveled over it with her own two feet and not by dolly.
She glanced upward. It was funny how the sun and sky looked the same.
If she wasn’t the size of a bug riding inside of a box, she could almost pretend this wasn’t the oddest experience in her life.
“What’s happening?” Trey asked her.