Found at Sea - By Anne Marie Duquette Page 0,80
trouble here, Yeoman. Time for reinforcements.”
* * *
THE TECHNICIAN LEFT the room to take a quick bathroom break, leaving Jordan alone with Aurora. Jordan took advantage of the privacy to step beyond the yellow line on the floor and get closer to the tempered glass portal separating him from her.
She looks so still, Jordan thought. So pale.
Jordan refused to think the unthinkable. He ventured to touch the glass near her cheek, carefully avoiding any sudden moves that could startle her.
I wish you’d wake up, Aurora. I don’t have any answers for you about Tanya or Dorian, but I could tell you I love you again. I want to use my voice this time, not a marker on an underwater tablet. We’ve been so busy looking out for everyone else that we haven’t had time for each other....
Jordan heard the footsteps of the technician outside the door. He didn’t bother to step back behind the line until the technician tapped on his shoulder, and only then did he retreat— reluctantly—to the visitor’s chair against the wall.
The doctor returned to check on Aurora and murmured guarded reassurance to Jordan.
“If there’s no change then say so,” Jordan said bluntly. “I’m a diver myself. Don’t sugarcoat it.”
The doctor refused to commit herself to anything and left.
Tanya...where is that girl? She should be back by now.... He’d seen her walk off with the chaplain over half an hour ago. For the first time, he understood why anyone would ever want to leave family behind. No wonder Aurora bolted with a clear conscience. Look at Tanya. How could anyone live a normal life with such confusion...with no family unity? The repercussions that one teen had created were incredible. Despite it all, Aurora had come back to her family, stood beside them—and paid this price.
The door behind him unexpectedly swung open again. Two military police stood at attention. The chamber tech lifted his head from his charting, as surprised as Jordan.
The taller male MP addressed Jordan. “Mr. Castillo? We have some questions for you.”
“Fine,” Jordan said. “Go ahead.”
“Not here, sir,” the shorter but higher-ranking female MP said.
“I don’t want to leave her.”
“Sorry, sir, but you have no choice.” The woman’s seriousness broke through Jordan’s preoccupation with Aurora as the man approached his side. “You’ll have to come with us.”
Jordan rose. “Tell the doctor to call me if there’s any change,” he said to the technician. “I’ll be at—what extension?” he asked the MP.
The male MP recited the phone number to the chamber tech, who dutifully wrote it down.
“Tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Jordan said.
The tech nodded.
“Tell her now, with the mike. So she can hear you.”
The technician slowly reached for the microphone that enabled those on the outside to communicate with the patient inside.
“Never mind, I’ll do it myself.” Jordan took the mike from the tech’s hand. “Aurora, it’s me—Jordan. I have to take care of some business, but I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay? I called Donna when the doctor was with you. She’s heading over. She’ll keep you company until I return.”
“This way, sir.”
Jordan stole one last glance at Aurora. “I’ll see you later. Just rest up, now.” He passed the mike back to the tech and turned to the MPs. “Okay, let’s go.”
* * *
AURORA HEARD JORDAN’S voice from far, far away. Her thinking was confused, unclear, and her body felt weighted under a heavy layer that pressed upon her from all sides. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even open her eyes, but she could hear.
Jordan? Where are you?
Frightening memories surged back into her consciousness, causing such panic and disarray that she couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.
If only I could open my eyes. Jordan, don’t go! Jordan?
She strained to listen, but heard nothing. She strained to open her eyes, but they refused to respond to her command. She felt totally isolated in her private darkness, paralyzing heaviness and silence.
I don’t want to be alone again, she vowed. Never again. But her vow didn’t change her solitary state. She no longer heard Jordan’s voice. Finally, the heaviness won again, and she drifted back into unconsciousness, her last thought the memory of Jordan’s voice.
* * *
GERALD SAT BESIDE his wife’s bed, his two hands holding one of hers. Donna had left for the naval hospital to be with Aurora, while he’d chosen to remain at his wife’s side. The doctors had pronounced her finally on the mend. Dorian would remain in intensive care another day before