Everblue

Chapter 30 - Ash

ASH

 

My eyelids slowly opened, registering my surroundings. The clock on the wall said it was only one in the afternoon, but it felt later. Mom and a male's voice spoke outside the doorway, probably Dr. Peet. From the anxiety in her pitch, I figured my condition had worsened. I turned up the volume of the TV with the remote and flipped through the lowly thirteen channels. My choices were Bonanza, soap operas, Let's Make A Deal, or daytime reality TV.

Before I'd fallen asleep from the pain meds thirty minutes ago, the nurse said my white blood cell count was higher than they liked and they wanted to monitor me for infection. I wasn't sure if that meant here, or at home.

My dream fluttered back into my mind. A huge hourglass protruded out in the middle of our dining room table. Within the sand, bits and pieces of blue wood were showing through. Only I knew what was underneath. I struggled to move the gigantic thing out of sight of my inquisitive family—without success. Once more grains fell away, The Sea Star would show everyone what I'd done today.

My attention jerked to an interruption on the TV; warning of unusual activity in Emerald Bay.

". . . mysterious waves over six-feet tall accosted the shore shortly after eleven thirty this morning, damaging small boats in the harbor. Seismologists say there wasn't any activity on the fault line, leaving them baffled as to how the occurrence happened. Locals blame Tessie for the disturbance, others the full moon. Officials are asking, until further notice, for extreme care to be taken near the water until divers can determine the cause."

I wanted to laugh until I heard, "In other news, a local high school girl was swept out into the bay after a rogue wave hit the beach . . ."

I dropped the remote.

"I saw the whole thing," a guy in a dirty shirt said, his missing tooth creating a lisp. "The girl got washed into the lake by this crazy wave over there and then some guy jumped in and saved her."

Did someone else have an accident besides me? I wasn't close enough to shore to have someone dive in and save me. All I remembered was the bright light underwater. My lips prickled again at the memory.

The camera cut to the lake and panned across the water, Fannette Island in the background. A pit formed in my stomach as I anticipated seeing the empty blue boat bobbing along. Then the Ranger came into view, the same one from earlier.

 "Ranger Prescott, people are touting that you're the hero today. Did you jump in and fish this girl from the lake?"

He cleared his throat and looked down. "I didn't rescue anyone, ma'am. I found her in my station, bundled up and almost frozen to death. I did what any citizen would have done and called nine-one-one."

His words hacked through the fluff lining my brain. This story was about me. I started to break out in a sweat as the woman continued to ask him probing questions about my injuries and if I'd said anything. He didn't have much to say. The others she interviewed blamed the waves and, surprisingly, not my stupidity. Did no one truly see me fall? What about the jet boat riders?

"Ashlyn!" Dad said breathlessly, as if he'd run all the way here.

His voice made me jump. I pawed at the covers to find the remote, shutting off the TV. He walked briskly over and hugged me hard.

"Thank God you're all right. I got here as soon as I could." He kissed the top of my head and held me, letting out a sigh. "If anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."