Night and Day

by Kira Barcelo

  He was a kid again.

  And there, to his right, was that pier.

  Maybe this was a second chance. A chance to change the past. This time he wouldn’t burn down the pier. He wouldn’t take out his heartbreak and frustration over having been born different by burning down that pier and bringing more trouble on himself. They wouldn’t catch him, they wouldn’t arrest him this time. It had been such hell, that whole year in that place. One whole year away from the sea.

  He’d almost died. Was he dying now? Was that why he’d gone back to that place?

  “Dan! Dan, up here!”

  He threw back his head. Sadie was up there on the pier, leaning over the raining, waving at him. Smiling.

  And behind her, almost engulfing her, were giant billows of black smoke.

  “Sadie! Come down! Come down now!” he hollered.

  “What? What did you say, Dan? I can’t hear you!”

  His stare followed the pier into the water. “Go down to the end, Sadie! Go down to the very end and jump in! I’ll meet you in the water! Baby, you gotta get off that thing!”

  Obviously, she couldn’t hear him. But why not? Desperation filled him, seeing her waving and smiling at him innocently. She looked so beautiful, so angelic. Dressed in a long, white dress, her hair free and blowing with the breezes.

  Sadie turned…and then she was gone.

  “Hey—hey, baby! Sadie!”

  Distraught and confused, Dan looked out at the ocean. Why was it so far now? In a matter of moments, the water had receded dramatically. Again he looked back up at the pier.

  But instead he saw the train. The curtains were drawn on all of the black cars’ windows, and its whistle was deafening. Slowly it moved along the tracks, each car swallowed up by the dark tunnel ahead, and he tried to follow it, calling out for it to stop. But it began moving faster, like lightning.

  Dan stopped, nearly paralyzed when he saw the last car. That was him standing there on the caboose, struggling with the door. It was locked, making it impossible for him to enter the train and find Sadie, who had to be aboard. She was on the train and yet he couldn’t reach her, and the tunnel was about to swallow up that last car with him on it…

  * * *

  “Detective McCallister? Sir, can you hear me? Nurse, I can’t be sure, but I think—yes, he’s stirring.”

  Opening his eyes was painful enough, but then Dan moved his head and groaned from the sharp bolt of pain. He reached up, surprised to touch a gauze bandage that seemed to go clearly around his head.

  “Take it easy there, detective. You don’t want to move too quickly,” a doctor in a white lab coat advised. “How do you feel?”

  “Oh…just peachy.” He frowned in irritation, waiting for the physician to finish using his stethoscope on his chest. “What happened?”

  “I’m afraid you were struck in the head with a billy club. There was a lot of confusion on that platform today. The officer on duty didn’t know you were one of the good guys. He just knew you were firing a weapon along with those other men, and so he tried to stop you.”

  Dan waited for the nurse to finish checking his pulse. “Understandable mistake, I guess. My head’s killing me, though. And I feel kinda woozy, like I’m hungover or something.”

  The doctor smiled. “That’s normal. You have a mild concussion. Other than that, you’re fine.”

  And you have a visitor who’s been waiting to see you,” the nurse said. “But if you’re not up to it, we can tell him to come back. A Detective Clark.”

  “Martin? Oh, yeah, yeah, I’ll see him. But first, Doc…” Dan licked his lips. His throat was parched from thirst. “There was a girl at the train station. She was shot. Can you tell me if she’s all right? Sadie Francis—where is she?”

  “The girl at the train station. Well, she’s here…” The doctor’s expression darkened. “She’s lost a lot of blood. Is she someone to you?

  Someone to you. Dan dwelt on those words. “Yes. Someone very special to me. Is she going to be all right?”

  “Well, I—I’m not the physician who’s been attending to her. That’d be Dr. Talford, I believe.”

  He shook his head, stopping, because the motion intensified the queasiness.

  “Couldn’t you tell me, doc?” Dan pressed. “I have to know.”

  “I’ll have to check. Nurse, let Mr. McCallister’s visitor know he can come in now—but only for a few minutes. Mr. McCallister needs his rest.”

  “Doc, wait—”

  The doctor either hadn’t heard him or was playing deaf. Though it took effort and he was in incredible discomfort, Dan pulled himself into a sitting position in the bed. The IV needle in his arm pricked at his skin, making him grimace.

  The door opened slightly, just enough for Martin to poke his head through.

  “Hey, buddy, we have to stop meeting this way,” his partner joked.

  “You’re telling me!” Dan forced a laugh. “Glad you’re here. That doctor just ran off on me.”

  “Yeah? Hope that doesn’t mean you need surgery. Silly me, I left my scalpel at home.”

  Dan chuckled with him. “You’re in a good mood.”

  “I’m always in a good mood when I find out my partner’s okay. Especially after one of the boys in blue clobbered you but good. Just a little friendly fire, huh? And I’m in a good mood when we can close a case, too. Two of those guys were arrested this morning at the train station. They’re on their way home—to Attica.”

  “One of them O’Keefe?”

  Martin scratched his nose. He tossed a glance at the rigid wooden chair near the bed but chose to stand instead.

  “O’Keefe’s dead,” he replied. “So’s the fourth convict. There was a porter shot, too, but thank God he’s doing better than he was this morning. You and the rest of the town can read all about it tomorrow over your morning coffee. Ed Gage is putting the finishing touches on the story as we speak.”

  “Hurray for him. Uh, Martin…” Inwardly, Dan braced himself. “What about Sadie? She was one of the people they shot this morning. The doc wouldn’t say much. Just that she’s lost a lot of blood.”

  His fellow detective, who usually was something of a poker face, reflected emotion through his eyes.

  “She’s not doing so good, Dan. I’m sorry to tell you that. They don’t expect her to make it through the night.”

  Dan found it painful to swallow. “Is she here? I mean, on the same floor?”

  “She’s at the other end of the hall. I dropped by her room before coming to see you.”

  “Oh. Well, I need to see her.”

  “I don’t know if they want you out of bed right now, Dan. Even if they did, she’s not even conscious. She wouldn’t even know you were there.”

  “Martin, would—would you do something for me?” He didn’t wait for an answer, going on, “There’s a Dr. Lessard here at the hospital. Please see if you can get ahold of him. Ask him to come see me as soon as possible. Would you do that for me, Martin?”

  “Dr. Lessard? Sure, sure, Dan.” Martin looked perplexed but sauntered toward the door. “I’ll see if I can find him right now.”

  The small pitcher on the table beside his bed caught Dan’s attention. A task as simple as pouring himself a cup of water shouldn’t have caused him so much pain, but it was worth it as he took those first thirst-quenching sips. He wished it could be as simple to calm the intense ache inside his heart.

  She’s not expected to make it through the night.

  Henry Lessard wasn’t going to appreciate getting roped into that situation. If Dan had a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t involve another merman. Especially not one of Dr. Lessard’s position and prestige. But it wasn’t like he had a choice.

  And he certainly didn’t have much time, either.

  A gust of summer wind blew in through the window. Dan couldn’t see it from the bed, yet he knew the ocean was in the distance, beyond the confines of the property on which the hospital sat. Hopefully, he could r
each the ocean soon.

  And Sadie would have to be with him.

  * * *

  For a man who’d been asked to risk his career, Dr. Lessard couldn’t have been more kindhearted or accommodating.

  Spiriting a seriously injured young woman out of the hospital hadn’t been easy, either. Fortunately, with two mermaids on staff—one who worked as a nurse and the other who was in the housekeeping department—they needed only to wait until midnight.

  That was when the security guard was distracted by the chatty nurse. With Dan’s help, Dr. Lessard and the housekeeper were able to transport Sadie on a stretcher down the elevator to the doctor’s car in the lot behind the building. They all moved quickly, as quietly as they could, with Dr. Lessard handing over his Cadillac’s keys to Dan.

  Though the night air helped, Dan was still dizzy, barely in any condition to drive. Waiting for him at the docks was Anita Johnson. By the way her hair was tossed, he could tell the wind had kicked up considerably. She opened the car’s rear door for him, allowing him to carry an unconscious Sadie out of the car.

  “There’s a storm coming, Dan,” Miss Johnson told him.

  “I gathered that,” he said softly.

  “The water might be kind of rough. I know most times you’re fine with it, but tonight, with all you’ve been through physically—”

  “I’ll be fine, Anita. Thank you.” He held Sadie close against himself. “Anita, do you think Sadie will regret this? She can’t decide this for herself, I’m making the decision for her right now. Once it’s done, she’ll never be the same. Think she’ll forgive me?”

  Anita sighed. “I don’t think you have the luxury right now to think about that, Dan. You have to do whatever you can for her right now.”

  That answer should have been enough. Dan nodded, knowing that it truly wasn’t, and turned to face the ocean. With Sadie’s limp body in his arms, he walked briskly, approaching the tide and the strong waves coming in to the shore.

  “I don’t think she understands, baby,” he whispered, “that you spent two years of your life angry with me over another decision I made for you…”

  And you hated me for that. He couldn’t quite bring himself to say those words, though he looked down at her pretty face as the water became deeper. First to his shins…then to his knees…then to his waist.

  There was a chance that she wouldn’t survive at all. And then there was a chance that that human woman, so close to death, would be transformed into a mermaid. When she’d asked him before if there was any way a full human female could become a mermaid, he’d been evasive with her. But of course, women in very similar situations to Sadie’s had been becoming mermaids for as long as merfolk had been in existence. Still, the novelty of being a mermaid and the reality of actually becoming one were two completely different things. Sadie’s reaction could be one of total horror.

  Yet if he left her in the hospital, there was an even greater chance that she would be gone forever.

  This way, with his aquamarine necklace around her neck and in the ocean with him, she stood more of a chance. Like him, she would spend the rest of her natural life having to return to the sea periodically, and having to take on her mermaid form.

  “You’ll always be different now, you know?” he explained. His eyes stung…and not from the salty air. “You’ll always have to be careful. You’ll have to let the sea hide you. This isn’t an easy life, and I don’t even know if it’ll work…”

  Suddenly, Sadie coughed. Most of the color was gone from her face; she’d been frighteningly pale when he’d first taken her out of the hospital. But now, little by little, her color was returning.

  “…But I know you’re the most real thing in my life—my life as a man and a merman.” Dan paused, his lower lip quivering. “I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, Sadie. And maybe, like before, you won’t want anything else to do with me, and I’ll—I’ll understand. But at least I’ll know that I did what I could, and that I can still love you, even if you won’t be with me…”

  It was working. A large wave covered them, and as the water displaced, he could see her transformation. The ocean was returning the breath of life to her, but in the process, there was a mermaid tail where her legs had been.

  In all his years, he’d never witnessed that transformation before. Naturally, he’d seen half women, half mermaids changing shape before his eyes. This, however, was the first time he’d seen a human woman becoming a mermaid. It didn’t take quite as long to happen as he’d thought. Holding his breath, he watched as the fins fanned the water, and the mermaid in his arms swam out of his arms.

  And she’d heard him. She was conscious and very much alive. Sadie drew closer to him, rising to the surface with him. He smiled when he felt her tail curling affectionately around his, the rest of her wrapping around his body.

  Finally, she spoke. “I have to be with you because I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, either. And you’d be with me anyway, Dan—in my heart. Night and day, you’d be with me in my heart. I think, even for those two years when I was so angry with you, you were there in my heart even then.”

  Holding her that close against him, he could feel the rhythm of her heart pounding against his. Dan’s lips parted when his mouth reached hers in the most delicious kiss he’d ever shared with a woman.

  “We need to get back to the hospital before morning,” he said. “There’ll be looking for both of us. We can’t just disappear together.”

  “Okay. But can we come back here later?”

  “Of course. We’ll be coming back here a lot. You’ll need to come here. This is your other now.” Pausing, Dan flicked his tail and turned with her, guiding her back to the shore. “How do you feel about that, Sadie?”

  “Like I’ve taken the long way, but I’m finally home at last.”

  “Yeah, you are home, baby. And so am I.” He swam with her, both of their tails gliding in and out of the water’s surface.

  Even with the incoming storm, with his arm around her waist and Sadie’s around his, Dan didn’t believe he’d ever seen a more beautiful night.

  The End

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven