My Greek SEAL

by Sabrina Devonshire

  We tread water beside the hull of the boat.

  Before I have a chance to say anything, Eros speaks in a stern voice. “I’m going to dive down inside the boat to see if I can find him. Please stay out here.” He pushes a floating mattress toward me. “Hold onto that so you don’t get tired.”

  There’s no way he should go into that about-to-sink boat. “The boat is sinking. What if it pulls you down?”

  “It will be okay, Maya. Even if it does, I’ve been free diving in water hundreds of feet deep before. This water isn’t that deep. I will be able to get out. Will you promise to stay here?”

  I hang off of one side of the mattress and kick my feet to maintain my position in the water. I grind my teeth together, feeling frustrated. He’s going to do this crazy rescue whether I like it or not. “Where else would I go?”

  “I don’t know, but I want you to be careful.”

  Horrible thoughts race through my mind. I try to think about this whole mess being over, about anything except this man I care about so much being trapped under a sinking boat. “You, too, Eros. I couldn’t stand it if you were hurt or worse.”

  “Maya, please don’t worry. I will be back, but now I must go.” He spins away from me, does a surface dive and disappears into the open gash in the boat.

  I cling to the mattress and stare at the turbulent water where Eros just disappeared. Bubbles rise to the surface. The water calms and still he doesn’t surface. I wait. And wait. Damn it. Hercules wouldn’t be able to hold his breath this long.

  The water surrounding me is like a watery graveyard. Floating everywhere are remnants of peoples’ lives. Pillows, mattresses, chairs, tables, clothing and even toys. I hear a splash and whirl around. The sound’s coming from behind me, not where I expect Eros to surface. Still, I plead, “Please let it be him,” to God. If only He could be listening and help us now. Instead of Eros, I see a boy who looks about three-years-old clinging to a chunk of wood.

  His hair is a mass of dark curls and his dark eyes widen when he sees me. He cries out in Greek. In his excitement, he bounces up higher on the waterlogged piece of wood, but it isn’t buoyant enough to support his weight and he plunges into the water.

  “Just a minute.” I know I promised Eros I wouldn’t go anywhere, but he would understand if he knew what was happening. I can’t leave this little boy to drown. And I have a flotation device with me—what I was trained to extend to a struggling swimmer.

  I use the mattress like a kickboard, propelling it toward the boy. If I can get him to climb on top, he’ll be safe until Eros emerges. I wonder again what’s taking him so long. I’m not wearing a watch, but I’m almost sure he’s been down for more than four minutes. I know his Navy training prepared him for breath holding and brushes with death, but still...His lungs aren’t the best and how many years has it been since his last mission?

  I swim the mattress up alongside the boy and motion for him to grab onto it. He says more words I don’t understand and then clutches the edge of the mattress with his chubby fingers. I push him up on top of the mattress. He stretches out on his belly and braces himself on his elbows. A trace of a smile turns up the corners of his mouth and he gazes at me with tear-filled eyes.

  I know he won’t understand me, but I speak to him anyway. I point to myself and then to the partly submerged boat. “I’m Maya. I will take you to my friend and then we’ll all go to shore.” I finish my sentence pointing toward shore, feeling helpless over my inability to communicate.

  “Petros,” he says.

  I flutter kick behind the mattress, steering it toward the sinking boat. It lurches and makes a gurgling sound. “No.” I kick frantically to get there faster.

  The stern of the boat is now completely submerged. The boat is pitched upward, so only the bow is visible. The gurgling noise gets louder as the boat slowly sinks and then disappears. “Oh, no,” I cry out in despair. “I’m too late.”

  I hear a scream. It has to be Helena. Oh, God, now what do I do? Will Eros be able to escape the sinking boat like he said he could?

  Petros looks at me with wide, sad eyes. He knows I’m distressed. I should probably take him back to shore now. There’s nothing I can do for Eros right now anyway.

  Suddenly, I feel a tug at my foot. A hand trying to grab me. I try to kick my foot free and cling tighter to the mattress. Hands close around both of my legs, pulling me down. The last thing I hear before my head dips underwater is Petros’ cry of alarm. In a panic I blow out all my air. I hold my breath, feeling like my lungs are going to burst. I gaze up toward the surface of the water that I’m desperate to get back to. It’s only inches away. If only I could get there. I claw for the surface with my hand, but the hands holding me down climb up my body. The man I briefly see pushes me under even further, using me as a life raft. Why can’t he see the mattress? It would help him float better than me. Now both of us are going to die.

  I thrash around and try to push him off, but I can’t move him, he’s too strong. The lack of oxygen makes me dizzy. My head feels like it’s turning somersaults. This will be my last swim, I think as my brain fogs and my thinking becomes confused. I think about Eros. Is he drowning, too? I think about little Petros, sprawled out on the mattress looking at me so expectantly. How will he get to land without me? Maybe once I drown, this man on top of me will get to him, too.

  No. I won’t give up. Peering through the cloudy water, I clench my fist and punch where I think the man’s head is. My hand swings through only water. Damn. I kick furiously and swing again with a fist. It strikes something hard. His head I hope. I strike again and again and again until pink blood tinges the water. The man releases his grasp on my shoulders. I fight my way to the surface and once my head is finally free of my watery, would-be grave, I gasp and sputter.

  Petros cries out to me and I swim toward him. Once I’m leaning on the mattress, spent and hyperventilating, he throws his arms around my neck and lays his head on mine.

  “It’s okay, Petros. It’s okay.” I reach up and hug him back. The boy must be so scared. I wonder where his mother is.

  Petros releases me from his tight hug. I glance back at the man lying face down in the water. Did I kill him? Hurting him wasn’t my intention, but he nearly drowned me. I look around and see a life jacket from a boat floating. Maybe I could toss that to him.

  “I’ll be right back,” I say to the boy.

  He shouts in distress as I swim toward the life jacket. I grab it and push it toward the man, prodding him in the head with it. He raises his head. His nose and mouth are bloody. As he reaches for the life jacket, I hear a sudden shout.

  “What are you doing, Maya?”

  I turn away from the man clinging to the life jacket. Eros is swimming sidestroke, tugging along a limp man in a cross-chest carry. I won’t tell him about the man pulling me under. He would totally freak out. “You were gone so long and then this boy was in trouble.”

  Eros releases the man he’s rescued and heaves him up on the mattress beside Petros. The man isn’t unconscious, but his face is sheet white and he’s too weak to help. He groans and coughs. Eros says a few words to the man and to Petros and then swims toward me. He grips me by the shoulders and then kisses both of my cheeks and then my lips. “I knew I could not trust you to stay out of trouble.”

  I tread water and kiss him back, elated to feel his warm lips again. After the terror of nearly drowning and fearing that Eros had been lost, being in the safe refuge of his arms feels amazing. “You wouldn’t have left that boy out here to drown. Is that man you saved Helena’s husband?”

  “Yes. It took quite a while to get to him because he took refuge in a small storage room off of the main cabin once he realized he couldn’t escape the sinking boat. He was breathing from an air pocket trapped in there.”

  “I was so worried. It seemed like you were down there forever.”

  “I will have to say it was one of the longest periods I’ve been underwater without air.”

>   Petros crawls across the mattress and speaks to Eros in a low, serious voice.

  Eros clenches his jaw and gazes at the man who nearly drowned me. He’s floating in the water several feet away from us, still clinging to the lifejacket. He mutters something I don’t understand under his breath and then gives me a piercing stare. “The boy Petros tells me that man almost drowned you. Would you be able to do what I ask this time?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Can you kick Petros and Helena’s husband to shore while I deal with that...that man?” His voice sounds stern and angry.

  “You’re not going to hurt him are you? I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt me. He was just scared.”

  “I know you’re right. But I am still angry. The man nearly drowned you. But I will take him to shore and to his family. Now please be careful.” He kisses me gently on the forehead and then swims away.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  As I swim the mattress toward shore, Petros waves his hands and shouts. Helena’s husband groans and tries to push himself up. Petros fidgets impatiently, and I make frantic gestures, hoping he’ll get that I want him to calm down. Of course he doesn’t understand.

  A small crowd of curious onlookers watches us from the shoreline. The little dog that followed us down to the water is still there, wagging its tail. I hear cries and shouts. Helena calls out to her husband in Greek and then rushes into the water. A young woman with the same bright dark eyes as Petros covers her face with her hands and dashes into the water behind Helena.

  Petros claps his hands happily and cries out to the young woman. Helena’s husband moans in pain. His thin, weathered face must have been deeply tanned from so many days at sea. Now his face lacks color and a bloody scratch mars one of his cheeks. Eros swims on his side, easily ferrying the injured man who nearly drowned me to shore. He leaves the man on the shore and swims with athletic ease toward me.

  “I’m here to help you now,” he says.

  “Thank God you’re here. I didn’t think we’d ever make it.” Petros is so hyper, I was worried he’d tip the mattress over. If Helena’s husband had fallen off, he might have latched onto me and pulled me under like the other man did.

  “You were doing very well.” His brows draw inward when Petros bounces again on the mattress. He reprimands him in Greek and the excited boy pouts in response. He’s obviously so excited he doesn’t even realize the trouble he’s causing for everyone else...

  By now, the water is shallow enough to touch bottom. Eros helps me push the mattress up so that one side of it’s resting on dry land. Helena and the young woman splash their ways toward us through knee-deep water.

  I pick up Petros and hand him to his mother. She nuzzles his face with her nose and hugs him to her chest and speaks to him in a loving tone of voice. Eros grips Helena’s husband by both arms and helps get him up. Before he’s even had a chance to step off the mattress, Helena throws herself into his arms. Sobbing, she says words that sound both worried and affectionate. Her husband touches her face and says words comforting enough that the worry lines disappear from Helena’s brow.

  Watching this older couple express their love for each other makes me feel warm inside. It’s obvious they have a long history together. I wonder where they first met, how many children they have raised, and how long they’ve been married.

  Once the initial excitement of the reunions passes, the two women turn toward us to give us teary hugs and thank yous. Eros translates every word and even Petros’ “Thank you, American lady Super hero,” which makes me laugh.

  “Helena and her husband, Mihalis have invited us to stay with them until we are able to secure a boat or bus mainland.”

  “Please tell her that is very kind.”

  “Why don’t you tell her yourself. The word thank you is ef charisto.”

  “Oh, okay.” I clear my throat. “Ef charisto?”

  “That is very good, Maya. I am sure you will learn Greek very fast.”

  “I’m not sure about that, but I will try.” I turn toward Helena and Mihalis and sputter out my first Greek words, hoping my pronunciation isn’t too laughable. They smile and nod and Helena winks at Eros, which makes me feel uncomfortable. Foreigners are always curious about Americans. Has Helena asked him anything about me? If so, what did he say? Did he say I was a tourist? His friend? Or did he say I was his girlfriend or, God forbid, lover or something awkward like that?

  As we walk back to the couples’ house, Eros slings his arm around my shoulder and slows his pace so that we fall behind the reunited couple.

  “Why are you walking so slow? Don’t they expect us to keep up?”

  “No, I explained we had things to talk about and that we would be arriving at their house soon.”

  “Okay.” What was so urgent that it couldn’t wait?

  “This has been a difficult day and you have helped people in very desperate need. I was upset with you for going after the boy, but that was only because I was worried you might get hurt. You are a strong woman, Maya, and you have a good heart.”

  I glow listening to his praise. The walk up the steep stone street seems like a breeze. Is it normal to want someone’s approval this much? “You were right to be worried. I’ve never been so scared. I thought for sure I was going to die when that man pulled me under.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “I hit him over and over. I hurt him pretty badly, too. He was bleeding.”

  A smile curls up the corners of his lips. “I wondered how he got so beat up. You are a tough one that’s for sure. But don’t feel bad about what you did. Fighting very hard was the only way for you to save yourself.”

  “Yes, I know, but I’m still glad I didn’t kill him.”

  “No you didn’t. And even after all that, you went back to help him.” He pauses and draws his hand toward his mouth, sliding his index finger over his lower lip. “I am going to ask you something.”

  My heart slams inside my chest. This talk thing is starting to scare me. Do I want to hear what he has to say? I know I’m in love with him, but I’m not sure I’m ready for him to take me to Athens and introduce me to a hundred relatives. “Okay.”

  “You look so worried. Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this...”

  “No, please. Go ahead.”

  He takes my hand and swings me toward him, gripping both of my arms and holding me back far enough that we can look at each other. “I love you, Maya. I have been thinking a lot about our situation. Your country and your family are very far from here. And as much as I want to be with you, I could never leave this place. Did you mean what you said earlier, about wanting to stay in Greece?”

  “Yes, Eros, staying here’s the change I need right now.”

  “That is very good, because I want very much for you to stay here in Greece.”

  Without hesitation, I leap into his arms. I’m too happy to care about the hundreds of relatives I might have to meet and pretend to understand. “Yes, Eros. I will stay here with you.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  There is only one bedroom in Helena and Mihalis house and no sofas, so we spend a restless night sleeping on their tile floor. I awaken, stiff and sore, but release a content sigh when I open my eyes and see Eros is stretched out beside me on our haphazard nest of pillows and blankets. He’s looking at me with a contented expression. All the worried lines I saw on his face yesterday are gone. And his eyelids hang heavy from sleep. Like me, he’s wearing borrowed clothing instead of a wet swimsuit.

  “I wondered when you were going to wake up, beautiful. You must have been very tired.”

  “Yeah, a little.” I don’t tell him I was awake half the night or that I’ve never slept on a floor in my entire life. “What time is it?”

  “Almost nine o’clock.”

  I push myself up to a sitting position and rub my eyes. “Really? I can’t believe I slept so long. Where are Helena and Mihalis?”

  “They walked down the street to a neig
hbor’s house. They say the man has a shop in town and may have enough food and supplies to get them through the week. I told them that after you awakened, we would leave to look for Dmitri and the others.”

  “I like that plan. I want to know what happened to them. I miss Maryann the most. I hope she and the rest of them are safe somewhere. Did you tell Helena and Mihalis we would come back tonight?”

  “I told them I wasn’t sure, but that if we didn’t return, we would be back in touch with them very soon.”

  His use of the work we brings a smile to my face. “Let me wash my face and use the bathroom real quick. It will only take a minute.”

  “Relax, Maya. Helena left food out for us. Come to the table for a cup of tea and some bread and cheese. I waited for you. We can eat together.”

  “Waited? You were laying beside me when I woke up.”

  He kisses me gently on the lips before reaching for my hand and lifting me to my feet. “After Helena and Mihalis left, I couldn’t resist getting close to you again.”

  We sit at the small table where Helena has placed a pot of tea, two cups, two plates and a serving platter piled high with bread and cheese. “That was nice of her to leave all this food for us.”

  “It was. I tried to tell her we could get by with less, but she wouldn’t accept that.” Eros pours me a cup of tea and places it in front of me. “How are you feeling this morning?”