by C. E. Glines
Without thinking, I licked my thumb and rubbed at the smudges on his neck. When he froze at my touch, so did I. Ever so slowly, I moved my hand back under the safety of the blanket.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“Nothing to be sorry for,” he answered just as quietly.
His gaze bore no resentment at my incredible breach of etiquette. We sat there, studying each other for a few moments, and then he pulled away.
“Get some rest,” he said encouragingly.
That was a change from his usual “Get moving” mantra. He truly was taking good care of me. Too good. Like he was trying to repay me for the blood transfusion. I’d have to really talk to him about it eventually, but not right now and not with an audience.
“I’ll wake you when we get there,” he said.
Roger that, I thought, closing my eyes. Macy over and out.
At some level, I should have been alarmed that I was dangling upside down, held in place only by my seat belt, and my field of view wreathed by my crazy hair. But such was the state of my life that I was not surprised.
“Aw, come on,” I moaned loudly. “I have got to stop waking up like this. I prefer a gentle nudge…”
Michaels’ face suddenly appeared beneath mine. “Change of plans. We’re leaving now.”
My hair prevented me from seeing anyone past Michaels, but I could hear a lot of movement. With the fog of sleep still presiding, I resumed my prior protest a bit more loudly.
“A tender brushing of hair from my face...”
His hands reached up towards me. “I’m undoing your seatbelt,” he said gruffly. “Get ready.”
The familiar sound of metal sliding against metal preceded my stomach’s collision with his shoulder. I gasped at the impact. Contrary to his advice, I wasn’t ready.
He set me on my feet, and I took in the scene around me as I hugged my stomach. The others were scrambling around gathering up supplies and pulling on scuba gear.
A bolt of fear lodged in my stomach. I didn’t scuba.
I slowly straightened up, gradually taking deeper breaths as I recovered. “I’d even take a soft calling of my name or perhaps a little ear nibbling,” I said hesitantly. I knew I was just delaying the inevitable, but I couldn’t stop myself. I seemed to have developed an annoying habit for rambling when I was nervous.
Michaels, who had grabbed an oxygen tank and was unceremoniously strapping me in, paused at the nibbling bit long enough to meet my eyes. “Ear nibbling?” he questioned.
Despite the skepticism in his voice, I was thankful he was playing along. It was all the opening I needed.
“Do you know how I’ve been awakened the last half dozen times? I don’t know what’s worse. The latest free fall position or the fire wash. Reveille wasn’t very nice either, but then maybe the field goal should take first place? Disorientation isn’t a favorite of mine either.”
He clicked the last buckle into place, pulled the strap tight and then looked at me in confusion. “Field Goal?”
“Never mind,” I sighed heavily. “It’s just one of the many joyful experiences I’ve had since I met you.”
His expression darkened at my comment, and I stammered a little, trying to explain that I wasn’t accusing him. “I didn’t mean…It’s not your fault that...” I stopped abruptly, snapping my jaw shut. That wasn’t true, it pretty much was his fault. “What I mean is—”
He placed his fingers on my lips to silence me. He effectively shushed me. Seriously?
“Have you used one of these before?” He held up a scuba mask.
I had a hard time focusing on his question because I was fighting the urge to bite his fingers off. I didn’t, but the frown imprinted on my face should have been warning enough for anyone. Anyone but him. His frown mirrored my own, but I refused to respond until he removed his hand.
It seemed like he was moving in slow motion as his fingers left my mouth. I knew he wasn’t, but he was, and then everything sped up. Confusion supplanted my anger. What just happened?
I looked around the cabin and then looked back at him. He was still standing there holding the mask and waiting for my response, like nothing abnormal had happened.
“No.” It came out weaker than I meant it to. “No,” I said more firmly. “What happened? Why are we upside down?”
“We flipped it on purpose. From an aerial view, the bottom looks just like any normal rock formation.”
“Why can’t we just swim?”
“We are not swimming because I want to remain concealed. I won’t risk exposing you again.”
Won’t risk exposing me? What the heck had he been doing over the last few days? I was exposed to all kinds of things.
He recaptured my attention when he snapped very loudly two inches from my nose. I let my anger show on my face, but it dissipated when I regarded the sincerity in his.
“Macy, listen to me. I’ll walk you through it, and I’ll be right beside you. We are not going very deep. You just have to do what I say.”
I looked around. Everyone else was ready and waiting on me. Not trusting myself to not say something I would regret, I nodded.
Olivia came forward and helped me into some diving pants and water shoes. She followed with some type of gloves that stretched all the way to my shoulders. This tight fitting stuff didn’t feel too good on the stitches.
“Sorry for the discomfort, but it will protect you from bacteria in the river,” she explained. Stepping back, she reviewed her work then gave me a thumbs up.
I couldn’t say that I concurred with her assessment. I felt like I had been stuffed into a straw that was too small.
As soon as she cleared out, Michaels began instructing me in the art of scuba diving. When he finished his instruction, he placed the mask on my face and briskly adjusted various things on my vest.
According to what he said, it didn’t seem that hard. I essentially only had to remember two things, breathe through my mouth and stay with him. I could do that.
Michaels had just finished pulling on his own gear when the back of the SubV began opening. The others braced themselves as the water started rushing in, and I followed suit. It was an eerie feeling, standing there as the water flowed over my head.
I did have a moment of panic before I remembered to breathe through my mouth. Michaels tapped my mouthpiece as a reminder. Oops, almost forgot point number one.
The others made their way to the back of the vehicle, and Michaels took my hand as we got in line behind them. Pike left first followed by Olivia. Then Juarez took off, leaving only us staring out at the underside of the river.
We walked forward to the very edge of the SubV. I looked at Michaels, and he gently squeezed my hand in encouragement.
Well, here I went again, about to do one more thing I didn’t want to do, adding yet another skill to my resume of extreme talents. River scuba had to be right up there with shower wrestling and shaft surfing. Boy, I was living the good life.
I nodded to signal my readiness, and we surged forward as he pulled us from the vehicle.
It wasn’t half bad. Visibility at times was really poor, but I made sure to keep Michaels in sight or touch at all times. Besides us, there were a lot of fish and turtles in the river, but I didn’t see any fearsome creatures. After Michaels’ comment about “obstacles” and with the week I was having, I was concerned I’d have to fight river monsters or something else just as impossible.
Michaels hooked his elbow through mine and started pulling us straight down. As our destination began to come into focus, I groaned inwardly. Again with the tunnels?
Our underwater swim had led us to what looked like a flooded mine shaft. I could just barely make out the wooden frame outlining the entrance.
The others were nowhere in sight, so I assumed they had already entered. I held on to one side of the entryway until I felt Michaels’ hand on my back, propelling me forward. Not like I could stay where I was anyway.
The daylight gradually faded as
we made our way deeper into the mineshaft. I reclaimed Michaels’ hand before it became totally dark. No way was I getting separated from him in here.
A short distance ahead of us, little lights started flickering. Hopefully, that was the rest of the crew. To my right, Michaels suddenly lit up, and I stopped swimming as he reached over and turned the light on for me. Didn’t even know I had a light.
As usual, they had no need to worry that I would reveal the route to their secret location. I couldn’t find it again if my life depended on it.
We surfaced inside a well-lit cavern that was dominated by a large wooden pier. There was a long ladder leading from the water to the pier. This seemed to be a new pattern emerging in my life. Shafts and ladders. Two of my new least favorite things.
Juarez and Olivia were already on the pier, pulling off their scuba gear. Pike was a few feet ahead of me and Michaels.
Pike pulled the regulator out of his mouth and asked, “Do you need me to help with getting her out?”
He meant me? Why would I need help getting out?
“Your help is not required,” Michaels answered while looking at me.
Why were they always talking about me like I wasn’t present? “Hey! I’m right here,” I said angrily. “And, I know how to climb a ladder. Had quite a bit of experience with it just recently, actually,” I said with a pointed look at Michaels.
Pike reached the ladder and smoothly scaled it to the pier. See, piece of cake. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he called over his shoulder.
I looked back at Michaels. “Ladies first,” he challenged.
Fine. I didn’t know what they thought was so hard about climbing a ladder. Olivia and Juarez didn’t seem concerned about me climbing the ladder.
Michaels cleared his throat, and I made a face at him before I swam the last few feet to the ladder. Putting my feet on the closest rung, I gingerly gripped the sides with my hands. I started to haul myself out of the water, but I stopped when I realized I wasn’t moving. This clearly wasn’t my fault, since I reckoned I’d gained a million pounds during the swim. What the heck?
“Michaels. What was in that nutrition bar you fed me?” I asked, confused by my sudden weight gain. I stopped trying to move up the ladder and just hugged it, trying to keep from falling off. “Why do I feel so heavy?”
Pike leaned over the side of the pier and grinned at me. “Told you, Beautiful.”
Michaels made his way over and stationed himself at my back. “Part of it is due to the equipment,” he said as he slid my vest off and tossed it to Juarez, who’d come to watch the show. “Some of it is the fact that you just swam for two hours.”
Two hours? I didn’t think it was that long.
He pulled the mask from my face and smoothed my hair to hang down my back. “There’s also the fact that you are recovering from your injuries and the blood loss,” he said. “And lastly, there is a lot going on in that body of yours right now besides all of the above.”
I assumed the last comment was referring to the transfusion that for some reason he couldn’t mention by name. I didn’t understand why he was feeling so guilty about it. The transfusion had saved my life. But again, this wasn’t the time or place to have that discussion.
Having been freed from my vest and mask, I tried again to pull myself to the next rung of the ladder. I started to look back over my shoulder to see if Michaels was secretly hanging on to me, but stopped when I saw both his hands firmly gripping the ladder under mine. It was me. I really didn’t have the strength to pull myself out. No sense in pretending I did.
“Pike,” I yelled, “get over here and help a girl out.”
“On it,” he said eagerly.
I watched as he charged face first down the ladder and draped himself upside down with his arms extended towards me. It was incredible to watch. Would I be able to do stuff like that?
“That’s really a beautiful pose you got there,” I said, looking up into his still grinning face.
“Aw, we both know there’s only one thing beautiful on this ladder,” he teased.
Michaels growled loud enough behind me to cause my chest to vibrate.
“You guys can argue about my beauty later,” I told them. “Right now, heave man, heave.” The last heave was said with my arms reaching towards Pike.
Careful to grab me above the elbows, he pulled, and I managed to clear one rung of the ladder. But it wasn’t easy. I couldn’t get my legs, which felt like spaghetti, to work correctly.
After I had clumsily made several more steps, Michaels picked me up, set me on his left shoulder and started to climb. This forced Pike to make a swift retreat, for which, he waggled his eyebrows at me.
I wasn’t sure what was going on with Pike and Michaels or what Michaels thought was going on between me and him, but right now, I didn’t belong to anyone. I’d have to make Michaels aware of that, if he didn’t stop with the possessive display.
We reached the top of the ladder, and Pike steadied me as I slid from Michaels’ shoulder. At eye level with Pike’s chest, I got a look at his shirt. In bold black letters it read, I’m a lover and a fighter. Pike lifted his eyebrows in invitation, and I shook my head and chuckled.
Behind us, Michaels’ growl was unmistakable as he stepped onto the pier. Pike threw his hands up and backed off in an obvious show of surrender. I wanted to elbow Michaels and tell him to knock it off, but that would have been supposing he’d actually listen to me.
Olivia quickly appeared at my side and began helping to divest me of my various scuba clothing. As she pulled them off, she handed them to Juarez, and he stowed them in a large plastic bin. The last piece came off, and I was back in the heavily stained camisole, cut off pin striped pants and bare feet. I just needed a sash, an eye patch and a parrot, and I’d be a full-fledged pirate.
Olivia hooked her elbow through mine. “Think you can walk?” she asked. The urgency in her voice left no doubt she was trying to fend off a confrontation between Pike and Michaels.
Oh yeah, I thought. I’d been carried enough lately. Time to stand on my own two feet. “Certainly,” I replied with more enthusiasm than I felt. “Is it far?”
“Not too far,” she answered.
The smile quickly left my face. She’d said something similar to me once before, so I wasn’t sure I could trust her with distances.
When I didn’t move, she elaborated, “It’s just a lot of stairs really.”
Stairs. It was more climbing. But what was I thinking, of course it was.
“Who doesn’t love stairs?” I replied dolefully.
“Exactly,” she played along. “They lead you up,” she started.
“They lead you down,” I finished.
“Will you two shut up and start climbing,” Michaels snapped from behind us. He didn’t even have the good sense to look ashamed when he was on the receiving end of our double glares. He just stepped around us and took the stairs two at a time.
“What is he so upset about?” I asked as I watched him bound up the stairs.
Olivia and Juarez exchanged a meaningful look, and then he quietly followed Michaels up the stairs. Her only verbal response was her usual throat clearing.
“You should really invest in a large stash of throat lozenges,” I told her.
“See you topside, Beautiful,” Pike quipped as he too side stepped us and headed up.
“That boy is going to get himself eaten if he doesn’t stop,” she muttered.
I looked back at Olivia. She was regarding me with disapproval clearly written across her face.
“What?” I demanded. “I do not belong to Michaels.”
She looked like she was about to say something, but instead, she just shook her head. “Let’s go, Einstein,” she said, pulling me towards the stairs.
With the state I knew my knees were in, I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it. We moved slowly, but with Olivia’s help, I made it to the top of the stairs. They led us to sort of a mudroom. T
here was a bench against one wall, and I ambled over and sat down.
Olivia closed and latched the door we’d come through and then keyed in some code that made it look like it had never existed. To be able to produce items capable of such things was another testimony to the financial status of the Organization.
“You really shouldn’t tease Michaels,” she said quietly while still crouched where the hatch had been.
I knew she was referring to my interactions with Pike. But that would imply that I was trying to make Michaels jealous, and I wasn’t.
“I’m not teasing him,” I said completely serious.
“Whether you mean to or not, the fact remains that you are,” she sighed.
She stood up and brushed her hands off. Then she turned her icy glare on me. I felt like I was in the principal’s office. For something I didn’t do! I held her stare, and my confusion turned to understanding and then frustration.
I was not aiming to stir up trouble on the team. I couldn’t control what Michaels did or did not feel. And I certainly didn’t want to walk around on egg shells, monitoring my every interaction for something that might set him off. He would have to learn to deal with me for who I was. Just like I was learning to deal with him and his issues.
Uugh, busted by my own logic. Ignoring who he was did not equal learning to deal with him. It was the exact opposite.
“I’ll try, Olivia.” I meant it. I would try to understand what he was feeling towards me, but that didn’t mean that I echoed his feelings.
“That’s all I’m asking.”
The relief in her voice was annoying. “That doesn’t mean that I belong to Michaels,” I added sternly.
“Understood,” she said without sincerity. Clearly, she did not agree with me.
“And, that doesn’t mean I won’t say something if I think he’s getting out of hand.”
