Chasing Perfect (Someday#4)

by Melanie Shawn

  As I moved across the deck, I waved at a couple of the people I recognized from the bonfire. I didn’t remember many of their names, but I recognized faces. I was glad that I didn’t see the bitchy girl from the night before, the one who’d told me that Avery was probably only using me for sex. That was a relief. Not that I had anything to prove to her, but I didn’t want to spend the whole day playing catty word games.

  When I reached the bottom of the staircase, Avery was the only person there.

  “Hi there,” I said softly.

  He turned around and flashed me a bright smile, a tumbler in one hand and a bottle filled with amber liquid in the other. His eyes moved over me from top to bottom. I could tell that he liked what he saw. “Well, damn, girl. Don’t you just look like a vision from heaven.”

  “Do I? Thanks.”

  “You absolutely do. I’m really glad that you were able to join us today. Really glad,” he emphasized.

  “Me too. I’ve never been out on a boat before.”

  He looked at me, his face puzzled. “I thought that you and Hunter are from a town that’s right on the ocean?”

  I laughed uncomfortably. “Well, yeah, we are. But my family is not exactly what you would call… Well, let’s just say we’re not exactly boat-owning people.”

  Understanding quickly morphed into embarrassment. “Ah. Got it. Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  “No, no! That’s fine. I didn’t mean anything by it. Just… I’m really happy to get to go out on a boat. That’s all.” I smiled, hoping that my light tone and bright expression covered the awkwardness I was feeling.

  “Well, can I get you a drink?”

  “Oh, hell yes!”

  He laughed, and I joined in. I was already enjoying the day, but I wouldn’t lie; a drink would help me enjoy it just that much more.

  The engines began to rumble beneath our feet. A thrill of excitement shot through me. We were really doing this—putting out onto the open sea for my very first time.

  “I’m gonna go up top and watch. I have to see us launch from the dock. I want to watch the land as it gets farther and farther away.”

  Before Avery had a chance to respond, I scampered back up the stairs. In my excitement, I didn’t even have to consciously make the tiny adjustments in my steps to account for the movement of the floor underneath my feet. My mind did it unconsciously while I rushed, thrilled at the sight that I was about to witness.

  When I emerged from below deck, I rushed over to the railing where Hunter and Acacia were standing. After only a few seconds had passed, Avery was at my side, and he handed me a drink.

  “Here. A white wine spritzer to mark the occasion.”

  I took the drink with a grateful smile. “This is quite a momentous occasion without it, but there’s not much that can’t be made better by adding a little bit of white wine to it.”

  “I definitely agree. Well, maybe not about the wine specifically. But alcohol in general. Yes.”

  The ocean breeze played on my skin and ruffled my hair. The smell of salt water was invigorating. As the shore receded into the distance, I was overwhelmed with a freedom that was unlike anything I had ever known. I felt like I was leaving all of my problems behind me on that distant shore and striking out into the clean, clear ocean. It was like a wide, blue, blank slate.

  Hunter leaned in on the other side of me. He said softly into my ear, “Dang. Between riding on an airplane for the first time and now going out on a boat for the first time, this has been a week of real pioneering for you in terms of forms of transportation, huh?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Tease all you like, but I’m having a good time.”

  He smiled affectionately. “I can see that. I can see how happy you are. That makes me happy.”

  We shared another smile, and I held my wine glass out.

  “I am happy.” I nodded. “And I think I’d be even happier with another one of these. Or maybe even more than one.” I looked over at Avery.

  He winked. “Coming right up, darlin’. Your wish is my command.”

  A few moments later, he returned with the entire bottle of sweet white wine as well as a cooler full of lots of different kinds of alcohol for the rest of the crowd. We spent the next few hours sitting around, talking, laughing, and getting super buzzed. It was one of the best times I could ever remember having.

  Honestly, I felt like I was in a stereotypical “Happy Teens Having Fun” montage from a romantic comedy. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was living exactly the life I’d always pictured myself living in the future.

  I walked over to the railing. The view was so gorgeous—sparkling crystalline water as far as the eye could see. I leaned out, stretching my arms forward, embracing the wide expanse, and taking a deep breath of cleansing sea air.

  I heard Avery’s voice behind me, a warning tone in it.

  “Sandy, it’s not a good idea to lean out like that. You should be holding on.”

  Psshhh. In my half-drunken state, his concern annoyed me. He was going to be completely overprotective, and I got enough of that with Hunter. That was one thing about him that could potentially be a drag.

  I was turning around to tell him that I was just fine, thankyouverymuch, when my foot slipped on the deck, which had become coated with a fine mist from the ocean while we’d been out. Before I knew what was happening, I tumbled ass over teakettle. I didn’t know where I was falling or in which direction.

  There was no time to feel scared. In fact, the first thing I felt was humiliation and embarrassment. But then a sharp pain seared through my head as it struck something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but when my body hit the water an instant later, I realized it must’ve been the side of the boat.

  I sank farther and farther in the water. Everything had a dreamlike quality about it. It occurred to me, consciously, that I should’ve been afraid. But I couldn’t make myself. I tried to move my arms and legs, but I couldn’t make that happen, either. In the far back corner of my mind, a small voice told me that the smack on the side of the head must’ve stunned me. That I must’ve been in shock.

  I couldn’t make myself care.

  When I opened my eyes, I saw the light shining from the surface of the water. A fluttering in my chest was the first sign of fear. My logical brain realized I could drown, but my emotions weren’t on board with it yet. It all felt like a dream.

  My only goal was to get to the surface of the water. The only emotion I could feel was a desperate desire to do that. My lungs started to feel tight, like a band was squeezing around them. I must’ve been running out of air.

  Whether it was from the shock wearing off or the additional awareness of the gravity of my circumstances that came with my oxygen running lower and lower, I didn’t know. But a jolt of panic—real, genuine panic—shot through me.

  I flailed my arms and legs, scrambling to propel myself upward. At least, that’s what it felt like. I thought I was kicking for all I was worth. I was shocked, then, when my eyes drifted to the side and saw that my hands were barely waving in the water. I inclined my head downward, and my legs weren’t moving at all.

  Rather than introducing fresh panic, as I would’ve expected it to, this brought me nothing but despair. Chances were I was going to die down there. I was running out of oxygen fast, and I couldn’t move to get to the surface.

  My mind was filled with images of Hunter. Hunter and I when we were kids. Hunter and I when we were teenagers. Every time Hunter had ever stuck up for me. Every time Hunter had comforted me after one of my mom’s benders. Every time Hunter had said something funny to help me laugh instead of cry. Every time Hunter had looked at me with those soft, brown eyes and I’d seen in them all the love he had for me. Filled to the brim with nothing but pure love.

  Shit. Why had I been such an idiot? Why hadn’t I seen that I loved him, too—every bit as much as he loved me? Why had I been so focused on “love” being this magic potion that would take me far away
from home when I should’ve realized the only home I ever needed was Hunter?

  I’d heard that people’s lives flashed before their eyes in the moments before death, and I realized that that’s what was happening to me. It was just that everything important, everything good in my life boiled down to just one person.

  Hunter. He was my life.

  A sense of desperate sadness overwhelmed me at the certain knowledge that this realization had come to me too late. Now, he would never know. I would never be able to tell him that I could see everything clearly now, that he was the one. He was the one I wanted. He was the one I needed. He was the one I loved.

  My vision faded to black, and my last conscious thoughts were of Hunter…hoping that he would be all right without me after I was gone.

  Chapter 25

  Hunter

  Fuck!

  I was over the side and in the water after Sandy, before I even really registered that I’d seen her go over. My conscious mind was still processing the visual information as my body hit the water. It had been pure lizard-brain instinct that caused me to launch myself off the railing.

  When the cold slap of the water did overtake me and bring me to my senses, and the reality of the situation came rushing over me, the only thought that my brain had room for was the danger Sandy was in. I knew I had to find her as fast as I could and get her back up to the surface. Time was ticking. If she was unconscious, every second without oxygen made the situation more critical.

  I forced my eyes open under the water, ignoring the stinging pain. My vision was cloudy under the surface, but I struggled for clarity as I whipped my head and body back and forth, trying to locate her. When I absolutely couldn’t hold my breath even one microsecond longer, I popped back up to the surface, glanced over the glassy water to see if I could get a clue to her whereabouts, sucked in a giant lungful of air, and went down for another try.

  I repeated this process several times, becoming increasingly desperate each time I dove down. Thoughts about the sky-high stakes of the situation, the calamity that could result, and what it would mean for my life if I wasn’t able to succeed, kept trying to intrude. They buzzed around my consciousness like bees and I had to do my best not to get stung.

  I erected a steel wall around my brain to keep every single thought out. Except for one. Save Sandy. That one simple, clear directive was the only thing that I had room for. I had to focus on that, and that only, if I expected to be able to accomplish it.

  I didn’t know how long I kept up this frantic routine. I didn’t know how many different trips up to the surface for air and then back down into the water to search I made. I wasn’t aware of anything except for that one laser focus: save Sandy. It flashed behind my eyes in neon and I ignored everything else. Temperature, time, and fatigue all took a backseat to the mission of saving my girl.

  Finally, I caught a glimpse of blonde hair waving in the current, far down below where I was. Shit! That had been the problem. I wasn’t going deep enough.

  I was almost out of air at the instant I saw her hair. I didn’t care. Even though every cell in my body cried out with the instinct to break through the surface and suck in precious, life-giving air, I ignored it. I ignored everything but the sight of her limp body floating in the water, growing larger by the second as I kicked with everything in me to reach her as fast as I could.

  When I got close enough, I fastened my arm around her and propelled us upward. Breaking the surface that time felt like sweet release. Not only from the oxygen that was rushing into my lungs as I gasped, but also the fact that I was literally holding my world, my life, my everything in my arms. I’d found her. I found my Sandy.

  Relief rushed through me, but I knew Sandy wasn’t out of the woods yet. I couldn’t abandon my aggressive focus. Not until she was truly safe.

  We were several yards away from the boat at the point where we surfaced, and I crossed that space as quickly as possible. Even though we were moving as fast as I could carry us, it wasn’t enough. It felt like a fever dream, like a nightmare, like walking through quicksand.

  When we finally reached the side of the boat, the rest of the crowd was there, prepared with lifesavers and pulleys to bring us onto the deck. That part all passed in a blur, because once I didn’t have to concentrate on swimming, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Sandy’s face. Fear filled me. Her color was still good, but I couldn’t tell if she was breathing. I couldn’t slow my own frantic panting enough to separate my breath from hers.

  As soon as we landed on the deck, I dove in and started doing CPR. I felt hands on my shoulders trying to pull me off. I vaguely registered people’s voices arguing that I was too tired, that someone else, who hadn’t also just been in the water, could do a better job.

  I blocked everything out. I didn’t even have to try. My brain simply had no room to process anything but the microseconds ticking by as Sandy still didn’t draw a breath, and the movements of my muscles as I breathed into her mouth and pumped her chest with my overlapping palms.

  I didn’t know how long that went on for, but finally, Sandy started coughing. I turned her on her side so that the water in her lungs could spill out safely, and I think I took my first unrestricted breath at the same time she did. The steel band that had been wrapped tightly around my chest until the moment I knew she was safe, didn’t entirely fall off, but it did loosen a few notches.

  I looked up, aware of our surroundings for the first time since the crowd had pulled us up on the deck. I saw we were moving, and pretty quickly, too.

  Avery clapped his hand on my shoulder, a gesture of bro-comfort that I appreciated. “We’re headed back to shore, and our family physician will be waiting at the dock,” he said.

  I was appreciative. If I could’ve managed it, I would’ve thanked him. But as it was, all I could do was nod as I sat holding Sandy to me and she trembled in my arms.

  Chapter 26

  Sandy

  I sat on the makeshift examination table in the marina’s dock house, while the doctor that Acacia had called did his work, shivering in my wet clothes and dripping hair, with a towel wrapped around my shoulders. A drowned rat would’ve had more charisma and sex appeal than I had at that moment.

  I couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed by all the attention laser-focused in my direction. I mean, damn—I like to be the center of attention as much as the next girl. Oh, who are we kidding? Probably a helluva lot more than the next girl. But this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

  The doctor peppered me with questions as he poked, prodded, and shined lights on me.

  “What year is it?”

  “Who’s the president?”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Who are these people with you?”

  “What are their names?”

  I tried to be cooperative, but eventually, I snapped. I’d reached my breaking point. “Okay, doc, what is this? An examination or a CIA interrogation?”

  He smiled pleasantly. I was sure I wasn’t the first, or even the cleverest, patient he’d gotten lip from. “Almost done,” he assured me.

  “Sandy, dammit, just cooperate,” Hunter scowled.

  Wow. A guy performs one little lifesaving maneuver and thinks he’s the boss of you. I chose to just nod, though, because I didn’t think he’d be receptive to some of my Patented Sandy Sarcasm right then.

  Finally, the doctor stepped back and smiled reassuringly. “Well, young lady, you were very lucky today. It seems you escaped your ordeal without serious injury.”

  I was about to hop down from the table, thank him for his time, and be on my way—but Hunter had other plans. Before I could move, he said, “Only serious injury? Does she have minor injuries?”

  “Some minor contusions. I’m sure bruising will develop. But the main thing, and this is very important, is that she needs someone to watch her for the next twenty four to forty eight hours.”

  “Trust me, I won’t let her fall asleep.”

&nb
sp; He chuckled. “Not necessary. That’s a myth, although a persistently prevalent one. The fact is, sleep would probably do her some good.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Hunter beat me to the punch with his intense voice again. “So, what should I be watching for, then?”

  “Make sure she’s coherent. Keep her talking. When she’s awake, that is, young man. If she becomes disoriented, spikes a fever, or starts vomiting, then get her to the doctor right away.”

  I didn’t even bother to try to talk that time. I figured Hunter had it covered. I was right. He started talking before the doctor had even completely finished. “What else should I be watching for?”

  “Those are the most common. But, anything out of the ordinary, really. Dilated pupils, muscle weakness, speech slurring. Err on the side of caution.”

  “Trust me,” I interjected. “That part won’t be a problem.”

  Hunter narrowed his eyes at me. I just smirked. I knew he didn’t appreciate my teasing when he was in Me-Hunter-You-Sandy, Me-Protect-Sandy caveman mode, but I also knew that if I didn’t break it up with a little gentle joking, he could spin off real quick to the point where he was cutting up my food for me and speculating that we should rent a wheelchair to transport me from the bed to the bathroom. I’d seen it happen before. And that had been when I’d only had the flu.

  Acacia chimed in, “Honey, come back to our place to recuperate. We can hire a nurse to look after you!”

  “Absolutely, you must,” Avery agreed.

  “Oh, no, that’s not necessary—”

  My cordial refusal of their generous offer was cut short when Hunter jumped in, his voice curt, “No. I’m taking care of her.”

  Oh, Hunter. He did tend to get a kind of terrier-like tenaciousness about him when he thought that he was protecting me from the world, and he was the only one who could do it. Well…that he was the only one who could do it properly, at any rate.

  “I think we’re just gonna go back to the hotel room and chill out for a couple of days,” I said, trying to soften Hunter’s abrupt dismissal. “But, thanks so much for the offer.”