“Stay strong, Jessie,” Mido said in a forced whisper. “I love you.”
Chest tingling with emotion, Jessie leaned in Mido’s direction. The techies let her go. She hopped over Jacobi, who was still out cold, and kneeled at Mido’s side. Sauna ran up to them and set the orange emergency aid kit next to Cancer. The doctor popped it open and began searching its contents. Jessie took Mido’s face in both hands and kissed him on the lips, then caressed his cheek. “I love you, too,” she whispered. “Thank you.” More tears streaked down her face but they were more out of empathy for the amount of pain Mido was in. She got back to her feet to give Cancer space, retreating to Ed’s and Ted’s arms.
“We’ll keep her safe for you, Mido,” Ed said.
“Thanks, guys.”
“Hold still,” Cancer said around a capped needle in his mouth. He sterilized the bruising and swelling over Mido’s ribs. “This is gonna really smart for a few seconds, and then things will feel a lot better, but don’t get up. You’ve got at least four fractured ribs. Brace yourself.”
Mido sucked in a shallow breath and held it, groaned and pulled all his limbs towards his torso when Cancer stuck him with the needle, then slowly relaxed as the pain killer began to take effect. Jessie exhaled with him and relaxed as well.
“I don’t feel any jagged bones sticking out, but I don’t want to run the risk of you lacerating any organs, so you’ll be spending the next week getting bed rest, until I’m sure you don’t have any breaks.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mido said. He relaxed his grip on Scully and began breathing easier. “Oh, thank God for painkillers.”
Rammus stationed himself at Mido’s feet. “Sam, do we have any loop bolts and length of chain?”
“Yes, sir. Why?”
Rammus said, “Jessie, if I restrain Jacobi in the lockdown container, can I trust you to not sneak in there and harm him?”
She nodded. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
He nodded back. “Okay.” He pointed to Sam and Scully. “I need you two to go set up a cot in the lockdown container. I want Jacobi chained down until we can trust him not to harm Jessie.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison, their voices lacking hesitation. Sam led the way to the cargo hold.
“Cancer, did you just give him a concussion?”
“More than likely.” He deposited the spent needled in a plastic bag and plopped it in the kit, then shut the box.
Rammus pointed to Ed and Ted. “You two will help each other watch over him for the next twenty four hours so he doesn’t slip into a coma. Talk to him if he’s willing and coherent enough, but get me if his mouth starts running out of control.”
“Yes, sir,” they both said.
“Now listen up, all of you,” Rammus said, raising his voice. The crew gave him their attention. “Starting fistfights on this ship for any reason is grounds for dismissal. You all know this. You can yell at each other all you want, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your job performance; however, coming to blows is forbidden. Now, Mido.”
“Yes, sir?”
“I’m gonna overlook today since Jacobi deserved a lot more than what you and Cancer dished out. I’d do the same, if not worse, if anyone trash-talked my wife and tried to throw her overboard. However, the twelve of us are a team, so you better control yourself if he runs his mouth again. I will handle it if Captain’s not around. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”
“No apologies necessary today. Might owe us one later, after you’re done depriving our tastebuds of your cooking.” He gave Mido a friendly wink, then faced Jessie. “Now, Jacobi did just try to throw you overboard, so his job’s on the line. I’m not automatically dismissing him, since you’re not sure whether or not you intend to stay long term. Now that that whole trip to the cave business is over, do you still intend to stay a while? It’s no problem. It’s not like you have a home to go to anymore.”
“I need to stay.” With the sheer amount of disappointment she’d felt coming from Amphitrite, she felt a need to stick around. Just like in the cave, she couldn’t bring herself to believe she’d done everything she could to help. “There has to be more I can do. What did the other avatars do?”
Rammus gave her a sympathetic frown. “I hope there is more you can do, but I’m not counting on it. As far as the other avatars, Amphitrite kept them after trips like this. You’re the first to come back out. Maybe you should count your blessings and find a nice place to settle.”
“No. I have to stay.”
They weighed anchor after eating the dinner Jessie and Sam prepared for the crew. They made a simple meal of grilled cheese and creamy tomato soup, followed by zucchini cookies, which actually tasted quite good. They were basically the same recipe as banana bread, substituting the bananas for the vegetable, resulting in a tastier way to get in some greens. Jessie helped Mido eat maybe half his dinner and dessert. He had a concussion from getting kicked in the head, so he stopped eating when he started feeling sick. Shortly after he stopped, it all came back up. Cancer stuck the bucket he’d anticipated needing under Mido’s face just in time.
Rammus piloted the ship for Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory, where they’d collect themselves for a few days, pick up another shipment, hash out what to do with Jacobi, and go on as normal until Dyne returned. No one had any idea how long it might take for him to return. People either died and he returned alone, or he returned with everyone who’d accompanied him, shaken up but no worse for wear, like the five of them had recently been. Right before dinner, Rammus had explained to the crew that this scenario was a first. Dyne could be back in days or in years. For now all they could do was carry on and wait. Jessie felt a need to ask to go looking for Captain, instead of waiting, but the suggestion was ridiculous. The ocean was too vast to search for one cursed man who might even be hiding below the surface.
Jessie sat in a folding chair next to Mido’s bunk. Cancer sat in another folding chair in the doorway, reading a thick tome while Jessie stroked Mido’s hair and watched him sleep. Every so often she was overcome with the need to kiss him. She pecked his forehead, even though his lips called to her. She would’ve given in if Cancer wasn’t there. She felt it prudent to be mindful of his company.
“You make me miss my wife,” Cancer said quietly.
She looked up. Cancer watched her with his glasses low on his nose, his face serene yet filled with longing for his wife. “How often do you get to see her?”
“Two to four times a year.” He closed his book and pushed up his glasses. “Just for maybe a month at a time every three to six months. It depends on the shipping route and how busy things are. If business is good, we stay on the water. If things are slow, we get more family time.”
“Do you have any kids?”
“A boy and girl, both adults now—right around your age, actually. My son’s a carpenter. He’s been helping restore Boston to some of its former glory. My daughter’s in college now. Last I knew she wasn’t sure what she wants to do yet. It’s been five months since our last visit. We’re all due for a trip home, I think.”
“Maybe we should while we wait for Captain to find us.” Again, she felt a need to go find him, instead of wait, but she brushed off the thought. “Where’s home for everyone?”
“All over the coast of Not-So-New England and the Mid Atlantic states. I’ll run the idea by Rammus if nothing happens in Darwin. I’m sure you’re eager to find a new place to call home.”
“I am.” Paphos would regrow one year. People would repopulate it as well, but the thought of living where so many people she’d known and grown up with, when all of them but her were purportedly dead, it didn’t sit well with her.