In his dreams, he was swimming in deep water again, searching for Arya. He didn’t see his daughter this time, but he could still hear her crying out for him. Her wail was like a siren’s song, beckoning him to follow her into the black depths below. His chest burned, his heart beating erratically between his breathless lungs, but he descended further, determined to find her this time or die trying. But before he could do either, he was blasted out of the water with the force of a bomb.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back in the bottom of a rowboat, which was bobbing up and down in the rough waves. Looking up, he recognized Rob and Dani looming over him. They each held an oar in their hands, but neither one was rowing. Nick could never have predicted what happened next.
Without warning, Rob raised his oar high over his head and brought it hammering down onto Nick’s body, hitting him so hard in the chest it knocked the wind right out of him. Nick barely had time to react before he took a second blow right to the sternum, this one delivered by Dani’s oar. Gasping for breath, he gaped up at her in disbelief, his vision blurred by tears and pain. Unable to get up or to take cover, he could only lie there and try to brace himself against the blows that continued to rain down on him, as Rob and Dani took turns battering him with the wooden paddles. He heard a horrific crunching sound that could have been one of the oars or his own ribs splintering; he was in too much pain to tell. This was followed by even more crushing pain and pressure, as he felt both of his lungs collapse. The rowboat began to rock harder as Nick rolled back and forth in panic and agony, fighting for each breath. He was on the verge of blacking out when the boat suddenly capsized, spilling him back into the water.
As he plunged beneath the surface, he heard voices coming from somewhere above him. They had a distant sound, distorted by the waves, but his ears could decipher bits and pieces of what they were saying.
“...so you can flirt with him…” Nick recognized Rob’s voice, but it sounded spiteful and angry, a far cry from his usual friendly tone.
“...I don’t! I love you!” Dani’s voice drifted back, high-pitched and hysterical.
“...carrying his kid…” Rob continued. “...obviously developed feelings for him, too…” Nick couldn’t hear the whole rant, but it was enough to comprehend the fact that they were fighting about him. “...so you two can ride off into the sunset together once he’s recovered…”
Their voices faded as Nick sank further into the sea of unconsciousness. By the next time he resurfaced, he had forgotten all about them.
Even before he opened his eyes, he knew he was back in his hospital bed, where he had been the entire time. He could hear his heart monitor beeping and smell the distinct scents of disinfectant and plastic tubing. When his eyelids finally fluttered open, the fluorescent lighting filtered through his pupils, forcing him to squint. As his eyes adjusted, Dani’s face came slowly into focus.
“Hi, Nick,” she said softly. “Can you squeeze my hand?”
Nick felt like he was floating through a thick fog. It took him a few seconds to process her request, but as he became aware of the rest of his body, he realized her warm hand was holding his. He wrapped his fingers around hers, clenching them briefly before he relaxed his hand again.
Dani smiled down at him. “That’s it. You’re doing great.”
His head was gradually clearing, the foggy feeling dissipating as he descended from the clouds. He had a heaviness in his chest that made it hard to breathe, in spite of the oxygen cannula in his nose.
“How are you feeling?” Dani asked, sitting down on the side of his bed.
He groaned. “Like a steamroller ran over my chest.” As the dull ache intensified, he finally understood what had happened. “Did I get shocked again?”
She nodded grimly. “You were down for almost twenty minutes before we got your heart beating this time. Your electrolytes were all out of whack from the combination of medications we’ve been giving you, which made it even worse, but everything’s back to normal now. We’ve just been waiting for you to wake up to make sure you didn’t sustain any brain damage.”
He frowned, closing his eyes while he tried to collect his muddled thoughts. “How long was I out?”
“Over thirty-six hours.” Dani took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s been a rough couple of days.”
Opening his eyes again, Nick took a closer look at her and realized how red and puffy her eyes were. Clearly, she had been crying. Because of me? he wondered. Or because of something else?
Quickly, he turned his head toward Brian’s bed, worried something had happened to his friend while he was unconscious. But Brian looked exactly the same as he had the whole time he’d been there, lying flat on his back with his neck in its brace, his chest rising and falling steadily as the ventilator breathed for him. “Is Brian okay?” Nick asked anyway, wanting some reassurance.
Dani nodded. “He still hasn’t come out of his coma, but he’s stable for now.”
“How about you? Are you okay?”
She smiled and shook her head, sniffling. “Why, do I look that bad?”
“You could never look bad,” he said, smiling back sympathetically. “I can just tell you’ve been crying.”
She took another shuddering breath. “Like I said… the last two days have just been really bad. First we almost lost you… then Rob and I had a fight.” She locked eyes with Nick. “He knows about us - and about the baby.”
Nick’s stomach lurched. “How did he find out?”
“He confronted me… accused me of flirting with you and having feelings for you. I had to come clean about what happened on Halloween.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s probably for the best. I wouldn’t have been able to hide the pregnancy from him for much longer anyway.”
“How did he react to that?” Nick asked, licking his lips nervously.
“Not well.” When she opened her eyes again, they were full of fresh tears. “He left first thing this morning.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “Where’d he go?” he wondered, remembering that their home had been destroyed by the hurricane.
“Who knows? He could have made it to the mainland by now.”
Nick frowned. “But I thought you said there was no way off the island.”
“Not by road, but Rob has a boat,” she replied, sniffling, as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks. “He and his buddies go scuba diving whenever they get the chance.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nick offered, not sure what else to say.
Dani nodded, wiping her eyes with a tearful smile. “Me too. But mostly I’m just glad you’re okay,” she said, giving his hand another squeeze. “That’s all that matters now.”
He swallowed hard, suddenly hyper-aware of his heart throbbing inside his chest. “Thanks for saving me yet again.”
“You’re welcome. I was worried we weren’t going to get you back this time.” She shook her head, her eyes welling with even more tears. “You had me so scared.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
Dani flashed him another watery smile. “It’s not your fault.” Taking his face between her hands, she leaned over and touched her lips to his forehead. “You just focus on getting better.”
The feather-light kiss left his skin tingling, distracting him from the horrible ache in his chest. “I feel better already,” he said, forcing a smile back at her. He wanted to return the favor, so he reached up and tenderly brushed her tears away with his thumb.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Without taking her eyes off his, she placed her hand over his and pressed his palm flat against the side of her face. He caressed her cheek, his fingertips tracing over the path of tearstains on her soft skin. Cupping her chin in the heel of his hand, he couldn’t help but appreciate her beauty - for even with her eyes bloodshot and her face blotchy, she was still quite pretty.
As he gazed into her glistening brown eyes, he thought about how she had selflessly taken care of him over the past two weeks, putting herself in harm’s way to stay at the hospital and see him through the hurricane. It was his turn to comfort her. “C’mere,” he said, patting his chest, as he scooted over to make more room for her on the mattress. He extended his arm in an invitation to join him.
She hesitated only a second before she lowered the bed rail and lay down beside him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder so as not to hurt him. “I guess I’ve already broken protocol by kissing you,” she said, snuggling into the crook of his arm as he curved it around her petite body. She fit perfectly there.
“Who cares about protocol at this point?” he replied, running his hand over her back and up into her hair.
“So you wouldn’t care if I were to kiss you again?” she asked, her voice taking on a playful, flirty tone.
He smirked, pushing thoughts of Lauren out of his mind as he lowered his chin to his chest and looked down at Dani’s upturned face. “No… I wouldn’t care.”
Propping herself up with her elbow, she tilted her head until it was at the right angle for her to reach him. Leaning in, she brushed her lips over his, lightly at first, then more firmly, sucking his bottom lip between her teeth. He tasted a hint of mint toothpaste on her tongue as he slipped it tentatively into her mouth. It had been many years since he’d kissed anyone but Lauren like this. He had almost forgotten how fun it could be and how good it could feel.
His heart beat faster as Dani deepened the kiss. In the background, he could hear the blipping of his monitor becoming more frenetic to match the rhythm of his racing pulse. “You’re not gonna make my heart start freaking out again, are you?” he murmured against her lips, slightly unnerved by the sound, but not enough to break the kiss completely.
As she caressed his face, tracing his jawline with her fingertips, she felt the side of his neck, where his pulse was pounding. “Don’t worry,” she whispered back after a few seconds. “What you’re feeling is a normal, healthy reaction to being turned on by a woman.” Her lips brushed against his again. “My heart’s pumping pretty hard too right now.” She took his hand and pressed his palm to her chest. “Can you feel it?”
Nick nodded. Through the crisp fabric of her scrub top, he could indeed feel her heart fluttering wildly beneath her left breast like a large butterfly beating its wings against her rib cage. He couldn’t resist wrapping his hand around her breast, kneading it with his fingers as he went back to kissing her. “You know, I was never really into the whole ‘naughty nurse’ fantasy until now,” he admitted when he resurfaced for air.
“This is no fantasy,” she replied, as she nuzzled against him. “This is for real. Rob was right: I do have feelings for you.”
Nick didn’t reply at first. He swallowed hard, a wave of guilt washing over him as he realized he felt something for her, too. How would his wife react when she found out what he had done?
“I like you, too, Dani,” he said, letting go of her breast. “I really do. But I also love Lauren.”
“Yeah, but does she still love you?” Dani asked, abruptly sitting back up. “Don’t forget, she could have flown down here before the hurricane hit, when she first found out you were in the hospital. She didn’t. You almost died, and she still didn’t care enough to come and see you.”
Nick winced as her words stung him. “It’s complicated,” he said with a heavy sigh.
Dani shook her head. “Don’t make excuses for her,” she snapped. “I don’t care how far away she is or how upset with you she may have been. That doesn’t change the fact that she broke the vows she made when she married you. ‘In sickness and in health’ - ring a bell? She should have been here. If it were Rob, I’d have hopped on the first plane as soon as I hung up the phone - and even now, I’m sure he would do the same for me if I was sick or hurt. If you really love someone, you’d go to the ends of the earth to make sure they’re all right.”
Nick didn’t say anything, but he had to admit, she had a point. It hurt that Lauren hadn’t dropped everything to rush to his bedside, but did he blame her? He had left her, then betrayed her. He had broken his vows, too. He was no better than Lauren. In fact, what he’d done was a lot worse.
“I hope you can see how much I care about you, Nick,” Dani continued. “I could have evacuated before the hurricane hit, but I stayed here for you. I could have lied about the baby; I could have gotten rid of it before anyone found out, but instead I ruined my marriage for you.”
A lump rose in Nick’s throat as he remembered the baby in her belly. His baby. “I hope you don’t blame me for that,” he muttered. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me… but I never asked you to do any of it.”
“I’m not blaming you for anything!” Dani replied quickly. “They were my decisions, all of them. But I made them because of you. Because you’re the only thing that matters to me now - you and our baby.”
She took his hand and brought it to her belly, pushing up the hem of her top so he could touch her bare skin. She placed her own hand on top of his and pressed it firmly against her flat stomach. Though it was far too early to feel anything moving within her womb, Nick did feel something stir inside himself. His heartbeat slowed as his guilt gradually dissipated, and a calming sense of peace came over him.
Despite his conflicted feelings for Dani, Nick already knew without a doubt that he would do anything for the son or daughter developing inside her. He would go to the ends of the earth, to the bottom of the ocean, or straight to Hell and back if he had to. He would die, if it came down to it. But he desperately hoped he would live instead.
***
