I draw in a breath. I didn’t think it was possible to feel sorry for Gigi, but I do. “Do you think it’s true?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. Plus, it explains why she’s so desperate to finish this trip.”
I think back to the tears in Gigi’s eyes when the captain said we might have to reroute. And her painkillers disguised as seasickness pills.
“That’s awful about her husband.” I think of Matt, then his young girlfriend, before pushing them both from my mind. The boat tilts, and my stomach churns. “I don’t know how I’m going to sleep through this,” I say, although it’s not the storm that has my mind spinning.
I feel Beth sit up, then hear her rustling through her bag.
“Take a Dramamine,” she says.
“I’m not that nauseated. I’m more ... scared.”
“The captain said he’ll turn back if it gets any worse. He’s been sailing for over thirty years. I think we can trust his competence.”
It’s not just the storm that I’m scared of. “You’re probably right,” I say, hoping to convince myself.
“I’m always right.”
I sense Beth’s smile even though I can’t see her. “Here.” She nudges my arm with her hand. “Take one anyway. It will help you sleep.”
I take the bottle from her and sit up. Beth flicks on the ceiling light as I reach for my water bottle beside the bed.
“Thanks,” I say after swallowing a pill.
“No problem.”
She kills the light, and we lie in silence on our rolling bed until Beth’s breathing morphs into soft snores. My thoughts drift back to Gigi. Her seemingly perfect life is just as messed up as mine.
I recall the five of us, setting out on that hike twenty years ago, not knowing we’d come back as four and how it would eat at us forever.
Beneath us, the hull groans. My mind reels with the idea of Courtney on board, back for revenge over what I did to her. A shudder runs down my spine.
When I finally succumb to sleep, I dream of Courtney.
“Palmer, wake up. I think something’s wrong.”
I open my eyes to Beth shaking me in the dark. Rain pelts against the foredeck above our bed. My head feels fuzzy from the Dramamine I took before falling asleep, and I wipe drool from the side of my mouth.
“Where’s Nojan? Have you seen him?” Adam’s panicked tone sounds right outside our stateroom door.
“No, we were sleeping.” I recognize Emma’s gravelly voice. “Why? What’s going—”
A fist raps against our door. “Palmer? Beth?” Adam shouts. “Have you seen the captain?”
Beth sits up. I hear her flick the ceiling light on, but we remain in darkness.
Rap, rap, rap.
“Hey, Palmer. Beth,” Adam calls.
Beth slides out of bed as I sit up, suddenly wide awake. She opens the door. Adam’s flashlight shines on her, illuminating her bed head of dark waves. The rest of the boat is dark.
“Have you seen the captain?” His tone is curt. Panicked.
It sends a ripple of fear down my spine.
“No,” Beth says. “We were asleep.”
