“We have a great doctor on board! I’m getting us in,” one of the young men with the ship’s crew said. “How the hell did he fall?” the man asked, shaking his head. “I mean, it’s... it’s Edward Thompson! The whole cruise is... Man, we warn people! Don’t get so carried away on deck, don’t look over too far... How did someone as smart as him manage to fall?”
How indeed?
Four
Doctor Brendan Kilbride was an impressive man.
The ship’s hospital was equally impressive, offering four private rooms and even an operating room. Most of the major tests done at the hospital could be done right on the ship as could minor or life-saving surgeries.
The doctor had two highly efficient nurses at his side, and standing in the waiting room, Wes—still dripping with an equally wet Chloe at his side—learned that there was always a second doctor on board, as well. His name was Dr. George Lincoln and while he was much younger, just having finished his residency at Tisch Hospital in New York, according to the equally young Billy Cliffton, the doctor had been top of his class all throughout medical school and been offered jobs across the country and beyond.
Normally, of course, they’d have been asked to leave since they were sopping wet, but they were apparently celebrities now that they’d been part of the overboard rescue.
That they were noticed didn’t thrill Wes in the least. They were supposed to blend in with the crowd!
“We saved a life,” Chloe said quietly to him. “And it’s no shock that a man who runs a dive boat might have been a lifeguard at some time in his life. And, Wes! Remember. Our first priority, always, is to save lives!”
He nodded; he knew that he wasn’t pleased with being noted—not that she hadn’t been, as well. Just the dive off the ship was impressive and she had been the one to draw Edward Thompson to the surface.
“I’m okay with this,” she said softly. “You must be, too. We had no other choice.”
But what if the man was the killer they’d been seeking?
They didn’t know that.
And it was more than possible that he’d been helped in his “fall” overboard.
Dr. Kilbride emerged from the room where he’d been examining the patient and giving orders to his nurses.
“We got him out of his wet clothing quickly and he’s receiving warm intravenous fluids,” Kilbride informed. He was studying the two of them. “The man was lucky you knew what you were doing with CPR,” he told Wes.
Wes shrugged. “Who knew that needing a job in college could really pay off for me,” he said. “I’m just grateful—”
“I’m grateful that you’re the one who reached him. Our people have had training, but we’ve never had a passenger go overboard before. I like to believe that he would have been fine, but...”
The doctor was a tall man with mid-length silver hair, dark brown eyes and a serious demeanor. “Young lady, you might well have found him before he floated back to the surface, deprived of oxygen too long. You’re heroes!”
Chloe shook her head. “Just good swimmers, Doctor, and I thought at one time that I might want to head to the Olympics as a diver, so... As my husband said, we’re just grateful that we were able to be useful and that Mr. Thompson is alive!”
“And you two now need to worry about your own health. I would say that showers are in order for you,” he told them.
“Is it possible to speak with Mr. Thompson?” Wes asked.
“He’s out right now. I’d like to let him stay out for a bit, time for his body to warm up completely,” Doctor Kilbride said. “I know he’ll want to speak with you.” He grimaced. “I’ve only one case of seasickness in here now, so I can promise you, I won’t leave him until he is awake and talking and well on the way to full recovery. He’s got a few good scrapes on him, but luckily, he didn’t break any bones. A few days in here under observation and I believe he’ll be able to rejoin the cruise, though I’m going to suggest that he take it easy and enjoy the lounge chairs when I do release him. Return to your cabin. I’ll call as soon as you can see him.”
Wes and Chloe thanked him and left the infirmary. As they passed other passengers, they were applauded and congratulated by many of them, and he tried hard to accept all the words of praise with courtesy and the humility needed to try to remain just a regular someone among them all. Chloe was good at it, saying she had surprised herself, but that she just instinctively followed her husband. She and Wes spent their lives on boats and in the water and when her husband had jumped in... Well, once upon a time she had competed in diving and, surely, they were just lucky to reach the man first; the ship’s crew would have been fine without them.
When they reached the room at last, Wes groaned aloud. He almost threw himself down on the couch, but remembered he was soaking wet.
“You can take the first shower,” Chloe told him.
He shook his head. “You go ahead. I know you’re fast. I’m still mentally kicking myself over what just happened.”
“Well, stop that fight!” she said sternly. “Wes, he wasn’t breathing when I dragged him up! If you hadn’t known what you were doing—”
“The crew is trained.”
“Trained, yes. Not tested in a real emergency. And not that they wouldn’t have been okay, and there definitely could be an emergency they get to be the heroes for one day, but... I’m going to shut up and take my shower so that you can have it!”
