DAY 19 HONOLULU
‘It’s over to you two now,’ the young nurse said as she helped Peter from the wheelchair into the taxi. They had been the first to disembark, perhaps because of the wheelchair, or perhaps to avoid the curious attention of other passengers. Peter’s suicide attempt was the news of the day around the ship. What a world of secrets this vessel holds, Geraldine thought. So many secrets among these thousands of people, secrets plucked out into the air and casual conversation, thrown over the balcony into the sea, or retained to burn and fester, like a tick burrowing into flesh. Are any secrets ever forgotten? she wondered.
Their own secret was between them now, like a strange child they didn’t know how to care for. Get him to the hotel first, she thought, so he can rest. She ans
