The Sirens Gift

Chapter 17.

As I made my way down the beach, I saw a light swing over the sand and stop on me. I shielded my eyes and grunted as it shined into my face and approaching steps crunched into the sand.

“Adalaie Rutherford?” A heavy voice asked. I nodded.

“Yes…” I stammered.

“Officer Bennett…” He introduced as he brought the flashlight down from my face. Then he clicked the button on his radio. “Bennett to dispatch, I found her…”

“Copy that, sending EMS.”

“Do you know where you were…?” Officer Bennett asked as I sat on the tailgate of the ambulance, a foil blanket wrapped over my shoulders.

“I… Don’t know… I woke up… on the beach…” I lied.

“Ma’am…” The EMT asked as she pulled my arm to me, “Is… is this fishing line?”

I tried to act surprised as I looked down at the cut which had already been neatly sutured by Marci. I looked at it then gave a questioning look to the EMT.

“I… it looks like it…” I responded.

“Okay, we need to take you to the hospital and have your wounds treated properly…”

I nodded and she turned to chart something on a tiny screen in the ambulance.

“Adalaie!” I heard my sister's voice scream as she rounded the end of one of the officers' vehicles that had pulled up with the ambulance.

“Sabrina…” I sighed softly as I climbed off the ambulance and met her with a hug, she squeezed her arms around me. I saw my dad round the corner seconds later, out of breath. He threw his arms around us and squeezed us tightly to his body. Making us both grunt, my dad was well known for his suffocating bear hugs, but even this one seemed tighter than any other I had ever gotten.

“Addy…” He breathed, I felt a tear drip onto my shoulder, and then another. As I pulled away, both of them had tears streaming down their faces.

“Hey… I’m okay…” I started before my sister pulled away and my dad wrapped his arms back around me.

“Where were you!?” I heard Sabrina sob.

“I…” I paused and shook my head as my dad let me go again and placed his hands on my shoulders.

“We’ve been looking everywhere! What happened!?”

“Mr. Rutherford…” I heard Officer Bennett interject. “Let's get Adalaie to the hospital and get her treated before we start asking all those questions…”

My dad nodded. “Sabrina, go with your sister, I’ll go get the diner closed up and be there soon.”

“I’m sure Greg and Miss Jean can close…” Sabrina started.

“I’d rather close myself…” My dad sighed, he always worked too hard… “I promise I will be at the hospital in a few minutes…”

We both nodded and said okay, Sabrina put her arm around my shoulders as we watched my dad hobble off.

“He’s still afraid of ambulances…” I joked.

Sabrina snickered and nodded, “Yup…” we laughed softly before the EMT came back to me and ushered us into the ambulance.

The EMTs took me straight into a private ER room where I was immediately handed a dry gown and told to change. Sabrina helped me get the gown over my arm, as it had begun to ache more after leaving the water. After a few minutes, a nurse came in and took my vitals, did an IV and put a pulse monitor on me.

“Is… that fishing wire?” Sabrina asked as she sat next to my bed in a little chair after the nurse had left. I nodded.

“I’ll… explain it later…” I responded as a knock came on the door and a doctor came in. He smiled and introduced himself to Sabrina and I.

“I’m Dr Shaw…” he said as he pulled a rolling chair from beneath the small desk in the corner of the room. He began a series of tests, checking my pulse, holding a stethoscope to my chest, pressing on my stomach, surveying the fishing line sutures that ran over the almost 4 inch gash on my right arm.

Officer Bennett and another officer knocked gently on my door as Dr. Shaw was charting something on his computer.

“Hey Adalaie…” Officer Bennettt began, “This is Detective Oliver Coramo… he’s going to ask you a few questions if that's okay?”

I nodded as I reached over and grabbed Sabrina's hand. She squeezed her hand around mine.

Detective Coramo sat beside me on the opposite side from my sister with a little notebook. “Do you remember what happened?” He asked. Just then, my dad was led into the room by a nurse. He thanked her and Officer Bennett introduced Detective Coramo again. Dr. Shaw motioned my dad out of the room to go over his findings. They stepped out into the hall and the detective turned back to me again, waiting for me to proceed.

I shrugged slightly, “I only remember…” I paused for a moment as if in thought, “I was… leaving our apartment in the alleyway and was grabbed…”

“Do you know who grabbed you?” he asked. “Did you get a look at his face?”

I nodded, “His name is Otis… Otis O’neil…” I began, “He took me out into the ocean and threw me in the water… He cut my arm and threw me in with sharks… after that I blacked out and woke up on the beach…”

“Do you know why Otis would target you?”

I shook my head.

“Did he… sexually assault you?”

I shook my head again. “I don’t think so…” Detective Coramo nodded and scribbled some stuff into his notebook.

He went through more questions, scribbling my answers into his little notebook and nodding as I tried to remember the details I could about Otis without divulging any information about Caspian or how I came to be back on the beach late in the evening. After he seemingly had enough information, he thanked me for my time and stood. He and Officer Bennett both bid me goodnight and stepped into the hall to discuss with my dad. I heard muffled discussion with the occasional clear word before my dad thanked them and came back into the room.

My dad's eyes had large, dark bags, he still had on his work pants and his apron covered in food mess. He took a seat and sighed. I heard his bones c***k but he smiled at me. “You okay kiddo?” he asked.

“Yeah dad. I’m okay.”

“Doc said he’d be back in a few to go over some stuff with us.”

Just then the doctor knocked again.

“Alright Miss Rutherford…” he began as he sat and pulled a paper over his clipboard and adjusted his glasses on his nose. “So… I’m going to have my nurse come in and help me remove the fishing line, get that cut cleaned up and properly sutured. You have a few minor cuts, I will have her get those cleaned up and butterfly sutured. There is some fluid in your lungs so I'm going to start you on some steroids to clear that up… the detective would like me to see if you will consent to a r**e kit just in case…” he paused.

I nodded, “Yeah… that's fine…”

“Alright, we will get all this done and as long as you feel good we can discharge you first thing in the morning, but we would like to keep you at least overnight for observation...”

“Sounds good.” I responded. We thanked him as he left to fetch his nurse.

Sabrina and I begged dad to go home and get some rest. He refused for a while before finally caving, kissing my forehead and then Sabrinas.

“I love you girls.”

“Love you too dad.” We said together.

“I’ll be back right away in the morning… Sabrina, call me if anything comes up.” He pointed at my sister and she nodded.

“Don’t worry dad.” she said in response.

“Yeah! Go get some sleep.” I added.

“So… what actually happened…?” Sabrina asked as the final nurse finished administering meds and checking my IV.

“You… aren't going to believe me…”

And, unsurprisingly, she really didn’t, but I explained it all. From Otis grabbing me in the alleyway, to him sending me to the sharks as mer-bait, all the way to the Caspian saving me and bringing me back to the reef and his sister stitching me with fishing wire. I explained to her the Oceans Gift and how I could breathe, see, and talk under water like them now. Then I explained to her how he brought me back to the bay so I could go home…

“You’re…” she paused and pinched the bridge of her nose as her forehead wrinkled with frustration. “This…” she groaned, “This ludicrous fantasy has to stop Addy…” she finally said.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me…” I muttered as I hung my head. I stared at the now stitched slice on my arm which had been completely numbed.

“How can I!?” She hissed in a hushed voice, “do you realize how f*****g ridiculous this sounds!?”

“I do… I just…”

“This talk about mermaids and underwater civilizations got you kidn*pped and thrown to sharks!?” She shook her head, “all because you have this wild imagination and wanderlust about the ocean!?” She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “It’s not worth it Adalaie! It’s not worth getting murdered over!”

“Sabrina… I know what I saw… I know what I experienced.” I fumed, “You asked for what really happened and I told you! You can either believe me or not, but…”

“How am I supposed to believe you? There’s no such thing as mermaids!”

“Then explain the fishing line!” I argued back, “Explain how I came back from the ocean after being thrown to sharks!”

“I don’t know Addy! But this s**t about fake mermaids and fairy tail creatures needs to stop! It almost got you killed!”

“Caspian isn’t fake…” I breathed, “he saved my life… just like I saved his…”

“Go to sleep Addy…” Sabrina finally said, shaking her head. “We can go over it in the morning…” she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest as she scowled.

I rolled my eyes as I pressed the button to flatten my bed and rolled over facing away from her. I sniffled as tears came to my eyes.

I heard her sniffle too. After a while of us both sniffling softly, trying to fight back tears that we both had, I relented.

“I love you Sabrina…” I said softly.

She sighed “I love you too Addy…I’m sorry I was mean… I was just scared…”

“I forgive you…” I rolled back over and smiled at her, reaching for her hand. She responded by squeezing her hand over mine with a weak smile.

“Get some rest.” She ordered and I nodded.

I fell asleep almost as soon as my eyes closed.