Children of the Sea 02 - Sea Fever

business putting her at risk.”
     
    “Remember that,” Dylan said, “when you go home to your wife tonight.”
     
    120
     

Ten
     
    “I WANT TO GO HOME,” REGINA CROAKED.
     
    Warmth seeped from the hot water bottles packed along her sides; dripped from the IV attached to her arm. She was still cold all over.
    Except for her throat. Her throat burned. She wanted desperately to feel normal again. For everything to be normal.
     
    “Don’t be stupid,” Antonia snapped. Her mother’s way of expressing concern.
     
    Nick’s hand tightened on Regina’s through the blankets. He’d stuck his arm through the metal bars on the other side of the clinic bed, holding on to her bandaged hand as if he never wanted to let go. Regina knew how he felt. She wiggled her fingers, tickling his palm, until his tight, pinched face relaxed.
     
    Donna Tomah folded the blanket back over Regina’s feet. “Actually, I can discharge her in a couple of hours. As long as she gets lots of rest and plenty of warm fluids, there’s no reason we can’t all go home tonight.”
     
    “I can make tea,” Nick volunteered.
     
    Regina smiled at him, so full of love she thought she might burst with it.
     
    “You’re spending the night at the Trujillos’,” his grandmother said.
     
    Regina’s heart dropped.
     
    So did Nicky’s expression. He tightened his grip on her hand.
     
    “Not tonight,” Regina said.
     
    Last night Nick had woken up in front of the TV to find her gone.
    Tonight he needed to sleep secure in his own bed with his mother safe in the next room.
     
    121
    “I already talked to Brenda Trujillo,” Antonia said. “It’s all arranged.
    She’s giving the boys dinner.”
     
    “Dinner, fine,” Regina said. “But Nick needs to be home tonight.”
     
    They needed to be home. Together.
     
    Her eyes clashed with her mother’s.
     
    “Fine,” Antonia said. “I guess I can stay with him until you get out of here.”
     
    The tension eased from Nick’s bony shoulders.
     
    “Thanks, Ma.”
     
    Antonia’s mouth trembled. She bent it into a scowl. Her face resembled a wooden mask, the lines carved deep, the eyes dark and devastated. “I was going to spend the night at the restaurant cleaning anyway.”
     
    This had been an ordeal for her, too, Regina realized. And she was trying, the best way she knew how, to restore her restaurant and their lives, to make things right again.
     
    Sudden tears pricked Regina’s eyes. She widened her gaze, staring up at the stained acoustic tile. She didn’t want Nick to see her cry.
     
    Antonia reached through the bars on the other side to pat her hand.
    “Don’t you worry. They arrested that guy. Jericho.”
     
    “Where . . .” Regina’s throat hurt too much to continue.
     
    Antonia understood. “The hospital in Rockport. Caleb’s out front, waiting to take your statement.”
     
    Regina swallowed painfully. Caleb. Of course. He was the chief of police. She thought she’d dreamed . . . She must have imagined . . .
     
    “You don’t have to see him now,” Donna Tomah said. “You don’t have to see either of them until you’re ready.”
     
    Either of them?
     
    122
     
    Regina’s heart began to pound. “Dylan?” she croaked.
     
    Donna glanced from the monitor to her face. “Mm. He hasn’t budged from the waiting room since he brought you in.”
     
    Regina opened her mouth. No sound came out.
     
    “He rescued you,” Nick said.
     
    Dylan’s voice, deep in the dark. “It’s all right.” The water surging, swishing, bubbling around her, and her fingers flexing, cramping. “You need to hold on to me,” he’d said. “Hold on.”
     
    Yeah, and then he’d turned into a giant seal.
     
    Regina closed her eyes, cold and hot at once.
     
    “Are you all right?” Donna asked.
     
    He’d said that, too. Or had she imagined it, the way she’d imagined everything else?
     
    Regina moistened her lips. Her hand crept under the blanket to her stomach. “Fine,” she said hoarsely.
     
    She was fine. Everything was fine, as long as she ignored the persistent ache in her throat, the pain of returningfeeling in her toes, the panic fluttering at the edges of her mind.
     
    Antonia left to take Nicky to the Trujillos’ for dinner, promising to pick him up later and put him to bed. Rare hugs and more reassurances.
    “I’m fine. I love you. I’ll be home soon.”
     
    Regina lay back, exhausted. With one hand she stroked the change of clothes her