“I swear.” She crossed her heart.
I held onto the cast-iron railing, glancing at four fish swimming together, side-by-side. “Out there, I thought about life and death. About what would happen if I’d lost you guys?” I blinked away a tear.
“Honey, don’t cry. Your life would go on without us.”
“No, it won’t, and I don’t think it would for you either.”
Vive froze. Her entire body tensed. She knew what I meant.
I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t. So I provoked her and reminded, “After watching you unbuckle your seatbelt, I’m not sure you believe what’s coming out of your own mouth, because I sure as heck don’t. You wanted to die up there, Vive.”
“I did not!” Vive seethed through her teeth.
“Do not insult our friendship and lie to me. So help me, I’ll throw you over this railing into the moat.”
I would too.
“Taddy…” The whites of her eyes doubled.
“Tell me what was going through your pretty, bleach-blond-head when you unbuckled.”
“No!”
“You handed Hedda off to Lex. That dog would die without you in her life. And you just tossed Hedda away like your friends would take care of her.” Without thinking, the words flew out of me. I felt sick after I spoke. I didn’t want to hear her answer. But I had to know.
“I’ve already apologized to Lex and Blake, who finally agreed to drop it. I’ll apologize to you too. I’m sorry for wanting to die up there. Now…let it go.”
I grabbed her tight, my face pressed up against hers. “You promised us you’d never do that again.”
A span of our lives together had been spent in darkness. Once before, Vive had tried to kill herself. We’d been in juvie. Somehow she’d gotten her hands on a knife from the cafeteria. After we’d gone to bed, she’d slashed her wrists.
Her eyes had changed colors again from white to red. “Don’t remind me. Last night none of us slept between worrying about you, and Lex and Blake going off on me about that non-stop.” Rubbing her forearm against her nose, she fought back a sob.
Pulling her close, I hugged her. “I’m…sorry.”
With her breath in my ear, she muttered, “We had a moment on board where everything started to shake. All I thought about was Sanderloo and the night he died. I wanted to punish myself.”
Hearing Vive’s reasons made my own problems with Leon feel embarrassingly small. “We’ve gone over this a million times. If the state of Connecticut can clear us of all charges, than so can we. We gotta forgive ourselves.”
“Taddy, I’m allowed to stumble. Maybe…I’ll never be one hundred percent. And if that’s the case, than I’ve made peace with that, which in my own way is me forgiving myself.”
“We’ve got too much to live for now. There’s college, our future.”
“I swear on Hedda, I won’t ever try again.” She cupped her hands with mine. “I’m looking forward to school. If you want the money, girlie, it’s yours. We’ll catch the boat in two days.”
We walked into the castle.
“Look honey, that’s the pretty lady that got sucked out of the plane,” a passenger said.
“Thank heavens you’re alive,” someone else exclaimed.
The building was impressive and dramatic, like nothing I’d ever seen before. I’d set foot in another world. You know, that look that some amusement parks have, where everything is pristine and picture perfect, so much so it appears fake, almost tacky.
Not here at Eden.
Idyllic yet real, this place felt good. There seemed to be something intangible in the air causing everyone to smile, especially me.
I introduced myself to the Eden staff. They called their doctor and wanted me to get an exam to make sure I didn’t have a concussion or anything from the crash. After all, I had been sucked out of an airplane and plopped into the middle of sea.
Two hours later, the Eden doctor told me that aside from my scrapes and bruises, everything seemed fine.
I ate two servings of Eggs Benedict in Lex’s room with her and Vive. Hedda sat on my lap which, oddly enough, gave me a huge feeling of calmness. We drank a pitcher of mimosas and talked about our college days ahead.
Did I tell them about Leon?
Hells no! I couldn’t. Shame? Perhaps. I didn’t want to hear it from them. They’d think I was a freak of nature, finding these two guys hot and all. I mean really.
When I went into Blake’s room, he was sound asleep. Vive had mentioned that the pain medication the Eden nurse had given made him drowsy. And that he’d been up most of the night hollering at her just as I had just done.
A tea pot steeped in our room. The Master had sent it up with lemon wedges to help my nerves. He’d had some sundresses in various bright colors and sandals in size large, placed in my closet. I ran a bath, filling the basin with a creamy paste the Master had promised would alleviate the abrasions on my skin.
While I waited for the bathwater to get to a temperature I liked, I sat on the edge of Blake’s bed and drank the tea.
His hands were the only part of him that wasn’t blistered from the fire. I could tell that his scars were going to be bad.
“Taddy…” he muttered. His piercing gray eyes opened.
“Hey, babe.” I leaned down and planted a peck on his lips.
“Did a spaceship drop your hot ass off here? One of those Pod People took over your body, didn’t they?” He joked and tried to sit up.
“I wish,” I said, taking him against my bosom. Then I fixed his pillows on his bed and we talked for a while about the accident.
“Maybe you should skip college, you know, enter the Olympics for swimming.” Blake swiped the mug out of my hand and took a sip.
“Leon could. He’s a great swimmer,” I said, feeling my lips curve into a grin when saying his name.
“I’m sure he is, boo.” Blake’s manicured eyebrows arched.
“Did you know he and Fabian were together?”
“Nope. Not until last night when Fabian had a breakdown. He was convinced you two were goners.”
“Vive mentioned it.”
“You were right about Fabian. But I never saw that Leon thing coming,” he pouted. “I’ve put a call in to Mother Nature and asked her to repair my gaydar. Apparently it’s broken.”