Beyond the Palms Read online

  He cranked the handle to loosen the hatch. When it opened, algae, sand, dirt, small fish, and water flowed through the opening that has been stuck in the pipe when the tide fell further back. It knocked Alex off the ladder and into John and Eleanor, sending them tumbling backward in a messy heap. Eleanor sat up on the wet floor and held her head. John caught his breath that had been knocked out of his lungs and then turned to make sure she was ok. Thea rushed to Alex’s aid and helped him to his feet.

  “Can ANYTHING go easy here?” Jack said, helping his parents to their feet. He grabbed at his head that had started bleeding back by the incinerator. He didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to slow them down, worrying about him. The warmth that coated his hand now said that it was gushing a lot more than in the other room. He could make it up that pipe, and then he would let them worry. John climbed the ladder and saw small built-in steps that sunk into the sides of the pipe.

  “We’re in luck; we have steps,” John said to the group, jumping back down. He extended a hand to Eleanor and helped her up the ladder.

  “Watch your step hun,” he said to her. She grumbled at him in response, cursing her way up the pipe.

  Next was Jack. He wiped his hands off the best he could on his pants before grabbing the bars and starting his climb. Thea followed behind him, then Alex and lastly John. About halfway up the pipe, Thea felt something drip on to her forehead. She brushed it off, assuming it was water. Jack climbed slower and slower. The drips got heavier and heavier on the top of her head. She looked up the tunnel towards to light to see what it was. Something came off his head and dripped on to her cheek. She stopped climbing and wiped it off her face, only to see the crimson color of blood.

  “Jack, are you bleeding?”

  “What do you think Thea, I was hit in the head.”

  “You said it stopped, though. Jack, that is a lot of blood that’s dripping.”

  “It started again in the back by the stairs. Can we talk about this when we’re out of here?”

  “What!” Eleanor stopped climbing and looked down, “How could you not say something?”

  “Mom, just keep climbing, please. I don’t feel so great.” He asked he sounded weak.

  He reached up to grip the next foothold, he pulled himself up, but his foot slipped and hit Thea in the face. Her hand slipped off the inlet that supported her weight, and she fell back into the side of the tube. Alex reached up with a hand and tried to push her up so she could regroup. She cleared her head, pretty sure that her brother just knocked her out for a moment.

  “What the hell, Jack!” She said, reaching up to re-grip her handhold. Alex growled as he tried to muscle her up with one hand.

  “I can’t; I am going to pass out,” Jack said, he felt his body swaying, his head spun, and the tunnel distorted in his vision.

  Eleanor worked to remove the grate on the top of the tunnel.

  “The grate won’t open.” She yelled down.

  “Everyone breathe, Jack just hang on a little longer you’re almost there. You can’t let go. Eleanor just has to get that open. Come on, babe, think!”

  She looked to make sure it was unhooked and slammed her shoulder into it. It wiggled in response. She did it again until it was partially out of the metal opening and she could push it off to the side. Once it was open, she pulled herself out and steadied herself to pull Jack out. Thea felt her nose running and was certain that it was blood. She wiped it on her sleeve and waited for Jack to move. He griped the next handhold and tried to pull himself up, but he couldn’t.

  “I’m sorry I can’t.”

  “No, Jack, you’re getting out of this damn tube,” Thea said through the pain of her face. She reached up and tried to push him up as much as she could. He reached up to grab his mother’s hand that was outstretched for him. The two of them managed to inch him closer and closer to the top of the tube. Eleanor grabbed under his arms and pulled him free of the tube and laid him on the sand. Then moved to help Thea out before returning to her son to look him over.

  Once Alex was free, he rushed to Jack as Thea helped her father out. He lifted his head to see the steady trickle of blood that ran from the back of it.

  “I need something to use to put pressure on the wound,” Alex said out loud while examining the boy.

  John removed his shirt, balling it up and handing it to him. Alex removed the dress belt from his pants and tightened the shirt around Jack’s head.

  “We have to get to Jane; she had my medical bag. I’ll be able to help him when we get to her properly.” He said, trying to reassure himself more than the family of the boy he now was responsible for.

  “Ok, then lead the way,” John said.

  He reached down to pull Jack up from the sand and across his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. His muscles bulged, and his veins showed through his thick skin. Blood escaped from the head dressing they made and ran down John’s shoulder, and he trudged through the sand after Alex and the rest of his family.

  They hurried towards the shack that Thea had talked to James in while trying to get food for her family. It was not that long ago, but it felt like a year had passed between then and now. Jane sat against the side of the shack next to luggage bags. The leather medical bag that Alex had brought to their room was slung around her body. When she saw them, she took off running towards them.

  “What happened! Jack! Is he ok?” She yelled from shouting distance.

  He laid Jack down on the sand, removing the temporary dressing from his head and laying the shirt out on the sand to try and keep sand from getting into the wound. He pulled out a bottle of liquid and sprayed a stream of the transparent substance into the wound to clean it out. Everyone gathered around him and closed in on his space.

  “I don’t want to be rude, but I can’t work when I can’t move. So, MOVE!” Alex yelled at them.

  Everyone took a step back to give him space.

  “Jane, you wouldn’t happen to have clothes, would you?” Eleanor asked

  “Not a lot, but I do have your wallets and purses. The shack has shirts for sale. We can at least do that.” She replied.

  Eleanor walked with her to where the pile of bags was, on a mission to make herself useful.

  “I’m going to call us a taxi,” Thea announced, taking Alex’s phone and making a phone call.

  John assisted Alex in whatever way necessary.

  “Are you and Jack the same blood type? Or is Thea or Eleanor? He has lost a lot of blood.” Alex asked him.

  “I am.” He extended his arm to him.

  Alex rustled through his bag to find phlebotomy set up. A minute later, John was set up and actively filling up bags of blood for Jack, and Alex had started working on Jack’s head again. He managed close the bleeder and verified that the exposed area of his skull was not cracked or broken.

  “The good news is that he is going to be fine. He has a concussion and will probably have some vision problems and headaches. The big thing to worry about is brain swelling. It doesn’t appear to be a concern right now. The blood was coming from a pretty deep flesh wound on the back of his head, but it didn’t damage his skull. It just nicked a vein that must have clotted earlier and broken back open from all of the events and moving. It’s closed now, and he shouldn’t lose any more blood. I am going to stitch this up quickly, and then we could give him the blood you’re donating in the taxi that should be here any minute if Thea reached someone. Head wounds bleed like crazy and tend to look way worse than they are. I am a little nervous about him being on a plane, but I’ll be there, so if anything happens, we can handle it accordingly.”

  John nodded, feeling dizzy himself from the blood loss. Alex finished stitching, and unhooked the makeshift contraption from his arm and placed the bags John filled into his medical bag. Thea, Eleanor, and Jane were loading the bags into the Taxi as Alex carried Jack over, and John weaved in the sand. Eleanor threw John a shirt to put on, and all of them piled into the van. Once seated, Alex hooked up
the IV for Jack and hung the makeshift blood bag up with a carabiner on the handle above the door opening.

  Eleanor ran her nails through Jack’s hair, pushing back from the front of his face. A single tear trickled down her cheek, but she tried to remain strong.

  22

  Departure

  By the time they had made it to the airport, Jack had already woken up. He was groggy but managed to pull himself together long enough to clean himself up in the bathroom and change into clothes that his family had gathered for him from a local souvenir shop.

  He stripped his clothes off and threw them into the garbage bin in the public bathroom and slide on the light blue shorts. He grabbed handfuls of paper towels and attempted to clean the majority of the blood and grime from his body. The faucet noise filled his ears; he stuck his head under the steady stream of water that ran red down the drain—rinsing the fear, the pain, and all memories of what he endured down with it. He tried his best to use paper towels to soak up some of the water from his dripping hair, but it only left small pieces of the cardboard tissue behind in the sopping wet reddish-brown strands. He had given up. Instead, he moved to the wall-mounted hairdryer and let the warm air blow the water-free. Once he was satisfied, he slowly stood back up, trying to refrain from the head rush that was imminent. He buttoned up the shirt he was given and admired the tropical designs that embellished them.

  “Of course, my mother would take advantage of me at a time of need. I would commit social suicide if my friends saw me in this. Not like I have much of choice in it anyhow.” He said to himself.

  He ran his hands through his unmanageable fluffy hair and tried to tame it as much as he could before settling with his appearance and returning to his family. Once he walked out into the busy airport hallway, the group composed of his family, Jane, and Alex waited patiently for him.

  “How are you holding up?” John asked him.

  “I think I’ll be ok,” Jack said back to him, trying to convince himself more than his father.

  “Hey kid, let me know if you want something more for your headache, ok? I have some things in my medical bag that I can give you if you need it. I’m here to help and don’t be afraid to ask for it. You’ve been through a lot.”

  Alex paused to look at everyone in the group.

  “You all have.” Alex continued.

  “Here are your boarding passes, we’re in terminal 4. We don’t have a whole lot of time to relax because our flight leaves in 40 minutes. I’m sure you guys must be starving, let’s get some food now that everyone is cleaned up and head that way.”

  Jane reached over and linked her arm in with Jack’s. He was unsure if it was a sign of affection or if she genuinely was worried about his balance. Either way, he was pleased.

  He looked around at his family; his brain throbbed against his skull, his vision slightly off-kilter from the head injury. His father didn’t seem phased; his mother seemed to power through it like she did everything. Her unease was evident, but she was handling the situation well. His father slung his arm around her shoulder as they walked side by side.

  Thea lagged behind them, struggling to keep up. She tried to hide the amount that she was shaking; one arm crossed in front of her chest, grasping her other. Although she had washed the running make up off her face, she still looked like she had been through hell. He guessed psychologically she had.

  Alex walked in the lead of everyone, weaving his way through the crowded walkway to the terminal.

  Jack noticed how sure he was with each step, and he was eager to get the heck out of this country as much as they were ready to go home and forget the nightmare they just had.

  Jane watched as his glance moved from each person in his family and verified that they were ok. Jack needed to know they were ok; she could see it in his eyes. She hoped that she had made the right decision to help Alex save them; she hoped that her father would forgive her betrayal. Although did she care if he did? After learning what he had done, she wasn’t sure anymore. All she knew is that what he did was wrong, especially when she could see the repercussions of it from the Dawsons.

  She reached up with her free hand and gave Jack’s arm a reassuring squeeze. He looked down at her as they walked. His chocolate brown eyes gleamed back at her, and it was all she needed to know that she would make the same decision to save him in a heartbeat. They were like the modern-day Romeo and Juliet. Although she chose to stay with him and to save him from what could… no, would have happened to him in the convention hall.

  When they arrived at the terminal, they all chose a seat and waited for the plane boarding to start. John looked around and tried to observe everyone who came within 20 feet of his family. He feared that Alex’s uncle would change his mind and go after them. It was reasonable considering what they just went through to assume that he would. After all, his uncle decided to capture them in the first place. John refused to be stupid enough to walk into another trap or to let them get the upper hand on him again. Not when it came to the safety of his family. He would not fail them.

  Alex sat next to Thea, who hadn’t so much as looked at him since they surfaced and got into the taxi. Alex knew she was in shock, and he couldn’t blame her for it. He was the reason she was in this mess, and he made a promise to himself that he would do whatever it took to make it up to her. He would make her happy and would understand if she couldn’t forgive him for this after what she had been through, especially after she learned the entire story.

  He watched her fingers tremble, and her blank stare at the blue diamond embroidered carpet that covered the surface by her feet. She was lost in thought, and there was no telling how she felt from the blank canvas that sat next to him. He opened his medical bag and grabbed a small pill bottle from inside of it. He pulled out a little round blue pill into his hand and offered it to her. Her gaze didn’t budge from the floor. He gently nudged her arm, breaking her gaze. She had reached up and aggressively gripped his wrist as she gasped, drawing the attention of those who were seated around them. They shot questionable looks in their direction, judging them before they even knew the situation. She looked down at his hand and saw the pill that remained cupped in his palm.

  “What is that?” She asked sternly.

  “It will help you, you’re in shock, and this will help with the nerves.” He calmly said back. His voice was smooth and ran through her veins like water.

  She released his wrist and let it fall gently back to her lap. She turned to the side, grabbing the water bottle that was nestled between her hip and the armrest of the chair that she sat in. She hesitated but took the pill from his hand before popping it in her mouth and gulping it down with water. It left a weird after taste on her tongue, but nothing a few more sips of water couldn’t fix. She sat back in her chair, leaned her head against the wall behind her, and shut her eyes.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed when the sound of the flight attendant announcing the boarding phase woke her. Startled, she sat up quickly and looked around frantically for her family. Alex put his hand on her leg.

  “Hey! It’s ok! We’re going to board now, ok? So, let’s grab your stuff and get out of this place. Shall we?” He said, shooting her a smile.

  Any other day that smile would have melted her heart, but today all she could think about was putting distance between her and that hotel.

  They all lined up with the rest of the passengers of the plane, moving slowly towards the small desk and the woman flight attendant. She scanned tickets and directed passengers through the accordion tunnel one by one. When it was their turn, Alex handed her his boarding pass first along with his passport. Each of her family members and Jane did the same.

  As they boarded the plane, the pilot greeted people who entered. Each passenger searched for their seats and loaded their luggage into the overhead bins. Thea breathed a sigh of relief. They would be home soon, and all of this would be over. Alex found his seat, then began directing Thea into the seat next to him, Ja
ne and Jack into the two seats across the aisle, and Eleanor and John to sit right in front of them.

  John looked around the cabin as he loaded the few bags that they had into the overhead bins. He hoped not to recognize anyone from the convention or notice anyone who looked suspicious. When he didn’t see anyone, he finally relaxed and settled next to his wife. Eleanor rested her head against John’s shoulder.

  “Who knew it would take almost being murdered for you to love me again?” He said.

  She shot up and looked at him mouth hanging open. She punched John in the arm.

  “How dare you…” She said.

  “I am just saying, I’m glad that something good came out of this trip.” He snickered.

  As she laid her head back down, she muttered, “I wonder how many people think that we stink. I know that we have to.”

  John’s laugh bellowed through the plane.

  “Of all things, that’s what you are worried about. Lord, help me, this woman is crazy.”

  “I’m serious!” she said, slightly laughing herself.

  “There is only so much that airport shop perfume and cologne can cover up the stench of desperately needing to shower.” She continued.

  John leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

  “Well, I don’t care if we stink. I still will love you even if you smell like roses, seawater, kelp, and filth.”

  Eleanor froze wide-eyed. “That was really specific, do I smell like that!?” She said to him.

  “I’m just playing with you.” He cackled.

  “Maybe, a little kelpy, though.” He wafted his palm in front of his nose.

  Eleanor smacked her palm against her forehead.

  “I give up.” She said to herself.

  She looked back at her children. Thea looked out the window and across the aisle from her and Alex were Jack and Jane. The two of them snuggled together and slightly snoring already.

  “How do they fall asleep so fast? I need that superpower.” She said to her husband.