Chapter 12
By
“You having fun?” Nick shouted over the loud motor.
“Yeah!” she cried back, grinning from ear to ear. “This is awesome!”
Nick returned her smile and increased the speed on the boat,
taking her further out into the ocean.
The day was beautiful, sunny and warm, but not too hot yet, since
it was only morning. Perfect weather
for boating. If only she could have
felt perfect. She had woken up with another
headache that morning. She had taken
some pills for it, and it had dulled, but she still didn’t feel that great. She was tired and felt sort of strange. But despite that, she was having a great
time in the boat and never wanted it to end.
After a few more minutes, Nick let the speed die down until they
came to a stop. “So, you wanna try and
water ski?” he asked.
“Oh, I dunno…” Olivia said uncertainly. “I’ve never been before.” That was true, but also, she wasn’t sure she
felt up to even attempting to try. It
sounded fun, but she was so tired and achy feeling.
“Well, how about tubing?” he asked. “Ever done that?”
“Tubing? No…” she replied
slowly.
“It’s fun. And much easier
than water skiing. All you have to do is
hold on.”
“Hold on?” Olivia watched
as he climbed into the back of the boat and pulled out a big inflatable tube, a
durable-looking one with a bottom in it and handles on the sides. There was a rope tied to it, which he
unwound. Tying the other end of the
rope to the back of the boat, he tossed the big tube into water.
He then folded down the little ladder on the end of the boat so
that it was down in the water. He
reeled the tube in until it was floating up right against the ladder.
“Come here, Liv,” he said, motioning to
the ladder. Glancing up, he asked,
“Anyone call you that? Liv?”
“No, not really,” Olivia replied.
“You can call me that though if you want to. I like it.
Like Liv Tyler.”
“Only more beautiful,” Nick commented, raising his eyebrows at her
quickly and then turning back to the tube, checking the rope to make sure it
was tied securely.
Olivia was left gaping at him, the corners of her mouth turning up
in a slight smile. She shook her head,
grinning, and came over to him.
“So you want me to get in this thing?” she asked, motioning to the
tube.
“Yup. Oh, wait, hang on a
minute. First, you need this.” He opened up a storage compartment and
pulled out a lime green life jacket.
“Oh, I can sw-“ Olivia started, but he
pushed it into her arms.
“I know, but I still want you to wear it. There’s an undertow in the ocean and
everything, and you don’t want to get sucked under,” he explained.
“Oh. Okay,” she said with a
shrug, putting the life jacket on over her red, flowered bikini.
“Okay, now climb in,” Nick instructed, holding the tube in place
while Olivia carefully stepped down the ladder and into the tube. It was big enough for her to sit in on her
knees. “Now, the best way to do this is
to lie on your stomach over the tube, with your legs hanging out behind you.”
“Really?” Olivia asked, not sure how comfortable that would
be. But she did it, rolling onto her
stomach. She held onto the handles with
her hands and rested her chin on the firm rubber of the side of the tube, while
her legs stuck straight out behind her.
It wasn’t too bad of a position actually.
“Okay, now I’m gonna start the boat up. If you want me to go faster, just give me a
thumbs up. If you want to slow down,
give me a thumbs down. And if you want
to stop, just hold your hand up. I’ll
watch for your signals, okay?”
“Okay,” Olivia said, nodding.
“Okay, you ready?” he asked.
“Yup, I think so,” she said, nodding again.
“Okay,” he said, and pushed the tube away from the boat. “Here we go!” he called, as he made his way
back up to the front of the boat and sat down.
As he started the motor, Olivia felt a little tug on the
rope. As he gained speed, her tube was
roughly jerked forward as it was pulled behind the boat. The ride was tame at first, bouncing along
small waves. But as the boat went
faster, the waves behind it grew bigger, the tube began to fly up in the air as
it crashed over them, landing back in the water with hard smacks.
Olivia could feel her whole body bouncing up into the air with
each jolt of the tube. The whole thing
vibrated and shook beneath her, and she was actually a little afraid. But as they went on, she got used to all the
jerking and bouncing and began to enjoy herself. She gripped onto the handles so tightly that
her knuckles turned white, afraid that she would fly right off, but she grinned
and laughed, as the seawater sprayed her in the face.
She saw Nick turn back and grin at her every few seconds, and she
would just smile back, too afraid to let go enough to wave at him. It was most intense than she had thought it
would be, but it was also a whole lot of fun.
That is, until her headache decided to come back. Suddenly, in between the jerky bouncing of
the tube, her head hurt so badly she could barely see. She suddenly felt dizzy, and the world began
to spin. She could feel herself
slipping off the tube, and terrified, she gripped the handles as tightly as she
could.
She quickly managed to let go with one hand and flailed her arm in
the air, trying to get Nick to stop.
But as she did so, the tube hit a huge wave, and before she knew it, her
other hand had slipped from its grip on the handle, and she was airborne.
The last thing she remembered was a stinging smack, as she landed
with a splat in the water and the pain that radiated through her whole body
immediately after. She went under, the
salty water entering her nose, making her nostrils burn. And before the life jacket pulled her back
up to the surface, everything had gone black.
***
