When she opened them again, she was laying on a bench. The parts of her body that weren’t numb felt like ice. Carson was looking down at her intently, a towel over his shoulders. His mouth moved, but no sound came out, and Katie scrunched her forehead in confusion. A second or two later, as if her brain flipped the power to her ears back on, she heard him loud and clear. “Katie, can you say something? Anything? Please!”
“Something, anything,” she groaned, slurring the words badly.
A tense smile came across his wet face. “Good. Good. OK, just relax. We’ll be at the dock in a minute.” From somewhere above and behind Carson she heard a man saying Discovery II was inbound with two hypothermia victims and needed an ambulance. Is that for us? She spoke a single word. “Cold.”
She felt the warmth of his palm as he touched her forehead. “I know, Katie, but we’re going to warm you up in a minute. Just relax. Everything is under control.”
The same voice that had been asking for the ambulance spoke again, apparently this time directly to Carson. “Yeah, it is. So now that she’s looking better, I want you out of your wet clothes and under a blanket. That’s an order, by the way.”
Katie recognized the hesitation on Carson’s face, which lasted but a moment before he nodded. “OK. Coming.” He addressed Katie again. “I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.” She nodded weakly, but as he removed his hand and he stepped away, she started shivering all over. She wrapped her arms tightly around her body, hoping to stop the shaking, but it only seemed to grow worse. She closed her eyes and tried to tug the blanket even closer to her skin.
A few moments later there was a thump! that was more felt than heard as the boat reached the dock, and then two men in white shirts were poking and prodding her, taking her blood pressure, asking her name, her address, and if she could feel them touching her toes. They pulled her arm from the blanket and clipped something to her finger. After a few seconds, one of them looked at it and announced, “95.9 – borderline. Pulse, 87. Oh 2, 98.”
They carried her down the gangway on a stretcher, and at one point she noticed Carson walking alongside her carrying a large bundle of clothing. His eyes were locked on Katie, totally ignoring a voice in the background imploring him to get on a stretcher. She gave him another smile, doing her best to reassure his worried face she was doing OK. He nodded back, and then they were in the ambulance. She heard someone tell Carson there was no room for him, so she made the short ride to the hospital with only the EMTs as they checked her out.
The emergency room took her right in, putting a warming blanket on her and placing heat packs on the back of her neck, her wrists, and her groin. It was only then she realized she was completely naked, which surprised her because neither the EMTs nor anyone in the ER had removed her clothing.
The blanket and hot packs helped immensely, and within minutes she was thinking more clearly and her body felt more like flesh than a Pina Colada. The doctor came in and started asking many of the same questions the EMTs had on the boat. Once Katie proved her brain was back up to full operating speed, the doctor told her to rest and warm up and, if nothing changed, she would be able to go home shortly.
“Doctor, do you know anything about the man who came in with me, Carson Fischer?”
“Yes,” the doctor said, rolling his eyes. “He’s fine. He was a little difficult about laying down for five minutes so we could take his vitals, but they were so good I thought I took them wrong the first time. That man is in some seriously good physical shape. And, based on how many times he asked about you, I’m sure he’ll be over shortly.” The doctor took his leave and Katie let her head fall back upon the pillow. With the blanket and packets removing the last vestiges of chill from her extremities and the stress of recent events, she drifted off into a light slumber.
“Katie?”
So much for a little nap. She popped her eyes open to see Carson hovering over her, wearing a green scrub top. The way his eyebrows drooped and the set of his jaw belied just how concerned he was. “Hey,” she asked. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” he replied dismissively. “More important, how are you?”
“The doctors believe I’ll make it.”
Carson was not amused. “Don’t make jokes! What did the doctor say?”
“Carson, relax. He said I’m fine, that I only had very mild hypothermia, and I can go home soon. I’m warming up already.” She ruffled her blanket slightly. “I have got to get me one of these for winter nights! It’s so toasty.” She smiled, wondering why he looked at her as if she was on the verge of death and he was the one that put her there.
“I’m glad you’re going to be OK,” he responded, the concern fading from around his eyes. The guilt, though, remained. “I’m really sorry.”
She raised an eyebrow, unsure if she had heard him correctly. “For what?”
Now it was his turn to look confused. “’For what?’ For letting you fall overboard! You’re not experienced on boats, and I should have remembered that, but instead I let you hang over the rail at the worst possible time!” A tear welled up in each eye. He wasn’t just being polite; he truly believed he was to blame.
“Carson, this wasn’t your fault at all. I’m the idiot who stayed at the
