Page 35 of Free for Adventure

“Hey, whatever you want to call it. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Orc’s huge head spy-hopped and nodded violently. The waves frothed around him.

Skaay smiled. “Don’t worry, we can catch the boat if it gets loose.”

Kayak and Skaay were only wearing shorts as they got to the edge. “Come on and swim with us,” Skaay said softly.

“Fine. But if I see one dick bigger than I am, it is back to the boat.”

Kayak blinked. “Oh, geez, right. Best behaviour.”

She held her mask and stepped back into the water. She felt the impacts of the other two on either side, and they each swam away on either side. She felt a humming sound, and then there were whales around her, and it was time to swim.

The next forty minutes were spent with them racing around as she held their dorsal fin and doing a strange spinning dance with her that felt strangely formal. When the ten-foot tiger shark showed up, it caught her by surprise. It swam toward her curiously and was suddenly struck hard by an angry cetacean. Kayak moved in next to her, she gripped his fin, and he took her back to the boat while Skaay and Orc mugged the shark. She knew what was going to happen when Kayak eased away from her. She changed her angle so that she was almost standing, and he pushed her up and out of the water, sending her skidding across the deck.

She landed hard and unbuckled her tanks, pushing all the equipment off her one by one. Kayak joined her and helped her. “I am sorry. I panicked.”

“Yeah, I could tell.”

She sat back and gingerly held her elbow. Thera felt her elbow throbbing in pain.

She reached behind her and unzipped her suit. With one hand, she pulled the upper portion over her head and then gasped as the hard part waited.

Orc came up grinning. “That was fun. You are graceful underwater.”

She focused on peeling the suit off her good arm and then got it off her left arm. Kayak hissed. “I am so sorry.”

Skaay smiled, came back, and then paused, getting serious. “What happened?”

A cold pack was brought to her, and she leaned back as pain started to roll through her in waves.

Orc knelt next to her. “Skaay can help. He’s good with his hands.”

She nodded. “Sure. Just ignore screaming.”

Skaay came toward her. “I know it hurts, and it looks dislocated. Can I put it back?”

“Sure. Go nuts.”

He nodded and held her elbow delicately, and with a snap and her scream, it was back where it was supposed to be. She gasped and panted as he covered the joint with his hands. A comforting coolness turned into warmth on her skin, and she let her head droop. The short gasps of pain evened out, and she relaxed.

She looked at the mortified Kayak. “It is partially my fault. I have never done it with tanks before. Mind you, without the tank, you would have flipped me up and over the boat.”

He swallowed. “You landed on your elbow?”

“The tank slid, and I landed on it, elbow first.”

Skaay held her elbow and nodded. “It was dislocated and cracked. It’s repairing fairly easily.”

Thera chuckled. “If it makes you feel better, my dad launched me into a cliff face and bounced me into a rock pool once.”

Kayak nodded. “It does, actually.”

“Yeah, I had a growth spurt that threw his balance off.”

Skaay carefully moved her elbow before wrapping his hand completely around the joint. “It’s coming along. It’s going to be tender for a few days.”

She flexed her hand. “Thanks for the repair.”

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