Page 94 of Tide Over

What I once wished would take me away and swallow me whole, I now want to fight. An urge rises inside me, but it’s not the one I’m used to. It’s the urge to rise above it, and wait out the storm.

Because I want to be here. I want to be strong.

For Theo. For my family.

And for me.

I pull my gaze from the water and hit the ascender, letting it pull me up. When I get to the top of the platform, Bryce, one of the safety guys, helps me up.

“All good?” he asks as he helps me unhook the ropes from my harness.

“Yeah,” I nod. “Straightforward weld. Easy job.”

He chuckles. “Easy,” he says with a shake of his head. “Not the word I typically use for hanging on ropes over the ocean.”

I shrug as I step out of the harness, and he laughs again.

“Welders are fucked,” he says.

“Yeah,” I say with a simple nod.

He snorts and shakes his head again, scooping up the ropes and helmets. “Have a good one,” he says as he heads off with the gear.

And I immediately shove my hand into my pocket to pull out my phone.

My heart flutters as I see Theo’s name on my screen with a text, returning mine from when I checked in on him earlier.

Theo

Just woke up. These meds knock me out.

I rest my elbows on the railing as I tap out a response, the waves continuing to crash below me.

It’s good you’re getting sleep though.

Then I lift my phone and snap a picture of the sunset over the water. Fiery orange softens into golden yellow as it meets the edge of the darkening sky, and the water below ripples with its reflection, like fire dancing across the ocean. I send it to him, then watch as he types, the bubbles appearing, disappearing, and appearing again. He’s typing one-handed so it takes a while longer, and a pang of guilt settles in my chest.

Not a bad view. You done now?

Yeah, just need to put my gear away.

He starts typing again, and I wait patiently, hating how hard it clearly is for him. But I can’t help but chuckle when his response comes through.

Then warming up the ping-pong arm?

I shake my head, smiling as I tap out my response.

Saving that for tomorrow night. Gotta ease everyone into losing.

I hear some of the guys walking down the corridor as they wrap up their shift, so I shove my phone into my pocket, grab the welder, and head to the workshop. Luckily the shop is quiet, so I quickly put everything away and duck out before I run into anyone.

As I walk to my room, I pull my phone out again.

Very noble of you.

Once I’m in my room, and the door is closed behind me, I tap his name and hit call. I sit on the edge of my bed as it rings a couple times, then he answers.

“Hey,” he says in a soft and tired voice.

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