Page 26 of Chasing Sunsets

Chapter Nine

Gus took Sadie’s vitalsevery quarter hour. The third time her blood pressure remained too high, she asked for a medic and requested two aspirin. Each time Gus took her pressure afterward, it lowered, just not enough.

She’d been the first to arrive and watched many others come and go. From observing them and keeping an eye on the huge wall clock, she knew this task took a minimum of forty-five minutes.

Gus sat beside her and placed the cuff on her arm. “If your pressure isn’t low enough this time, you might consider forfeiting this challenge.”

Shit.She and Zack didn’t need a penalty on the second day.

A woman camera operator gave Sadie a straight-lipped sympathetic smile while recording.

The pressure cuff inflated like it was strangling her arm, and then it beeped. “One thirty over sixty-five,” Gus announced. “You’re good to dive.”

Thank goodness.

“Through that door...” Gus removed the cuff and pointed. “Someone will provide you with a regulator, tank, and instructions.”

A petite old man met Sadie with a smile. He helped her into the equipment while giving instructions. “You must find and scrub the glass with a brush and squeegee provided in the section of the aquarium tank marked withChasing SunsetsNine.”

Nine, because she was in last place.

Focus.

He went on in a heavy southern twang. “Your umpire will be watching from in front of the tank and will signal when he considers your task complete. Watch out for the piranhas.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Had she heard him right?

The older man grinned. “Now, that’d be a reality show, wouldn’t it?”

Despite everything, Sadie laughed. “It would.”

“We’ve cleared this section,” he said. “You’ll see some fish, but you’ll be separated from them.”

Sadie dropped into the water and took a moment to make certain her equipment worked right, then she descended and found her section. It was expansive. She waved to Asper and noticed Aquarium visitors watching before she picked up the black brush in one hand and a yellow squeegee in the other.

While cleaning, she often glanced at the tank on the left that held a stunning kaleidoscope of fish. Their scales flashed all the colors of the rainbow, some so bright they appeared to be neon.

The last time she and Zack visited the aquarium came to mind. She closed her eyes, wishing for that moment again.

Wishing didn’t make anything different or help. Over the last months, she’d learned it was the road to nowhere.

She opened her eyes and redirected her energy into scrubbing the glass harder.

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