Page 52 of Totally Shipped
Keep it together, keep it together.
Killian is holding my hand and feels me tense.
“Macushla, what’s wrong?”
I could feed him a line, but he’d know I wasn’t being honest. Killian always knows.
“I’m worried about the swim. It was so hard. I nearly didn’t make it on the way here.”
My mind flashes back to that nightmare, with Harvey threatening to abandon me in the middle of the ocean if I didn’t keep up. The cramps in my legs, my belly, my back. The pain.
I’d swallowed so much salt water that I was retching at the same time as swimming. I know it won’t be like that with the guys, but it’s still daunting.
Killian rubs circles into my back as Leander gives me a gentle smile.
“Relax, baby, I promise you we’ll make it easy for you,” Leander says. He drags out the life rings from the long grass, and I feel a little more optimistic at the sight of them.
“I’m going to lash more bamboo to these,” he continues, “and make a raft for you to lay on while we do all the swimming.”
That does seem more doable.
I’m still nervous though.
Gray stands next to me as Killian and Leander walk away to find more wood and vines. I know they’ll do their best to make me a secure raft. But the ocean is so big and powerful, and I feel so small and tired. I can’t shake off the weepy feeling. I turn to Gray.
“Hug me?” I ask, pathetically.
He takes me into his arms.
“It’s all my fault. I should never have let him take you. I should have killed him.”
I press my face into his chest. “Oh, Gray…” I hesitate, I’m not sure what to say to comfort him. “You did what was right. Harvey was the one in the wrong. I’m OK, we are all OK, that’s all that matters.”
Gray sucks in a breath. “That’s not true, Daisy. I failed you and I don’t know how to make up for it.”
Tears fill my eyes. “You don’t have to. You rescued me.”
I want to convince him, but I don’t think I’m doing a good job.
He’s going to keep carrying around guilt until he sees me happy and safe. That won’t really happen until we get back to our camp. “Let’s swim now,” I say. “We’ve got the floats, and there are still hours of daylight. The sooner we get back to camp, the sooner I can hug Keyara, and Rex. And the sooner we can eat a proper meal!”
Leander looks up from where he is giving the raft one last look-over.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep, one hundred percent. I don’t need to wait. I’ve got you guys, and I know as long as I’m with you.”
I try to give them a convincing smile. “I’ll be perfectly safe.”
REX
Iforce a smile on my face and play yet another round of frisbee.
It’s taking too long, they should have been back by now.
As soon as Gray, Leander and Killian left, something inside me snapped. The tight control I had been keeping on my emotions.
Daisy was in trouble, and they were going to her, not me.
