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As the cruise ship rocked violently, Jane sat bolt upright in bed.
“Really?!” She grabbed the mattress, hanging on for dear life.
Maura, who had been awoken almost an hour previously smiled sadly.
“What part of this is meant to be relaxing?” Jane asked as she struggled to her feet and almost immediately had to jump out of the way as their travel clock flew from the bedside table.
“It’s really not.” Maura agreed. “There’s a tropical storm.” She handed Jane a Dramamine and a bottle of water. “I went to the main bar; they have a lot of information.”
“Any of it good?” Jane drank deeply, washing down the pills with ease.
“Not really.” Maura settled against Jane on the bed, the closeness putting her almost immediately at ease. “The storm hit over an hour ago.” Maura explained, nuzzling closer to Jane. “They think it’ll continue for at least another couple of hours.”
“Great!” the sarcasm that radiated from the brunette was palpable.
“It’s ok to be scared, Jane.”
Jane pulled away, staring at her partner incredulously. “Woah there, scared?” Jane shook her head, sending long, dark tresses flicking across both their faces. “I’m not scared!”
As their eyes met, Jane wrapped Maura in a hug, kissing her forehead gently. “It’ll be ok, Maur.” She looked over the doctor’s shoulder, huge waves illuminated in the flashes of lightning before they slammed into the side of the ship. “We’ll be ok.”
“You promise?” Try as she might, Maura couldn’t hide the fear in her voice.
Jane pulled back, her determined gaze settling squarely on Maura. “I promise you, I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
Maura smiled weakly. “You can’t control that,” she whispered, “Even you can’t control the weather!”
“No.” Jane admitted reluctantly, “I can’t. But there’s not a storm out there we can’t weather.”
-/-
Steve lay in his tent, the rain hammering relentlessly on the canvas. In the flashes of lightning he could see the trees bending wildly. Part of him was glad for the storm, the others would find shelter from the elements and that meant no more death; at least for tonight.
“What the hell am I saying?” he smacked himself in the forehead. “I could die out here!” The realisation hit him hard. For all the years he’d been coming on these trips, he’s never stopped to consider the dangers he was putting himself in.
“I’m trapped on an island, in the middle of God’s nowhere with a bunch of murderers.” He whispered into the howling wind. “And apparently, I’m talking to myself.”
It was too late to worry about that now, he was already here. Wriggling from his sleeping bag, Steve unzipped the tent and was immediately hit by a wall of wind and rain. “Don’t piss into the wind.” He muttered, unzipping his fly. “Great advice, if the wind isn’t all over the place.” He sighed as he relieved himself.
Settling back into his sleeping bag, his mind turned back to the night his daughter was conceived.
He and Kate had driven to Yellowstone, their van loaded with camping supplies. Pitching the tent had been a disaster, not helped when Kate had tripped on a rope and fallen into the tent, undoing three hours of infuriating work.
It was long dark when they’d finally gotten the tent up and, foregoing an evening meal, had collapsed inside, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next day had been Steve’s birthday and they had spent it hiking. Kate loved photography and would pause, taking shots of the stunning scenery before making Steve pose ‘to give it perspective’, she’d tell him. It was easy then, his life, so full of hope and promise for the future.
They stopped at a picturesque outlook for a picnic lunch, soaking in the serenity. Steve had snatched up Kate’s camera, batting her hands away when she tried to take it back. He’s snapped her picture, a spur of the moment shot, without any of the planning and poise that had gone into all the other images previously captured.
It had been his favourite picture of her. Her hair had reflected the light, giving her the appearance of a halo. Her head thrown back as she laughed, unabashed and unguarded. She had looked so free. Nothing could touch them in that moment.
They had returned to their tent not long after that, following a well used trail and delighting in the surroundings. Having encountered various wildlife along the way, Kate was beside herself with joy when they finally reached the campsite.
They had joined the other campers for dinner, each sharing their stories and adventures around a large campfire.
As the flames had started to die out, Kate had taken his hand, her hooded eyes full of promise as she politely said their mutual goodbyes and led them back to their tent.
Like everything else that day, their love making had been easy and carefree. Their laughter mixing with hushed moans when Steve had slipped off the air mattress, his bare rear briefly hugged by the canvas.
Lying in a tangle of spent limbs, they had whispered promises of forever before falling into a peaceful slumber.
On returning home, they had learnt they were pregnant. It was a trip that Steve would never forget.
-/-
“This definitely isn’t right.” Jane said as they walked down the corridor. In the last hour, the ship had listed further and further over, to the point they now had to use the wall as a support to be able to move around. “I don’t like it.”
“We’ll find a crew member, find out what’s happening.” Maura tried to sound hopeful but the shake in her voice gave her away. “If it were serious, there’d be alarms.” Jane could tell she was trying to convince herself.
“You’re right.” She agreed, glancing back to offer the doctor a warm smile. “It’s probably nothing.”
They fell silent, neither one convinced with their hollow reassurances. They both knew they were in it up to their eyes and nothing they said would change that.
“Do you think we’ll die?” Maura asked suddenly, as they approached the main ballroom where a large group had congregated.
Jane stopped suddenly, turning and staring, wide-eyed at the trembling doctor. Marching back to where she was stood, Jane held her by the shoulders, strong hands biting into soft flesh.
“You listen to me, Maura Isles.” She growled the words, trying hard to hide her own fear. “We are going to be fine.” She paused, waiting for Maura to meet her gaze. “This is the 21st century; they have all sorts of stuff in case of emergency, which this isn’t by the way!” The hint of a smile ghosted over Maura’s lips. “We’ve been through worse. This…” she gestured randomly, “This is nothing.”
Maura nodded, pleased that Jane hadn’t promised the impossible. “I think you were right.” She said softly, taking Jane’s hand as they followed a small group into the room.
“I was?” Jane asked, clearly surprised by the statement.
“About the Captain.”
Jane laughed. “Maybe wrecking ships is in his genes.”
Maura began to explain why that would be impossible when a voice cut through the chatter in the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please may I have your attention?” The woman stood in the raised bar, flanked on either side by uniformed crew members. It reminded Jane too much of the numerous press conferences she’d both held and attended. Casting a sideways glance at Maura, it was clear from her clenched jaw and all too rigid posture that she was thinking the same. They knew what was coming, this woman would tell them what they wanted to hear, enough information to satisfy, but the truth would be edited, truncated, to prevent all out panic.
As the room fell silent, all eyes turned upwards. “You will have noted that we are listing slightly.” She began, a few murmured heckles greeted her. “Please don’t be alarmed. We have taken some very minor damage but you are in absolutely no danger at all.”
Jane felt her stomach clench. Grabbing Maura’s hand, she pushed her way through the crowd, dragging the doctor back towards the cabin.
“We need some supplies.” Maura said once they were away from the crowd. “Food, water, medical supplies.” Jane nodded, thankful for their shared knowledge.
“We should probably get on the deck.” Jane continued, pushing the door to the cabin open and watching as Maura went quickly to work. Her fear dissipating with a task to do.
Jane headed to the bathroom, searching for a first aid kit.
“Jane?” Maura called, “Bring out some jackets, warm ones.”
Finding nothing of use, Jane returned, grabbing a couple of hooded sweaters on her way through the bedroom.
“There’s nothing in there, not even a band aid.” She growled, stuffing the jumpers into an empty backpack as Maura emptied the non-alcoholic contents of the mini bar into her bag.
“I saw a large first aid box on the wall at the end of the corridor.” Maura told her, handing her two small hand towels which she tucked into her bag with the jumpers.
Striding purposefully from the room, Jane felt her heart hammering in her chest, the blood pounding in her ears and drowning out the sounds of waves smashing against the ship and the occasional muffled scream.
As she reached the large green box on the wall, Jane rolled her eyes. Lana Logue turned the corner, shooting a filthy look at the brunette.
Ignoring Lana, Jane struggled to remove the box before losing her temper and smashing at the catch with her fist. Hearing the commotion, Lana turned.
“What on earth are you doing?” she demanded. “You can’t just take that!” She shouted, waddling back towards Jane as quickly as her large bulk would allow. She threw her hands in the air as Jane wrenched the box from the wall. “Now look, you’ve broken it!”
“Yeah?” Jane grunted, “Let them bill me!” she turned smartly, striding off in search of more supplies.
~~~~~
“Water, some peanuts, towels, warm clothes….” Maura checked through the bags, trying to work out what else they may need should the worst happen. Her mind flashed back to the last movie night she and Jane had shared. They had watched Cast Away as it was the only film that hadn’t caused either of them to roll her eyes or groan.
“Matches.” Maura mumbled, searching the welcome pack they had been given. She found a simple matchbook and, despite knowing it was a dated and somewhat dangerous practice, sighed with relief.
Jane returned moments later, laden down with bags from the gift shop.
“Really, Jane?” Maura questioned her.
“They’re not souvenirs!” Jane remarked indignantly as she reached into a bag and pulled the first aid kits from them, tossing them onto the sofa for Maura to put into their bags.
A grin burst across Maura’s face as Jane reached into another bag, handing over two Swiss army knives and a zippo lighter.
“Fire! We can make fire!” Jane’s tragic imitation of Tom Hanks made Maura giggle, even more so when Jane added two tins of fuel to the mix.
Jane watched as Maura packed each bag carefully, splitting the supplies equally between the two of them.
“Also….” Jane pulled a fistful of ziplock bags and waved them proudly. “Cheese rolls… for the trip!” she smiled.
“Right, let’s get out of here.” Maura sighed and handed a bag to Jane, casting a final glance around the cabin.
“Jane?” Maura paused in the doorway.
“Uh?”
“Do you think we’re overreacting?” she asked, feeling the flush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
“God I hope so.” Jane replied.
As the corridor plunged into darkness and the warning beacons sounded, both women shook their heads.
“I guess not.” Maura sighed as the emergency lights flashed, bathing the hall in an eerie red glow.