Cruisin’ — Chapter 5

By Nick B
 © 2007

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The one where Lucy tells us what happens next…

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Kris doesn’t think this bit works, but I think it’s nice to say thanks to the person who proofs and sometimes adds a little spice to my work. So stuff it, I’m gonna put it in anyway - thanks Kris, you do a bang-up job and should be patting yourself on the back coz I can’t reach from here.

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I never wanted to go on this damned cruise. Three weeks of moochin’ about with my uncle and his partner. That’s not his partner as in living together and sex type partner, but his working partner.

I have no idea what they do, but it seems pretty important; important enough to be going to New York on a boat anyway. Taking weeks off was not something everyone did whenever they liked, but these two seemed to have no problem.

Anyway, Uncle Pete asked me if I’d like to go and I virtually got volunteered by mum, who thought it was a wonderful idea. I'll give her wonderful.

“Get out, see the world” she said and let me tell you, I’ve been on this ship a week now and the world I’ve been seeing hasn’t changed. Well it does change, I mean, it sort of alternates between sea, sky, clouds; sea and sky with no clouds and sea and clouds. The one fixed item being sea. Sometimes it’s rough, sometimes it’s smooth, but mostly it’s just there. If I never see sea ever again I won’t care.

If this place wasn’t like a glorified holiday camp, I wonder what people would find to do. I suppose they could always hold bets on when the next ship would appear on the horizon.

I’m sorry, do I sound a tad bitter? Well I suppose I am. I’m sharing a cabin with Uncle Pete and Aunty Gil and that sucks. Her real name is Gillian, but she hates being called Aunty. I like that, so I call her it as often as possible. It helps to break up the day.

So anyway, there I was, minding my own business going in to breakfast when suddenly I see this girl. She’s leaving the food court as I’m going in and - I’m starting to blush at the thought - I felt something there; you know like attraction. I later discovered that apparently she felt the same, but anyway, I just carried on to breakfast when I hear all this commotion outside. I didn’t know what happened until afterwards, but there was a huge ruckus when she apparently ended up going over the railing and down into the pool about twenty feet below. She was alright thank goodness, but none too impressed with her early morning dip.

She’s funny and her name is Kim. We spent the whole of the rest of that day together and at the end I thought that the trip might not have been such a bad thing after all. It’s weird but I get tingly when I see her and I’m not sure I like it. I don’t really want a ‘girlfriend’, well I don’t — that’s it and all about it.

A couple of days later, we met in the nightclub. It’s the first time I’d been out that late and there she was. We picked up a couple of boys and blew them off - I mean dumped them, silly - after a couple of drinks and spent the rest of the time clowning around.

Then it happened.

She kissed me, or did I kiss her?

Whatever, I was pretty drunk, but then so was she and we just found ourselves there, face to face, our lips just a fraction of an inch apart and then they touched. God it felt like someone had wired my lips to a battery or something and I was well upset when it finished. She could have taken all night the way it felt, I wouldn’t have minded.

The next day of course, I felt guilty as hell. I had really enjoyed that kiss and at that admission, the real meaning of what I was getting off on hit home.

“Kim’s a girl.” my head said. “That means you like girls.”

Sometimes I can be a bit dense; a bit slow, but the penny DID drop — eventually.

“Eeeeeeeyeeeeeew!!”

See, it dropped...

...and clattered about a bit.

Then of course, we met up the next day and as soon as I saw her, I was like, all of a flutter. I tried my best to just be me and calm, but really, all that was happening was my head was replaying that kiss over and over and I wanted more while at the same time, I felt like “NO!” Isn’t that odd?

Course when she said that she wanted to take me out to dinner something in me couldn’t take it. It meant announcing to the world that I was into girls and I couldn’t accept that.

I did what any normal girl would do. I ran away.

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I thought I had got over those initial feelings and had had fairly strong words with myself about it, but Uncle Pete and ‘Aunty Gil’ had said it was nothing to worry about. I hadn’t even told them, how did they know?

Having said that, they had met her at breakfast the day I ran off, but how would they have known that she was the one I was… It doesn’t matter as it transpired as I bumped into her again outside one of the café’s.

She invited me for cappuccino and I ended up staying with her and going to lunch as well. I couldn’t believe the effect that girl was having on me and there I was saying to myself, “she’s just a friend”, yet all the time, the slightest touch or even just being with her was sending my pulse rate soaring.

I don’t know what happened or maybe it was something I did, but I didn’t see her for four days. I was almost climbing the walls and although I didn’t say anything to ether Uncle Pete or ‘Aunty Gil’, I think they knew. Anyway, on the fifth day, there she was in the food court having breakfast.

I wanted so much to be angry at her, but she looked, well, like shit.

Uncle Pete spoke first, telling her that we’d missed her and then pointing out that it was really me that had done the missing. I just wanted the floor to open up and swallow me, but then things just went off at about a hundred miles an hour.

She asked if we’d help her out and when she stood up, I could see she was shaking — quite badly too. I tried to get to her before she hit the deck, but none of us did and she just collapsed in a heap on the floor, sending her chair backwards. A collective gasp went up around the court and people were staring at her.

I felt so bad, all I wanted to do was tell them all to go away, stop staring, anything but what they were doing, but my mouth just didn’t want to work.

God she looked awful. Her face was grey and her eyes were all like sunk into their sockets. Uncle Pete and ‘Aunty Gil’ were really concerned and were there beside her in no time, picking her up — well Uncle Pete did and carried her out of the food court. One of her arms just seemed to hang there, lifeless and I took her hand in mine, hoping that she could feel it and know, even though she was out cold, that I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her — I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

Our cabin was closer than the ships infirmary, so Uncle Pete carried her there and asked that ‘Aunty Gil’ and I keep an eye on her. I felt so useless, not knowing what to do. I knew CPR, but this was hardly the time for that. Whatever was wrong with her wasn’t something that mere first aid could fix.

Uncle Pete had put her onto the long sofa in the main cabin and I knelt beside her, almost unable to let go of her hand. She looked so helpless laying there, he face looking drawn, her skin almost cold and I could feel the tears rolling down my face.

Gil surprised me by not saying anything for some time and when she did, what she said was encouraging rather than her usual well-mannered though nonetheless barbed snipes. I looked up at her and couldn’t hold it any longer. I burst into tears and Gil just knelt down beside me, stroking my hair and making me feel better.

From that point on, I decided that I had been mean for long enough and the ‘Aunty’ bit would have to go. Gil didn’t mean me any harm and probably didn’t want to be doing this cruise thing any more than I did, but she was making the best of it and she after all, wasn’t the enemy.

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Uncle Pete arrived shortly after my outburst had subsided and Kim had actually regained consciousness. She was still pretty groggy and her eyes kept going in and out of focus, but she was awake.

The ships doctor was a nice man and looked to me to be far too young to be a fully fledged doctor, but hey, full power to the man.

He opened one of those black doctor bags and took out a stethoscope listening to Kim’s chest, then he took her pulse, looked into her eyes — all those check-up shaped things and all the while, Uncle Pete, Gil and I were hovering. I was trying to hover closest, feeling that my lost contact with Kim would in some way impede her progress.

“I can’t really tell here.” he said then turned back to Kim. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty ropey.” she replied. “I can’t seem to shake off the shakes.”

“Have you been taking anything?”

“Not that I wanted to take.” she said. The doctor looked a little confused.

“I don’t understand.” he said.

“I’ve been given a few shots by doctor Weintraub and I don’t think they’ve worn off completely. Donna said they were to make me a little more relaxed about things; make me more like the little Kimmy they all know and love.”

The doctor looked at us and we looked at him, equally confused. None of us knew what that meant although Uncle Pete was rubbing his chin thoughtfully and nodding gently.

“I think I’d better get her back to the infirmary.” said the doc. “I can’t do much here. Would you mind?”

Uncle Pete picked her up off the sofa and I asked “will I be able to come and see her?”

“I hope you will. Having people she knows around her will undoubtedly help her get better — well, at least keep her spirits up while we try to find out what ails her.” He smiled at that and somehow I just knew she was in good hands, or at least would be when Uncle Pete put her down.

We all filed out of the cabin, virtually half way round the ship and all the way, people were staring as Uncle Pete carried the semi-conscious Kim to the infirmary. Once there, she was laid on the bed and Uncle Pete and the doctor moved into a small ante room which served as the doctor’s office.

I didn’t hear what was going on, but I could see through the small glass panel in the door that Uncle Pete was doing most of the talking, while the doctor stared, open-mouthed at times. I was starting to get a bit suspicious of Uncle Pete and Gil too for that matter.

I nearly had to be pried away from Kim’s bed before we could all troop back to our cabin.

“Just let the doctor do what he has to do.” said Gil and scooped me off the bed and out. I don’t think Kim even noticed that I’d gone to be honest, but I knew I had once again broken contact with her and that that was not good. I was scared to death that I’d never get to see her again.

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I couldn’t sleep at all that night. Well I did, but only in short naps and each time I dozed off I got the feeling that Kim had slipped away forever.

In the end, I think it was like about one in the morning; I got dressed and slipped quietly out of the cabin. I headed for the infirmary and knocked quietly on the door.

“Hello, you must be Lucy. The doctor’s told me all about you.” said a nurse in a hushed voice. That calmed me a lot I can tell you as I thought that she’d be there on her own and the fact that this nurse was there in case anything happened was a real tonic.

She showed me to a chair next to Kim’s bed and told me to sit. It was obvious that Kim was asleep; the closed eyes and the gentle snoring gave the game away. I sat down and reached onto the bed, interlacing mine and Kim’s fingers and holding her hand as tightly as I dared without wishing to do any damage. I honestly don’t know what damage I could do, but I figured, like, I’d rather be safe than sorry.

I’d been there about half an hour I suppose when the phone in the office rang. I jumped and I think the nurse did too.

She was on the phone for about half a minute and then a serious look came over her face. I thought it was something to do with Kim, but she gathered together a bag of stuff and headed out of the infirmary, telling me to stay put; that she wouldn’t be long.

I was sitting at the bed, staring at my feet when I heard a noise at the door. It couldn’t have been the nurse, because I suppose I thought she would have been longer. Anyhow, the door knob turned and the door rattled.

“It’s locked.” said a voice.

“Don’t worry, I can open it.” said another, younger voice.

It obviously wasn’t the nurse then. So who was it?

I went to the door and listened as someone fiddled a key into the lock and then the door swung open towards me.

I froze. I just couldn’t help it. I knew what I was doing in the infirmary, but I also knew that Uncle Pete would probably be upset with me for being here without telling him and suddenly I went cold with the anticipation of what might be going to happen. I could hear the two voices and one said to the other “just get in, do it and get out. I can’t be seen here.”

I didn’t know who this man was. He was older than the doctor by a long way and he peered over half-moon glasses as he moved past me and went on towards the bed where Kim lay. I was rooted to the spot, holding my breath and more afraid of giving myself away than turning blue and passing out.

He seemed to look Kim over whilst his hand went to his inside jacket pocket and he drew out a hypodermic needle. There was something in the syringe, but I had no idea what and I started to panic. I knew this was about to be shot into Kim and I had no idea why or what it would do.

I scanned the immediate vicinity for something — anything and saw it; a metal bedpan. I picked it up as the man in the jacket held the syringe, needle uppermost and took the plastic cover off the needle. Then he gently flicked the side of the syringe, just as I got close and kapow!

I closed my eyes and swung the bedpan as hard as I could. It hit him on the head, causing a loud “BONG!!!!” sound to rattle around the infirmary, followed by a lot of little bangs and crashes as the doctor spun round knocking a table and going cross-eyed while he pointed at me, gibbering something about not being in here and then hit the floor.

I stood over him wondering what on earth to do when a familiar voice spoke.

“Looks like you’ve beaten me to it. Not what I would have done, but just as effective. Next time, would you mind waiting for me?”

I spun round to see Uncle Pete standing in the doorway. The emotional outburst afterwards was so embarrassing and I ran to my uncle, flung my arms round him and hugged him as tears flooded out of my eyes and I sobbed.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been here and, and…”

“It’s alright. Don’t cry, you can tell Kim yourself about your heroic deed and tale of derring-do. I’m sure it’ll be very impressive.”

There was a lot going on in the infirmary after that. The nurse had returned complaining about it being a wild goose chase and saying that if she ever finds out who the woman was that made the call, she’d have something to say to her. She was balling her fists and looking extremely upset at having left me to face whatever it was that happened, but the looks on the doctor’s face and even that of the Captain suggested that they didn’t blame her for one moment. I kept out of the way and once again Uncle Pete did a lot of the talking. I just held Kim’s hand and hoped it would all be over soon.

I thought Kim was so lucky. This whole thing went off and she didn’t stir - not once. She just looked real comfortable — aside from the saline drip that was hanging out of her arm, that was, but she didn’t bat an eyelid.

Back at the cabin, Gil was not best pleased that I skipped out without telling her or Uncle Pete. Thankfully, Uncle Pete shushed her and explained that thanks to me, they had caught the one who had given Kim the shots and was about to give her something else too. He said that they didn’t know what it was and the ship’s infirmary wasn’t equipped to analyse the contents, but that would come. Meanwhile, the now infamous Dr. Weintraub was in the brig and wouldn’t get to enjoy the rest of the trip.

“What abut Kim?” asked Gil.

“Slept like a baby. The doctor says that she’ll make a full recovery and should be up and about within a couple of days or so.” said Uncle Pete. “For now though, I think it’s time to get some rest.”

He didn’t have to ask me twice and I hugged him again to say thank you for being there when he was before going off to my room and falling asleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

It was three days before Kim was up and about. When she was, my stomach was doing cartwheels and almost making me sick. We went to the infirmary to collect her. She still wasn’t up to full power yet and the doctor only released her on account of the fact that Uncle Pete said she could stay with us for the duration of her recuperation.

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Uncle Pete and Gil had plenty to talk to Kim about, telling her that they had caught the man who gave her the drugs.

“Man?” said Kim. “He only gave me one shot, it was Donna who fed me most of the drugs.

“Donna?” asked Uncle Pete. “Donna who?”

“Donna Elliot. She has a suite on B deck.”

“A woman?” asked Gil.

“Hey, didn’t the nurse say that a woman had made the call that took her out of the infirmary?” I asked. Three faces turned slowly to look at me and I started to blush.

“She’s right. I’d forgotten about that.” said Uncle Pete, clapping his hands together. “Stay here.”

He and Gil disappeared so fast, I almost thought there’d be scorch marks on the floor.

I looked at Kim. There was something different about the way she looked and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but holding her hand, made me feel better and she didn’t seem to mind.

After all that had happened, I knew I had got used to the idea that I was into another girl and I couldn’t wait to take Kim up on that offer of dinner after this was all over and she was up to getting out again.

Thing was, it wasn’t that simple. Like it would be…

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Uncle Pete and Gil returned sometime later, not looking like they had been on any kind of successful mission. Apparently the cabin was locked up and there was no reply. They said they would have to continue their search the next day. They asked Kim for a description of the woman and rang someone.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I would have thought that you of all people would have figured that one out by now.” said Uncle Pete.

“All I know is that…” she stopped, blushing and tearing up. “That, well…”

“This wasn’t what you expected from a cruise?” supplied Gil.

“No, not at all.”

I had heard her say that before but I didn’t know what she meant and I still didn’t. I was itching to know and I was just about to open my mouth to ask, but Gil surreptitiously waved me to stop.

I was starting to get angry. Two people, one of whom I trusted with my life, were hiding things from me and I didn’t like that. Now I got the distinct impression that there was someone else who was pulling the wool over my eyes too and it wasn’t making me a particularly happy bunny.

“What’s with all the secrecy?” I blurted, my eyes filling up. “You’re supposed to be my friends, my family — well not you Gil, but you are supposed to be my friend. So what’s with all the secrets?”

“It’s not us.” said Uncle Pete. “It’s Kim.”

“You mean she’s lying?”

“No…”

“It’s that. I’m not what you think I am.” she said.

“Huh! Like I’m surprised. My Uncle Pete’s not what I thought he was either.”

“It’s not like that at all.” she said and the tears were starting to flow quite freely now. I was also starting to feel like I was pushing too hard and was upsetting her. “I’m not a girl.”

Well that was it for me. My jaw nearly broke as it hit the cabin floor.

“What do you mean not a girl?” I asked, incredulous.

“I think this has gone far enough.” said Uncle Pete.

“NO! What do you mean, not a girl? Like you’re some sort of alien or something?” I spat.

Kim was crying now, in floods of tears and I was so far into my rant that I couldn’t stop. The one person above all that I thought I trusted turned out to be, well not a girl. What the hell was she talking about?

I stomped off, slamming my door and throwing myself onto the bed. I didn’t care that I had just upset greatly the one person I was so afraid of losing did I?

Oh I did.

I wanted to run back into the other room and hug her and squeeze her and tell her I didn't care, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t just do an about turn and run back could I? I had to wait at least a few minutes before I went back and apologised.

I went and listened at the door. I could hear Gil giving support to Kim and all the time she was going up in my estimations. She was a really nice person to have around, especially at times like these.

I felt a complete arsehole. Kim was sobbing and trying to say things while Gil was saying things like “there, there. It’ll all be alright” and I knew it should have been me who was saying that to her, not Gil.

I threw myself back on my bed and cried myself to sleep, wondering if Kim would ever even look at me again, let alone speak to me or love me.

I’d made a right mess of it hadn’t I?

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To be continued…