I sat down with Val and her friends at our usual table and swirled the water in my canteen idly. When I looked up, I found Ames standing at the front of the cafeteria, searching the room for something. Someone, probably. When his eyes met mine, he grinned. Looking for me, apparently. He walked over to our table and slid in across from me, next to Val's friend Patricia. "Hi," he said to me, grinning widely. "Hello," Patricia responded, leaning on her hand and fluttering her eyelashes. I grinned at this and looked down at my sandwich. "Hey," Ames addressed Patricia with a grin, and then proceeded to once again stick out his hand. "I'm Ames. Who are you?" Patricia laughed at this and said, "Patricia. But you can call me Pat."
"Or Patty," Val added, "Cake. Baker's man."
Bake me a cake as fast as you can, I motioned, and Val and I laughed. Patricia rolled her eyes and shook Ames's hand, "Just Pat."
"Nice to meet you, Pat," Ames nodded, smiling. He cleared his throat, "So, do all of you speak sign language?" Val shook her head, "Nope. Just me. And Lissa, of course." Ames nodded, and smiled at me. I blushed and looked back down at my sandwich. I wished he would stop doing that. "So," he said, grinning at the now-silent table, everyone looking at him, "Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" Val grinned, "Depends. For today, or forever?" Ame smiled and glanced at me, "I think I'll stick around, if you don't mind."
"In that case, we'll have you," Pat said with a big smile. The whole table laughed and Ames smiled, said, "Well, thanks," and winked at me. I smiled a little bit and took a bit of my sandwich.
Chapter 2
The boat they pulled me onto was small, a jet boat, made simply for the purpose of flying on water. It was a freak thing, really, a miracle, that they happened to be out, that they happened to find us. The relief of them finding me, however, was crushed by the pain that they didn't see him. I was hysterical, of course, and I tried to jump back in the water, to jump back to him, but I guess they just thought I was scared and maybe temporarily out of my mind, because two people pinned me down while a third person climbed back into the driver's seat and started the boat back up, speeding us back to the dock. When I stopped struggling and just folded into myself and sobbed, they wrapped slightly damp towels around me, and one woman, someone middle-aged with long, dark brown hair that I might have found comforting if she hadn't just pulled me away from the dying body of the love of my life, wrapped her arms around me and whispered soothing sayings in my ear. I was freezing despite the towels and felt like I was the only person in the world despite the woman.
In the hospital, they assumed I was crying because of the trauma, figured my strange-sounding screams were because I was so scared. That was until a doctor came in and recognized my muffled noises, the strange way my screaming seemed to be chopped off, cut short. He immediately called someone in, and she took one look at me and motioned, What's wrong? This made me sob more, and I wished with everything in me that this woman had been on that boat. They pulled me up, I motioned, my hands shaking as sobs moved through my body, they saved me, but they pulled me away from him.
From who? she motioned, her eyebrows furrowed. I knew it wasn't likely she would recognize the sign for Ames's name, so I motioned, My boyfriend. She looked confused, and she turned and asked my doctor what had happened to me. He told her everything he knew, that some people had found me drowning, stuck under something, they think, and had pulled me up out of the water and rushed me over here. Her eyes widened in horror and she turned to me, He was stuck? she asked. I nodded, trying to make my hands steady so she could make out my words, Yes, under a rock, he was pinned down. I was trapped, too, but only my legs were pinned down, and they pushed the rock off me and pulled me up. The woman's eyes were full of water now, and her hands shook, too, though less than mine, as she motioned, Away from him. I nodded, biting my tongue so hard I tasted blood in my mouth as I pushed down the screams trying to erupt from my throat. The woman turned to my doctor and said to him, "She was with a boy, in the water. Her legs were pinned under a rock, and she was holding onto this boy, and the people who found her didn't see him, so they freed only her and pulled her up, away from him. She couldn't tell them, because she's mute." The doctor's eyes were filled with pain, "So he drowned."
He drowned.
And I took my teeth off of my tongue and let out my version of a bloodcurdling scream.
© 2011
In the hospital, they assumed I was crying because of the trauma, figured my strange-sounding screams were because I was so scared. That was until a doctor came in and recognized my muffled noises, the strange way my screaming seemed to be chopped off, cut short. He immediately called someone in, and she took one look at me and motioned, What's wrong? This made me sob more, and I wished with everything in me that this woman had been on that boat. They pulled me up, I motioned, my hands shaking as sobs moved through my body, they saved me, but they pulled me away from him.
From who? she motioned, her eyebrows furrowed. I knew it wasn't likely she would recognize the sign for Ames's name, so I motioned, My boyfriend. She looked confused, and she turned and asked my doctor what had happened to me. He told her everything he knew, that some people had found me drowning, stuck under something, they think, and had pulled me up out of the water and rushed me over here. Her eyes widened in horror and she turned to me, He was stuck? she asked. I nodded, trying to make my hands steady so she could make out my words, Yes, under a rock, he was pinned down. I was trapped, too, but only my legs were pinned down, and they pushed the rock off me and pulled me up. The woman's eyes were full of water now, and her hands shook, too, though less than mine, as she motioned, Away from him. I nodded, biting my tongue so hard I tasted blood in my mouth as I pushed down the screams trying to erupt from my throat. The woman turned to my doctor and said to him, "She was with a boy, in the water. Her legs were pinned under a rock, and she was holding onto this boy, and the people who found her didn't see him, so they freed only her and pulled her up, away from him. She couldn't tell them, because she's mute." The doctor's eyes were filled with pain, "So he drowned."
He drowned.
And I took my teeth off of my tongue and let out my version of a bloodcurdling scream.
© 2011
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