I hope my words aren’t rude. He seems like a nice guy—but shoving money at us? Something doesn’t seem right.
Devon nods to both Leah and me from the threshold. “Mateo, our deck hand will escort you back to shore. My presence is needed elsewhere. Good luck, ladies.” We thank him again for his hospitality, which he accepts, and then close the door as he leaves us so we can change.
With my back to the door, I lean against it and throw Leah her clothes. “Get dressed quick. We are getting off this boat as soon as possible.”
Waking up in our hotel bed this morning was pure bliss. Leah let me sleep in and didn’t try to throw me out in search of our next adventure.
It’s probably because we have no money.
Gah.
Yesterday wasn’t a dream.
You know that moment, the morning after a horrible event, when you wake up and for a split second you wonder if everything that happened the day before was all just a horrible dream? Well, that was me ten seconds ago.
Now, I’m slamming my face into the pillow at the realization that I dropped my purse into the Mediterranean.
I roll over and let my arms splay out on the bed, taking in our current predicament. Our passports will be delivered sometime today, so Leah and I will be able to return home from our honeymoon, or sisters sabbatical, or whatever you want to call this. Leah was able to FaceTime with Adam using her iPad so her knight in shining armor is taking care of wiring us cash. How that is getting to us, I have no idea.
Last night wasn’t a complete bust. Since our hotel room is hooked up to a credit card, we ordered room service and a bottle of wine. The crazy thing was, while I was expecting Leah to ream into me for losing our things, she didn’t. It’s like she’s afraid I’m going to break. Instead, she went on and on about how we fell in the water and she filled me in on all the details I missed.
Apparently, when I let go of Leah’s hand, I fell backward into the water and smacked my head on the small wooden boat we were supposed to board. My falling caused Leah, who was already leaning over to try and catch me, to fall over too. She said she was back on our boat rather quickly, and when she turned around to help me out, I wasn’t there.
Her face went so pale as she told the story I had to reach over and grab her hand. She said she started screaming that her sister was drowning and no one did anything. She was just about to jump in the water herself when a man, Devon, came up for air, with me in tow, tugging me back to a boat that was away from her.
Leah didn’t even see Devon dive into the water. She said he must have done it as soon as I fell in. That also means he was under the water for a long time looking for me.
I remember hitting my head. Or shall I say, I remember the pain. First, the pain was in my hand from when I grabbed on to Leah. Then I felt like I was kicked in the cranium.
The water was murky so I didn’t know if I was blacking out or just having a hard time seeing through the haze in the water. When Devon put his arms around me, I was floating lifelessly. He made it seem so easy, the way he grabbed me and lifted me up and out of that water. That breath of air I took, breaking the surface, was long, deep and so desperately needed. I must have been on some adrenalin rush because, until then, I didn’t even know I couldn’t breathe.
Leah kept on telling me how I was the strongest person she ever met. In return, I kept on drinking.
Luckily, today’s hangover is nonexistent, thanks to Leah letting me sleep it off.
I lift myself up and look around the room. The curtains to the glass door are pushed open, which means Leah must have gone out for a walk. Looking at the space at the foot of the door I see Leah’s shoes she wore yesterday and the slippers I wore home. Shoeless Emma chose to wear them instead of hobbling on one Top-Sider.
Shame. I loved those shoes.