Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

It was Jack’s intention to get the girl downstairs to the doctor before eight-o-clock when her condition would take an irreversible turn for the worse. Jack knew that once the little girl started tearing into people and snarling like an animal, there would not be a doctor in the world that could help her. He needed to get her to the medical bay before that happened. The only thing standing in his way was getting her parents to comply. Jack knew it would be a task easier said than done.

I guess if I fail, I can just try again tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next…

Jack was not without a plan, however. He stood up from his table and downed the last of his beverage. Then he headed over to the family at their table. They looked up at him as he approached and seemed immediately distrustful.

Jack wore his most reassuring smile which he had perfected during years on the police force. It was something he relied on to calm people down more than anything else he had at his disposal. It worked, and the family loosened up as he got closer. Jack knew he would still have a challenge on his hands though.

“Hey, there,” he said in a friendly voice. “I’m sorry to come over like this, but I’m a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. I couldn’t help but notice how poorly your little angel looks.”

The mother looked up at Jack and seemed on the verge of tears. It was obvious the woman was feeling under the weather as well, but her concern was only for her daughter. “She’s been ill since she woke up this morning. The doctor said she just has a cold but…I’m beginning to worry.”


Jack nodded as if he knew exactly how she was feeling. He’d never had children himself so he didn’t know what a parent’s concern felt like, but he could at least imagine it. “Well,” he said, making sure to look both the father and the worried mother in the eyes. “Why don’t we take her back down to the medical bay again? We can get the doctor to have another look at her.”

The mother’s eyes widened and she seemed alarmed. “Oh, God, you think there’s something wrong with her, don’t you?”

Jack held his hands up and shook his head. “She’s fine, I’m sure. But it’s obvious that she’s suffering, so we should go see what the doctor can do to help her.”

“Why, might I ask, are you so interested?” asked the father in a clipped, Scottish accent. Despite his accent, his speech was very prim and proper, in stark contrast to the casual idiom used by his wife. His age was also at least fifteen years her senior. He was perhaps mid-fifties.

Jack answered quickly. “It’s my job. I don’t stop caring about public health just because I’m on holiday.”

The father seemed to mull this over, eventually saying, “Okay then. Come on, Vicky. Let’s take her down.”

The mother handed her daughter to her husband and stood up on shaky legs. Jack reached out to steady her, but she shrugged him away and told him she was fine. Together the family followed after Jack as he led them back down to C Deck via the elevators on Broadway. When they reached the medical bay, it was dimly lit and deserted.

“I don’t think the Doctor works at night,” said Vicky, sounding worried.

“He’ll be on call,” said the husband. “There’ll be some way to contact him.”

“There is,” said Jack, pointing.“Look!”

In the waiting room there was a notice on the wall. It read, CALL FOR DOCTOR. Jack located a small red button beneath the notice and stabbed at it with his finger.

Five minutes later, the same doctor he had spoken to earlier arrived from one of the staff areas. He looked sleepy, but was still well presented in his white lab coat. “Yes?” he asked, seeming to recognise all of them but not quite able to recall why.

“Our daughter needs help,” said Vicky.

“This man here is a nurse,” said her husband, pointing to Jack.

The doctor shook his head. “No, he is not. He told me that he was a police officer.”

So he does remember me, thought Jack, cringing at the position he was now in.

“What?” The husband sounded furious and his demeanour and stance changed to one of capable intent. Jack knew then that the older man was ex-army. From the tone alone it was obvious.

“Oh, God, Ivor,” Vicky whimpered. “Who is this man?”