Matt de la Peña - The Living

They both turned when they heard people walking across the marble floor. It was Christian and two men Shy didn’t recognize.

Christian stopped suddenly. “Shy? Is that you?”

Shy nodded, surprised at how emotional he felt seeing someone who’d been with him on the raft.

“Jesus, man! I’m so happy to see you!” Christian hurried across the lobby toward them, gave Shy a quick hug, then hugged Addie, too. “How’d you guys get here? We didn’t think anyone else survived.”

“Shoe found us,” Shy told him. “In the middle of the night. We thought it was over.”

“Shoeshine. Of course. Man, thank God you guys are okay.”

“They’re more than okay,” one of the men said, stepping forward. He had a long, dark beard and a receding hairline. “How would you feel if I told you you’re going home? Tonight?”

“Tonight?” Shy said. “Are you serious?”

“That’s right,” the shorter man said. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops. “We’re departing just after the sun sets.”

The man with the beard smiled and held out his hand to Shy. “I’m Greg Walker, and I’m in charge of the research expedition. This is my head assistant, Connor Simms.”

Shy gave his name and shook hands with both men. Addie did the same.

“You two showed up just in time,” Greg continued. “We were sent here to study the tsunamis’ effects on the sea life just off the coast of the island. But that went out the window when we found all the survivors here. Our mission now is to get you back home to your families.”

Shy squeezed Addie’s arm. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.

She smiled back at him and nodded, but she seemed to be swaying a little, too. Shy gripped her elbow, trying to steady her.

“What about California, though?” he asked the two men. “Isn’t it messed up really bad?”

“There’s a lot of damage,” the shorter man, Connor, said. “It’s terrible. But the entire country has come to the aid of all the western states affected. You’d be amazed how much people are coming together.”

“They said the death count wasn’t quite as high as the media originally reported,” Christian added. “All we can do is pray that our families and friends are okay.”

Greg slapped Shy on the shoulder Shoeshine had just stuck the syringe into. “We’ll be explaining everything in a few hours over lunch. One-thirty, if you’re near someone with a watch. Go get some rest. We’ll make sure everyone knows when it’s time to gather in the restaurant. I’ll be going over all the logistics of our departure.”

“You’re safe now,” Connor said.

Greg nodded. “And we’re thrilled to be bringing two more home with us.”

Shy felt Addie suddenly start slipping through his grip. He caught her at the last second and lowered her to the ground. “Jesus, Addie,” he said, kneeling down to pick up her head. Her eyes were closed. “Addie? Can you hear me?”

Christian reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. He took Shy’s spot, uncapped the water and put it to her lips, saying: “Addie? Can you hear me? I need you to take a small sip of water if you can.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at Christian. She took a small sip and turned to Shy. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” Christian said. “We need to get food and water in both of you.”

Shy put his hand on her forehead. “You okay?”

“She needs rest,” Connor said. “Let’s get her into one of the bedrooms.”

Shy looked over his shoulder when he heard other people hurrying across the lobby toward them. “There are still plenty of open rooms on the first floor,” someone said.

In a few seconds, a small crowd of people had converged around Shy, Addie and Christian—everyone shouting advice and asking how they’d made it out of the ocean alive. Shy looked up at all of them, recognizing a few of the faces from the cruise ship.

And then, near the back of the group, he saw the face he’d been imagining since the moment the ship went down and he’d found himself alone in the dark ocean.

Carmen.

Shy, Christian and a few others, including both researchers, helped get Addie into the closest unclaimed room, 117, and laid her on the perfectly made up king-sized bed.

“She needs air,” someone said.

“And something to eat,” another person said. “Look at her.”

Shy watched them all swarming around Addie’s bed, but he kept checking the door, too. His heart pounding. Carmen hadn’t come into the room yet. She had to be waiting for him in the lobby.

“She’ll be able to rest all the way back to California,” one of the researchers said.

An older woman told someone to go get Addie a change of clothes.

“Is my dad here?” Addie mumbled.

“Who’s your dad?” the older woman asked.

“Jim Miller. He’s tall with gray hair. He worked on the island.”

“You rest for now, honey,” the woman said. “I’ll go ask around, see what I can find out.”

The two researchers backed away from the bed and left the room after the woman.

Shy and Christian remained with one other woman as everyone else began filing out. Christian looked into Addie’s eyes and ears with a tiny doctor flashlight, then he listened to her heart with a stethoscope. Shy watched, torn between making sure Addie was okay and going in search of Carmen.

“Shy?” Addie said, looking up from the bed.

“I’m here,” he answered.

She let her head fall back onto the pillow. “God, I don’t even know what happened to me.”

“You’ve been on the ocean for five days,” Christian said. “Both of you.” He turned to the woman next to him. “Mary, would you go to the restaurant and get some bottles of water and fruit.”

“Right away,” she said, and she hurried out of the room.

“You need to rest, too,” Christian said to Shy. “Go to one eighteen, across the hall. I’ll come see you next.”

“Okay,” Shy told him, but there was no way he was doing anything until he saw Carmen. “You feeling a little better?” he asked Addie, squeezing her foot.

“I think so,” she said.

Shy nodded as Christian began asking her questions.

When two women came in carrying a change of clothes for Addie, Shy slipped out of the room.

The second he walked into the lobby he spotted Carmen, who motioned for him to follow her.

As he moved across the marble floor, though, toward the doors, a few other survivors from the cruise ship approached him. Word had gotten out that he and Addie had been rescued, and they marveled at how long Shy had survived at sea.

Shy smiled and nodded at them all, but he hardly heard a word they were saying. He was too anxious to talk to Carmen, who was now standing in front of the hotel doors, waiting for him.

“Make sure you’re in the restaurant at one-thirty,” a man said. “They’re going to tell us when we can expect to be home.”

“I’ll be there,” Shy said, waving as he moved past the group.

His legs were wobbly as he followed Carmen outside the hotel and along the cobblestone path. For some reason she continued walking a few paces in front of him, like she didn’t want to start talking until they were completely alone.

They moved around the entire exterior of the hotel. Puddles everywhere, especially out back. Seaweed strung through some of the manicured bushes like tinsel. A woman wearing an oversized Raiders jersey called to him from across the lawn: “We heard about you! Thank God you were able to survive!”

“Thank you!” Shy shouted back.

They walked past others who greeted Shy the same way. Finally Carmen led him under a large gazebo where they were alone. She spun around and faced him, her head tilted a little to the side. “Shy,” she said, her face breaking into a big smile.