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Is there a point at which I should consider swimming back to the island? I don’t know if I’d even make it, but if it’s my only chance to survive… I can’t stay out here for long. At night the temperature will drop; I’ll contract hypothermia. I have a good twelve hours until then. Can I tread water that long, in this state? What if Jamison couldn’t accomplish part three of my plan? If Anton was paying too close attention…
I could ask these questions until the moment I die of exposure, but I’d rather think about Kate and the life we could have had. For a few hours, I live in a world where I never got Joseph Wilson fired from my father’s factory. Anton and I stayed friends, even as our fathers’ personal failures taught us harsh lessons about the world. My father still loses his factory; Joseph Wilson loses his job and turns to alcohol, but Simon and I see them through the hard times.
Eventually, we start a business together. We’re massively successful, and as a result we meet a very talented and blisteringly hot reporter. She’s doing a story about us for LPN.
Kate and I hit it off. There’s nothing to keep us apart — no enemies trying to kill us, or forcing her to destroy her career. We live to old age together, leaving behind a family and a legacy…
Some of that is still possible!
My strength ebbs as the sun descends. Every time I look around at the open water I see shark fins, though they could be delusions. I’m past the point of knowing what’s real. Even the instinct urging me to keep swimming succumbs to fatigue; the call for rest consumes all.
So when a life preserver splashes in the water in front of me, I don’t comprehend at first what’s happening.
“Ingram! Grab it!”
Eyal! Boat!
I was in another world; I didn’t hear the blue speedboat approach. Is it real? Am I hallucinating?
Whatever.
I take hold of the float and let Eyal, Henrik and Stanislaw pull me in.
“He’s in bad shape.”
“Go. Get us out of here.”
“Eyal,” I rasp.
“Quiet, boss. Save your strength.”
“Tell them… to leave in… the bullet,” I mutter.
He nods.
I’m coming, Kate. It won’t be as soon as it should be, but I’m coming.
