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I eat a few bites of the breakfast provided on a tray and take a shower. Then it’s into fresh swim trunks and a T-shirt to look casual and relaxed for the last day of the cruise. I told Sarah to move forward with the formal evening tonight. We should celebrate.
Dr. Jarvis stops by right as I’m about to leave, his hands rubbing his short gray beard. “How are you feeling?”
I step back to let him inside the room. “I feel all right. Food went down fine. The shower was a huge relief.”
“I bet.” He takes me in. “You look good. Things to watch for would be any intestinal trouble. A cough. Did you get sunburned?”
I hold out my arms. “Maybe a little. But nothing too bad.”
“All right.” He claps my back. “My number is in the directory. Call if you have any concerns.”
He’s about to go, but I say, “How was Bailey?”
“Seemed fine.”
“And her arm?”
“No sign of infection. I’ll check her again before you all disembark in the morning.”
“Good.” I hesitate. “And did she seem all right, otherwise?”
His bushy gray eyebrows lift. “What do you mean?”
“Emotionally. She was okay?”
Dr. Jarvis brushes his beard with the back of his knuckles. “She might have been subdued. Hard to say, since I don’t know her. But not distraught. You might check in on her, though. Tough thing, getting stranded like that.”
Now he’s the one who hesitates. “Did something happen we should know about?”
“No, no. We were good together.” I quickly add, “Gathering firewood, things like that.” I’m rambling.
Dr. Jarvis watches me for a moment. “Well, if you have something you need to let me know about, give me a call.” He waits a beat longer. “All right then.”
This time, I open the door and let him go. I don’t know what I was after. Maybe seeing if Bailey was feeling regret? Upset?
If she was, she hid it, at least for Dr. Jarvis.
And Gloria, of course. I don’t think Bailey would let Gloria see anything she was feeling.
I tuck the keycard into my pocket and head down the hall. Dr. Jarvis is still walking away, whistling.
I don’t know which room is Bailey’s, and our phones don’t have a signal on the water for me to contact her. I’ll have to ask the crew where she is. But for now, I have to parade myself on the deck.
When I arrive at the pool, a great cheer goes up.
That was unexpected.
Then, I’m surrounded. Everyone wants to shake my hand and clap me on the back, like I’m a celebrity or a hero.
“Hell of a thing, Rhett.”
“You don’t look like you got stranded on a deserted island!”
“Did you find a way to work, anyway?”
“Did you have to eat raw fish to survive?”
No one asks about Bailey, but I catch Gloria watching me from a chair near the hot tub. She doesn’t look pleased, and I wonder if Bailey told her anything. Surely our relationship on the beach is of no concern to HR.
