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Growing up, my parents signed me up for every swimming class, water sport, or water-related activity they could find. My favorite summer recreational activity was when I was sixteen and I volunteered at a local marina in San Diego. For the entire summer, I worked and played with sea turtles, dolphins, and every fish I could imagine. Going scuba diving and seeing these miraculous creatures in their own habitat fueled my desire to learn more. The mysterious wonder of such a magical place enthralled me. I absorbed it all, craving to learn more, needing it as much as I needed air to breathe.
Then I met him.
The love of my life.
One moment, the ocean consumed my mind, then he arrived like a tempest, pulling me into his tumultuous storm. With our first kiss, I found myself submerged in a vast ocean where he held all the power. Then, not long after, we created our little tsunami.
There was no Largo without Caleb.
In those early days we weathered every storm life threw at us, together. Life wasn’t easy by any means, but we made it work. When our daughter was born, everything changed.
But life didn’t work out the way we planned.
Nothing ever did.
I wanted to be anywhere else but where I was.
I wanted to call Caleb and tell him everything. He deserved to know the truth. After all these years, it was the right thing to do.
Instead, I fought the urge, knowing if I told anyone, they would come for him too.
Only it wasn’t just him anymore.
He had our daughter.
My father told me to leave her with Caleb, but I couldn’t in the beginning. She was my baby. It was bad enough that I was leaving the only man I ever loved, but to walk away from our baby girl, that was an impossible feat I couldn’t do. She was the only thing that gave me the courage to wake every morning and continue to live.
She was my saving grace.
My angel in the darkness.
I thought we were all safe. Dad said we were. He had never lied to me before. So, I believed him. I went and lived my life not knowing that in the dark depths of the ocean lurked a monster, waiting, watching. I should have known better. I knew no amount of hiding would ever stop the monster from finding us.
Now, it was just me left to fight, and I wasn’t sure I could.
Watching as the last rays of the sun fell over the horizon, I got to my feet and looked at my phone.
It was time.
I’d put it off long enough.
Getting back in my car, I wondered if things would have been different if I had chosen college instead of Caleb.
My brother did. Though that choice didn’t protect him.
Hindsight was twenty-twenty.
I couldn’t change the past.
I could only move forward.
Damn the torpedoes... full speed ahead and all that crap.
The drive from the harbor to St. John’s Presbyterian Hospital in downtown Manhattan took longer thanks to the nightlife. Traffic was crazy at night because of all the clubs, bars,restaurants and theaters that the citizens of The Big Apple frequented. When they say New York City was the city that never sleeps, they mean it.
I didn’t mind the delay.
I wasn’t in a rush.
