helicopter, that will be a big help. Do you have much power in your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll keep you on the line.”
He held his hand to Caroline’s chest, feeling her heartbeat. What happened to Eva and Suzie?
He felt helpless and alone. All he could do was kneel there, waiting for the medics to arrive.
-- --
It felt like hours passed as he watched over Caroline. Her face was blank and cold and she made no movements. “Are they almost here?” he asked the 911 phone operator.
“Yes, you should see them soon. Has there been any change in her?”
“No. She’s the same.” The distant sound of a helicopter came to him over the sound of crashing waves. He turned to see it flying in his direction over Avon. “I see them,” he said, putting the phone in his pocket and pulling off his shirt. He pumped it in the air above him and the aircraft veered in his direction.
Wind from the helicopter’s blades beat against him as it descended, landing on a stretch of barren beach nearby. Its blades did not stop as medics with a transport board jumped out, running across the beach in his direction.
“Stand back!” one of the men called to him as they approached.
They checked her vitals and her limbs before hefting her limp body onto the board and turning to him. “Come with us! Normally we wouldn’t take you, but there is no knowing when you’ll be able to get out of here by car again!”
“Alright, I’m coming!” He didn’t hesitate. Disbelief and fear were taking hold of his body.
“Hold your head down and watch out for the blades!”
The medics reached the helicopter first and hefted Caroline in. Air rushed around him as he ducked, running and then leaping up into the aircraft.
“Get back!” a medic instructed him before sliding and locking the door in place. “We’re going to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City. Buckle yourself in. It could be a rough ride.”
“She was with her mom and aunt,” he spoke in a haze as he watched the beach drop away below them. “We need to look for them.”
“Benjamin, is it? We’ll send out a call when we get her safely to the hospital, but we have no way of knowing where they are. Hopefully they’re safe somewhere, but we’re medics, not the coastguard.”
He watched as they checked Caroline’s vitals and worked frantically around her. He took his phone from his pocket and saw the 911 operator was no longer on the line.
Ben realized the full scope of the destruction as the helicopter left Avon behind. Avon was mostly intact, but as he looked down the group of islands he could see Rodanthe and a stretch of water where he knew a large group of houses used to be. The ocean had taken a chunk out of Rodanthe’s end.
-- --
Beneath the ocean, far out from Rodanthe’s shore, was a submerged van. Flowing sand and kelp along the ocean floor consumed it through its broken windows. Suzie’s body floated limply in the vehicle’s shell.
17
A coma? Ben watched the doctor as he walked down the hall and out of sight. He hadn’t expected that. She was going to be alright, maybe some nursing would be needed, but she’d be alright. That was what he had thought. A coma. He couldn’t get his mind around reality.
Nurses rushed past the waiting area pushing a man on a stretcher.
He had to get up, to breathe. What did he do from here? He still hadn’t been able to reach Eva or Suzie to tell them he found Caroline. He dreaded the thought of them being buried beneath the sea. What happened to you? he thought while opening a glass door and walking out on the hospital’s patio. A smoker in a wheelchair puffed away in the corner of the area. The sky was cloudless and the warm sun covered his body. Why didn’t you save her, God? Why did you allow this to happen to her?
Maybe she would come out of the coma. Maybe Eva and Suzie were still alive. God didn’t answer, but right now Ben wasn’t sure he had the faith to listen.
As he walked back inside, he knew he had to go and be with her, even if he didn’t know what he could do from here. The nurses directed him to her room, though they said it was normally against protocol, and he was soon at its door and ready to go in.
The doorknob was heavy and cold as he turned it. The smell of sterilizer and staleness permeated the room.
Mental pain seared through him and tears flowed from his eyes as he went to her, holding her hand and looking at her still form. Oxygen tubes connected to her nose to help her breathe.
Beep beep… Beep beep, the monitor on the wall steadily sounded.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say to bring you back. If I had only persuaded you to stay…” Tears flowed down his cheeks and he looked away, out the window into the sun. His chest heaved with sorrow. He was almost too ashamed to be here. It’s my fault, he thought, closing his eyes. I should have said something.
Words Mason had spoken to him when they spoke on the phone hours before, came to him. “You couldn’t have known. What if our house had been taken down by a wave and we all had been inside?”
But it wasn’t. Ben forced himself to open his eyes and wipe the tears away, to look into her face. “I failed you. I am so sorry. I’d do anything to get you back.” There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. He fully realized the horror of what had happened as he watched her. “I’ll stay by your side until you come out of this. You will wake up.” He kissed her hand, a teardrop landing on her scarred flesh as he lifted his head once more.
Hours passed. He didn’t leave her side until a nurse came in the room and made him go.
He stopped in the doorway, turning to look back at the beautiful girl who was so far from him now.
“I love you,” he told her.
The long hall led him back down to the waiting room. The night sky consumed the windows beyond it, but no stars or moon could be seen in the sky.
18
Darkness.
Silence.
Nothing.
There was a void around her, without light or sound.
A heaviness weighed on her soul as she grasped for something. What? Who was she? What had happened to her?
She hovered in the darkness, stretching her consciousness, but unable to see. Water… there had been water around her moments before.
Beep beep… Beep beep… a noise echoed from somewhere far away. Cold consumed her. Then, in the distance, she saw a light.
“Hello?” she called out with her thoughts. “Can you help me?”
There was no response, and the light dimmed and turned to black once more.
Then, through the cold, came warmth. It came to her slowly at first, then wrapped and embraced her. There was a familiar voice, and words she could not fully hear or understand. But something was there with her, encouraging her to keep looking for who she was, to understand what was going on around her.
“Who are you? Where am I?” she asked the voice. There was no response.
A great distance of time passed as she remained there in that darkness and warmth. Then the warmth faded, leaving her cold and alone in the nothing. “No, don’t leave.”
As soon as she had spoken, something came through to her, a man’s voice.
“I love you.”
She knew that voice. Who was it? It gave her hope.
Then, just as quickly, it was gone.
19
Ben felt as if he were buried, beneath the earth and unable to move. Darkness blanketed him. His heart raced as he tried to break free of whatever held him down.
No! No! I need to go to her! I need to get to Caroline!
With every movement of muscle, he felt more helpless and confined.
“Sir,” a female voice broke into his dream. “Sir, are you alright?”
Light flooded in around him as his heart raced. A nurse’s face came to shape before him. The waiting room’s lights hurt his eyes. It had all been a horrible dream, and yet he saw he was in the hospital and knew it was still real. His palms we
re sweaty.
The nurse smiled. “You’ve been here all night. You should really go home and get some sleep. Hopefully she’ll come out of the coma soon, but stressing yourself out and staying in our guest area won’t make things better any quicker. Besides, her father should be here soon.”
“Her father?” Ben rubbed his eyes.
“Yes, we called Mr. Lilly after she arrived. We still haven’t been able to get hold of her mother.”
How did they get his number? Ben wondered. I don’t even have that. He supposed they could have looked it up with her ID.
The nurse took a step away. “I have to go, but if you’d like a cup of coffee, the coffee maker is over there.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t drink coffee, but was thankful for the kindness the nurse shown him. He did go over and fill up a cup of water, taking a jelly donut from the coffee table for his breakfast. The donut was delicious, waking him up with its strawberry jelly and granules of sugar.
It’s a small thing, he thought. But sometimes the small things can help lift you away from the big things.
He took a moment to close his eyes and think. He hadn’t seriously prayed to God for a good while. He needed to, he realized. I don’t want to. I’m bitter with you, he spoke to the Lord. But I know that I need you, now more than ever.
Dear God, why have you done this? I prayed to you, asking for her safety. She has done nothing to deserve this. A tear flowed down his face. She… we have been through so much. When can it be enough? Ben took a deep breath, trying to hold down the hurt in his stomach and in his soul. Heal her, please. She is such a wonderful person. I love her. I’ll give anything to have her back.