The Color of Love (The Color of Heaven Series) (14 page)

Together, they swam in my direction again, picking up speed, just like before, and by doing so, they created another wave that swept my raft right up onto a flat section of the iceberg.

Feeling threatened by these giant creatures—not knowing their minds or their intent—and without taking time to think about it, I hopped off my broken raft and scrambled up to where the ice was dry. For many minutes I stood there motionless, staring.

The whales continued to frolic, and created another wave that splashed up onto the berg. Suddenly, my raft was taken away, along with my backpack and all my food and supplies.

“No!” I shouted, lurching forward to try and catch it, but the waves were still crashing up onto the ice. I had to scramble backwards or risk getting washed away as well.

Oh, Lord, what had I done? Why hadn’t I tried to secure it? All I could do was watch in horror as it floated farther and farther away.

Then, to my surprise, water seeped up through the cracks in the floor of my raft, filling it like a bowl, and it sank into the sea.

Oh, My God…

The next thing I knew I was half way up the slope of ice, using both axes from my belt to help me climb.

I wasn’t wearing crampons, so I have no idea how I made it to the top. Superhuman strength fueled by fear, perhaps?

o0o

By nightfall I was sitting on top of the iceberg, which was as tall as a three-story building. Hugging my knees to my chest, I watched the sun set over the horizon.

All my belongings were gone. My raft had sunk and I had no food.

At least now I was surrounded by an unlimited supply of fresh water—because that’s what icebergs were made of. All I had to do was chip away at my floating island any time I felt thirsty.

But how long could I go without food and warmth?

Food…

Maybe five days? At most, a week.

Warmth?

Not nearly that long.

So there it was.

My fate was sealed. Survival was out of my hands now, for all I had in my possession was what I carried in my pockets and the two axes hooked on the belt of Seth’s old jacket.

I took a deep breath, then slowly, achingly, I let go of myself, lay back and stretched out on the ice to look up at the stars.

Billions of them.

What a night. So clear and magically celestial under a gigantic full moon while its light glistened on the surface of the calm water below.

It was so impossibly beautiful, it moved me to tears.

God, if you can hear me, I give up. If you want to take me now, you can, and if this was your plan all along, I’m sorry for fighting so hard against you. I just really wanted to go home.

How quiet it was on top of the iceberg. I never knew such silence.

And so I surrendered to the situation and I floated.

The sun went down, I closed my eyes, and I floated. Far, far away.

Contact

Chapter Forty-one

Carla

I should have known it would be a strange night when the power went out mere seconds before the telephone rang.

Kaleigh was in her bedroom practicing her guitar and I was sitting on the sofa watching a repeat episode of
How I Met Your Mother
. Suddenly everything went black and the TV went
pop
before shutting down.

Kaleigh called out to me. “
Mom!
”

“It’s just the power!” I called back. “I’m getting a flashlight!”

Her door flew open. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the living room,” I replied in a calm voice as I felt my way along the wall toward the junk drawer in the kitchen.

I pulled it open, dug around until I found the flashlight, turned it on and handed it to Kaleigh. “Here, use this.” Then I crossed the kitchen to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Carla Matthews?”

The voice on the other end sounded far away, as if it was a bad connection.

“Yes, this is she.”

There was a brief pause. “Hi. My name is Donna Fisher and I’m a nurse calling from St. Agnes Hospital in Newfoundland, Canada. Are you the wife of Seth Jameson?”

My chest constricted with panic and dread. Instinctively, I turned my back on Kaleigh, wanting to shield her from whatever news was about to befall us—at least until I had a chance to deal with it myself.

“Yes, that’s me,” I replied.

Another pause. “Well… I have good news and not so good news,” she said. “The good news is that a man was brought into the hospital this afternoon and we believe he might be your missing husband.”

Her words reverberated inside my brain and I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
“What?”

“He was discovered this morning on top of an iceberg,” Donna continued, “floating in the ocean north of here, but we have no idea how he came to be there. He was spotted by a crew member on a container ship passing through the area, and it’s a miracle they saw him. They had quite a time getting to him.”

“Oh, My God,” I replied, laying a hand on my chest and turning to face Kaleigh who was staring at me with wide eyes.

“He was rescued and brought in by helicopter,” Donna explained, “but I have to warn you, he’s not doing so well. We have no idea how long he was out there. He was unresponsive when they reached him and he hasn’t regained consciousness.”

I was having a hard time comprehending all of this. I didn’t know what to do. “But he’s alive?” I asked.

“Yes, but severely hypothermic and malnourished. We understand he was involved in a plane crash a year ago?”

“That’s right.”

She paused again. “I can’t believe he survived all this time. It truly is a miracle.”

There was that word again.

I felt Kaleigh’s hand on my arm. “What is it, Mom?” she asked. “What’s happening?”

I held her tightly in my gaze. My heart felt like it was going to explode. “It’s unbelievable. They found your father.”

In that moment, the lights came back on.

Chapter Forty-two

As soon as I hung up the phone and explained the particulars to Kaleigh, I immediately called Gladys and told her everything I knew.

She wept uncontrollably and asked when Seth would be able to come home. I told her they didn’t want to move him yet. She asked if I would travel to Newfoundland.

“Of course I’m going,” I replied, feeling a sense of urgency that made me want to run out the door that very second. “As soon as we hang up I’ll see about booking a flight first thing in the morning.”

“I want to go with you,” she said. “I need to see him.”

I hesitated. “I understand, but you’ll have to prepare yourself. It won’t be easy. He’s not conscious and they said he looks like a mountain man—he’s quite emaciated. Almost unrecognizable. I’m sure they’ll have him cleaned up by the time we get there, but it’ll be difficult to see him like that, Gladys.”

I couldn’t bear the thought of it myself. Every time I imagined what he must have gone through, tears filled my eyes and my legs turned to jelly.

“I don’t care,” she sobbed. “I just want to hold my son’s hand.”

“Me, too,” I replied. Then I reached for a tissue and wiped my eyes. “But we have to be strong. This is good news. We should hang up so I can get us booked on a flight. I’ll call you back as soon as I have things worked out. Stay by the phone.”

“I will,” she replied.

I ended the call and turned to meet Kaleigh’s intense gaze. “Can I come?” she asked.

This was not an easy moment. I wasn’t sure if my twelve-year-old daughter could handle it.

What if Seth d
oes
n’t survive? I thought.
What if, by the time we get there, he is already gone?

A terrible heaviness settled into my heart.

“Yes, you can come,” I replied even though I worried about what we might have to endure. I held out my arms and pulled her into my embrace.

o0o

It didn’t take long for me to go online and book three early morning flights out of Boston. I did this without even asking for time off at the bank and had to call my supervisor immediately afterward. Thank heavens she was understanding and told me to take all the time I needed.

It was not until I went into my room to pack a bag that I realized I hadn’t spoken to Josh yet.

My stomach rolled over with uncertainty and I sank onto the edge of my bed. For a long while I sat with my hand over my mouth.

Josh and I had been seeing each other for almost three months now, and things were getting serious. I adored his family, and they adored me, and I’d even gone so far as to introduce him to Kaleigh.

Kaleigh liked him well enough and didn’t openly object to my dating him, but she was sometimes withdrawn around him, which I supposed wasn’t unusual for a girl her age. She’d often retreat into her room to play guitar and listen to music when he came over.

But Dear Lord, how was I supposed to handle this? Seth was my husband—Kaleigh’s biological father—and I couldn’t imagine what he had endured over the past year.

The nurse told me that all he had in his possession besides the clothes on his back were two climbing axes, a journal, his compass and wallet, which included a dog-eared picture of me.

“It was probably what kept him going all that time,” she had said. “You were his angel.”

I leaned forward on the bed and covered my face with both hands.
Oh, God, Seth. I’m so sorry
.

But sorry for what, exactly?

For everything he’d been through? For accepting that he was dead when he wasn’t? For letting them call off the search too soon?

Or was I sorry for falling in love with another man?

Chapter Forty-three

I checked in on Kaleigh and found her lying on her bed listening to music with her ear buds in, so I decided it was as good a time as any to call Josh.

“Hey,” he said, answering right away. “Great timing. I just finished my shift.”

“Are you still at the station?” I asked, inching back against the headboard of my bed.

“Yeah, but I’m getting in my car to head home.” The remote car door lock beeped and I heard the sound of the door opening and closing. “What’s up?”

Relieved that he was alone, I gave him a moment to settle in. “I have some news and it’s pretty big,” I said. “Are you sitting down?”

“I am,” he replied. “Should I buckle in?”

“Maybe. Gosh, I don’t even know where to begin.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “A little while ago I received a phone call from a nurse in a hospital in Newfoundland, Canada. She said they found a man floating on an iceberg in the middle of the ocean and they’re pretty sure it’s Seth.”

“Oh my God,” Josh said. “On an iceberg? How is that even possible? Is he alive?”

“Barely,” I replied. “She said he was unresponsive when they got to him and he hasn’t regained consciousness. He’s on life support.”

“I’m so sorry,” Josh said. “Jesus. Is there a prognosis? Do they know if he’ll make it?”

“They couldn’t say. It’s very much touch and go. She suggested that we pray. A lot.”

“Of course we will,” Josh said. “But I can’t believe it. It’s been over a year. How did he survive all that time?”

“If anyone could survive in the north, it would be Seth,” I replied. “Don’t forget, he climbed Everest five times.”

“The guy must be super human.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said with a sigh. “You’d think someone who was super human would be able to do it all, but he never could. Oh, God, I can’t believe I just said that. Today of all days.”

Josh spoke in a gentle tone. “Clearly the two of you still have some issues to work out.”

Did we
? I wondered uncertainly, because over the past year I’d finally felt like I’d accepted that we were completely done, that we were never meant to be man and wife—never true mates for life.

But now…

“What are you going to do?” Josh asked. “Will you go and see him?”

“I have to,” I replied. “I’m his wife and he’s going to need help. I can’t just abandon him. Not after everything he’s been through.”

Neither of us said anything for a moment. Then at last Josh spoke.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered into the phone.

I felt the warmth of his voice in my ear.

“I don’t want to lose you either,” I replied. “And I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe we’ll get there and…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“But you have to go,” he said. “I understand, and I want you to know that I’m here for you, Carla. No matter what.”

Relief poured through me and my eyes fell closed. “Thank you, Josh. You’re an amazing man.”

He asked what time my flight was leaving in the morning, wished me luck, and asked me to keep him posted. I promised I would. Then we hung up and I turned over onto my side and hugged the pillow under my head.

o0o