The Precipice (20 page)

Chapter 28

D
arkness. A muffled voice. More darkness. Elizabeth tried to open her eyes. Her lids were unusually heavy. The voice again. “Elizabeth.” It sounded familiar. “Elizabeth. You have to wake up. Elizabeth!” She managed to open her eyes slightly and moan. The sun was so bright that she closed them again. “Elizabeth! Stay with me.” She tried again. This time the man who was speaking to her was shielding her eyes. She got them open but her vision was blurry. She tried blinking and then squinting. Finally she understood who was knelt over her.

“Kurt.” Her voice was barely audible. Her mouth felt like sandpaper.

He put his arm around her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position. She groaned. “Here. Drink this.” He put a clear plastic water bottle to her lips and she drank eagerly, water dripping down her chin and onto her shirt. He pulled it back after she had taken a couple of gulps. A puzzled look crossed her face. “Not too much at once,” he explained. “We need to get you out of the sun. Let me help you up.” Without another word, he swiftly lifted her to her feet.” She was still groggy and a bit dizzy so she couldn’t support her own weight. He scooped her up in his arms, like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold, and headed up the embankment to the side of the road where his car was parked. He opened the passenger side door and carefully placed her on the seat. Once he was sure she was in safely, he closed the door. Still holding the water bottle, he quickly ran around to the driver’s side, pulling the keys out of his pocket as he went. He jumped in, revved the car to life, and turned the air conditioner to high. He turned to Elizabeth and offered her more water. He needed to get her cooled down and hydrated.

The fog in her head was starting to clear. She wasn’t exactly sure what had just happened. “How did you find me?” She remembered walking down the road but wasn’t sure how she had ended up next to it in a ditch.

“Well you didn’t exactly make it easy for us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah. When you didn’t show up at the shelter yesterday, we were all worried about you. You and Amelia. Where were you?”

Suddenly the events of the last several hours came flooding back to her. “Oh Kurt, Amelia is gone. She died in my arms last night.” She burst into tears and relayed the story of how she got locked out of her car and the inn so she sought shelter at the lighthouse, only to find her grandmother when she finally got there. Absentmindedly, she wiped her tears with her scraped and filthy hands and left streaks of dirt on her face, turning her tears to mud.

Kurt filled in the rest on his own and realized Amelia’s body was still in the lighthouse and would have to be extricated. “Alright.” He glanced at the water bottle that she was holding with both hands. “You stay put in the cool car. I’m just going to make a phone call.” He stepped out into the hot sun and pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket, closing the car door gently. He thought this conversation needed to be out of her earshot. While he waited for the person on the other end of the telephone to pick up, he leaned his back side up against the car door and used the back of his free hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. After a few seconds he stood up straight.

“Lieutenant, we’re going to need the medical examiner.”

Chapter 29

A
cool, stiff breeze was blowing in off the ocean pushing Elizabeth’s hair across her face. She watched as two men, with black, short-sleeved shirts stamped with MME on the back, loaded the stretcher into the medical examiner’s white commercial van. On it was her grandmother’s lifeless body, covered by a black cloth. A sharp pain stabbed at her stomach. Her eyes stung with tears that were welling. She didn’t think she had felt so miserable in her entire life. Amelia was gone. Forever. Elizabeth was alone for the first time ever. She felt lost….like the young girl who had been a guest at the inn and had not been found before the hurricane hit. Surely she had perished. Or had they found her? Her mind was racing with images of the events that had occurred during the past few days. The back doors of the van banged shut in succession, startling Elizabeth out of her thoughts and refocusing her on the pain of losing her dear grandmother. Dizziness crept into her head, causing her to take a step to the side to shore up her balance. As the van pulled away, her emotions completely took over. She began to sob uncontrollably. Overcome by her grief, she barely noticed the warm touch on her arm and then the tender, strong arms that wrapped around her, pulling her toward his chest. She welcomed the refuge and put her arms around him to hang on. Her whole world had fallen apart. She was desperate to hang onto whatever was left. His strong hand started to rub her back. She was completely lost in his embrace, not wanting it to end. She was glad Kurt was there. He was turning out to be one of the good guys after all.

With her sobbing under control, Elizabeth stepped back and looked into his eyes. She whispered a grateful thank you.

He nodded with a concerned look on his face. “You need some rest, Elizabeth. You’ve been through so much, and not exactly unscathed.” He glanced down at the scrapes on her battered legs. She was still barefoot. “We should get you checked out by a doctor, then let you get some much needed rest.”

“Oh, I’m alright. Don’t worry about me. Really. I’m fine….I probably could use a little sleep though. I am a little tired,” she conceded. Elizabeth took a moment to glance toward the inn. The devastation left in the wake of the hurricane was daunting. The pain in her stomach turned to nausea. Not able to take in any more, she turned away.

“I’ll give you a ride to the hotel where a bunch of us are staying in town. If there are no rooms left, you can have mine.”

“That’s really nice of you, but you—”

“I insist.”

She didn’t protest any further.

They rode in silence for the ten minute drive to a local chain hotel. Elizabeth watched as the pine trees along the road zipped past the car. It was starting to make her feel dizzy. She felt exhaustion washing over her, which she fought with everything she had left in her.

When they arrived, Kurt pulled the car into the circular drive and directly up to the double doors in front. Elizabeth decided to stay put. After the night she had just had, she was sure that she looked rather disheveled. She watched as Kurt approached the entrance to the hotel where he grasped the handle of the door on the right side and then stepped back to hold it for a young mother struggling to steer a stroller through the door while hanging onto the hand of a toddler. Elizabeth smiled slightly. Someday.

She had just enough time to start dozing off when the sound of Kurt opening the passenger door startled her awake. In his extended hand was a card key. He had been able get a room for her. She took it from him with a sigh of relief.

“I bumped into Rashelle in the lobby and she is going to stop by your room to drop off some clean clothes for you.”

Elizabeth nodded in acknowledgment. Clothes and a shower might go a long way to lift her spirits. Time would tell if any of her things were intact back at the inn. She would cross that bridge another time. Kurt took her hand to help steady her while getting out of the car. They left the car where it was parked. Kurt stayed at her side as they entered the hotel so he could be sure she got to her room safely.

Crossing the lobby, she averted her gaze from the staff at the reception desk. If they were looking her way, she could just imagine the looks on their faces. Better to just avoid the situation altogether. She set her sights on the elevators.

The ride up to the seventh floor was quiet. Thankfully no one had joined them in the elevator from the lobby and they did not have to stop on the way up to let in any other passengers. The doors opened to the antiseptic smell of cleaning supplies mixed with stale cigarettes. Kurt held onto Elizabeth’s arm as they headed down the carpeted hallway so he could guide her past two large housekeeping carts parked on opposite sides of the hall, a few feet away from each other. They were piled high with clean sheets and towels, unopened boxes of tissues, personal sized soap, and shampoo. Further down the hall was a room service tray, left over from the night before, on the floor next to one door. Kurt yanked her arm just in time before she caught a toe on a water glass that was still half full. At the end of the hall on the right was the room they were looking for. An exit sign hung from the ceiling and pointed toward the doorway across from her room. She slid the card into the slot next to her door and a small red light turned on. She sighed. She just wanted to lie down for a while. She tried three more times, losing patience with each attempt, varying how quickly she inserted the card and how long she left it in before removing it. Each time the red light appeared. She double checked the room number listed on the small cardboard folder that came with the card and looked up at the number on the door. She was so tired that she wouldn’t have been surprised if she was trying to open the wrong door. It was the right one, however. Before she could try the card again, Kurt spoke.

“Would you like me to give it a try?” he offered, trying not to offend her.

She smiled. “Sure. Thanks.” She just wanted to get inside.

Kurt slid the card in and the green light came on immediately. He stifled a grin.

Elizabeth just shook her head. “Whatever.” She was too exhausted to get annoyed. “Damn card keys.” She took the card back from him and squeezed it in her hand.

He pushed open the door and held it for her. “Give me a call once you’ve had a chance to get some sleep and we’ll grab a bite to eat. I’m in room 321.” He closed the door quietly behind her and stood for a moment in the silence of the hallway. He was obviously relieved he had found her.

Her accommodations were set up as a modest two-room suite. The door to the room opened into a sitting room with a pull-out couch, small desk on the wall across from the couch, coffee table, two end tables, and a kitchenette opposite the windows. The adjoining bedroom held a king sized bed and the bathroom. The décor was tasteful and the room was functional. She flopped on the couch in the seating area and quickly drifted off to sleep, but was awakened by the sound of Rashelle’s voice and a pounding sound. Elizabeth forgot for a moment where she was. She dragged herself from the couch and staggered to the door. Her feet had never been so sore. When she opened it, Rashelle had her right arm raised and her hand formed into a fist as though her knocking had been interrupted.

“Oh! There you are. I’ve been knocking for quite a while. Are you alright?”

Rashelle’s voice was a little too loud for her liking. Elizabeth paused for a moment and decided to ignore the question. She glanced down at the clothes tucked under her friend’s left arm and the shoes dangling from two fingers on her hand. “Thanks so much for letting me borrow more of your clothes. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I am so sorry for everything you are going through, Lizzi. I’m so sorry about Amelia…your grandmother. And sorry about the inn.” She squeezed Elizabeth’s arm with her free hand. “Oh and I thought you could use this, too.” She bent down and picked up a bottle of white wine. She must have been carrying it with her right hand and had to put it down to pound on the door.

“Thanks kiddo. You know me too well.” Elizabeth took the clothes and wine from her friend. “My cell phone isn’t working.” She patted a front pocket of her stained pants. “I’ll catch up with you somehow. I’m just going to grab a little nap and get cleaned up.” She hoped it didn’t sound like she was trying to get rid of her, but she just wanted to crash for a while.

“Sounds good. See you then.” Rashelle turned and started down the hallway toward the elevators.

Elizabeth let the door swing shut behind her. She placed the bottle on the desk on her way to take a shower. She put the borrowed clothes on the top of the toilet, dropped the shoes on the floor, and then turned around to go back out to the sitting room. She had changed her mind about the wine. A little Pinot would taste good. She rummaged through the drawers in the kitchenette looking for a corkscrew with no luck. Then she glanced at the top of the bottle and discovered it was a screw top. “Of course, it’s Australian,” glancing at the label. “They don’t seem to mind screw off tops down under. Good thinking Shelle.” She quickly twisted off the top and looked around for a glass, figuring it would probably be clear plastic and wrapped in plastic. She was pleasantly surprised to see that there were four drinking glasses and four wine glasses arranged upside down on the counter, each resting on a plain, white paper doily. She selected a wine glass and noted that it wasn’t of the finest quality, certainly not what would have been used at the inn, and not very large, but it would do. She filled it as close to the brim as possible. After placing the open bottle on the counter next to its cap, she headed to the bathroom for a nice hot shower, taking a sip from her glass as she walked.

Slipping out of her soiled clothing felt slightly cathartic. She had worn them far longer than any clothes were meant to be worn. They were so tattered and stained that the only option was going to be throwing them in the nearest trash can. Not even the local charity would want them.

While the shower was warming up, Elizabeth continued to sip her wine. It tasted better than she remembered wine ever tasting. It started to warm her inside as it trickled down. A quick glance in the mirror made her gasp. She looked worse than she had imagined. A female version of Albert Einstein. Her head started to spin again as the events of the last twelve hours started to replay in her mind. She shook her head, left her wine glass on the sink, and slipped into the warmth of the pulsating water, wincing as the water hit her cuts and scrapes.

Elizabeth turned and stood with her back to the shower, enjoying the invigorating sensation of the pulsating spray on her skin. She wanted to stand there forever, but the heat was starting to make her feel sleepy. As she started to relax, she began to think of her poor grandmother. Tears welled in her tired eyes. She grabbed onto the stabilization bar meant for handicapped guests. Her whole body started to shake as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her knees buckled and she landed in a heap in the tub. The warm water continued to rain down on her as she tried to gather herself. After several deep breaths she grabbed the bar again and pulled herself up to a standing position. She hung on until she felt comfortable standing on her own. She started to sob again, but hung onto the bar until she could pull herself together. She needed to bathe quickly and get out of the shower before she drowned herself. She washed with the little bar of soap that housekeeping had left in the soap dish, being careful to give gentle attention to the scrapes and cuts on her legs and the bump on the back of her head.

After drying herself off with a towel that the staff at the inn wouldn’t have called a bath sized towel, she slipped into Rashelle’s clothes, grateful that she and her friend were about the same size. Ignoring the shoes for the time being, she opened the bathroom door, grabbed her wine glass from the sink, and drank the last of the glass. She headed straight for the bottle in the other room and refilled her glass. Taking a couple of sips as she walked, she made a beeline for the king-sized bed. She placed her glass on the bedside table and then went to the windows to close the curtains. Returning to the side of the bed, she noticed that the clock on the table read 3:00. It meant nothing to her. She had no sense of time at the moment. Her head was in a fog. She sat on the edge to quickly drink the rest of her Pinot and then slipped under the covers. Her wet hair dampened the pillowcase. Quickly she dropped off to sleep.