Chapter 72: Love on the Beach

Carina was already talking quietly to Roland when I arrived on the bridge. So I took a seat across from them and waited. Mischa was on watch and the Captain was headed for the stairs. Vivienne was talking with Maryann and Victoria on the back sofa but their voices were too low to hear what they were saying. Anna arrived and the conversation on the back sofa quickly became more animated. I was sure she was relating what happened downstairs.

“Carina says there has been a new development,” Roland said. Carina was curled up with her feet under her and holding Roland’s arm tightly.

“First, I’m sorry if I scared everybody. I honestly didn’t know,” I told them.

“Know what, Alex,” Roland asked using his professional tone. Clearly something had spooked everyone.

“I didn’t know that extreme love, just like extreme anger or extreme fear, could trigger my power,” I said.

“Simple, neat, concise. I like that,” Roland said, commenting on my report. “I spent ten minutes listening to you, my dear and Alex sums everything up in twenty words or less. He is truly amazing.”

“Hurmph...” huffed Carina.

“Do you have a solution?” he asked me.

“Not yet. I need to do some more experiments. But I need someone I can trust. Would you allow me to borrow your wife for a little while?” I asked.

Roland grinned. “I suppose that might be permissible. In the name of science, of course!” he quipped.

Offering Carina my hand, she just looked from Roland to me and back again. She wasn’t buying our humor.

“What was THAT?” she cried. “I don’t get it. I come up here telling you everything, every detail, and you don’t seem to get it. Then HE comes up and with one sentence explains everything and I’m left sitting here in the dark. I’m a doctor, for god’s sake. I’m not a dummy. Or someone to run experiments on!”

“Pity!” Roland said. “Somehow I got the impression you would have enjoyed this particular experiment, right, Alex?”

I wasn’t getting in the middle of this one. I just smiled as I nodded my head.

“Henri-Roland Rappeneau!” she said sternly, before continuing in French. (Carina later translated it for me) “I’m going to call your mother if you don’t tell me what’s going on. Right this minute!”

“Calm down, my darling,” Roland said. Only he could have gotten away with telling her to calm down. Anyone else and she would have ripped their ears off, Hippocrates be damned.

“As you know,” Roland started to lecture. “The energy in Alex’s EMFs increase when he becomes angry or scared. You, yourself have witnessed it many times. All Alex said was that it appears that when he allowed his true feeling for his twin sister to surface, that also increased the energy running through his EMFs.”

“So...” she said wanting more explanation.

“That revelation brings up countless questions. Why now? Why with his twin sister? Why not with his other sister? Why not with you?” Roland explained. “It also begs the question of IF it’s the same destructive energy? Or if it might lend itself to more positive exploits, such as healing?”

“You got ALL THAT from one lousy sentence?” she asked.

“Tell me how you can suture a blood vessel so small you need a microscope to see what you’re doing?” he asked for he knew she had done so many times.

“Oh...” she said quietly. “I sometime forget how skilled you are and how gifted Alex is. It seems that every time I listen to the two of you, I come away amazed. I truthfully was expecting you two to be going at it for the next few hours. But he sums it all up in one sentence and then wants to experiment on me! And you bloody well understood! And then gave me to him!”

I always found it fascinating when a French speaking native uses British curses.

Then Roland turned to me. “I don’t know how successful your experiment will be when she’s in this mood,” he said.

“I’ll show you mood!” she said indignantly as she jumped to her feet and began pulling me down the stairs. “Beside, I want MY bloody Christmas Present!”

When we got to her cabin, she slammed the door and stood there looking at me defiantly. Then she raised her hand and slapped the fire out of me. I just stood there dumbstruck. I had never seen the angry side of Carina.

The lights flashed one or twice but then I realized that I wasn’t angry. But I was confused and hurt.

“Why?” I asked softly. “What did I do?”

“You ... You made a fool of me!” she cried. “And in front of my husband!”

“No. No I did not. I think that you should be talking with him,” I said evenly. Then I opened the door and started up the stairs. Roland was sitting on the top step. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. She gets this way when she is confused. Please be patient with her.”

Then he walked down and opened their cabin door. I could hear Carina crying and it broke my heart. The door shut and there was no more sound.

When I reached the bridge, I plopped down in the captain’s chair, even though Mischa was on watch. I said nothing and she had the good sense to avoid me. Henri came on watch at eight o’clock and Mischa must have warned him because he didn’t approach me either.

About 8:30pm a call came through on the radio. They wanted the Captain.

“Go get him,” I told Henri. “I’ll watch out up here while you’re gone.”

It turns out it was the Chevalier Paul calling to wish us a Merry Christmas. Captain Alfred took one look at me and then turned and walked away without a word.

I sat in that chair the rest of the night, except for a quick trip to the head just before I went on watch at 4:00am. By that time, I had decided what to do. When I finally made the decision, I found exhaustion creeping up on me and for the first time ever, I fought to stay awake on watch. Fortunately, Captain Alfred showed up just before six o’clock to relieve me. I struggled down the stairs and out on the cockpit and buried myself in a couple of blankets and fell into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

Someone brought me coffee and a Danish. I drank half the coffee and didn’t touch the Danish. Then I rolled over and went back to sleep. No one disturbed me.