Chapter 7

Act 2

Scene 1

Lewis awoke to the pounding in his head. He groaned and squinted against the glare of the sun glinting off the placid sea of a fine clear day.

He saw his brother, Clark start to awake and look around with wide eyes. With a hint of panic in his voice, he asked, "What happened to the storm? What was that purple fire? All I know is it hurt like hell!"

Lewis shook his head, and winced as that just made the pounding in his temples worse. Through clenched teeth, he said, "I don't know. Felt to me like it was burning away my nerves. Man do I have a headache! How about you?"

"No, I feel great! Maybe you hit your head. Let me look." Clark took his chin and turned his head, first to one side, and then to the other. He declared, "Well I don't see any bumps or bruises, but we were both out of it for a bit. Let's go see about the others."

Lewis managed a grunt of assent, and they started to head back from the foredeck only to find themselves brought up short by their forgotten safety lines. Embarrassed, they quickly unsnapped the lines, and headed aft to find out what had happened to their dad, Becky, Pam, and Tammy. Pam was slumped down over the mainsail sheets, their dad was lying near the tiller, but all they could see of Becky was her safety line, dangling over the side.

Clark dove for her line and leaned over the side, then yelled, "Here she is! I don't know if she's hurt, but she's dangling in the water up to her armpits! Come help me get her back aboard."

By the time the brothers had managed to haul their cousin back on board the Dragon Lady, the others were stirring. Paul, too, awoke with a pounding headache, groaning and shielding his eyes from the sun. He fumbled in his pocket for his Polaroid sunglasses.

The glare reduced the pain in his head and finally subsided enough for him to consider their situation. He looked around, and seeing that Clark was cradling Becky's head in his lap, asked, "Where's the storm? Where's Topaz Fire? Is everybody all right?"

Clark was inspecting a large cut and bump on Becky's forehead. He answered, "Becky fell overboard, but her safety line held. I think she must have hit her head Dad. Is she going to be OK?"

Paul sat down next to them and pulled her hair back to get a better view. He said, "It doesn't look too bad. She should be fine. Still, we should clean that cut, get her out of these wet clothes and get her below into one of the berths. We also need to make sure that she doesn't have any other wounds. I don't see Tammy, has anyone checked on her? I'd sent her below to get the working jib."

Lewis was checking on Pam. She seemed fine, if a bit disoriented. He said, "I'll go check on Tammy."

Clark helped his dad carry Becky through the hatch. They laid her out on the berth he normally slept in. She looked so small and helpless lying there, that a lump formed in his throat. His dad slipped her heavy weather boots off, and unzipped the front of her Gortex overcoat. Watching his dad start to disrobe his beautiful, unconscious cousin sent a surge of excitement through his body. Embarrassed by his hard-on, he started to back away.

Paul looked up in annoyance. "Where are you going? Are you going to help me with her or not?"

Just then, Lewis led a bewildered Tammy from the cabin the girls shared in the bow. That was where she had been when they went through the purple fire, since underneath the bunk's cushions was the storage for the spare sails she'd been after. Tammy saw her friend lying there and in a small, frightened voice asked, "Is she going to be alright?"

Paul was holding Becky up in a sitting position, so that Clark could remove her overcoat. With a glance, he saw her concern and said, "She should be fine. As soon as we get her out of these wet clothes and into a warm bed, I'll call the Coast Guard and find out the nearest place to put in and they'll have an ambulance waiting for us." Her eyes widened in alarm, and he hurried on, "It's really just a precaution, in case she's got a concussion."

Tammy's hand came to her mouth, and she gasped, "Oh my God! A concussion?"

Clark had her jacket off, and slipped the suspenders for the bib overall pants of Becky's heavy weather gear off her shoulders. The two carefully laid her back down. Then Paul turned, caught Tammy's wrists, and pulled her close, so that she was forced to meet his eyes. He spoke with slow careful diction, trying to get through to the nearly panicked girl, "Tammy, could you go make us some tea and soup? When Becky wakes up, she should get something hot in her."

The idea that she could do something to help her injured friend soaked in. Tammy's wild and unfocused eyes broke into tears. Lewis steered the sobbing girl to the galley by her shoulders.

"You get her T-shirt off, and bra if it's wet too. I'll get the bottoms. Then you go get some towels," Paul gave the orders in a steady voice. He knew his son might fall apart soon, too. Paul knew that crisis situations were just not something most people had to deal with. In modern society, if help was needed, it was only a cell phone call away. But the Marine Corps was the school of the very hardest knocks. Having to deal with the injured in the field was only one of many hard lessons his time had taught him. He needed to be steady enough to offer direction and stability for them all to get through the stress.

Paul pulled off the bib overalls, just as Clark pulled her T-shirt over her bra-covered breasts. The lacy white bra mesmerized Clark, he gasped and stopped to stare. Paul reached over and cuffed him lightly in the side of the head. He admonished, "Enough of that now! Yes, she's a gorgeous girl, but right now you need to do what is necessary to give her the best chance to survive."

With shaking hands, Clark struggled to pull her arms through the sleeves of the T-shirt. Finally, licking his lips, he looked back at her bra, and now that his dad had pulled down her jeans, her wet, nearly transparent white cotton panties. He started to reach for her wet bra, but dropped his hands to his side in defeat. Voice breaking, he said, "I just can't do it Dad!"

Paul looked up from pulling off Becky's jeans, seeing his son's state, he said, "Fine, get me the towels, I'll finish up here. Then see if you can raise the Coast Guard on the Marine radio."

Clark dashed to the linen storage cabinet, across the passageway from the head. In the twenty seconds it took him to grab a handful of bath towels and return, his dad had Becky naked, lying atop the covers. Water glistened on her nude breasts and belly. Clark stopped transfixed, towels forgotten, but still in his hands.

I've never seen a girl naked before! She's so beautiful, but this is so wrong! I shouldn't be looking, it's not like she has any choice, or offered me this chance.

Paul turned, saw his son staring, but holding the towels. Exasperated, he took the towels and with a gentle shove propelled Clark back towards the deck. "Get a move on! Tell the Coast Guard we need a spot to met an ambulance ASAP!"

Alone with his nude niece, Paul dried her off, trying to ignore the urges his body sent him as he brushed her nipples, breasts and tummy dry. Finally, steeling himself, Paul lifted one knee, exposing her crotch and pussy. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he dried the hair of her bush, the inside of her thighs, and with a quick swipe, her pussy. He rolled her onto her stomach, and quickly dried her back. Again his mouth got a bit dry as he shoved a fresh towel to dry the crack of her ass. Finally, holding her with one hand, he pulled the covers back, having to yank them out from underneath her. With an explosive sigh, he rolled her onto her back, pulled the covers over her, and headed to the galley to grab the First Aide kit.

Damn! I can't really blame Clark for looking. She looks just as beautiful as her mother did at her age. Same puffy nipples, that are even the same light shade of pink as her mother's!

Paul stopped to check on Tammy's progress with the tea and soup. "How's that tea and soup coming?" he asked, as if he couldn't see.

Tammy gave him a wane smile of thanks, and answered, "It should be ready in a few minutes." Biting her lip, she asked, "Is Becky really going to be ok?"

Paul gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he bent to open the cabinet below the sink where the First Aide kit was kept. As he pushed aside cleaning supplies to get to the large First Aide kit, he answered, "I think she'll be fine, Tammy. I think the hospital will just want to put her under observation. Main thing is to keep her warm, so she doesn't go into shock." As he stood, Paul could hear Clark talking into the radio from up on deck, and paused briefly to listen to the rising tone of panic in his voice.

Clark gave each word distinct enunciation as he spoke into the Marine Radio mike, "Come in Coast Guard. This is Dragon Lady declaring a medical emergency. Coast Guard! Come in!"

Paul wanted to go out on deck and take over the radio calls himself, but he had a more immediate task, which no one else could do. Still, he needed to settle Clark down before going to dress Becky's wound. Raising his voice he encouraged Clark, "You're doing fine, son! Not you're fault they all took a coffee break at the same time. Go ahead and turn on the distress beacon and see if you can raise the Topaz Fire. We need to find out if they need help as well."