February 13th and 14th
Something hits the boat at the same moment Carmilla yells her name. Since she's not holding on to the boat she gets knocked off and sucked under water alongside a whale. She tries to swim back to the surface but she's not strong enough. Laura is getting tires and needs to breath. She fights with everything she has in her but it's not enough. I'm coming mom is the last thing she thinks before everything goes black.
Carmilla looks at the spot Laura disappeared under water. Before she even realizes what she's doing she has jumped after her. She sees Laura trying to swim back to the surface, but then she stops swimming. Carmilla makes her own body swim faster despite the aching of every muscle. She grabs Laura under her armpits and takes her up. When they're back above the water she doesn't start to breath and Carmilla freaks out.
"Please Laura breathe! Please cupcake don't stop fighting now! Please…"
While she keeps telling her to breathe they both get pulled back into the speedboat and before Carmilla knows what happened the captain has her driving the boat back to the coast while he performs CPR on Laura.
It takes a couple of minutes, but he gets her back. He takes over and tells Carmilla to keep her warm. He has already called for help and an ambulance is on its way.
By the time they arrive at the harbor the ambulance is already waiting and before she even realizes what is happening the ambulance is on its way to the hospital with Laura. The captain of the boat writes down directions to the hospital. She takes the rest of their stuff and drives to the hospital. Hoping she won't be pulls aside by the police or cause an accident.
By the time she gets to Laura's room she is already dressed and ready to go. The nurse who changed her cast told Carmilla Laura wouldn't have any ill effects except maybe a cold so she's not too surprised to see her sitting there like nothing happened. Carmilla is however surprised by the warm feeling inside her chest when she sees her smile directed at herself. Yeah she definitely fell for the little sundance.
"Hey Carm, are you okay?" "Yeah." "Thank you for getting me out of the water, I know it couldn't have been easy for you." "Yeah, well… I… ehhh.. yeah.." "You know, a normal reaction would be. You're welcome." "You're welcome cupcake. Ready to go?" "Yup!"
She wakes up when something collides with her temple. It is Carmilla's arm. She is whimpering and moves around in the bed like a maniac. She's having one of her nightmares.
"Carmilla, wake up. It's only a dream."
She gently shakes her shoulder but she doesn't wake up. Her whimpering gets louder and Laura shakes her harder but she doesn't wake up.
It takes her ten minutes before Carmilla wakes and starts crying.
"He Carm it's okay, it was just a bad dream. I'm here if you want to talk about it, but if you don't that's ok too."
She curls into Laura like a little spoon and whispers "Thank you for waking me." Only moments later her breathing evens out and she is fast asleep. Laura kisses the top of her head and whispers. "You're welcome."
A very irritating Taylor Swift song wakes Carmilla way too early. It takes her a few moments to realize the annoying sound is in fact Laura's ringtone. Laura seems to be in the shower, if the sound of splattering water in the bathroom is any indication. Reluctantly she gets up and walks to Laura's phone with the intention to shut it down. When she look at the caller-id it says Dad and she picks-up.
"Laura's phone, Carmilla speaking." "Hello Carmilla, this is Laura's dad. Why isn't she answering the phone?" "She's taking a shower sir." "Well could you please pass her the phone anyway?" "Sure sir."
Carmilla walks to the bathroom and knocks. "Laura, your dad is on the phone"
The door opens a little and a hand comes out. Carmilla hands over the phone and walks back to the bed to tray and nap a little more
About an hour later she hasn't slept and Laura hasn't come out of the bathroom.
Maybe she should check on her?
Before she realizes what she's doing she walk to the bathroom door and knocks.
"Laura, everything alright there?"
When she doesn't react Carmilla tries the doorknob. The door isn't locked and she carefully opens it. In case Laura doesn't want her to come in she want her to be able to stop her.
"Laura?"
She hears some sniffles and when the door is fully open she sees Laura curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor.
"Hey Laura, what's the matter?" "It's my birthday today."
As soon as the words leave her mouth she starts sobbing again and Carmilla rushes to her side to take her in her arms. She gently rocks her and waits for her to calm down.
As usual she ended up sobbing after her dad's birthday call. She knew this would last until she falls asleep from exhaustion, but somehow this year something was different. She doesn't remember how but she ends end up in Carmilla's arms and this calms her down so much that she'sre able to get up and pack her stuff within half an hour. Not that she actually gets the chance to pack, because Carmilla tells her to sit on the bed and let her handle it. She's too tired to fight her on it.
"So where are we going next cupcake?" "Greymouth"
They drive in silence for a little while when she spots a sign saying New Zealand's longest swingbridge.
"Can we go there Carm?" "Where?" "The swingbridge!" "Sure cutie."
When they arrive Laura takes her phone to do some last minute research. This didn't come up in her original search plus she likes to be prepared… so what.
When she is done with her research the get out of the car and walk into the entrance building. The price list includes something called the Cometline and Laura's interest is peaked. It sure sounds like a thrill. While looking at the prices she hears Carmilla talk to the guy at the check-out.
"Two tickets please, one with the Cometline. Coming cupcake?" "Huh. Why did you buy a ticket for the Cometline? I wouldn't have pegged you as the thrill seeking kind." "I'm not riding back the Cometline, you are."
She takes Laura's hand and drags her towards the swingbridge
They walk around for about half an hour. She doesn't really get this place. From what she hears Laura rambling about there is some significance to this place that has to do with an earthquake and a flood. She couldn't care less, but Laura does and she has a small smile on her face. It isn't much but it is way better than she was doing this morning, so Carmilla sucks it up and starts thinking of a way the make better memories for Laura for today.
"He Broody mcGee!" "Huh what?" "Where were you?" "Right here Cutie." "Your body maybe." "Sorry I was lost in thought. Read to get on the Cometline?" "Yeah. Definitely!"
She walks back across the swing bridge and finds a nice spot to look at Laura. She can't stop the chuckle that escapes when she watches her cross the water hanging from a cable in a harness. She's wearing that beautiful smile and laughing loudly. Carmilla's glad she got her a glide on the Cometline. It probably doesn't make this day any less crappy, but at least she got to laugh for a few minutes today.
"So the next stop is Punakaiki. I can't write an article about New Zealand without including the Pancake Rocks." "Yeah I'm sure it has nothing to do with the name and your sweet tooth." "Haha. Very funny." "Sarcasm doesn't suit you sweetheart." "Whatever, let's go."
They drive in silence for a couple of hours which is a huge sign that Laura is not doing as well as she is trying to make her believe.
By the time they arrive at Punakaiki the silence in the car actually makes Carmilla feel uncomfortable. This is worrisome since she never had trouble with silence before. Well she guesses it's not her fold that Laura's voice is so damn addictive.
"Don't forget your jacket Carmilla, it looks like it's going to rain soon."
Even when she's having an off day she still manages to care about her. This girl is something else.
And so are those Pancake Rocks. They manage to keep Carmilla's attention for at least an hour. She even stops thinking about Laura something that probably hasn't happened since she met her. Because of the approaching storm the sea is very rough pounding on the rocks, water splashing all around them. She could stay here all day and not get bored. Unfortunately she has plans for a certain sunshine.
"Come on cupcake, let's get to Greymouth and find a place to sleep."
She knows she has been quiet all day, but thankfully Carmilla doesn't seem to mind too much. She seems to understand what's going on in her head and leaves her be. Yeah she's glad she told her about her mum. Now she doesn't have to answer questions, although she doubts Carmilla would ask any if she didn't know. It's not like she's interested in what's going on with Laura, right?
"Laura, put on your shoes. We're going out." "I don't feel like going out." "To bad you're coming." With those words She gets dragged out of the bed and shoved towards the door.
"Alright I'm coming. Jeez no need to get handsy with me."
Carmilla takes her out of the town in the direction of the Pancake Rocks but stops at a picnic spot in the middle of nowhere. When she takes an expensive bottle of champagne out of the trunk Laura starts to protest again.
"Carmilla, I'm not in the mood for any romance or celebration. Not today. I just want to go to bed and forget about today." "Listen Laura I get today is hard for you, it being your mother's death's anniversary and all. This morning you grieved losing your mother too soon, tonight we're going to drink champagne, look at the stars and celebrate the life your mother had." "You know, when I was little my dad used to say that my mum left to become a star in the sky. She would always be there to watch over me, because even if you can't see them the stars are always there." "A wise man." "Yeah."
Carmilla hands her a glass of champagne before she takes her own glass and lifts it.
"Here's to you mother's life."
Laura lifts her own glass and looks up to the stars.
"Cheers, mum."