Chapter 9: Time Heals

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Madison furiously.

Danni smirked slightly from where she was sitting on her bed in the second floor of the Elbow Room. The sisters obviously shared the same kind of fighting Norwegian spirit.

The three women had spent the day together discussing the problems at hand and trying to figure out a way to solve them. In the end they were no closer than when they had started. Madison was getting very frustrated with the whole thing.

Chris sighed and leaned back on the bed. She was sitting on the floor just below where Danni was seated on the bed. Madison sat across from her on the rug, legs folded Indian-style and her eyes flashing with fury.

"So this, Captain Hansen, hates you because of what are dad did years ago?" continued Madison.

Chris nodded, "Yeah…he doesn't like you either apparently. He told us both to stay away from his crew, remember? I think he's got a thing against anyone with the last name Cotter."

Madison threw her hands up into the air in disbelief. She started to rattle off in Norwegian, causing Chris to laugh slightly. Danni glanced between the two of them, looking utterly lost.

"She's cursing in Norwegian," explained Chris when she saw the confused look on Danni's face, "She does that when she's angry."

"This is just so stupid!" shouted Madison, "He's got no right judging us for what our dad did. That's ridiculous!"

Danni smirked, "I think you're preaching to the choir. We're on your side, remember?"

Madison sighed, forcing herself to calm down.

"Are all you Norwegians this hot-headed?" asked Danni.

Chris smiled and nodded, "At least all the ones I've ever known!"

After a couple moments, Madison stood up and stretched.

"Alright…well we all had better get some sleep," she said as she glanced at her sister, "And you better be getting back to your crew. We'll deal with this Captain Hansen once we're well rested."

Chris sneered, "Good luck with that!" as she leaned over to hug her sister.

"Goodnight you two…see you bright and early tomorrow morning!"

They said their goodbyes and Chris made her way back down the stairs and out of the Elbow Room. It was pitch black outside and Chris found it was hard to see where she was walking. She slipped once, letting out an uncharacteristic squeal of fright. She fell just along the edge of the dock, her eyes wide with the realization that if she was a mere inch closer she would be swimming in the frigid harbor water.

She let out a shaky breath as she slowly stood up and brushed the snow off of her jacket. She huddled under it and made her way toward the Hannah Boden with more slow and carefully measured steps.

As she climbed onto her boat and made her way into the galley, she was greeted by her very worried looking crew.



"Where have you been?" exclaimed Ashley as she hurried over to Chris, "We've been worried!"

Billy moved over to his captain and put an arm around her shoulders. Chris smiled gratefully as she made her way over to the crew.

"Sorry guys," she murmured guiltily. This whole business with the Northwestern and Griffin was starting to affect her work and that was something she did not like. Her crew deserved to have a fully-alert captain, not one making goo-goo eyes with some deckhand of another boat.

"Where were you?" asked Sasha as she helped Chris out of her jacket.

"I was at the Elbow Room with Danni and my sister," she said quietly, "Madison's going to start working for Danni and we had some things we had to talk about."

Another wave of guilt washed over Chris as she realized that she was only telling her crew half of the story.

"Well it's good to know you're safe," said Daniel as he handed her a mug full of warm coffee.

Chris smiled at him and nodded thankfully as she took a sip. She glanced around at her crew and realized how lucky she was to have such a dedicated bunch of people on her boat. They stuck around even after they knew that they would be ridiculed for having a female captain. It never seemed to really bother them that much.

"Thanks guys," said Chris, "Really I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Well you go get yourself some sleep," urged Billy, "We got work to do in the morning!"

Chris was suddenly struck by the realization that the King Crab season started in only two more days. She sighed as she realized how right Billy was. They had a lot of work to do…

…

The next morning, Sig was up in the wheelhouse fidgeting nervously. He glanced at the radio for the hundredth time and hesitated. Finally, not being able to stand it any longer, he grabbed it.

"Guys wake up!" he shouted over the loud hailer, "Get into the galley…we gotta talk."

Griffin shot up out of bed the second he heard his dad's voice. He knew what this meant and was torn between the feelings of relief and dread. It was something that had to be done but he wasn't going to enjoy a single second of it.

As he walked out of his room he saw Edgar already seated at the table with Jack at his side. She was giving him worried looks, concerned about the faraway look in his eyes. Matt walked in and sat on the other side of Edgar and shot him an understanding look.

Baylee walked in, stretching and yawning as she slowly made her way over to the table.

"Morning everyone," she murmured tiredly, "Anyone know what Sig wants to talk to us about?"

"I was hoping you'd know," muttered Norman as he sat down, rubbing his tired eyes.

Griffin sat down beside Norman and waited with everyone else for Sig to come in. After a few moments, they heard him walking down the stairs slowly as he made his way to the galley.

The look on his face when he walked in alarmed them. He looked very upset and stressed out as he gazed at his family and crew. He shot Griffin a knowing look and Griffin glanced away quickly, unable to hold his 

father's despairing gaze for too long.

Sig cleared his throat as he prepared to speak.

"I, um…I think its time we talk about what happened," he said quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes, "About what happened…to Jake."

The entire crew's eyes shot open in surprise at that. They glanced at each other with a mixture of shock and sadness as the memory of that horrible day came back to them.

"I was persuaded by a couple of very insistent and stubborn deckhands," he said as he glanced between Jack and Griffin, "And I came to the conclusion that they were right. As much as I hate this…we need to get it all out in the open before we leave for the season. I don't want anyone out there getting emotionally unstable and then getting hurt. That's the very last thing we need right now. I want to start this off by saying that what happened to Jake was nobody's fault…I don't blame anyone in this room for what happened, I hope you all know that."

Edgar glanced away sharply, an angry and hurt look entering his eyes. Jack instantly became very concerned and put an arm around Edgar, giving him confused and questioning looks.

Edgar's reaction did not escape Sig's notice. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he continued.

"That means you too, Edgar," he said quietly.

Edgar glanced at him with the most upset and despairing look. He shook his head in protest and let out a very shaky breath.

"No…that's not true," he muttered wretchedly, "If I would have been watching him like I was supposed to…none of this would have happened. If I'd just had my eye on him while he was on the stack…I would have reacted faster…and he'd still be here…"

Griffin felt like someone had just stabbed him in the chest. The pain in Edgar's voice and eyes cut him deeper than any knife ever could. He had no idea that his uncle was suffering this much.

Sig also looked rather distressed to see his tough, younger brother in shambles. This wasn't like Edgar at all.

"Edgar…there was nothing you could have done," said Jack, trying to control her emotions, "He hit the dock on the way down. The doctors said that's what got him…not the water. He was gone the second he fell. You couldn't…you couldn't have done anything to stop that."

Edgar seemed to relax a little at hearing that, but he still looked very upset and angry with himself.

Matt patted his friend's shoulder and shot him a terribly sad and understanding look.

"Edgar, they're right," he muttered, "It wasn't your fault…it wasn't anybody's fault. Sometimes…sometimes things happen that are just out of your control."

Sig glanced around at his upset and depressed crew. Baylee was crying openly and Norman had an arm around her comfortingly, but he was trying to battle his own emotions at the same time. Matt was comforting a distraught Edgar while Jack was leaning on his shoulder with tears in her eyes. Griffin looked stunned as he glanced around the room.

Sig sighed and muttered quietly to himself.



"This could take a while," he said as he sat down next to Griffin and put an arm around him.

No matter how long it took for the crew to put themselves back together, Sig was now willing to take all the time they needed to move on from this disaster. He just hoped that they could…

…

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Oh I gotta good idea for the next chapter!! Hehe!! I'll see if I can't get it up today! If not it'll be up first thing in the morning, promise!!