Ch. 11 – A Heart goes missing

"Wake up Kate"

"It's all over now."

"It's time to wake up. C'mon, open your eyes."

As much as she tried to ignore the annoying voice protruding into her peaceful darkness, Kate felt herself being dragged into the room of consciousness.

"That's it Kate"

Kate licked her dry lips and felt her parched throat. She gasped for some water but was told she needed to wait until she had gained full consciousness after the aesthetic.

"How…. How did it go?" Kate asked acknowledging a slight discomfort near the small of her back but not anything considerable. She was suddenly concerned that there had been a delay or something had gone wrong.

"The doctor said it all went very well. Hannah is still in her operation as her procedure will take considerably longer but you can see her later." Explained the nurse

Kate shook her head vehemently "No, No, There's no need. Can you just let me know when she's through?"

"Sure Kate" said the nurse slightly confused. "I have to monitor some other post op patients. I'll be back to check on you in 5 minutes" She left Kate to her thoughts surrounded by the beeps of the monitors and the hissing breathing of the oxygen machines.


Kate vaguely remembered being wheeled into the ward after post op but then fell back into a deep sleep only to awaken the next morning.

She immediately looked around the room, fully energised from the nights rest. This time she felt a fair amount of pain and assumed that the previous night, she was enjoying the effects of some fairly powerful drugs. It now felt like someone had been poking a knitting needle into her back. However she was soon distracted from this when she saw not only Bob and Ann in the room looking considerably concerned but Commander Marshall standing at the foot of her bed.

"Oh my God, what is it? Where is Hannah? Is she Ok?" She asked the commander in a panic that showed she had completely forgotten that Commander had no idea who Hannah was or the specifics of the procedure that Kate had just undergone. The commander looked utterly confused and looked at the couple who he had met on his way to the room. They had connected him with Kate and directed her to this room and now seem intent on staying by her side.

"Kate, I am here about the Hammersly." He stated and noted the barely audible gasp of breath she took on hearing the statement. Kate berated herself for not being in control of her emotions and at the same time felt the panic heighten at the concern she now held for her family on the Hammersly. Nothing positive could have brought the Commander to her bedside.

"A situation has developed" the commander stated and after taking a deep breath, he continued gently "The Hammersly has been reported missing off the Coral Sea. She sailed into a Class 4 cyclone yesterday in answer to a mayday. We lost contact at approximately 2300 hours last night" The silence in the room was deafening. Kate tried to sit up but froze in a spasm of pain. Anne rushed to her side and gently laid her back down on the bed.

"Careful Kate, You've just had surgery."

Kate tried to control her breathing. " How…? What….?"

"You know how it works Lieutenant. We have every resource at the ready for the all clear to go out and locate the Hammersly. It's only a matter of time. I am in the city for a departmental meeting and I thought I'd drop in and give you an update in person. I knew you'd want to know"

Kate mentally took stock, knowing that anything other than professional concern with perhaps a touch of friendly worry would be inappropriate in front of the commander, for the now at least.

"Lieutenant, it seems our roles keep reversing. I seem to remember that I was the one in the bed last time we met in a hospital room" Marshall asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Kate smile barely hid how distracted she was. The commander excused himself, citing the meeting as reason with the promise to call her on its completion.

Once he had departed, Kate broke down. She could barely control her breathing. Ann and Bob tried to comfort her but nothing seemed to work.
"Perhaps we should call Mike, Kate said he'd be coming down today after he finished work anyway?" asked Anne becoming increasingly concerned for Kate. This wasn't helped by the near hysterical chuckle from Kate on hearing Anne's suggestion for solving the problem

"Huh! That's not very likely" Kate murmured looking at the two concerned friends at her bed. "Mike is the Lieutenant Commander on the Hammersly"

"Ohh, Oh Kate, no" Anne held onto her hand. "I am sure they'll find them. You said yourself that the Hammersly seemed to have a charmed life"

Kate was barely listening. Kate was becoming more and more stressed. All her friends and the man she loved were missing at sea and she had made the choice to take leave. She had left them when she was needed the most. It had been her and Mike's decision to put Nav into her acting role and only put in a trainee sailor to make up the shortfall of numbers for the period of Kate's leave. Perhaps Nav's duties as acting XO distracted her from the navigational role which caused the Hammersly to get lost or worse. Kate knew Mike had a stubborn faith in the Hammersly and her charmed life and Kate also knew that Mike would not have said no to any sort of Mayday. Anger was rising in Kate over the irony that the moment she let someone into her guarded life, they had gone and threatened to leave her alone again.

Slowly Kate began to control her breathing and her focus and only then did she realise that Bob and Ann were still looking concerned for her but distracted by an obvious desire to be with Hannah who was sure to be waking soon.

"Go, I am fine……" The two hesitated and Kate nodded to the door. "Please Go, I want to be alone". Anne reached forward and gave Kate's hand a squeeze before walking out with Bob. Truth be known, Kate didn't want to be alone but the one person she wanted, the one person she needed was on the Hammersly, lost at sea. Amongst her confusion and stress Kate began to take action. Never one to sit idly by, Kate reached for her phone at the same time as she reached for the hospital buzzer.

She needed to get out of this hospital. Away from Hannah and her parents and get home and wait for any news. Kate realised that she had become too reliant on them and for that matter, too reliant on the crew of the Hammersly and Mike in her life. She had opened up and now she was a vulnerable mess. Kate hated this feeling. In her mind she saw herself as weak and this wasn't the person she had had to become to get anywhere in her life. Kate decided that as soon as this mess with the Hammersly was sorted out and everyone was safe and found, she was going to reclaim her life. Mike wasn't going to like it but it was the only way Kate could protect herself against the feelings of uselessness and inability to control outcomes that currently overwhelmed her. It did not occur to her that the Hammersly would be anything but safe because no other option was something she couldn't consider right now.

To Kate's relief, Commander Marshall answered her phone call and request with very little surprise. It was almost as if he was expecting it. Before the departure flight had started to check-in, Kate had arranged for a full medical transfer to Cairns base hospital and was escorted, or more to the point, wheeled onto the plane home by Commander Marshall. Meanwhile, Bob and Anne were stunned and confused at the empty hospital ward that they found on visiting Kate that afternoon to update her on how well Hannah was doing.