"Dad, what is going through that head of yours???? Why have you got to be so damn stubborn??? Jake and I are sick of it! SICK OF IT!!!"
Josh was pissed. Extremely pissed. Kris's eyes had flown open at the loud voices she heard. The louder they got, the closer she crept to her bedroom door, anxious to know what was going on. She had opened it a crack to listen better when Josh had ended his rant. Now, there was silence........
Kris opened her door slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak, and she crept out into the dark hallway and down towards the galley. She stopped when she got close enough to see what was going on, the scene in front of her scary enough to make her throw her hand over her mouth when she gasped.
Phil was sitting at the table, his shirt off and his chest covered in blood. His skin was pale, too pale, and his eyes were glassy.
"Phil, we really need to go in" said Murray, his voice very quiet. Too quiet. Kris felt her body began to shake with fear.
Phil raised his head and looked up at the two standing over him. He was wheezing, as though a bad bout of coughing had taken him over, and won. Kris began to put it all together - the coughing must have been the worst yet, causing all that blood to come up. Why hadn't she heard anything? She figured that with the exhaustion she'd been feeling the past few days, she must have fell into a coma when she finally fell asleep.
Phil took in a breath, about to answer the guys, when another fit of coughing overtook him. Josh knelt in front of his Dad right away while Murray grabbed a towel, holding it to Phil's face as Phil took it and covered his mouth. Kris wasn't going to wait in the shadows anymore. She raced out into the galley and moved to Phil's other side, grabbing his arm. She was crying, the sight of him and the worry bringing her to tears.
"Oh my God...." was all she could say in a hushed whisper, as she patted his arm and his hair. Phil turned to look at her, surprised she was there, as drops of blood ran down from his lip, only serving to make Kris cry harder. He carefully drew a few deep breaths, wincing slightly at the pain, and wiped his mouth. He turned his body towards her, and raised his hand to her cheek.
"Don't cry" he said "I'm ok.....just got to coughing, that's all".
Kris wiped at her eyes. She didn't know whether to take him in her arms or smack the shit out of him. How could he let himself get this bad?? How could SHE have let him get away with it?? Well, no more....
"That's it" she said, standing up. She looked towards Murray. "Murray, take the boat into St. Paul. Right now. Nevermind what he says".
Phil began to laugh at her sudden authority, which made him cough again. Kris looked back to him, then back to Murray and Josh. "Or should we call the Coast Guard?" she said, worried.
"No!" said Phil between hacks. "No Coast Guard. I'll go into St. Paul.....but no Coast Guard. Understand??"
Everyone nodded, and Murray went up to the wheelhouse to set a course. Josh cleaned up the blood in the galley and his Dad's room, changing the sheets so he could go back and rest. Kris stayed by Phil's side. She knelt down by him, gently wiping the blood off his chest. She had started to cry again.
"Hey......hey..." Phil said as he lifted her chin to look at him. "I'll be alright....don't worry.."
"How can I not, Phil?" Kris replied. She looked back down and wiped away more blood, but then stopped and looked up at him. "Why did you lie to me?"
Phil didn't bother to deny it. He knew he'd been found out. Kris was a smart woman. He was just surprised she waited this long to say anything.
"Why didn't you tell me what those pills were really for?" she asked. "I had to find out from the pharmacist at the store. The pharmacist, Phil! Some guy at a grocery store in the middle of Dutch Harbour!"
Phil lowered his head, and let her rant.
"He said they were for blood clots......is that's what's wrong?? Is that what's causing all of this?? God Phil, after everything we've been through.....why didn't you just tell me??"
Phil finally looked back up at her, tears filling his eyes. "I'm sorry" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't know how to tell you.....I didn't want you to worry......I didn't want to think about it.......My mom died from this....." he was sobbing now. Kris had never seen him so upset. She was glad he was finally opening up, but she was scared too....
"When it started getting worse, I got scared...." he continued. He raised his hands and placed them on Kris's shoulders. "The kids don't know.... please don't say anything until we get in....ok? Please! I don't want to leave them, but........" Phil was crying hard, and all Kris could do was scoot closer to him and hold him in her arms. He sobbed on her shoulder, letting out everything that he was feeling....
"I'm so sorry I yelled at you.....I didn't mean it....." he said, between sobs. Kris smoothed his hair, shushing him in his ear.
"It's ok" she whispered. "I knew that it wasn't you talking...."
Jake came in from the deck a few minutes later and froze in the doorway at the scene. Kris raised her head to make eye contact with him, and pointed to the wheelhouse. "Go talk to your brother" she said. "Everything's ok". The poor boy looked terrified. She gave him a small smile to reassure him as he headed up the stairs.
After he was gone, she pulled back from Phil and helped him up. "Come on, back to bed with you" she said. She helped into his room and into bed, fluffing up the pillows so he wouldn't have to lie flat. She turned to leave when Phil grabbed her hand.
"Please.....don't go" he said. She smiled back at him.
"I'm only going to turn off the light" she said. "I wouldn't leave you for anything"