Chapter 13

A Recovery

Silence passed me in a rush

I'm not important enough to be bothered with

The wind greeted me with a crooked smile

But not caring enough to reach out with its gentle touch

The sun still lets me feel its rays

But it won't ever let me near enough to thank it

The rain only gives me its severity

But never grants me its simple caress

I bite my tongue, I chase the wind

I stare at the sun and I walk without an umbrella

And yet, do I exist?

Am I a part of this nature?

I breathe but no one notices

Do I even weigh anything, standing on top of this ground?

Only the air recognizes my face

And for now, I can live

Thursdays were never busy days for the Brass Bar. Chase didn't understand why. Maybe it was because everyone was taking care of their business so that they can go out and play on Friday, or maybe it was because Thursday was simply a forgotten day. Always the day that is so hastily thrown aside in anticipation of Friday…If Thursday was a human he might feel bad for it. But right now he was thankful.

It was the end of May and that meant that the bar was always filled with tourists, day in and day out. This was probably due to the fact that it was only one of two restaurants on the entire island, but right now it wasn't that busy and Chase was enjoying a small reprieve outside.

It was about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and he was having the occasional cigarette just outside the doors to the bar. There were only a few customers inside and Hayden had insisted that he take a small break.

Chase took in a final drag before putting the cigarette out and throwing it in a trash can. He normally didn't smoke, having quit a few years ago, but whenever he was stressed out or facing a major problem he couldn't help but turn back to them. It was a weakness that he wasn't proud of but couldn't shake off. Kind of like his straightforward personality and his bad habit of things coming out harsher than he meant them to sound. Especially to women…and especially to Molly.

He scratched his head and sighed. He was aware that every time he talked to her he ended up saying something rude, but it just came out that way. It's been happening more frequently now though because she wasn't just some stranger anymore. Chase always loosened up and consequently became more outspoken with people he knew better. How long has it been since she came to Castanet? Almost three months? It felt like so much longer…

He took in a deep breath, clearing out his lungs. Thinking about it though, he hasn't seen Molly in the last couple of days. But then again, the Animal Festival was coming up so she was probably pretty busy preparing for that. He didn't go last year, but maybe he should think about stopping by this time. He often heard Molly talking about how great her cow Raven was and it made him curious to see if this cow was as great as she made it out to be. He chuckled quietly to himself remembering a conversation that they'd had last week.

Molly was, once again, boasting about her cow saying how silky her coat was and how she was as smart as a dog, never trying to leave the yard and patiently letting her guide her in and out of the barn every day. Chase had turned around at that point, brandishing a wooden spoon covered in rice and asking if those things were even that impressive.

"You don't understand because you haven't seen her, Chase! Don't act like you know about cows all of a sudden, Mr. Chef," she had said, puffing out her cheeks the way she does when she tries to defend herself. He had then responded that she really didn't know much about cows either, having owned one for only two months. She just shook her head and had turned around to continue her conversation with Kathy.

In general, Molly was a quiet girl but she could be combative when she wanted to be. Sometimes it was irritating when she took that attitude with him, but mostly it just amused him. He heard a noise far away from his left and saw the mayor and Gill coming out of their house and heading towards the Town Hall. He gave a small wave as his and Gill's eyes met for a moment before Gill, after nodding his head in acknowledgment, continued conversing with his father.

Although they were friends, Gill had recently begun to irritate him. Every time he came to the bar he would ask about Molly and keep asking the same questions over and over again. What relationship did she have in regard to the bells? Why was she looking for them? What does she know about their connection to the island? Like he was supposed to know about any of that…and because Gill has been frequenting the bar, Molly hasn't been coming as often as she usually does. Well, it shouldn't bother him that much anyways. After all, it always got so noisy when Kathy and Molly started talking. But he did have to admit it was a bit boring without her around.

Chase frowned and stuffed his hands in his apron pockets. He didn't like the direction his thoughts were going and silently scolded himself. It wasn't good to become this interested in a girl, he needed to focus on his training. Cooking was the most important thing in his life and nothing would ever change that.

Maybe it was a good thing that Molly wasn't coming around as often. Chase shook his head, the bobby pins holding his bangs back starting to come loose. Focus, you need to focus, he scolded himself.

Reaching up to fix his hair he saw Toby's small rowboat pull up at the docks. Squinting, he could see Paolo too, reaching out and fixing a rope around the wooden pole to keep them in place. Then, as if someone had heard his thoughts and wanted to pull a cruel trick on him, he saw Molly get off of the boat. Well, stumble was more like it. As he watched her, he noticed something seemed a bit off by the way she was standing. Even from his distance he could see her sway and, without knowing what he was doing, took a step forward just as she took a step backwards. Then, so fast he didn't have time to react, she disappeared beneath the dock.

He stood still for a second and saw Toby shout at Paolo and quickly remove his robes. Realizing that something horrible had just occurred, he sprinted off towards the dock just as Paolo sprinted past him, yelling for Jin. He reached the dock just after Toby dived in leaving Chase frantically wondering what to do. He was roughly pushed aside as Gill quickly strode past him and got down on his knees, looking over the dock. Gill looked around at him and gestured impatiently, a hard but controlled look in his eyes.

"What're you doing? Get over here and help!"

Chase's face flushed and he hurriedly went over, bending over as Toby broke the surface, carrying Molly under the arms, his normally calm face in distress. He coughed as he raised her up, telling them in a strained voice that she seems to have swallowed a lot of water and wasn't breathing. Gill and Chase both grabbed hold of her and pulled her onto the dock with some effort, Toby getting up himself and following closely behind.

Gill quickly moved her wet hair away from her face and put his ear close to her lips to see if she was breathing. Chase saw panic flood his features as he drew away and looked at Toby who was in turn checking her heartbeat. Toby's hand drew away from her neck and quickly moved to her chest to start performing CPR. Chase observed the scene in a silent panic, scared and confused.

What was that look Gill gave Toby? Why was Toby so frantic? Chase's eyes were wide as he looked into Molly's face, so white and cold looking. Why wasn't she waking up?

"Where the hell is Jin!?" shouted Gill, standing up.

"I'm right here," came Jin's controlled voice, running down the steps to the dock. He bent over Molly, checked her vitals and told Toby to move over so he could continue trying to resuscitate her. Chase flinched as Jin opened her mouth and covered it with his, breathing air into her lungs. More villagers, including the Mayor and Kathy came rushing down to the docks, gasping and hugging each other, fearing the worst as they stared down at Molly's seemingly lifeless body.

Chase's heart was racing a thousand beats a second, his head pounding. This couldn't be happening, why wasn't she waking up? He looked down at Gill's hands and saw them balled into fists, his knuckles white and shaking. He looked over at Toby, his hand also shaking covering his face. He stared at his own hand and reached out towards Molly, squeezing hers because it seemed like the only thing he could do at the moment.

As he squeezed he felt her hand twitch beneath his and quickly looked into her face, searching for a sign of life. A second later Jin quickly sat back as a stream of saltwater poured out of her mouth and she rolled over to the side, coughing violently. All of the villagers cried out in relief and Jin, telling everyone to make space, hastily picked Molly up in his arms. Chase stood as well, still holding onto her hand but letting it slip out of his grip as Jin walked away. At that moment Chase looked at Molly and saw her staring directly at him. The look in her eyes scared him more than when they were closed with possible death. A kind of hopelessness and despair stared back at him until they closed once again, exhausted.

"Dehydration, a fever of 102 degrees, sleep deprivation, and severe exhaustion…I'm surprised she made it on the boat."

"I'm sorry, I should've said something sooner. I had noticed how pale she looked but…other than that she seemed fine…"

"No, it's perfectly reasonable. My guess is that she was taking some pills to keep her on her feet. I'm going to have to take a trip over to her house and take stock of her medication later today."

"Is…is she going to be alright?"

"Yes, with a lot of rest and some nutrition she should be back to normal within the week, so you can get rid of that look now, all of you," said Jin, putting his clipboard down and frowning at the small crowd gathered in the waiting room. Instead of dispersing at the dock the villagers had followed Jin into the clinic and were impatiently waiting for news on Molly's condition. With the news that Molly was not in any immediate danger many left the clinic to return to their respective shops and get on with the day.

Those who stayed behind were Kathy, Chase, Toby and Paolo as well as Gill and, of course, the Mayor. Kathy stood close to Molly's room, peeking in every few minutes and clutching the curtain that separated her space from the rest of the clinic.

"When will she wake up?" Kathy asked, casting another concerned look in Molly's direction.

"I'm not sure. Two hours, six hours, a day…it depends on when her body wants to and when her mind is ready," Jin said, leaning back on the counter. "Not only is her body exhausted right now but her mind as well. These sorts of events can be traumatic and in order to protect the body from dealing with any stress or shock the mind shuts itself off. But don't worry, she will wake up. She's not in a coma or anything like that. So, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have my waiting room back, please."

"Well, that's good to know. Yes. Good, good…well everyone let's leave Jin to his work now, shall we?" said Hamilton, wringing his hands from stress and trying to smile at everyone but only succeeding with a sort of grimace.

Gill stood up and cleared his throat, "Father is right, we need to leave now, there isn't anything we can do just sitting around here. Let's get back to work."

"Get back to work?" Repeated Kathy with an incredulous look on her face. Chase, Toby and Paolo also stared at Gill, slightly frowning.

"Yes, get back to work, Kathy. Its tourist season and we can't let one incident bring our town to a stand-still. Molly needs rest and we need to do what we can to keep everything running in the meantime," he said opening the door for his father and walking out, throwing back one last look towards Molly.

"What is his problem?!" Kathy yelled, throwing her hands in the air. Chase didn't say it out loud but he secretly agreed with her. How could Gill act so calm after something like that just happened? How did he expect them all to just go back to work?

"Kathy, calm down. It is his and the Mayor's responsibility to make sure the town keeps running without any problems, he's just doing his job. And he is right, you know. You'd be better off getting back to work than doing nothing sitting here waiting for Molly to wake up," Jin said.

"He still didn't have to be so cold about it though," she said, glaring at the door like Gill could somehow feel her stare from the other side of it.

Chase sighed and moved to put his hand on Kathy's shoulder. "Hey, none of us are happy about how things turned out. We're all feeling upset right now too, it's just that some people handle it differently. It's not nice to think about but we probably should get back to the bar now. Hayden will need our help soon, it's almost dinner time."

Kathy frowned, biting her lip and wiping a small tear that had leaked out from the corner of her eye. She swallowed, nodded and walked silently out of the clinic. Chase moved the curtain just enough so that he could see Molly's face, still pale but resting peacefully against the clean white of her pillow. He frowned, thinking about her face when Jin had picked her up earlier. He had always thought that Molly was a relatively happy person, mostly care-free and generally innocent but that look was not the look of someone with an easy life. Wondering what it was she was thinking about at that time, Chase let go of the curtain, nodded his head in thanks to Jin and followed Kathy out the door.

Toby, who had been sitting with his face in his hands the entire time, waited a few seconds before Paolo gently touched his shoulder and helped him get up. Both boys were still white-faced and left after a quick thank you to Jin for his services. When they got back to the fishery, Ozzie was waiting by the door for their report and, after hearing that she was okay, sighed with relief.

"How did this happen?" Ozzie asked to no one in particular.

"Jin said it was mostly due to exhaustion of the body," Toby answered, running his hand through his bangs.

"Yeah but…there is one thing that's been bugging me," Paolo said, finally speaking up. Ozzie and Toby looked at him questioningly.

"I've asked Molly before if she could swim and she said she could, so how did she sink so quickly?"

"Well…because her body was already at its limit, right?" Ozzie said.

"Hmmm, Paolo does have a good point though. Even if she had been too sick to swim, if she would've struggled some more to keep herself afloat she wouldn't have gone down so quickly…," said Toby, frowning and looking towards the dock.

"Maybe her body shut down due to shock?" Ozzie suggested.

"Shock of what, though? Is it really that big of a shock to fall backwards into water?" Paolo asked.

"It would make sense if she'd never been in water before but that wasn't the case," said Toby, thinking hard. "Or maybe…"

Ozzie and Paolo looked at him. "Maybe what?"

"Maybe she could have a phobia of water. What if she's afraid of water?" Toby asked, his voice getting stronger.

Ozzie frowned, not convinced, but Paolo started nodding his head slowly.

"That could be true…remember when she asked all of those questions about how sturdy the boat was and if we had ever had an accident out on the water before?" said Paolo.

"Yes! And she was really hesitant about going on our first fishing trip, it took her days to give us a final answer. Plus, she's always really careful about getting in and out of the boat," Toby added. That was it, wasn't it? Molly had a fear of water and when she fell backwards the shock of it caused her body to shut down and sink faster. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He slammed his fist into his forehead, causing Ozzie and Paolo to jump back in surprise.

"Toby?" Ozzie asked hesitantly.

"I'm so stupid, I can't believe I didn't notice it before now. She's never by the water, even when she's on the beach, she's always a safe distance away. I'm so…!"

Paolo stared up at Toby, not knowing what to say. Toby rarely got worked up and his behavior unnerved him a little bit.

Ozzie sighed and gripped Toby's shoulders tightly.

"It's not your fault, no one could have seen this coming and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. It was by accident, pure accident. If anything, you saved her life. If you weren't there, who knows what would've happened? Don't beat yourself up over it…I'm sure Molly would say the same thing."

Toby scrunched his eyes together and rested his head on Ozzie's shoulder for a second before standing up straight and nodding his head. Ozzie smiled, slapped him on the back and the three of them went back into the shop together.

Meanwhile, back at Town Hall, Gill was making calls to the other villagers to let them know what had happened. Everyone was concerned and offered him their help. Gill, knowing that Molly had fields and animals to take care of, took Cain and Craig up on their offers to care for her farm until she could work again. Hanging up the phone, Gill collapsed back into his desk chair.

"Today…was not what I expected it to be."

"I don't think anyone expected that to happen, Gill," said Hamilton, looking in his filing cabinet for Molly's records. Jin said he needed copies of her background history and any medications she might have listed on the Resident Background Information Sheet she filled out before buying her property.

"What was she doing anyways? Falling into the ocean when she can't even swim. Everyone who lives on an island should know how to swim, that's just basic safety 101!"

"She did know how to swim, Gill. You heard Jin, her body was at its limit. She couldn't do anything once she went under."

"And that's another thing! Who works that hard until their body just shuts down? She's twenty already and she still doesn't know how to take care of herself? So irresponsible."

"You try working on a farm for a week Gill and see how you fare. It's not easy, and lots of things have been happening lately. It was just a string of coincidences that led to this happening, no one could have predicted it," Hamilton said, sighing. He knew the only reason Gill was saying this was because he was worried about Molly and still stressed from the ordeal. He could only imagine what Gill must have been thinking when he saw Molly unconscious on the docks.

"Someone is going to have to teach her a lesson about basic self-care," Gill said, slamming the table with his palm.

"Yes, yes and who better than you, hmm? Here, I found Molly's papers, take them over to Jin for me."

Gill made a noise of dissatisfaction but conceded nonetheless, taking the papers from his father's hands and walking over to the clinic. Everything was back to normal on Castanet. It was evening now and all of the tourists were either going back to their hotels, going to the bar for a drink or hanging out at the beach enjoying the last few moments of daylight. He couldn't believe that everything could be so calm but then again none of these people knew Molly.

He saw Chase standing outside of the bar again smoking. He knew Chase only smoked when he was stressed and was surprised to notice how close Chase and Molly seemed to be getting lately. Especially earlier that afternoon when…when she almost drowned. He'd never seen Chase that shaken up and he had also never seen Chase hold anyone's hand before, even if it was just out of concern. And not to mention the crowd of people that gathered around and followed Molly to the clinic…

Gill really had been gone from the island for too long…It was a bit surprising and somewhat sad to know that Molly had come in here and made so many bonds within just a few months and he missed all of it. Maybe he ought to back off a little bit with his questioning…

He reached the clinic after a little while and entered without knocking. Seeing no one at the front counter he called out for Jin and then Irene but, when he still didn't receive a response, went straight ahead into Molly's room and set her papers on the table next to her bed. He silently looked at her face. It was tired-looking but at least back to a normal shade. He saw her take a deep breath and consequently get a lock of her hair stuck in her mouth.

Hesitating a bit, he reached out and carefully removed the hair from her mouth. A sound from the other room made him twitch and hastily draw his hand back. He shoved his hands in his pockets as Irene came from around the corner, starting a bit when she spotted him.

"Gill?! Goddess, you scared me boy. What do you think you're doing?" she said, suspiciously.

"Nothing," he said and, realizing that he was being extremely suspicious, promptly explained his situation. "I left the papers there on the desk," he said, pointing to the manila folder.

"Oh, yes, sorry I was upstairs and must not have heard you. Jin is at Molly's house at the moment, he should be back soon if you want to wait for him."

"Oh, no that won't be necessary, I was just about to leave actually."

"Now, there's no need to rush. I'm going to go upstairs for another minute or so, so just take your time," Irene said, looking at Gill's flushed face and then glancing at Molly.

"No, I- you misunderstand-," Gill spluttered but Irene simply walked out of the room and left him to stand there listening to her fading footsteps.

"Oh great, now she thinks something is going on between us, just what I need," he said, covering his face with his hand in frustration. He sighed and looked again at Molly. He could barely hear her slow breathing over the constant tick of the clock. He closed his eyes and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

"I'm sorry for bugging you all of the time. I can't help it, you know? I just want to help the island. I feel like it's my fault that everything has been failing lately. I don't know how to fix it…and I know you probably don't have the answer I'm looking for but…I'm just…," he said, trailing off at the end. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thank you."

Gill shot up in his chair and looked at Molly to find her looking back at him as well.

"M-molly? What, you're awake?"

Molly smiled weakly, "Obviously."

Gill blushed lightly and then, realizing that she had probably heard everything that he just said, blushed some more. "I, well, you probably just heard, er…," he mumbled while Molly just calmly stared back at him.

"A-anyways, how are you? Do you remember anything?"

Molly turned away and closed her eyes again. "Yes, I remember everything. I think I probably worried a lot of people, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for causing trouble."

"Don't say that," Gill said firmly. Molly turned back towards him and smiled.

"You're kinder than I had thought, surprisingly."

Gill crossed his arms and looked away. "That has nothing to do with anything."

Molly blinked, smiled a bit and looked back at the ceiling. Soon after, they heard the front door open and close and in walked Jin with a bag of empty pill bottles.

Jin saw Gill sitting in her room and then saw Molly, awake and looking guilty.

"Molly, you're awake much sooner than I expected. That's good, I'm thankful. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I'm fine," she said in a small voice.

"Hmmm, is that so?" Jin said, doubting her and setting the bag on the table. He then turned toward Gill and asked him what he was doing there. Once again he explained what he had came to do and getting up, told them that it was time for him to go. He said goodbye to the both of them, wished Molly well and walked to the door. Just before leaving he looked back over his shoulder and saw Molly's face, staring back at the ceiling. It might've been his imagination but he could've sworn he saw a tear roll down her face.

Gill quietly closed the door and took in a deep breath only to start choking immediately after. Chase was standing a few feet away, putting out a cigarette.

"Sorry," he said, throwing it in a nearby trashcan. "So, how is she? I saw you go in earlier and Jin come back from her house…"

Gill blinked, the smoke bothering his eyes and wondered how long Chase had been standing out there. "She's fine, just woke up in fact."

"Really?" Chase asked and took a step towards the door but hesitated. "Ahh, she's probably still really tired though, huh? I…probably shouldn't disturb her…"

Gill battled with himself for a moment before answering. "Well, she seemed pretty awake. I doubt Jin would let you stay for long but…a few minutes wouldn't hurt."

"I see, well…then I guess I'll check on her. Kathy is dying to know how she is so she'd kill me if I didn't find out…"

Gill just stared at Chase for a minute and then motioned for him to go on in. Chase rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small smile before quickly entering the clinic. Gill watched as the sliver of light on the ground from the door slowly disappeared and then walked back to his house, watching his shadow walk along with him.