A/N: Here's the next chapter. I apologize for the wait; I hope I haven't lost any reviewers!
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Next morning, Raul and Julia had both gotten some 'alone' time— and then they had also talked to the Barthezes and they were marginally more cheerful.
It was 6:30 a.m. and the six of them were sitting in the dining room. Since it was so early, there was nobody else there. There was a coffee-maker on the highly polished counter lining one side of the room. At the moment, Matilda was busy making coffee for everyone.
Raul rested his forehead on the cold table top and said in a muffled voice, "People recover from comas…"
"Yep," said Miguel emphatically, his eyelids drooping a little bit. Raul had showed up in the room at 1 in the morning and forced them all to wake up and listen to his angry rant about how it was always the nicest people who got hurt.
"Tala did…" said Claude, shooting a longing look at Matilda, who was still making the coffee. "Hurry up, Matilda!" he called.
"It'll be here in a minute!" replied Matilda.
Without raising his head, Raul nudged Julia with his elbow. She was in the same position as he was. "You asleep?"
"I was…" she replied in a dull voice. "Not any more, though. Ugh, I need to dunk my head in cold water or something."
Hey, I could help you with that," teased Aaron, reaching for a nearby jug of ice-cold water.
"NO!" she exclaimed, getting into an upright position. "Okay, okay, I'm up."
At that moment, Matilda walked up with a jug of coffee. Her eyes had black circles around them because of the lack of sleep. Sitting down, she absent mindedly began to put salt into her cup. Raul, who had finally raised his head to absent-mindedly sip some of the black liquid, grabbed her wrist and forced it down with something resembling a grin on his face.
"Oops…" she murmured, going scarlet.
"I bet it tastes disgusting now," said Raul, pushing his own cup towards her. "Here, take this." He took Matilda's cup and had a bit. Pulling a face, he looked at the cup for a few seconds, shrugged, and kept on drinking. "At least it has caffeine."
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Salima stretched and sat up. Looking at the clock, she saw it was 8:30 in the morning. There was probably nobody awake. She looked over to the other side of the cabin, where Miriam was still asleep on the top bunk. The cabins were supposed to be for four people each, but the two others who were supposed to share with them were getting on at the next stop.
Getting up, she pulled on a sweater and made her way towards the dining room, but on the way there, she saw a familiar white-clad figure disappearing around a corner. She changed her course, following him curiously. Turning the corner, she saw him entering a small room that seemed to be for storage. She walked up to the door and leaned against the frame.
Ray was bending over something. He had a dish in one hand. As Salima watched, he lowered it to the ground and whistled softly. To her surprise, an adorable little puppy came out. It had big brown eyes and pointed ears. Its coat was black with a white patch over one eye. Ray gently stroked its back as it lapped up half of the milk inside and then sat down with a contented little grunt.
"A puppy?" said Salima, startling Ray, who hastily got to his feet, stepping on the dish and upsetting the contents. The puppy looked at him reproachfully, wiggling its ears back and forth.
"Uh, puppy?" said Ray, laughing nervously, nudging the puppy gently with his foot behind a box. Pets weren't allowed on the ship. "What puppy? There's no puppy."
"Oh, honestly, Ray," said Salima, walking up to him with a laugh. "I suppose you were drinking that milk yourself?"
"I like milk," said Ray defensively. At that moment, the little animal came trotting back into view. Jumping eagerly at Ray, it lost its balance and fell back, looking up at Salima with a bemused expression. Abandoning his act, Ray looked at Salima, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"No… of course not," replied Salima, moving forward towards the puppy to pet it. The animal ran at full speed towards her and started capering around her feet, causing her to lose balance too, and fall onto the ground. It jumped onto her and began sniffing her face. Ray looked at her and laughed. She tried to nudge the pup off but it sank its teeth into her sleeve and stayed there.
"No!" remonstrated Ray, pulling it off and offering Salima his hand. Taking it, she hoisted herself up, perhaps a tad too energetically, because she bumped into him. Hard. He staggered back a few steps before stabilizing himself and Salima too. She giggled before stepping away. "Sorry," she said. "Want to go get some breakfast?"
"Sure," he replied, picking up the puppy and putting it into an empty box with a blanket. "Let's go."
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Later on in the afternoon, everyone had found out about mother Inka and expressed their sorrow to the twins. They also found out that they were going to stop at a port the very next day.
Raul flipped open his phone and started dialing a number. "Who're you calling?" asked Julia.
"Greg," he replied. Greg was mother Inka's nephew, like a brother to them. Raul and Julia both had international cell phones, seeing as they used to travel all the time and it was more convenient than getting a new number every time they moved.
"Hey Greg," said Raul. "We got your telegram."
'Raul! How did you two take it?' came the nineteen-year-old's voice over the phone.
"Well… okay, I guess. Some friends helped us out."
'That reminds me, where is your next stop?'
Raul named the stop after a slight pause.
'That's excellent news! The circus will be there day after tomorrow. We could meet you. If you'll believe me, we've actually hired an ambulance and trained nurse to look after mother Inka.' He laughed.
"No, that's not good news," said Julia, snatching the phone from her brother (She had been listening carefully to the conversation by putting her ear to the other end of the phone) "We'll leave the port day after tomorrow morning."
There was a long pause. 'Well, can't you arrange something? Like, you stay behind this time, find out when and where the ship stops next, and fly there beforehand?'
"That's a great idea, actually!" said Julia. "We'll talk over it and tell you later. Bye." She switched it off and handed it to Raul.
"How could you agree to that?" said Raul, looking freaked out. "We might miss the cruise next time too!"
"I'm sure someone will keep in touch with us and keep us notified." Turning around, she looked around the crowded room. Seemed that everyone was there. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, "Anyone here have an international cell?"
"I do," said Tala from right behind her. She jumped, startled. "Okay," she said. "Save this number," she narrated him Raul's cell phone number. He obediently saved it and then, scrutinizing her, said, "And why do I need this?"
"Well," she said, shifting uncomfortably. "Raul and I are going to stay back tomorrow and we need you to tell us when and where the next stop will be."
Tala unquestioningly nodded and sauntered away.
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A/N: I know, abrupt ending but please do review…