Chapter 3
Chip and Lee found their way down to the marina where they would leave for the two-tank half day dive. They would explore the coral reef known as "The Fish Hotel" along with wrecks off Paradise Island and the Tongue-of-the-Ocean wall that an array of exotic marine life called home. They picked up their scuba gear and made a thorough check of all the equipment before they put any of it on. The certified divers taking them out watched them check out the gear and knew they had a couple of experienced divers with them. After everyone was ready to go they left the marina on their dive. The waters were crystal clear and they enjoyed seeing the reefs, wrecks and walls.
Returning to the marina after their dive, they removed their gear and helped the guides store it before they left. As they walked up from the beach, Lee was talking to the guide not paying attention and didn't see the hole in the sand that someone must have dug. Chip saw the hole and joined Lee who moved over so he could walk them. Chip thought he cleared the hole but caught the edge, the sand collapsed around the hole and his foot went in. He managed to stay on his feet grabbing Lee's shoulder for support.
"Hey Chip, you okay," Lee asked worriedly as he saw Chip limping when he recovered his balance.
"Yeah just fell in a hole someone dug in the sand, I should be able to walk it off."
"You're limping pretty badly, you better have Jamie check it out when we get back," Lee told him as he helped him walk back to the pool.
When they got to the pool Janet was sitting on the side with her feet in the water. She saw Lee helping Chip and got up to see what had happened. Chip's limping also didn't get by Harry or Jamie.
Jamie got up from his chair and also limped over to Chip.
"Chip, what did you do?" Harry asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Rolled my ankle when I stepped in a hole."
Lee and Janet helped Chip sit down on the lounge chair where Jamie took a look at it.
"I don't think it's broken but severely sprained. Let's go back to the room where I can wrap it," Jamie told him as he looked at Chip who gave him a wry smile.
"I'll help you," Lee volunteered.
"No that's okay," both Jamie and Chip said in unison.
Jamie and Chip both limped to the elevators.
"Jamie, why are you limping?" Chip asked.
"I stopped Janet from hitting her head on the pool ladder when she tripped on her skirt. How did you fall in a hole?"
"Lee was talking to the diver guide and wasn't paying attention. I saw he was going to walk into it so I moved next to him. I caught the edge and the sand gave way," Chip explained as he ran his hand through his hair. "Thank goodness, they didn't come by themselves. We would have had to fly out here to help them. They're walking disasters."
Chuckling Jamie took his key card out of his pants, opened the door and helped Chip sit down.
((()))
Once in Jamie's room, Chip sat in the chair while Jamie wrapped his ankle and then grabbed another ace bandage and wrapped his own knee. His knee wasn't as swollen as Chip's ankle but it still hurt.
"You really should keep it up and iced," Jamie suggested as he put Chip's ankle on a chair and went to get some ice from the machine down the hall.
When he returned Chip said, "Thanks Jamie but there's one problem. I'm hungry. We didn't have lunch since we were on the dive. You should put some ice on your knee too."
Jamie was going to call Harry on his phone and have him bring up something to eat when there was a knock of the door. Harry, Lee and Janet were standing there wondering how Chip was.
"Nothing broke, just a bad sprain," Jamie told them before they could ask. They walked in the room and saw Chip sitting in a chair with his leg up.
"We do have a slight problem," Jamie told them smiling, "He's hungry. Why don't we wait an hour, let his ankle rest and then go out to dinner."
No surprise that Chip was hungry. He's always hungry so they decided on an early dinner. Nothing fancy, just a quiet dinner at the Italian restaurant. They'd have to pack tonight as they were leaving early the next morning for home.
Lee and Janet helped Chip limp back to his room where he sat down on the couch and Janet got a chair to put his foot on while Lee went to the ice machine right outside his door and brought a bucket of ice. Janet put some ice in a towel. She put two towels on his ankle before putting on the one with ice. Once she knew he was comfortable she went back to the room to get ready while Lee packed Chip's suitcase.
"Will you be okay while I get ready for dinner? We'll come and get you in an hour," Lee told Chip.
"Yes, I'll be fine. Just feel real stupid for falling in the hole," Chip said annoyed.
Giving him a wry grin, Lee left Chip and returned to his room. Janet had jumped in the shower while Lee was still with Chip and was drying her hair when Lee came to the room.
After she finished drying her hair, she put on a green dress and was putting on her make up when she mentioned to Lee, "As much as I enjoyed this vacation, I can't wait to get home. I miss seeing Seaview from our bedroom window in her sub pen. I miss Angie and Wanda and the crew too. But I'm glad we got away."
"Sweetie, I was just thinking the same thing. I've enjoyed spending the last few days away from her and the institute but I will admit I miss her too. But I'm glad we decided to try and take another vacation. I think this one will be fine thanks to our 'sitters'", he chuckled as he got in the shower.
When they were ready, they walked to Chip's room and met the admiral and Jamie as they were coming out of their rooms. Even though his ankle was pretty sore, Chip was starving so he hobbled down with Lee's help to the restaurant which was in the hotel where they were staying. Jamie was also limping but Lee and Janet didn't notice as they were making sure Chip had no problems. Harry walked along side Jamie making sure he had no problems.
((()))
The hostess felt sorry Chip and Jamie as they limped in and sat them at a table close to the door. Jamie asked for another chair so Chip could keep his leg up. The hostess looked at Chip and was more than happy to help him out. Chip winked at her when she brought him the chair.
"I'll be glad to get home," Harry told them as he ordered a bottle of Chianti looking at Chip and Jamie. "It's been a nice vacation but..."
"There's going to be mounds of work for all of us," Chip said woefully before Harry could finish his sentence.
Taking a drink of the Chianti Janet toasted, "I'm proud of all of you. I can tell you're getting antsy to get back and see how the repairs are progressing but none of you made one call to the institute to check on Seaview or what's going on at the office."
They all took a drink of their Chianti. Jamie, Harry, and Chip drained their glasses as Jamie poured another round for them.
Janet ordered eggplant parmesan while everyone else ordered lasagna and some more wine. Harry, Chip and Jamie were hoping they could get through dinner and on the airplane without any more mishaps. But that was wishful thinking on their parts.
They finished their scrumptious dinner and left the restaurant. As they were slowly walking through the lobby, a bell hop with a cart full of luggage didn't see Janet who was helping Chip but Harry saw him heading right for her. Without thinking he quickly pushed her out of the way as the bell hop ran right into him knocking him to the ground right on his wrist. Horrified at what just happened the poor bell hop quickly helped Harry up but the damage was done. The manager saw what had taken place and was very unhappy with the bell hop and told him to meet him in his office.
Jamie went over to Harry and examined his wrist, "Well you got lucky it only looks like a severe sprain."
"I'm so sorry," the hotel manager said apologizing profusely. "Let me call an ambulance."
"No thanks, Dr Jamieson will take care of it," Harry told the manager grimacing. "Please don't be too hard on the bell hop."
"If you insist I won't call an ambulance," he replied, "but if you need anything just call down to the desk. You will not be charged for your stay here."
"That's not necessary," Harry told him.
"No sir. Your injury could have been a lot more serious."
"Thank you," Harry said as he held his wrist which was starting to swell.
Janet helped Chip hobble to the elevators as Lee and Jamie helped Harry. Janet had no idea that the bell hop would have hit her if he hadn't pushed her out of the way.
Thank god we're leaving tomorrow, Jamie thought on the way to his room. I'm running out of supplies.
Once in Jamie's room, he took out the last ace bandage he brought and wrapped Harry's wrist. Going out again to the ice machine he filled the ice bucket. Putting some ice in a towel he gently laid it on Harry's wrist after putting it in a sling. Lee helped the admiral back to his room while Janet made sure Chip was situated in his room. After making sure Harry was settled in his room and his luggage packed, Lee returned to their room.
"Looks like Chip, Jamie and Harry ran into some bad luck while on vacation," Janet said innocently getting ready for bed.
"Sure does," Lee replied as he got ready too.
They climbed into bed and fell asleep right away. Jamie, Harry and Chip managed to get ready for bed and couldn't wait to leave the Bahamas.
((()))
Everyone was up early the next morning so they could have some breakfast before boarding the plane. Lee and Janet went to Chip's room to help him get to breakfast. They noticed the swelling had gone down a little on his ankle and he was able to walk on it but with a limp. Jamie and Harry were leaving their rooms and meet the other three in the hall.
"Harry, how is your wrist this morning?" Janet asked worriedly after seeing it in the sling.
"Sore but I'll be fine," Harry grinned.
Jamie just looked at Chip and Harry and sighed. He prayed they could make it to the airplane before anything else happened.
Going to a small cafe by the pool, they had a large breakfast as they wouldn't get anything to eat until they got home. The airplane only served pretzels and cookies. When they were finished, Lee and Janet returned to the rooms along with a bell hop and got the luggage for all of them so Harry, Jamie and Chip wouldn't have to go back upstairs.
Lee ordered a limo for the ride to the airport. At the airport, Lee and Janet checked all the luggage with a sky cap while the rest of them waited at the security check point. After they cleared security, Lee and Janet were walking in front of the rest of them. They turned around to ask Jamie a question and saw the three of them were quite a distance behind them. Normally they all walked at a fast pace. Janet noticed that Jamie was limping along with Chip.
"Lee look at the three of them. They are all injured...I know how they got some of their injuries but...?"
Surprised Lee looked at them too, "Sweetie, I don't know. We better find out."
They waited while the three of them caught up to them. They also saw that Jamie's arm was still bandaged, Chip still had the stitches in his forehead and scrapes from his fall the first day and the admiral still had a black eye in addition to their other injuries.
"Jamie, why are you limping...how did you get hurt," Janet asked cautiously.
Sighing he replied, "I twisted my knee when I stopped you from hitting your head on the pool ladder when you tripped on your skirt the day Lee and Chip went scuba diving."
"I know you were run over by a bicycle but why did you get hit, I didn't see any bike?" she continued afraid of what the answer would be.
"The boy on the bike was going to run right into Lee so I stepped in front of him."
"Oh," she replied quietly.
"What about you two," Lee wondered, "I was there when you received some of those injuries but what is the real reason you're hurt?"
Chip and Harry looked at each other and they both took a deep breath.
Chip spoke up first, "I fell and hit my face on the rock when you didn't see the jellyfish on the beach so I pushed you out of the way so you wouldn't step on it and I twisted my ankle making sure you didn't fall in the hole in the sand when we were walking back from scuba diving."
Lee turned Harry, "Well?"
"I didn't run into the door like I told Janet. She accidentally hit me in the eye with her camera when I stopped her from falling in the pool and I stepped in front of the bell hop so he wouldn't hit her with the cart of luggage."
Lee and Janet stood there with their mouths open. They didn't know what to say. Their friends protected them from getting hurt so they could enjoy the vacation.
Lee dressed in a blue shirt with a grey jacket was carrying Chip's carryon with a black strap on one shoulder and Harry's with the brown strap on the other shoulder flashed them that special grin, "Thank you for doing that. I guess our vacation would have been a real disaster if the 'Crane sitters' hadn't stepped in. We're sorry all of you got hurt," Lee told them while Janet nodded her head in agreement.
"Harry, I guess this means we still can't go on vacation by ourselves," Janet said doubtfully.
"Not unless you go someplace cold where you can wear winter coats, hats, boots, gloves and whatever else you can use as padding. Even then I would be afraid to let you out of my sight. You two are trouble magnets," he told them honestly.
The group continued their slow walk to the departure gate and boarded the plane for the short flight to Miami. Before settling in for the long flight to LAX, Lee and Janet feeling sorry for their friends and all the problems they caused so they paid to upgrade all their seats to business class so Chip and Jamie could stretch out their legs and Harry would have more room to rest his arm.
They had an uneventful flight from Miami to LAX. Even though it was a Saturday night, LAX wasn't too crowded so they landed with no problems and waited until everyone was off the plane before they left. They didn't want to hold anyone up when they walked to the gate. Before they left Miami, Harry called the institute and arranged to have a driver take them home from the airport. He was waiting for them at the baggage claim so he could help them with their luggage and was surprised to see three of them with injuries. Lee helped him put the luggage in the car while the rest of them climbed in. Janet was sitting in the back seat with Jamie, Harry, and Lee. It was easier for Chip to get into the front seat with his ankle.
"I guess none of you had a good time," Janet remarked sadly as they drove home from the airport.
Jamie replied as he patted Janet's hand, "The weather was perfect, the resort was nice and even though there were some minor issues, I still had a good time."
"I enjoyed myself even with injuries," Chip piped up. "I would go back again with you."
"Janet, you picked a wonderful place for our vacation and yes I had a good time too," the admiral told her smiling.
"Thank you," Janet replied softly.
When they arrived at the institute, the admiral had the driver dropped them off at the dock. They all needed to check on Seaview. She had been moved from her underground pen back to Dock A. They all stood on the dock looking lovingly at her as she rested serenely in her pen.
"You four are quite a sight. You're treating her like a toy you've abandoned," Jamie said laughing. "Alright I missed her too."
After saying good bye to Harry and Jamie, Lee and Janet put their luggage and Chip's in the car and drove home. Jamie would make sure Harry got home and settled in before he headed home. Lee and Janet dropped Chip off at his door so he wouldn't have far to walk. Lee brought in his suitcase and put it in the bedroom for him.
"Thanks Lee," Chip said as he sat down and put his foot up as his ankle was starting to ache.
"I'm really sorry 'bro' for all the trouble we caused," Lee said quietly while Janet got some ice for his ankle.
"Hey forget about it. I know you would do the same thing for me," Chip told him.
Nodding his head Lee replied, "Good night Chip. See you tomorrow."
((()))
Lee and Janet drove back to their house. After taking the luggage out of the car and putting it in the front hall it was nice to sit down on the couch where Janet put her head on Lee's shoulder and yawned.
"Thank you for a wonderful vacation, honey. I had a wonderful time even with the 'Crane sitters'. But I do feel guilty they are all hurt while we didn't even get a scratch," Janet lamented.
"Yes it was nice getting away from everything and I'm sure they won't hold it against us," he told her rubbing her arm and nuzzling her neck.
Leaning away from him she looked at him and could see his eyes full of mischief. She grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to the bedroom. They removed each other clothes and climbed into bed.