***Chapter 12

Six hours later the two technicians finally left the Hammersley and 2Dads made his way to the bridge reporting to the watch on duty that they had finished their job and searched the ship from stem to stern for any other technical problem. All was fine. Maybe he could still go to that bar Bomber and Spider went to earlier? A short glance at his watch told him otherwise. Even if the bar was as good as everyone said, his crew mates would be on their way home already. The blonde sailor sighed. Maybe I should go have a good night's sleep. Tomorrow's a new day, that's what they say, isn't it? He entered the bridge, surprised to see Robert sitting there, flipping through some readings.
"I thought you were on shore leave? Why are you sitting here? You're not on duty, are you?" Half-hearted he hoped that RO had done something stupid as well. Of course he hadn't.
"I just wanted to have a look at something. I'm still thinking about that number. I can't make any sense of it." The communicator looked annoyed. It didn't happen often that he was clueless on what to do.
"I could help." 2Dads offered. RO made a face.
"Sure, any of your really helpful hints would be appreciated! What is it this time? Password to her voice mail?"
"You can skip the mocking, I honestly want to help. And by the way, did you try the voice mail?" He shoved the sea maps aside and made himself comfortable at the desk. "Anyway, what's that you are looking at?"
RO gave him the stack of papers he had in hand. "See if you can find something. That's all NACOM had about the diving spots we marked on the map with Sara's information. There are some suspected vessels around and the Feds are going to investigate. But there's no connection to 775 so far. And yes I even tried voice mail." He massaged his temples and let his head rest in his hands for a moment, eyes closed, looking tired. 2Dads wasn't sure if he should tell what he had in mind. There was a chance RO could get it wrong. He cleared his voice and addressed the other sailor with a soft tone hoping not to upset him with what he was about to say.
"RO, I really want to help you with that. Honestly! But have you considered that Sara was talking nonsense? That this 775 is all random and non sequitur? I mean she was in pretty bad shape at the time." Unsure if he had said too much, Leo looked at Robert's face to see if there was any clue on how the other one had taken in his statement. RO just sat there motionless, blank-faced for a moment. Then he stood up and left without a word. Great! Well done, Leo! And again one of your crew members is mad at you.

"Can I help you, Sir?" A young nurse coming out of a room carrying a tray with cups and a teapot addressed Mike Flynn.
"Yes, maybe." He smiled at her. "I'm looking for a young woman, Sara River. I wanted to pay a visit, see how she's doing. Can you tell me where I can find her? "
"Let's see. Come with me please." The nurse led him to a counter and motioned him to wait there. She vanished through a door for a second then came back and made an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry Sir. Only members of the family are allowed to visit. Are you a relative?"
Mike frowned. "No, I'm not. Can you at least tell me how she is?"
The nurse shook her head. "No Sir, I can't. By the way there was a young sailor here some minutes ago, my colleague told him the same. What is it that you navy guys all want to pay a visit to Miss River?" She looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
"What young sailor?" Mike asked in return, ignoring her question. Who would come and visit Sara? He felt a little jealous. Which was stupid, he knew. But he couldn't help it.
"I'm not sure if I remember his name. He was a little shorter than you, brown hair, a bit curtly. It was something with 'D'. I'm sorry, I don't remember any more. He wanted to talk to Miss River and said it was very important. But of course we didn't let him."
That must have been RO. What had he wanted? Mike wondered for a second. Then he looked at the nurse, put on his broadest smile and told her: "You know, that must have been Robert Dixon, he's the radio officer aboard the HMAS Hammersley. I'm the commanding officer, Mike Flynn. It's a pleasure to meet you."
He hold out his hand. The young woman looked a bit bewildered but shook it nonetheless. Mike took her hand in both of his, looking serious now. "You know, I'm really glad you are here taking care of Miss River, taking your job so serious." The nurse blushed and looked flattered.
He continued encouraged by her reaction. "You must know, Miss River has a history with the Hammersley and made a lot of friends there." He knew he was stretching the truth here just a little. "We were shocked when we found her out there at the open sea. My crew is waiting anxiously for news and you know how it is, you never know when you have to sail again. All they want to know is that their friend is well and safe."
That worked well, better than he had expected. The nurse glanced over her shoulder nervously. Then she pulled Mike down the corridor. "Just a second." she whispered, opening a door on the right side and shoved him in. The CO's suntanned skin paled seeing the small figure laying in the bed in front of him, bleeping machines all around, tubes leading away from infusion bags, vanishing under the blanket.
"She's going to be ok." the nurse hurried to reassure him, seeing his reaction. "I mustn't tell you that, so you don't have that information from me, understood?" She waited until Mike shook his head, giving his consent. Then she went on: "You can tell your crew she's going to be fine. The operation went as planned, the DCS wasn't as bad as we thought at first and we have it under control as well. Your coxswain was right there, tell him that was good thinking." She allowed the sailor a last glance at the patient then opened the door. "You have to go now, Sir. As soon as she wakes up, you can come visit her, there's no problem then."
Mike thanked the nurse for her help and went down the corridor leading to the staircase, being relieved at the information he had gotten. She looked after him with a slightly dreamy expression.
"Ah those navy guys in their whites, they are handsome, aren't they?" Grinning, another nurse rounded the counter and came standing next to her. "What did he want?"
"Nothing, just needed some information on where he could find a friend of him."
"Well tell me when he comes back for a visit. I'd sure like to show him around myself!" Giggling, the nurses went on with their job.

The bar was crowded out. People had to yell their orders to be heard over the music. A couple was standing at the counter, kissing and cuddling wildly. They blocked the way for anyone who wanted to talk to the bartender. Annoyed, one of the guests shoved them aside to make his order. He turned around when cheering erupted around a pool table. Taking a tablet full of drinks with him, he made his way to the cheering crowd, advising the couple to go and get a room when passing by.
"You missed it!" A young brown haired greeted him cue in hand, helping herself with one of the drinks from the tablet. "I scored, now I'm better than Charge!" She smiled and whirled around. "Who's turn is it?" she asked.
"I guess it's me now." One of her companions stood up from the bar stool at a nearby table and took the cue. Concentrating on the task ahead, he bent over the table.
"Look how he's aiming the cue ball. You better deposit them all in the pockets this time. There's a reputation at stake." someone was mocking.
The woman sat down at the table, playing with the blue umbrella that had come with her cocktail.
"So what's with 2Dads? Anyone has a clue why the X made him stay aboard?" she asked.
"He better tells you the story on his own. But it was typical 2Dads, I can tell you that much." one of the older men answered her.
Bomber raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
"It's partly my fault, I guess." The sailor who had stand the round scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "I was with him and told him to take care. But I didn't persist in it when he didn't listened. I think I own him."
"Hey Spider, he's old enough to know for himself. Don't you blame yourself on that one." Buffer patted him on the shoulder. "Now come, it's your turn. See if you can beat our chef. If not she's going to be all conceited and won't cook for us ordinary people any more." He laughed as the young woman made a face in his direction. "Just kidding, Bomber." His smile brightened when he saw someone coming up behind the chef. "Swaino, look who's joining us tonight!"
A brown haired woman came towards them, worming her way through the crowd. "Hey guys!" She greeted them with a wave and a warm smile. "Nice to see you all. Hi darling", she leaned over the table and gave her husband a kiss, "greetings from my parents. They're taking Chloë 'till tomorrow after lunch. So that means we got the whole night for us." Although she had added the last few words in a hushed tone, someone whistled and the group cheered behind them. Charge who had been trying to score up to Bomber came over from the pool table and handed the cue to Spider.
"Hi Sally, good to see you, it has been a while. How are you? How's Chloë?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer. "You won't believe what happened that week." Some of the surrounding people turned to listen too, expecting him to spin a thrilling sailor's yarn.

Robert stood at the pier, watching the last tourist cruisers sailing into the harbor. Slowly but visibly the scenery around him changed. Families with children left, the little ones still thrilled with joy chattering exited about their day at sea, two couples sat at the deck of their yachts holding hands, watching the sun set, unwilling to let go the perfect day they had obviously had together.
A group of sailors strolled along the promenade, waving at him. He thought he recognized at least one of them, the RO of HMAS Launceston.
"Waiting for your girl?"
Robert ignored the question and the other one didn't bother to ask twice. The group vanished around the corner.
The crew of a fishing vessel nearby prepared their equipment for the next morning, sorting their nets and lines and making jokes that would have made the mothers put their hands over their children's ears if they had still been around.
Suddenly Robert felt alone in the middle of all the people surrounding him. Was 2Dads right? Was he on a wild-goose chase? He hadn't been allowed to talk to Sara at the hospital so he couldn't have asked her herself.

He had tried to talk to the Jones' couple but they won't reach port until tomorrow midday and he hadn't had the nerve to talk over the radio. With Mr Jones talking so fast and Mrs Jones constantly arguing and chattering in the background, there was no way finding out what he was looking for. No one seemed to be interested in the numbers though, not the X, not the CO... . Well, he had to admit, 2 Dads offered his help but that didn't count because the technician didn't believe that there was something behind that numbers. They all had told him to wait 'till Miss River got better. But RO felt that this was something urgent that couldn't wait. Deep in thoughts he had started wandering up and down the jetty. Now something got his attention.

That's funny. It never occurred to me that the first thing one realizes when coming to are sounds. Sara heard a steady bleeping next to her head, then shuffling noises. Cool fingers at her wrist, taking the pulse. She must be in bed, it felt warm and cosy all around. Interesting, so sensations are the next to come. Wonder if that's the same for everyone? Drowsily, she let herself drift in the small grey area between being wide awake and fast asleep. I could open my eyes. But then she had to face the reality. Her shoulder felt numb, in fact her whole body felt numb. She neither wanted to think about what had happened nor what was about to come. Just lay there in the warmth and cosiness and think about nothing. Half-hearted she tried to turn herself to the side but she couldn't move herself for even an inch. Oddly enough that didn't bothered her at all. I'll try again later. A door opened.
"You're family? Well than you can sit down here for a minute. She won't be able to talk to you though, she's still heavily sedated. But feel free to talk to her, sometimes the patients do realize who's there for them. Just make it a short visit this time, she needs the rest." a young female voice said. A chair was moved, then the door closed again and it was quiet for a moment. Suddenly Sara felt a warm breath next to her ear, a voice whispering sent a shiver running down her spine: "Good morning sunshine."

:-)