The chaos aboard the Time Bandit was frenzied. No one knew what to do next. It was agreed that Sig and Natalie both needed medical attention desperately. The Coast Guard needed to be contacted and probably the local police department to deal with Bishop.
"Listen, Natalie needs blood in a desperate way" said Mike Fortner. "She will die if she doesn't get a transfusion."
"What type of blood does she need?" asked Andy. "I have A negative, Jon, what's your blood type?"
"We have a perfect match right here" said Mike, pointing at Nicole.
"Right, of course, because their twins" said Andy.
Mike gave and internal eye roll and nodded at Andy.
"Eddie, grab the EMT kit in my bunk" said Mike.
"Are you going to do it here?" asked Jon.
"Yep, we don't have time to move her" said Mike. "Nicole, I need a vein."
"Ok" said Nicole.
She immediately started to strip off layers of clothing. Once she was down to her camisole she moved over to where Mike was laying Natalie out on the ground.
"Nicole, up on the bench. I'm going to use gravity to move your blood to her" explained Mike.
"Fine, I don't really need an explanation" said Nicole. "All I want to hear is Natty telling me she's alright."
"Roger" mumbled Mike.
"Don't lay her on the floor" said Andy.
"What do you want me to do?" barked Mike. "She needs this now."
"It's freezing in here, she needs a blanket or a sweatshirt or something" explained Andy.
As if shocked into action, every guy in the room removed their sweatshirts and handed them to Josh. He made a sort of pallet for Natalie to rest on. Eddie arrived with the medic bag and Mike got to work. He was miraculously able to find a usable vein on Natalie's arm on his first try, even though the wheelhouse was almost black. Nicole's wrist was even easier and less than five minutes later blood was flowing from one twin to the other.
Mike turned his focus to Sig, who was currently laying on the floor of the Time Bandit while a circle of blood spread around his leg. Grabbing the medical kit he moved to kneel next to Sig. He checked his pupils and found responding appropriately.
"Someone pull off his boot, I need to see if his foot has a pulse" ordered Mike.
Jake stepped forward and pulled off the boot and sock. Mike eagerly felt the top of the foot and breathed a sigh of relief as the feel of Sig's pulse pressed against his fingers.
"Good news Sig, we aren't going to have to cut off your leg" said Mike.
"If that's the good news then what's the bad news" said Sig.
"Well the bad news is that you have horrible taste in women and that crazy bitch" said Mike, pointing to Bishop's body. "Just tried to kill you."
"Did it hit the femoral artery?" asked Andy.
"If it had hit that he'd be dead" said Mike matter of factly.
Mike palpated Sig's leg, causing Sig to scream in pain.
"FUCK, that hurts" yelled Sig.
"Well you did just get shot" said Mike. "And it doesn't feel good, trust me I know."
Andy grimaced at the reminder. He also pondered that literally 72 hours ago they were just one big happy boat, shooting off guns and bitching about ice. Now he had a girl lying dead on his floor, another one clinging to life by a thread and someone who he considered to be a great friend suffering from a serious gunshot wound.
"Well, we're going to get rid of the guns" said Andy.
"No kidding brother" said Jonathan.
"So, I don't mean to bring up the obvious but what are we going to do with her?" asked Scotty, pointing to Bishop.
"We should probably call the local PD" said Jon.
"I think this belongs to the Troopers" said Andy.
"Maybe it's the Coastie's problem" suggested Eddie.
"It could be no one's problem if you just dump her over the side" said Nicole from her prone position."
"You have an outstanding warrant or something?" asked Josh.
"No, but I'm a ghost right now" said Nicole. "I don't exist and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Well I'll say there is no easy way to just sweep this under the rug" said Andy.
"She would have killed all of you" said Nicole. "I saved all of your lives, the least you can do is say one of you shot her."
Andy glanced down at Sig who was shaking his head and cursing in Norwegian.
"Tell them, I shot her" said Sig.
"Um, that's not really possible" said Mike.
"Why's that?" asked Sig.
"Well first of all you've been shot and would have to have been shot first and then have the clarity of mind to shoot her in the head from where you lay on the floor" said Mike. "Oh but wait, even if you could do all that, she was shot point blank in the head, so yeah you couldn't have done it."
"At least I'm volunteering" said Sig petulantly.
"It doesn't matter who volunteers, no one is short enough to create the correct angle of the shot and no one is going to have powder on their hands" said Mike.
"Just say that I did it" said Natalie's weak voice from the floor.
"What?!" said Mike. "That makes even less sense."
"It will be fine" said Natalie. "I'll make sure of it. Just keep Nicole safe and out of sight. Please."
With that last word Natalie slipped back into unconsciousness. The room was silent and all eyes were on Nicole as she reached down and took Natalie's hand in hers.
The Coast Guard pulled Natalie and Sig off the deck of the Time Bandit, taking extra care not to exacerbate their wounds. Mike gave the medics a quick run down of their injuries, before hopping into the ambulance with them. The Northwestern had taken off back to the fishing grounds before the Coasties had arrived. The Alaska troopers had given the case over to the local police department who'd asked the Time Bandit to stay in port until they could send someone over to remove the body. The remaining crew members gave the investigating officer a plausible series of events and once the body was removed they were allowed to return to fishing. Jonathan took the helm, radioing to the Northwestern that they were headed back out to the grounds.
"Roger, Time Bandit" said Andy's voice over the radio.
The decision had been made to put Nicole on the Northwestern and Sig insisted Andy be on board the boat to help Norman until Edgar could make it up from Seattle. Norman had readily agreed, he'd never hunted for Opi's and rarely drove the boat in ice. The Time Bandit headed out to go through their gear one last time before heading back to Dutch to unload. The crew was short a Captain, but Jonathan was able to jump into the chair without a second thought. Both boats had only one thing in mind, get the crab and get the hell out of there.
Andy sat quietly in the Captain's chair giving Nicole the occasional sideways glance as he steered the boat through the ice infested waters. Nicole hadn't eaten anything since they left the harbor and had been sipping on the same bottle of water. She hadn't moved or gone to the bathroom and Andy was starting to wonder if she was actually still breathing. The pancake ice was starting to thin and Andy called Norman up to take the chair.
"Hey Norman" said Andy quietly.
"Hey Andy, how's it going?" said Norman.
"We just got out a flow and we're halfway to the northern most string" said Andy.
Norman smiled then dropped his voice to a whisper, "has she moved at all?"
Andy glanced at Nicole and shook his head.
"Have you heard anything about Sig and Natalie?" asked Norman.
"Nothing new" said Andy. "I called Jon and asked him how it went getting them off the boat."
"Oh yeah? What did he say?" asked Norman.
"They airlifted them, the Coasties got them stable and sent them to Anchorage. We don't have any update since then though" explained Andy. "Fourtner's with them."
"Why don't you take her to the galley" said Norman.
"Yeah, sure" said Andy.
He walked over to Nicole and tapped her on the shoulder. She slowly turned her head and Andy stepped back unconsciously. Her eyes were so blank he thought she was possessed.
"Nicole, why don't we get you something to eat" said Andy.
Nicole turned back to the window and ignored Andy's request.
"Nicole, why don't you get a fresh cup of tea" said Norman. "It's what Natalie would want you to do."
Nicole nodded, slowly got up and picked up her cup. Andy guided her to the stairs and followed her as she descended them.
In the galley Nicole went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a tea kettle, she filled it and then plugged it in. She removed Natalie's tea cup from the cabinet and set hers next to it, she dropped in a tea bag each and then waited for the water. Once the tea kettle switched off she poured out the tea and handed Natalie's cup to Andy. He didn't know what to do, he didn't drink tea, he never had and yet he was compelled to take a sip.
"Don't drink it yet" said Nicole, "it hasn't steeped enough."
Andy set the cup down and waited until it was appropriate to drink.
"Do you want something to eat?" asked Andy hesitantly.
"No, I don't eat" said Nicole, taking a sip of her tea.
"Ever?" questioned Andy.
"Not really. I drink tea, champagne and pretend to eat at dinner parties, but I haven't actually chewed anything in years" said Nicole.
"That is so weird" said Andy. "It's making me hungry just thinking about it."
Andy walked over to the freezer and pulled out a tub of ice cream.
"Do you want some?" asked Andy. "Technically it's not really food, more of a frozen beverage."
Nicole smiled and nodded.
Andy watched her lick the ice cream off her spoon and tried very hard to think of anything but her lips and mouth and tongue. He looked away, searching for something to say. Nicole smiled knowingly and began to slowly lick the ice cream from her spoon. The sugar coursed through her body, acting as a natural endorphin. The color seemed to return to her cheeks. Andy didn't notice because he was staring at her mouth.
"Um, wow" he said with a stutter. "For someone who doesn't eat you are doing a good job."
"Thank you" said Nicole, a smile crossing her face.
She was feeling better, Natalie was at a real hospital and if something were to happen someone was there with her. Deciding the best thing was to try to cheer herself up she smiled and she knew just the man to do it with.
"I want to take a shower" said Nicole conversationally.
"Ok, I'm sure that will be fine" said Andy, his voice tinged with confusion.
"But I don't want to do it alone" continued Nicole. "I get claustrophobic so having someone to keep me company seems to help."
Andy was nothing if not a helpful guy and he jumped at the chance to help.
The bathroom in the Northwestern was smaller than the facilities on the Time Bandit, not that Andy noticed. The moment the door closed he found himself watching Nicole strip seductively out of her clothes. Tossing them on the floor she leaned into the small shower cubicle and turn on the water.
"Aren't you going to join me?" asked Nicole.
"Yes" said Andy, his rational mind completely thwarted by the expanse of naked flesh.
"Good, let me help you" said Nicole.
She reached for Andy's sweats and pulled them down along with his boxers. The cold air rushing around his revealed skin did nothing to calm his erection.
"Oh my, look what I've found" said Nicole.
She leaned forward taking him in her mouth, she swirled her tongue around the growing length before tugging on Andy's shirt. He'd been watching her intently and didn't take her hint. She tugged the shirt again.
"Oph" she mumbled.
Andy realized what she wanted and pulled the shirt over his head, wincing slightly as his shoulder twinged with pain.
"Lets get in the shower" said Andy. "Before all the hot water runs out."
Nicole smiled at the suggestion and giving his cock a final lick she stood up.
The warm water sluiced over their bodies. Andy wasted no time picking up Nicole and plunging home, she was wet and ready. Her head tipped back and Andy used the opportunity to latch onto one her pink nipples. Nicole ran her nails up and down Andy's back, scoring him as she got closer to her peak. Her back up against the shower wall gave her enough support to slide one hand between their bodies and flick her clit. Andy could feel her walls starting to tighten around him and doubled his efforts. Moments later the pair cried out as their pleasure crested.
Drying off Nicole's whole demeanor had changed. Her eyes were clear and focused. She had a smile on her face for the first time since they'd left St. Paul. Andy watched as she redressed and began brushing her hair.
"Let me do that" he said, taking the brush from her hand.
"Ok" said Nicole.
She turned around so Andy could have full access to her hair. He ran the brush through her locks, carefully pulling out the snarls.
"That feels wonderful" said Nicole. "It's been ages since anyone has been so tender."
Andy finished brushing her hair and set down the hairbrush.
"I feel so much better" said Nicole. "That's just what I needed."
Andy didn't know if it was the hair brushing or the sex, but whichever it was he was happy to know he'd done it.