Catering Girl Ch. 06

As it was getting late, Ruben left and came back a minute later with a stack of pizzas and set them out on a table just outside the dispatch office. The sausage with mushrooms, olives, and feta cheese hit the spot. We listened in on the radio chatter as we were in a lull.

"Sounds like none of the passengers were hurt and are all safe. Most of the crew are fine. A number of engineers have been flown to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. A couple had some bad burns, although one is reported to be severely burned," one of the dispatchers said.

Eventually things got under control and the Coast Guard released all but two of our tugs, with those two charged with helping the stricken cruise ship back to port for repairs. The passengers were put on a couple of ferry boats and taken back to Seattle to try to rescue what they could of their vacations.

Ruben offered to drive me home, and since it was about time for Little Miss to go to bed, I accepted his offer so Whit could put her down. Besides, Madison likes it when Whitney tucks her in, she always caves in and reads an extra story at bedtime. She tried once to claim the "what happens at Miss Whitney's" line, but I cut her off on that one since it's our place now as well. Now Whitney just claims girlfriend privilege when she gets the extra book.

After kicking my shoes off and checking in on a tucked in little girl, who wanted yet another story but was told no, I put my feet up on the sofa. Not the relaxing day I had in mind, but Whit put a glass of wine in my hands and the stress began to melt away. That is, until the doorbell rang.

"Stay there, I'll see who it is." Whitney was up before I could even sit up. She scurried down to the ground floor, and I could hear her talking to someone. "Jennifer, you'd better come here."

Rubbing my temple with my fingers quickly to prepare myself, I headed to the stairs when I heard Whitney come up with two men. They were both in uniform, one in a Coast Guard duty uniform and the other I didn't recognize but was clearly military. One thought went through my mind; this can't be good.

"Ms. DeLuca?" I figured him out quick, a big US Navy over his left breast pocket and a cross on his lapel gave him away.

"Yes?" I nodded.

"I'm Chaplin Harrison, I need to inform you that your daughter's father was critically wounded in the cruise ship fire today. He was rescuing several crew members from the engine room and was badly burned. He is currently at Harborview in their level one trauma center, but it's going to be a tough 24 to 48 hours for him." The look on the Chaplin's face told me he was trying to give me hope, but I surmised there wasn't much to give. I collapsed back on the couch and buried my face in my hands. My mind raced through a thousand scenarios in a matter of seconds, all of them bad.

Whit sat next to me and began to rub my back.

"Is he going to be alright? Is he going to make it?"

"We don't know, it's hard to say at this point," he replied.

"If we went to the hospital, would my daughter or I be able to see him?"

"I don't know at the moment. Last we knew he was in surgery. But if you want to have a chance to see him, you'd better go now. But it might not be pretty. He suffered third and fourth degree burns. He will probably be more bandages than anything."

Whitney put her arms around me and held me. I wanted to cry, more out of anguish for what Madison might go through. My mind was racing to the worst possible outcome. But I stifled it for the moment and steeled myself.

"Let me go get Madison, and we will talk about it. Can I have a few?"

"Sure." I went up the stairs and opened the door. I saw a head lift from her pillow and look at me.

"Is everything okay mommy? I heard men's voices."

"Madison, your daddy was in an accident trying to save people's lives on the cruise ship today." I spent the next few minutes trying to explain things in a way that was honest, but within the ability of a young mind to understand.

"Can I go see him? I can help him feel better. Just like you do when I get hurt."

I still wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. I didn't want to scar her. But not letting her possibly say goodbye could also scar her. There was no good solution to this.

"If that is what you want, we can try. You need to understand, they might not let you in. But we will go and see what we can do, okay?" I helped her get dressed, and with Nani under her arms, we headed to the hospital.

Chaplin Harrison and Chief Petty Officer Murkowski met us in the ER lobby and led us to the Intensive Care Unit. A doctor greeted us and explained that they had stabilized him for now, but his lungs were severely damaged by the heat and smoke.

"Whit, you mind staying here with Madi?"

"Sure. Come on, munchkin, let's go find some chairs."

I went into the room and if they hadn't told me it was Dallas, I would not have recognized him. Much of his face was bandaged or had tubes sticking out of it. One of the few parts of his body that wasn't covered by bandages was his right hand.

I reached out and stroked his unbandaged hand with my finger. I let it slip into his hand.

"Hi old friend. We're here for you."

A tear began to leak from the corner of my eye. I stood there, not knowing what to do next, when I felt Dallas squeeze my finger. And then he let go.

It was at this point several alarms started to go off on some of the monitoring equipment connected to him. Doctors and nurses began pouring into the room. One of them escorted me out to a waiting room. "His blood oxygen is dropping very low, even though we have him on pure oxygen, his body is not absorbing it."

Whitney and Madison were waiting there for me. My phone dinged and there was a text from Dallas' parents, saying they would be there in about an hour and a half.

"Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"I don't know, pumpkin. I don't know."

I collapsed onto a chair and, with Madison in my arms, cried.

To be continued...

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Author's note: Thank you for sticking around to the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please consider providing some feedback. Votes, comments, or PMs are all welcome. I have one more chapter of this story in the works, so follow me to be notified when the last part is published.

This chapter is dedicated to all the service members of the United States Coast Guard. You don't get as much credit as you deserve. Semper Paratus.

A special thanks goes to my friends, beta readers and editing crew, AwkwardMD, Bramblethorn, BrokenSpokes, and Rileyworks. They make me look like a competent storyteller, thank you.

If you are looking for something more to read, check out the authors I follow. Maybe you might find something there that you like.

Grandma Olinski's Cucumber Salad (a Miss Madison favorite)

1/2 cup neutral salad oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh dill (or 2 teaspoon dried)

1/2 teaspoon pickling salt

2 cloves peeled garlic, smashed

Pepper to taste

Slice 2 peeled English cucumbers thin (preferably on a mandolin)

Mix dressing ingredients then add sliced cucumber. Mix. Allow the salad to rest overnight in the refrigerator. Remove smashed garlic if desired before serving.

For a creamy version, substitute sour cream for the salad oil and reduce the vinegar to one tablespoon. Jenn loves to put leftover creamy cucumber salad on her sandwiches. Yummy.