Beginnings - SF2 (31 page)

"JAMIE, HELP!!!" he cried, stunned and panicked.

She wanted to take the time to reassure him, but she couldn't waste a second. She grabbed the closest life preserver, tossed it in the general direction of her partner, and then ran back to the helm. "Drop the sails!" she ordered, Mia and Conor scrambling to obey her command. While they made a mess of the deck, with yards of sail billowing around them, Jamie started the engines and quickly turned the boat around.

She knew that Ryan would not drown, since she was wearing a buoyant life vest, but she was terribly worried about her being in the frigid water for any length of time. The ocean was about 58 degrees during the spring, and she knew that hypothermia could set in quickly, especially with the cold wind that was still blowing fiercely.

When the unbearably cold water rushed over her head, Ryan thought for one panicked second that either her heart would stop, or she would be unable to take a breath once she surfaced. To her eternal gratitude, neither happened, but the painful shock of the water nearly made her wish they had. Actually, it had taken a few seconds to be able to feel anything, but once her heart stopped beating double time, she was able to feel the terrible needle-like sting of the frigid water on every square inch of her body. Ryan had been in the ocean in May on many occasions, but had been wearing a full wet suit each time. This experience was a unique one, and she made a promise to herself that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime treat.

She could see the sails drop and a question formed in her mind, but when she saw the boat turn quickly she realized that was the only way for Jamie to come back into the wind. Faster than she would have imagined, she started to feel her mind disconnect from her body, which felt so terribly heavy that she knew she would be useless in the rescue effort.
Thank God Conor's here
, she thought as the boat raced towards her.

She was aware of being pulled up to the hull by the long rope that attached to her life ring, but she was unable to help as her anxious friends tried to haul her in. Conor finally leaned over the deck so far that Mia had to sit on his legs to stop him from going over as well. He used every ounce of his substantial strength to drag his limp sister onto the deck.

Adrenaline was still pumping through his system, giving him the strength to pick her up and carry her below decks with Jamie right on his heels. Mia stayed topside to tend the wheel as the threesome descended.

"What do we do?" Conor asked, his skin ashen from fear and shock.

"Get her clothes off and wrap her in blankets," Jamie said briskly. "She'll be fine once she's warm." Looking down at her partner, who shivered painfully, she asked, "Won't you, Honey?"

Ryan nodded, but her entire body was shaking so hard that it was hard to tell what was nod and what was shake. Jamie looked up at Conor for the first time and saw how devastated he was. Summoning all of her composure, she took a deep breath and did her best to reassure the shaken man. "This happens all the time, Conor," she said soothingly. "I swear she'll be fine. Go in the forward cabin and change into some of my father's warm clothes," she commanded. "Then go get me the hot cocoa."

He obeyed her orders, but with a slight change. He ran up to get the cocoa first, handing the large mug to Jamie with shaking hands.

"Go change and then help Mia," Jamie repeated firmly.

"But…"

"Go," she said firmly. "I can undress her just fine. I've been getting lots of practice you know," she added, trying to draw a smile from the poor man.

"Okay," he said softly, gently patting his sister on the leg as he departed.

As he left, Jamie leaned over and asked, "How are you, really?"

"Gg
-gotta g-g-get out of these c-c—
clothes," she stuttered, unable to hold her chin still to speak clearly.

"I'll do it, Honey, drink some of this and then just try to relax." Jamie set about the normally fun task of undressing her partner that, in addition to not being fun, this time, was damned difficult. Ryan was often weak with desire, but this was much more extensive. She was barely able to help at all, and the soaked garments were so ungainly that Jamie gave a quick thought to cutting them off of her. The life jacket came off easily, as did the wool sweater. The turtleneck was a little tougher, and as soon as she got it off she tucked a blanket around Ryan's shaking shoulders, not having the patience to deal with her sports bra just yet. With persistence and patience she finally had the shoes, jeans, and socks off, and she could feel Ryan's body start to relax a bit as the ice cold clothes were removed. Taking a break, she wrapped the second blanket around shivering legs and gave in to her overwhelming need to wrap Ryan in a fierce hug. "God, you scared me," she whispered.

"I scared me too," she agreed, her voice sounding much more normal. "Do me a favor?"

"Anything," Jamie promised.

"Go tell Conor and Mia that I'm okay. I know he's worried."

"Okay, Honey. Be right back," she said with a wan smile.

"Jamie?"

"Yes, Honey?"

"I've heard the best thing for hypothermia is to snuggle with another warm body while you're both naked."

A fond smile greeted that suggestion. "You are feeling better," she said with a genuine grin.

They followed Ryan's suggestion, but their approach was a little more chaste than the purported life-saving prescription. Ryan had taken off her soaked undergarments while Jamie was topside. She had quickly snuggled back into the blankets after turning them to their dry sides, and when Jamie returned, she shucked her jacket and pants and climbed in with her.

It was an odd feeling, cuddling a stark-naked Ryan while in thermal underwear and a turtleneck, but Jamie quickly put aside her discomfort and snuggled closer, allowing her body heat to warm her partner.

"That was the oddest feeling," Ryan mumbled, her voice now completely normal, if a bit sleepy.

"It's happened to me several times," Jamie sympathized. "It's amazing how quickly you become helpless, isn't it?" she asked, knowing that the feeling would be very uncomfortable for her powerful lover.

"Yeah, I felt like I'd been given a big dose of Novocain right into my central nervous system. I couldn't feel my hands at all, and I couldn't pick my arms up to help you guys get me out."

"I know, Honey," she soothed. "It's okay now, Baby. Just close your eyes and feel safe for a little while. I've got you, Honey. Just relax." Her hands were slowly rubbing her partner through the blanket, comforting and relaxing her simultaneously.

"Can Mia handle the boat?" she asked, jerking awake abruptly.

"Yes, Honey, she's fine," she soothed. "The sails are down and we're just motoring slowly. We've got plenty of fuel, and the wind is behind us, so we'll be fine."

"Okay," she muttered wearily as she fell asleep in Jamie's protective embrace.

When Jamie woke up a short time later, she was immediately aware of the stillness of the boat. The engines were clearly off, and she hoped it was because Mia had turned them off. She got her answer a minute later when Conor stuck his head into the cabin.

"Everything okay?" she whispered.

"Fine. But Mia doesn't want to blow all the fuel, so she shut off the engines. She thinks it's safe to just drift for a while. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, but you should at least raise the jib in case you need to get out of trouble," she said. "I want Ryan to sleep as long as she can, so go ahead and have lunch if you're hungry."

"That was my second question," he grinned.

Moments after he departed, Ryan started to wake. "Mmm, this is nice," she mumbled as she snuggled a little tighter against her lover's body.

"You feel okay?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah," she replied as she stretched languidly. "I actually feel fine. I mean, I wasn't hurt or anything—just really cold."

"Well, you certainly feel warm now," Jamie whispered as she ran her hands up and down her partner's body through the blanket. "This is a terribly delicious feeling, you know."

"Our attire is a little discordant," Ryan agreed with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't change a thing," she breathed right into her ear.

"I would," Ryan complained as she tried to snake her hand under her partner's clothes only to be stopped by her all-encompassing union suit.

"Everything I need is readily available," she insisted as she turned Ryan onto her tummy and started to kiss her neck.

"N…no, Jamie," she muttered into the pillow. "Too much emotion."

Clambering up to cuddle behind her, Jamie asked, "Are you all right, Honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Falling into the water freaked me out a bit. I don't feel like I'm in control."

And in that instant Jamie not only knew just what her lover meant, she agreed with her fully. "Let's just snuggle and try to get our equilibrium back, okay?"

Ryan nodded, and they spent the next 15 minutes nuzzling and kissing lightly. Things were just starting to escalate when they heard a terribly amused voice say, "Look who feels better!" Two heads jerked to attention to focus on the open door of the cabin. Mia stood with her arms folded across her chest, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Sorry girls, I just came down to check on you and use the head. I take it that moaning was not from pain?"

Her quick reflexes allowed her to dodge the pillow that her roommate tossed at her, but the laughter of the two women assured her that there were no hard feelings.

Luckily, Jim Evan's clothing was the perfect size to fit Ryan's large frame. She pulled on proper sailing gear, without complaint this time, even agreeing to the thin navy blue Polarfleece stocking cap that Jamie insisted she wear. She put it on in the same quirky style that Jamie had seen her adopt for other hats; rather than have the cap rest on the rear of her head, she pulled it straight down her forehead so that it rested an inch or so above her eyebrows. It was an odd affectation--and it would have looked stupid on Jamie--but Ryan pulled it off beautifully with her strongly planed face and square jaw line.

When they climbed up the few stairs to the deck, they both cleared their throats a few times to announce their presence. Conor tore his mouth from Mia's and gulped, blinking a few times to get his bearings. "How do you feel, Ryan?" he immediately asked.

"Just fine," she assured him. "No harm done."

"You scared me half to death!" he said emphatically, as he pulled away from Mia's embrace and went to wrap his sister in a hug. "I'm so sorry I did that to you," he whispered sincerely.

"It's okay, Con, really," she soothed as she gently patted his back. "Jamie says that happens all the time, even with really experienced crews."

"I've gone over three times," the smaller woman piped up.

"Just once for me," Mia added. "The guys I was with were so drunk they almost couldn't turn the damn boat to come get me!"

"See?" Ryan asked as she pulled away to get a good look at his eyes. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay," he conceded, nodding briefly. "You're never going sailing in jeans again. If you hadn't grabbed that ring and weren't wearing your life vest you couldn't have tread water that long with those heavy pants on."

"But I did, and I was and you guys rescued me easily," she reminded him. "Let it go, Conor. It's really okay."

"Will you let me buy you sailing gear and call it even?" he asked, looking down at her with a sweet smile.

"Deal!" she happily agreed. "Hey, I'll
jump
over for a nice set of golf clubs!"

"Don't press your luck, Sis," he warned as he playfully thumped her on her cap-covered head.

Jamie sat on Ryan's lap as the dark haired woman lovingly fed her bites of a delicious turkey sandwich. They were steering the boat together using only the jib. Not trying to get anyplace in particular, and not caring how long it took them to get there, they were just enjoying the solitude of the now calm day. Their companions had gone below, ostensibly to use the head, but after fifteen minutes the girls assumed they were engaged in some sort of merger.

Much to their surprise, Conor's dark head popped out of the hatch, his face looking green around the edges.

"I don't feel so hot," he muttered, looking at them pathetically.

"Come up here and breath some fresh air," Jamie urged. He complied, climbing over the gear to sit right next to his sister.

"How could you stay down there so long?" he moaned, as he took several deep, cleansing breaths.

"Uhh, I hadn't just had lunch and," she leaned over to count the empties, "Three beers."

"This fresh air makes you thirsty," he argued.

"Yeah, but going below after a few beers makes you sick," she reminded him. "So you can either be thirsty or frustrated. Take your pick."

"Shoulda picked thirsty," he grumbled as his sister and Jamie burst out laughing.

When Mia returned to the group a few minutes later, they decided to hoist the mainsail and prepare to return. It was about two o'clock, but the wind wasn't terribly favorable, and Jamie predicted--accurately, as it turned out—it would take a while to get back; it took a full two hours to return to the marina. Conor offered to jump onto the dock to secure the boat, and they all had to stifle a laugh when it took him a moment to get his land legs. His stumbling gait only lasted a few steps, and he smoothly secured the big boat to Jamie's satisfaction.