In Limbo (7 page)

Chapter  8

             
I didn't have an opportunity to speak with Tom for a while after we landed. We were busy setting up camp.  After a while I felt pretty foolish to have been so upset over some oversized weeds. Must be fertile soil here, I said to myself, or the military has played around with some chemicals.  Then I put the whole thing out of my mind, at least for the moment.

             
Sam had chosen a nice spot for our campsite.  I didn't care for the fact that it was gravel, though.  Gravel gets rough on your feet and can be hazardous after dark when you try to walk around on it.  But we were close to the water and the ground was level.  I thought of a night under the stars in my husband's arms and couldn't help but smile.  With the pads and the air mattress I would not feel a thing.

              Supper was simple: steaks and barbecued beans.  All of us wives enjoyed the paper plates and plastic utensils, which left no dishes to wash!  Sam had been right.  The sun was setting and it quickly got cooler.  No one complained.  We were all getting slightly sunburned, and the cooler air felt heavenly.  The wet swimsuits did get a bit uncomfortable, and after a while, we changed into dry clothing and gathered around the well-established fire. 

             
Tom and Ralph had set up a tripod and had brewed some 'hillbilly coffee', using cold water letting it boil twice.  The aroma drifted through our campsite.  I was blowing on my steaming mug when I realized that Marty was nowhere in sight.  I couldn't recall her joining us for supper and felt pretty awful that I had not noticed her absence sooner.  As concerned as I had been over her sunburn, I should have checked on her.  That's when Sam sat down beside me

              “Chris,” he said quietly “I need your help.”

             
“Sure, what's up?”

              “Come with me and check on Marty, I think she's pretty sick.  I think she's been out in the sun way too long today.”

              “Do you think she's burned?” My mind raced ahead and focused on the fact that I only had a couple of things in my First Aid pack that could be used for a sunburn. 

             
“No, I don't think it's a burn.  It seems more like a medication reaction.  You know the, doctor put her on some antidepressants recently and it's done some strange things to her.” 

              Marty has always been strange, I thought, even without antidepressants.  But I got up.    

              “Sam, is there any possibility that Marty could be pregnant?”

             
He stopped and turned, a questioning look in his eyes.  “No, none.  Why?”

              “Well,” I tried to be careful.  I did not want to get into their private business. “Well, earlier Marty said something about being pregnant.”

              Sam's facial expression remained unchanged. “No, I don't think there is any possibility short of divine intervention.  To get pregnant one must first have sex.  I had a vasectomy several years ago and we haven't had sex for almost that long.”

              I didn't know what to say, so I sipped on my coffee as we stood there in front of the tent staring at each other, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

             
“Chris is there something you are trying to tell me?  Just say it.” 

              My coffee tasted bitter and I felt my throat closing.  

             
“Sam I really don't know what I am getting at.  Come and walk with me over to the water.”  I nodded toward the tent and put a finger to my lips.  I really didn't want to talk in front of Marty.  We walked to the water's edge and sat down.  I dared another sip from my mug. 

              “I have been really worried about Marty,” I began, “She was all puffy, with her eyelids and lips swollen.  Plus, she was all red and hot to the touch, and then she was trying to convince
me that she is term pregnant.”  I stopped, but Sam didn't say anything. 

             
“Sam, I am not very experienced with heat or sunstroke, and it's just very obvious that Marty is also a bit confused.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's that new medication you mentioned, in combination with the sun and the heat.  Either way, I think we have a problem, and I have this feeling in my gut that we had best get off the river fast.  And who is Jack?”

              “Jack?” 

              “
Yes, Marty was referring to you as Jack.  Jack the hunk, I might add.”

              “Jack was an old boyfriend of hers, well before my time.  She was pretty serious about him. He was a superficial, pretentious jackass.  She almost married him, but he left town and married some east coast socialite.  She was pretty bitter about that for years.  I'm surprised you didn't know that.”

              “You know Marty and I haven't been that close.”

             
“What do we do now?”

             
“Well, let's check on her first. Then we'll see.”

              Coffee in hand, we walked back to the tent.  Before Sam could open the flap, Marty came out. She had changed into a large tee shirt that went almost to her knees -- probably one of Sam's.  She had combed her hair back, and I was finally able to see her without sunglasses or headphones on. 

              Her face was no longer as swollen as it had been earlier in the day, but there were some puffy areas below her eyes.  The earlier redness had been replaced with a pale yellowish color and when I looked closer the skin on her face just hung loosely off her cheekbones.

              “Marty how are you feeling,” I asked.  She stretched and twisted her torso.

             
“I'm so sore!  I think I can feel every bone in my body and then some that I didn't even know I had.  Sam, be a dear and get me something to drink please.” 

              Sam left and I reached up and felt Marty's forehead.  Without a thermometer I had to rely on Dr. Mom.  Marty's skin felt hot, and dry like old leather -- like an old worn out glove.  I let my hand slip to her upper arms and hugged her. 

              “We've been worried about you, honey.”  

             
Marty smiled at me,  That's sweet, but I think I just have a flubug or something.  I just don't feel real well.”

             
“Like what?”

             
“Well, dizzy, nauseated, lightheaded.  You know that sort of stuff.  My shoulder hurts. Actually my whole left side hurts.  My throat’s sore and I have a terrible taste in my mouth. Chris, I really do not feel well, but what a lousy time to get sick!”

              “Its gonna be ok, Marty.  You'll refill on fluids tonight and you'll feel better in the morning.”

             
She looked at me kinda funny with tears in her eyes. 

              “I'm soooo scared, Chris.  I really am afraid I won't be around in the morning.”

              I could hear my heartbeats in my ears.  I felt the hairs on my neck rise and goosebumps form on my arms.  I hugged Marty.

              “Why do you think so?”

             
“I don't know, I just feel so miserable.  My left shoulder hurts, even my jaws hurt.  I probably just lay wrong in the canoe. And the heartburn!  It's probably nothing, but I'm short of breath, and when I stand up or just take a few steps, I'm dizzy.  Chris, what's wrong with me?  You're a nurse, can you figure this out?”

              I couldn't. I didn't know what to think of Marty's symptoms.  I was pretty sure that it was
just the sun and the heat, getting a bit dehydrated, something like that.  And that should improve with all the fluids we were giving her to drink.

              She did not look well and I thought that if she were an older person and complaining of these symptoms, we'd be concerned about something cardiac.  But Marty was in her thirties.  I helped her back into the tent and got her comfortable with her drinks close by.    

              “I'm ruining y'all's weekend. “

             
“You're not ruining anyone's weekend.  Close your eyes and rest while I figure out what is going on.”

              “I'm so scared, promise me you won't let me die.”

              “Marty, get real.  You are not going to die.”

              “Promise it”    

              “Okay, I promise.”

             
But I couldn't settle her down, she started to cry and held on to my hand.  She kept on telling me over and over how scared she was and how miserable she felt and I didn't know what to say to her or how to comfort her, let alone what to do.

              I know I sounded firm and confident, but I didn't feel that way.  As she held on to my hand and closed her eyes, I sat thinking.  I have never been close enough to Marty to know of her medical problems.  What could be going on with her?  Just when I thought she was finally asleep and I tried to peel her fingers off my hand, she gripped tighter.

             
“This is going to be the best day of my life,” she whispered.  “Don't tell anyone, especially Jack, I want it to be special for him.”  I nodded.  Her eyes were glazed and her face looked flushed.  I couldn't think of anything to do.

             
“We've been going together for such a long time. I just know that he'll ask me to be his wife tonight.  I just know it.  And I'll say yes.  I'll make him wonder for a few minutes, but then I'll say yes.  Do you like my dress?  It's my special dress.  My Mom went and found it in Kansas City for me.  She had to go there on business, and she said she saw it in a store window and she
bought it for me.  You can't borrow it until after the wedding.”

              She closed her eyes.  Her breathing was shallow and fast.  When she was lying down, her face and neck were full of wrinkles where the sunburned areas had been, but the skin looked just as wrinkled and detached in areas that had not been exposed.  I just sat there, stroking her hair.  Her forehead was covered with big drops of perspiration and she felt very hot. At least she finally appeared to be asleep. 

             
“Sam,” I called out, “Get in here!”  

             
He was there in an instant.  Our eyes met and he followed my look to Marty's face.  I raised an eyebrow.

             
“What happened?”  I asked him quietly. “Look at her, she is in bad shape not just the areas we knew were sunburned, but she is like this all over. Did she sunbathe in the nude?”

             
I didn't remember seeing her nude, not that it would be the first time. We all had a penchant for skinny-dipping after midnight on moonlit nights and had lost what modesty we may have had a long time ago, at least with each other.

              But Sam just shook his head.

              “No,” he said.  “We were just ahead of all of you.  Marty did what all of us did:  Nothing different.”

             
“Except when she decided to work on her tan while we were having lunch?”

             
“Well yeah.  She did spend a couple of hours in the sun then.  So, do you still think this is a sun burn?”

             
“No I don't.   I haven't a clue what's going on with her.  Just when I think all this is sun and heat related she acts just fine and then turns around and does something completely goofy.”

             
“Goofy?”

              “Yeah, she's talking to me, but it doesn't make much sense.  And look at her now, she is   sound asleep. Completely out of it.”

              “Why is her skin all wrinkled?”

              “I don't know, maybe she was all puffy and swollen from the sun and the heat or whatever and now it's much cooler and the swelling is reducing and the skin is still stretched. I'm guessing, Sam.  I'm guessing.”