Secrets From The Med

Chapter 6

     Tabitha slowly opened her eyes.  What has happened?  She had a splitting headache, her stomach felt as though she hadn't eaten in days, and her entire body was weak.  All at once,  she was aware of a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes peering down at her.  She sat up with a jolt when she realized who the set of eyes belonged to.  

     "Petty Officer Dodson, am I in trouble?" she asked with a sense of urgency.

     "No you're not in trouble," the guy replied, sounding a bit amused.  "And whenever we're not on the ship you can call me Jason.  By the way, what is your name?"

     "Tabitha Sherfey," Tabitha weakly replied. 

     Suddenly Tabitha realized that she desperately needed to pee.  

     "I-I need to go to the bathroom,"  she said timidly.  

     "It's right there," Jason told her, pointing toward a small hallway in front of the bedroom.  

     Tabitha stood up.  Her knees felt wobbly and she felt slightly dizzy in addition to having the headache.  Once she was in the bathroom, she immediately pulled down her jeans and relieved her bladder.  As she sat on the toilet, she looked around, confused.  Where was she and why was she here with Dodson? What had happened to O'Connor and Barnett?

     She pulled up her jeans, then went to the sink to wash her hands.  As she stood there, she took a look at herself in the mirror.  She looked every bit as groggy as she felt and she could tell by the frizz in her hair that it had gotten wet sometime the night before.  It embarrassed her to think about returning to the ship looking the way she did. 

     She stepped out of the bathroom and stood in the doorway of the bedroom; Jason was folding a patchwork quilt and placing it on the top shelf of a small closet. 

     "Jason," she said slowly. "Where are we?"

     "This is my friend Josh's apartment," he replied, closing the closet door and turning to look at her.  "I brought you here because I was worried about you and I wanted to keep an eye on you.  How about we go into the living room and talk?"

     They turned and walked into the neat, but sparsely decorated living room.  Jason sat down on the brown leather couch and Tabitha sat on the matching recliner.  Tabitha looked at her watch: it was 8:30 in the morning. 

     "Tabitha," Jason began with a seriousness in his voice.  "I want to find out from you what happened at that party last night, but first I want to offer to let you use my calling card so you can call home."

     A moment of silence passed.  Tabitha must've had a confused expression on her face because Jason explained himself further. 

     "Look, when I've seen you the last few mornings at quarters, I felt like something was wrong, like maybe you were homesick or something.  Last night while you were sleeping, you called out for your mother, so I felt like that confirmed my suspicions.  I wanted to offer to let you use my calling card.  Josh has a phone in the kitchen, and I'll even step outside so you can have privacy."

     Tabitha didn't recall having called out for her mother or even having any dreams last night.  As she listened to Jason sitting there offering to let her use his calling card to call home, she felt a lump forming in her throat and tears welling up in her eyes.  If only it were possible for her to call home and talk to her mother!

     She tried to fight her emotions for a few seconds, but to no avail.  Whether she liked it or not, she was going to break down in front of this hopelessly good looking guy.  Tears spilled down her cheeks and onto her pink sweater.  She buried her face in her hands as overwhelming sobs seemed to take over her body.  After a few moments she realized she was making loud wailing noises but she made no effort to try and stop them.  Right then nothing else mattered; she almost became unaware that there was even anyone else in the room.  All she knew was that she felt engulfed by a cloud of darkness.