Dirty Lying Sirens

Chapter Sixteen

Madeline

Throwing up the moment you wake is never pleasant.

But I was apparently not as okay with the rocking waves as I thought I was the night before. Not a heartbeat after I opened my eyes, I found myself running for the bathroom.

The one good thing about the location of my cabin was that I could escape to the bathroom and, unless someone was looking down the hallway next to the galley, they wouldn't be watching my mad dash to the toilet.

I was a mess. Fuck, I was a mess. I dreamt that I was with Caspian, singing along to a tune I didn't recognize and dancing on the bottom of the ocean floor. And how the hell would I know what the bottom of the ocean looked like? I wore the blue dress he bought me and he was in a more formal looking version of the white linen clothes he wore.

I threw up in the bathroom, having a terrible time of it for several minutes until I was sure there was nothing left in my stomach to wretch up. Sweat beaded my forehead, and I was thankful that I managed to keep my hair out of the way.

I cleaned up and sat back on the cool tile of the floor. It felt so good after everything I had just gone through, and I wasn't looking forward to getting myself back up to go back to bed. I looked up at the sink. My small bathroom bag was there. With my toothbrush. Yeah, after throwing up, I wanted to brush my teeth.

With a grunt, I hauled myself up to the sink and pulled out my toothbrush. I did two rounds of toothpaste and rinsed well in between. Scraping my tongue and flossing my teeth, my mouth finally felt better and so the rest of me did too.

I was just putting everything back in my bag when there was a knock at the door.

"Madeline? Are you alright?" It was Nikkos.

I zipped my bag and slid the door open. Giving him a sheepish look I answered. "Yeah."

"Seasick?" he asked.

I nodded.

"That can be rough. Let me make you some broth for lunch, it should calm you down and be easier on your stomach," he said, then he turned and went into the galley.

"Thank you," I mumbled, leaving the bathroom and heading back for my cabin to get changed.

I stepped into the doorway, then turned around suddenly. "Wait, you're awake? Lunch? What time is it?"

Nikkos popped his head out of the galley again. "About noon for this time zone."

"Oh," I said weakly. "Okay."

Nikkos went back into the galley and I closed the door to my cabin. I must have really slept then. And Nikkos was already up. Was Caspian still awake or had he gone to bed already?

I pulled on a clean outfit and tied my hair back in a loose braid, only half paying attention as I pulled things from my box. I really must have slept badly if it was noon already. Then again, I wasn't sure how that was going to work sailing into new time zones, so I tried not to worry about it too much.

I left the cabin and closed the door quietly behind me, walking into the galley and seeing what Nikkos was putting together.

He stood over the stovetop, heating something up in a pot. Nikkos kept one hand on the pot's handle, lifting it off the burner completely if we hit a wave. He looked up with a warm smile when I walked into the room. "I hope you don't mind drinking it out of a mug, liquids in bowls don't always stay still on a little boat like this one."

I returned the smile and pulled two mugs from the cabinet. They had plastic lids on them that only offered a small raised hole to drink from, effectively negating spillage. "Sounds perfect."