Page 9 of Break Line

Nate was emotionally numb. The initial shock had thrown him into a fit of rage and self-pity for several hours, but being confined to the hospital bed, all he could do was lie there, breathing heavily with his jaw clenched.

He felt more alone than he had ever felt in his entire life. Anger consumed him. Anger at Tonya for doing him wrong and not being there for him, and by proxy, his children being thousands of miles away from him. Anger at his father’s alcoholism and the depression that he’d fallen into. His stomach churned. He felt like slamming the damn phone against the wall but knew that would only result in costing him.

He wanted to cry, scream, something. Instead, he lay in the bed staring at what was left of his leg through the blanket.

Nate refused to look at ‘it’ when the nurse changed the dressing, keeping his head turned to the right. She tried to engage him in conversation, but he refused. She told him it was looking good, that there were no signs of infection as she injected antibiotics into the IV tubing.

Ha! The only way it would look good is if he were a whole man again, but that wasn’t going to happen. Life knocked him down and handed him a steaming pile of shit, and he was left alone to deal with it.

He mentally berated himself for being impulsive. Maybe if he had waited on Kai that morning, if he hadn’t been impulsive. Maybe…if he hadn’t been such a goddamned bull-headed Marine.

In the distance, he could see the blue-green of the ocean. Before today, the ocean was a thrill: the distant sound of the waves, the tang of salt in the air, the excitement of getting up on the board. The thought of getting back in the water, however, gave him a sense of panic.

The subtle sound of the waves in the distance lulled his ragged nerves to sleep.

His breath became heavy as the exertion of swimming out to the break line wore him out. He was out of shape. His buddy, Joe, was on a board to his right.

“Hey, Brah, gonna catch that righteous curl?”

Nate nodded, getting himself into position as the wave rose, flashing a shaka to his pal.

It was a sweet ride! He couldn’t ask for a sweeter wave. He owned that wave like a rock star! Smooth as butter! He moved down the face of the wave, shooting the curl. He was in the zone!

The adrenaline was pumping as he held the board steady with perfect timing.

Suddenly, a twenty-foot shark shot out of the curl, swallowing Nathan’s body, its teeth closing on his calves. The pain shot up both legs to his hips. He was surrounded by the inside pink flesh of the shark’s mouth. A surge of water was pulling him back to those razor-sharp teeth! The shark’s mouth became a giant chipper shredder and he was being forced toward it!

Nathan shot straight up in bed, gasping for air.

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