I buzzed Marcus to let him know we’d be having more guests for breakfast and to hold my own food until our guests arrived.
“Did you just hold on our food until they get here?” Asher dropped down into a chair at the table. “I need something now.”
“I know, hold on.” I hit the buzzer again. “Bring a fruit platter while we wait.”
“That works. Do you have your speech prepared?” Asher asked.
“I don’t know about prepared, but I think what we talked about last night is a good plan.” I scooped up some strawberries Marcus had delivered. “I’m sure your mom will have plenty of her own ideas.”
“Yeah, and she’ll hate ours.” Asher took some blueberries. “I was thinking about the question regarding compensating the girls you don’t pick idea.”
“Yeah, that one is still bothering me. If we pay them then it seems wrong.” I winced at the thought. “If we don’t, then I’d feel bad for their wasted time.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. What if we just invite a bunch of women, instead of actual mail-order brides?” Asher chewed his blueberries. “Then you don’t have to compensate anyone or feel bad.”
“Asher, how is that any different than what we’ve been doing for years now?”
“Yeah, except now you’re looking for a wifey, so that makes it different,” Asher grinned. “We can even expand our invite to outside of our usual group.”
“Well, that’s some in-depth thinking there, Ash, but I’d have to say a definite no.” I stood, then reached for my juice. “I’m going down to the beach to wait for your mother. You coming?”
Chapter 23
Jade
“I’m here, Dad, what do you need?” I ran over to his bedside. “Are you cold? You’re shivering.”
“Commander, the ship’s rocking. We need to move out of this weather,” Dad mumbled and went back to sleep.
I buzzed the nurse’s station for help. I looked at his monitors and his coloring while I waited.
“Everything alright, Jade?” nurse Cathy asked. “I’ve been keeping an eye on his vitals at the nurse’s station.”
“He’s shivering and looks even more pale.” I rubbed his arm. “Is he cold or is this the delirium the doctor was talking about?”
“Dr. Johnson is down the hall. Let me get him.” Cathy turned to leave. “I’ll grab a warm blanket too.”
A few minutes later, Dr. Johnson came in. He nodded and went straight to checking on Dad. I chewed on my non-existent fingernails.
“What’s happening?” I felt desperate. “Does he need more blood?”
“He got standard packed red blood cells, fluids, and platelets in the operating room.” Dr. Johnson made notes on his chart. “He’s pretty weak and this is more about the delirium tremens. I’m going to sedate him further so he’ll get some sleep.”
“When will we know if he needs more blood or something?” I pleaded. “Sorry, I know I’m asking too many questions.”
“Jade, it’s fine. Listen, he’s going to be knocked out for at least four hours. He’s not in any imminent danger. Go check on the marina. Get some fresh air,” Dr. Johnson said. “That’s an order.”
“Tommy Johnson, don’t even think about trying to boss me around just because you’re a doctor now,” I laughed. “I’m gonna leave, but only because I want to, and because I have to bring customers to Sandpiper. Sorry, I mean Cloud Nine.”
“Cloud Nine? Is that the new name?” Dr. Johnson asked. “It’s a cool name, but it’s been Sandpiper for so long, it’s weird.”
“Yeah, I continue to call it Sandpiper.” I shook my head. “I’ll remember eventually.”
“Let me be serious for a minute, Jade,” Dr. Johnson paused. “Admiral isn’t going to be up to doing anything for months. You know this, right?”
“Unfortunately, I am realizing that,” I sighed. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I can’t run the marina alone and my savings are almost gone.”
“Take a deep breath. Then, go take care of your customers.” Dr. Johnson looked straight at me. “Have me paged me when you get back. I’ll come out and we can talk about what the next steps, of many steps, are going to be.”