Coast Guard by the looks.
Tabitha wanted to cry happy tears.
She didn’t know how or where the pair had come from, but her rapidly beating heart finally took a break, slowing to normal.
Not that she’d doubted Spencer, but now that more air was available, theyweregoing to get out of this thing without dying.
Halle-fricking-lujah.
CHAPTER 9
Spencer,ecstatic over the help and the extra tanks supplied by the Coast Guard divers, accepted their aid with alacrity. But as they rose, he alone kept Tabitha in his arms for the entire trip to the surface. He needed the connection, and clearly she did, too, seeing how she clung to him like a monkey.
Spencer admitted to himself that he’d come damned close to losing her, and perhaps forfeiting his own life as well. If not for the crucial intervention of the rescue team, things could have ended up far differently.
Making it to up onto the deck with help from many hands, Spencer finally shed his tanks and mask while Tabitha managed to strip out of the remains of her orange rescue suit. They sat, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh as they were both wrapped in rescue blankets and warmed by the sun.
Spencer tried to ignore his pounding headache and his slight throat irritation. He was more interested in taking Tabitha’s measure.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked, regarding her with a vigilant eye. She looked good, but one never knew.
“Yeah. I’m good. Not freaked at all, now that we’re safe. And,” she rubbed her hands together, “as soon as I get a little warmer,I’ll be even better.” She gave an involuntary shiver. “Once I’m not a popsicle any more, I’m going to drink a gallon of water and eat as many carbs as I can stuff into my mouth.” She brushed a long, auburn lock of hair off her face.
Spencer gave a strangled laugh, then coughed. “Just don’t eat too much or too fast. You’ll get sick.” He wriggled his right hand out from under where it had been buried in his blanket, and reached for hers.
She winked, twining her fingers through his before leaning a head on his shoulder. “I’ll take that into consideration.”
They sat companionably for a minute or two, then?—
Tabitha turned and scrutinized him with a concerned scowl. “Your hand. It’s shaking.”
“No. It’s…”
Shit.It was.
Spencer knew that wasn’t good.
He closed his eyes for a moment and took stock of himself, almost groaning. He had to acknowledge what he hadn’t wanted to face; his pounding head, his irritated throat, and his muscles that were beginning to ache.
He glanced around the deck, and…Yup.His vision was just a tad off, too.
“Dammit,” he swore.
Tabitha didn’t wait for him to explain.
“Pietro!” She yelled to his shipmate who’d been hovering nearby talking to the two Coasties. “Get the captain. I think Spencer has decompression sickness.”
Pietro’s eyes grew wide, and he took off at a run while the two Coast Guardsmen hurried over to Spencer’s side, squatting down in front of him.
Spencer closed his eyes and swallowed scratchily. This wasn’t going to necessarily be fun.
“Tell us what’s going on,” one of them demanded.
Spencer sighed. “I have a headache,” he managed, “and a sensitive throat. My vision is just a little bit blurry, and my muscles are…complaining.”
“Andhe’s twitchy,” Tabitha added hastily.
Goddammit.She was spot on, but…
