Her lack of emotion over it was something she knew wasn’t like her. Under normal circumstances, she’d be freaking out, crying, maybe furious. But she was emotionally drained. There just wasn’t enough left inside her.

She felt numb.

Is this what shock is like? Do I have some kind of PTSD?

Glancing around the room, Kathy breathed in deeply. The room had the same antiseptic smell as a hospital, yet she couldn’t recall seeing any other patients as she’d been wheeled from one room to the next.

Her entire body throbbed with pain. She pulled up the sleeve of the clean white shirt she’d been given. Scanning the entirety of her right arm, Kathy noticed all the bruises and began counting. “Ten bites, each with two stitches.”

She stood, pain surging through her, and walked into the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, she shuddered.

She barely recognized herself.

A large purple bruise had spread across most of the left side of her face. It was swollen so badly that she could barely open her left eye. She probed her face with her fingertips and was surprised that she felt no pain. Perhaps the docs had numbed it. The rest of her, however, felt worse than she imagined possible. They hadn’t numbed her wounds, which burned. And despite the cool temperature in the air-conditioned room, her entire body felt uncomfortably warm.

I’m getting a fever.

A knock sounded on the door to her room. She left the bathroom and opened it.

A muscular man wearing all-black fatigues stood outside. In heavily accented English, he said, “Come with me. Director arrived and will see you.”

Director?

She nodded. “Yes. Okay.”

Maybe he can tell me what happened to Brad.

###

The German man led Kathy to a comfortable conference room. A steely-eyed woman stood in one corner, and an older gentleman sat at the large table. Unlike everyone else here, he was dressed immaculately in a suit and tie. Not a strand of his salt-and-pepper hair was out of place. And when he spoke, it was clear that he was American.

“Miss O’Reilly. Please, sit. I’m so glad you’re feeling better after this… unfortunate incident.” He smiled, and paused. “But you do realize that there were signs along the harbor warning people to stay away.”

His voice was warm, but Kathy sensed a rigidity to his demeanor—as if he were deeply frustrated by something. Maybe having to come out to this remote location, or maybe it was her that he was upset with. Likely both.

She sat down, eager to get off her feet. She still felt feverish. “I know it was wrong to be there,” she said. “As Brad explained—” She stopped mid-sentence; Brad’s bloody face had appeared once more in her mind’s eye. “Did you find him? My boyfriend? We were both heading back to our sailboat when we got separated…”