31
Claudia woke slowly.
Sounds, smells, soft voices impinged.
Clean sheets.
Echoes that told her she was aboard a ship.
She opened her eyes to dim lights and Trisha slouched in a nearby chair.
“Hey there.”
Trisha jolted upright. “You’re awake?”
“No. I’m speaking to you from beyond the grave.”
“Uh, okay.” Then Trisha offered one of her electric smiles. “As long as you’re speaking, I’m cool with it. What’s it like over there?”
She inspected the room again. The Peleliu’s infirmary. “Safe.”
“Safe is good.”
Then it crashed back in. She tried to sit up and her head nearly exploded. She collapsed back onto the pillow.
“Yep!” Trisha was back to her merry elfin self. “You should have stayed beyond the pale. On this side of it, you have an impressive concussion. Doc’s been hovering for
