Final chapter

The next few hours passed in a blur as he stood watch over the fragile body. He wanted to be there when his son awoke, be there when he was confronted with what happened. he didn’t blame Mary for the accident, but he believed it wouldn’t of happened had he been there. That night the bed was left cold and the dinner unmade as the two grieving parents buried their only daughter. It was 2 fretful nights of waiting for their son to recover. Shirking their duties as light-keepers when Jules stepped in and tended to the beacon. Finally on the third day Billy awoke, his father sleeping in the chair next to him, his head resting on the bed with an outstretched hand across his sons leg.
“Dad” Billy said weakly.
“Yes” he said after a long sigh of relief. He fought to stave off the oncoming flood of tears, but the dam was breaking with every breath and blink of his sons eyes.
“Wheres Sis?”
At this he could hold it back no longer, no more the stoic man, he wept into his son[']s bedsheets. He couldn’t bring himself to say that awful word, the one that would explain it all, dead.
“We buried her under the Madrona[,]” he sobbed. His son reached down and placed his hand upon his fathers and said[,] “She loved you”.

The waters behind the dam burst forth and tears streamed down his face as he looked his son in the eye. How was it that Billy knew this was what he needed to hear, when did his son finally become a man. He turned his gaze towards the window pane as the rain began to fall.

The next day it was apparent that Billy's condition had taken a turn for the worse. Mary first noticed it when mary changed the bandages on the open amputation wound. The amount of yellowish green fluid oozing from deep within had grown in quantity. This could only mean one thing, an infection had set in. Later that day he had slipped into a coma and fears of losing him completely were rising [passive here again-say instead, Their fear of losing him rose.]. They originally planned to await the arrival of the Coast Guard Cutter, but the current situation forced him to decide to take his son by boat to the mainland 20 miles away. He ran down to the boat and made all the preparations to get underway while Jules and Mary prepared a stretcher and gave him another dose of quinine.

He shoved off from the dock and headed straight for the St Joe’s dock as fast as he dared to go with such precious cargo on board. He radioed ahead to the marine dispatch and explained his situation. They in turn ringed the hospital and were able to have an aid car at the wharf ready to receive him. He left his boat at the city dock and jumped into the back of the ambulance, his face showing how worried and distressed he felt. Although the drive took a matter of minutes, it felt like an eternity as with every second he saw his son slip farther and farther away. The emergency room was a blur as his son was whisked off down some unanimous hall and he was corralled into a room with a nurse with a clipboard. She was asking him medical questions and he could hear himself answering but he was intent upon watching the door behind which his son had disappeared.

He awoke from his dream, as a few rays of morning sun were dancing on the window pane. The ice cubes in his glass, long since melted leaving a ring of condensation on the table. The only reminder of yet another drink gone bad. He swilled the watery booze, allowing it to rest on his tongue, yet no matter how hard he tried he could never wash away that taste. Only bourbon could burn it out of his brain. He walked over to the phone and dialed the car service.
“Bye and Byes Drivers, how may I help you” came the sweet voice of a young girl.
“Yes, I need a car for one passenger to the airport in an hour” he said.
“Ok sir, will you need a return pick up?”
“No, it’s one way” he replied.
As he gave the young woman the address he realized this was the end. He knew where his wife was going, he knew that he had moved there after that fateful year. He ceased to care, and as he hung up the phone, he ceased to exist.