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THE RETURN OF "THE SEA WITCH"
By
LINDA C WOOD
His anger knew no bounds - she had deceived him, escaped him and, as he ran towards the telephone booth, he could see she was about to call a cab to leave him alone. He could not tolerate this behaviour, so he wrenched open thebooth's sliding door, grabber her and started hitting her on the face. She ran from him but he caught up, held her and struck her so hard she fell, face down, on the quay. In the darkness he did not see her lifting a length of lead piping which was lying nearby and, as he came at her again, she hit him with it, landing the blow on his left temple. Imemdiately unconscious, he fell directly off the quayside and hearfirst into the water. She watched as the bubbles of his descent into darkness and death rose. Suddenly realising what she had done, she threw the lead piping away and ran.
---oo0oo---
He was falling, falling. The cold water enveloped him. Dazed from both the blow to the side of his head and thei mpact of the water, he was disoriented in the darkness, but his Navy training kicked in, his will for self-preservation paramount. Coming to, he could not avoid gasping for breath and took a lungful of water. He knew he was dying, had only seconds left, when he saw a dark shape ahead of him. A strong swimmer, with the vestiges of his strength he pushed the water aside and grabbed at the shape. It was the wooden pier pillar. He saw the bubbles rising, pulled himself up and his head cleared the surface. He straddled the cross-bar of the pillar, his head resting on the upright, and then it went dark.
---oo0oo---
"Hey, Juan, what's that over there?" Two Mexican fishermen were rowing across San Pedro harbour in the darkness with new nets for their next expedition to sea.
"Something white, Raoul, but I can't make out what - come on, let's take a look!"
Just as the two fishermen approached, they saw the body slide off the cross-bar and fall into the water with a splash. "Quick! It's a man! Get him out! Get him out!" With two strokes of the oars Raoul reached the body, floating face down in the water. They grabbed a boathook and, with considerable effort and not a little danger to their own safety, they hauled the man into their rowing boat.
"Is he still alive?" asked Juan.
Raoul felt for a pulse on the side of the man's neck, saw the head injury and quickly turned him over so he was lying face down in the boat. He felt a very faint pulse, and immediately started emergency resucitation. The water poured out of his mouth, then he draw a huge, gasping breath and vomited profusely, voiding everything he had eaten and drunk that day. Raoul turned him on his side, into the recovery position. The man's eyes opened briefly, then he fell once more into unconsciousness.
"He's in a bad way, Juan - we're going to have to get him to a hospital, muy pronto!"
---oo0oo---
"Does he have any ID on him?" the ER receiving Nurse Manager at San Pedro's Peninsula Hospital asked as the ambulancemen wheeled the gurney into a private booth. The unconscious man had lost his jacket and shoes, but his wallet was still in his fastened trousers back pocket. The auxiliary found it, flipped it open. It held a driver's licence and a wad of money. "Hm. Name's Jerry Plowright. Rich man! See if you can get a fix on him, nurse!" and he handed the wallet to the girl. "In the meantime, get him to X-ray, let's see what damage he's sustained with that head wound!"
---oo0oo---
His head hurt abominably. He saw brightness through his closed eyelids but he did not want to open his eyes - the light hurt too much. He moved his head slightly and pain lanced through him. "Ahhh!"
"Mr Plowright! Mr Plowright! Can you year me?" asked the nurse in attendance.
"I can - hear you! Where - where am I?" his voice was a whisper.
"You're in hospital, Mr Plowright - you've had an accident. Don't speak - just rest. You're going to be all right!"
He drifted in and out of consciousness. Time had no meaning for him, just the fact that he still existed.
---oo0oo---
"He's coming round again - keep him awake if you can!" he heard a female voice speaking. He felt a needle jag his left arm. Slowly, with gritted teeth, he cautiously opened his eyes. There were doctors and nurses all around him.
"How are you feeling now, Mr Plowright?" a doctor enquired.
"My head - hurts - real bad - ahh!"
"You've had a nasty accident, Mr Plowright. You've been unconscious for two days with severe concussion."
"My wife - where is Cleo?"
"We've been unable to contact her, Mr Plowright. She hasn't been seen since your boat party. Can you tell us what happened?"
"Can't - remember."
The doctor drew aside and addressed the police officer waiting nearby. "He's suffering amnesia from that blow to the head. May take him some time to regain his memory. Best to wait awhile, officer. He's in no fit state to be interrogated just now. He may be better by tomorrow."
---oo0oo---
The following morning he was dozing when he felt his shoulder being gently pushed. Reluctantly he opened his eyes to see a nurse. "Mr Plowright - you've got visitors - do you feel up to seeing them?"
"Who?" was all he could manage.
"Your parents and your two brothers. They've flown from Dallas to see you."
"Oh." He turned his head away - they were the last people he wanted to see just now. He wanted to see Cleo, only Cleo. Where was she? He felt emotion rising within him and he covered his eyes with his hand.
"If you don't feel up to it, I'll ask them to come back later." offered the nurse, concerned at his reaction.
Collecting himself he turned back to her. "No, no, it's okay, bring them in!"
The nurse propped him up in bed, fussed over him, making him smile at her. His hand touched her arm. "Thanks!"
"Just five minutes now please!" said the nurse, then stepped back.
Three men and a woman filed into the private ward room. "Hi, Mom, Dad, Jimmy, John!"
The nurse observed the family as they entered. Jeremiah Plowright Senior was an imposing figure. In his early 70s, he had pure white hair, was six feet two inches tall and had handsome, chiselled features. His wife was small, round-faced, well made-up, an elegant woman with obvious class and good dress sense. The two brothers resembled their father, whereas the patient resembled his mother - Jerry Junior had a rounder face, black hair greying at the sides and black, impressive eyebrows. They were a handsome family.
Jerry's family regarded him with concern. They saw heavy bandages around his head and the padding over the stitched wound on his left temple.
"Oh, Jerry!" his mother was tearful. She looked inot his brown eyes and saw they were bloodshot.
"Ma, Ma, I'm okay, really I am!" he tried to assure her.
"What happened here, son?" asked his father. "Who attacked you? Was it robbery?"
"Pa, I can't remember - my head - hurts real bad."
"Hit on the head and dumped in the water, left for dead - tell us who did it and we'll get them, good and proper!" said Jimmy, blazing anger in his dark eyes.
For a split second Jerry had a flashback memory and he drew back, audibly breathing in. He saw himself hitting Cleo.
"What is it, son?"
"N-nothing, Pa, just a stab of pain in my head." he lied, closing his eyes against what he had just recalled. No! Not that!
"And where is that gold-diggin', good-for-nothing wife of yours?" his father persisted. "She should be here with you! I always said it was a mistake you takin' up with her, Jerry!"
"Pa, I don't know where she is. She was with me at the boat party. I got a little drunk, I guess. We went to a restaurant for coffee and that's the last I remember."
The nurse bustled back into the room. "Time now, please! We don't want to tire the patient!"
His mother stooped to kiss him on the cheek but his eyes remained closed. They left the room as bidden.
Outside, John turned to his brother. "What do you think?"
"I'll tell ya what I think - I think that pesky wife of his had somethin' to do with it, that's what I think! Why else has she disappeared?"
"Where are his house keys? Where's his car?" asked Mrs Plowright, ever practical.
The nurse came out of the room. Mr Plowright caught her arm. "Where any house or car keys found on him when he was admitted?"
"I'll ask the Nurse Manager, sir." and she want to the central workstation, came back a few moments later. "Sorry, sir, nothing of that nature was on him when he was brought in - just his wallet and ID. He didn't have a jacket - perhaps the keys were in a jacket pocket?"
"Thank you, nurse. Hm. Apart from Cleo, who else would have a set of keys?"
"The Precinct?" suggest Mrs Plowright.
"Good idea, let's go!"
---oo0oo---
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