It was a warm and stormy night. Lt. Hiram Coffey laid in his bed awake listening to the loud thunder outside and the flashes of lighting that lit up his small apartment. He was doing well now. He had been out of the Navy hospital for over nine months. He was doing well on the medication that they gave him and everything was going smooth.
All He could remember was fighting with Bud in the Sub Bay. He was so sick then and everything was so unclear. He wanted to drop the nuke on the N.T.Is and was just about to when Bud stopped him... both were fighting and Coffey wanted to kill him when he heard someone behind him scream.
"HEY!"
He turned and BANG! Everything went black. After that he woke up in the hospital.
The Navy did a great job covering it all up and told everyone on the Rig that if they said one word to anyone... Well, let's just say they would never make it to their next birthday. They kept him in the hospital for over a year. Coffey felt half dead. Most of the time he slept and tried to understand what happened down there but each time he asked, the others would just tell him
"Don't ask."
One day when he was sleeping he felt a smooth hand cover his. He opened his eyes and looked up. He could have been knocked down with a feather from the face he saw looking down at his. At first he was mad. He told the person to leave, that he didn't want to talk or see them, but that person kept on coming the same time everyday and spent an hour or two with him.
Coffey just wished the person would leave him alone. He wished he could just close his eyes and die. He was so alone and confused.
Soon Coffey and the person started to talk. They talked about what happened down there, and how Coffey became sick, how the Navy hushed them up, and what they were doing now.
The person told him that they were working on a new rig and the money was great. The person told him about how their so-called marriage was over for good and that they were moving on. Coffey and the person would talk everyday, most of the time about nothing. Soon they became very good friends and Coffey still could not believe the person he hated the most was now his only friend.
He asked once why this person was being so nice to him and the person told him that they wanted to give him another chance, that he was sick on the rig. He was a different person and how they wanted to get to know the real Hiram Coffey.
The Navy put him on sick leave for over a year. Coffey moved into a small apartment in Texas. He had nothing to do so he did odd jobs around town. Each night when he got home he could take a hot shower and then call his friend,and both would talk for hours and hours. He was glad there was someone that cared about him.
Now he laid there. Almost a year later, in his bed, watching the room light up with flashes of blue and white. He was happy now. For the first time in his life he felt happy, and he was glad Catfish had knocked him out because he hated to think what would have happened if he had killed Bud and dropped the nuke. Would he still be alive today?
He looked down at his tanned arm and saw five even scars. He closed his eyes and hated to think that he had done that to himself. Just thinking about it made him sick.
The thunder rumbled then crashed again, and a smooth arm slipped over his chest. He turned and saw Lindsey looking at him half asleep.
"Hiram... what is it?"
He kissed her and smiled. "It's okay, Lindsey. It's just the Storm."
Lindsey kissed him back and rested her head back on his chest. He smiled as he watched her sleep. He was so happy to have a wife now, and that's just what Coffey needed... Love.
Coffey then shut his heavy eyes and slept.
Much later Coffey opened his eyes. He was still in bed and it was still dark out. He must have fallen asleep. He turned over and saw Lindsey was gone.
"Lindsey?" He called out into the darkness. Where did she go? "Lindsey?"
He looked around the dark room for his wife. He felt his heart starting to race. He sat up in bed, alone, calling out her name over and over. Then he heard it. He turned around and looked at the door.
He saw water spraying from underneath it. Cold drops of salt water hit his smooth face as he starred at it in shock. Soon the dark windows started to spray water. Coffey looked around the room as cold salt water filled it. He sat on his bed watching the water fill it. Why was this happening? Why?
Coffey then shut his eyes and prayed it would be over soon, that he would just wake up from this nightmare.
And he did.
Coffey's Dark green eyes snapped open. He saw that he sitting in Cab 3 plunging down into the deep, dark abyss. He looked around feeling the air become tight around him. He knew this time was up. He was going to die. He then looked out the pod's bay window and heard the glass starting to slowly crack; a long silver line started and the cold salt water that he felt in the dream was really hitting him.
Just before the pod imploded from the pressure around him he looked out and thought his last thought... What would have happened to me if I lived?
He then felt anger rush over him hating himself for what he had done, and screamed the last scream...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And then there was darkness.
And the Storm ended.
THE END