Page 65 of Restoration
I’m torn between laughing and crying and collapsing onto the sand. “I can’t believe it.”
Edmund looks like he’s similarly torn. He steps over and wraps an arm around me.
Caleb is peering around at our camp and our shelter and up at our kite. “It looks like you’ve done really well here.”
“We’ve done our best.” I lean against Edmund and smile up at Caleb. “We were just coming to terms with the fact that we might never get off this island, but I guess this means we get to go home.”
***
THE REST OF THE DAYpasses in a surreal haze.
Caleb helps us put things in order in our camp and collect anything we want to bring with us. There’s not much, but we take two of our coconut bowls, our clothes, and the kite. We put everything else in the shelter—in case anyone else gets shipwrecked here, Edmund quips.
Then we swim out to the boat, and Jon helps to haul us up.
In less than an hour, we’re sailing home.
We talk most of the afternoon with Jon and Caleb, explaining to them what happened and how we survived. It’s exciting. And deeply relieving.
And also incredibly disorienting.
It doesn’t feel real. At the beginning, life on the island was what felt like a dream or a bubble, but now it’s the other way around.
Nothing is real except the island.
We eat a dinner of soup and sandwiches, but it all tastes too salty and overly processed. By eight o’clock in the evening, I’m so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open.
Caleb suggests I take a shower and go to bed, and I see no reason to argue.
The shower is one of those cramped wet-room kinds with just a handheld showerhead, but it still feels like a miracle to soap up and rinse off. To wash my hair thoroughly and comb it out. I put on a clean T-shirt Caleb gave me and then crawl into bed in the guest cabin. It’s a double bed fit into a small nook, but it feels like luxury.
I’m curled up under the covers, feeling weird and shaky and lonely when Edmund comes into the cabin, wearing a pair of boxers that don’t fit him very well.
He smells like the same soap I used, and his hair and beard are wet. He climbs into bed beside me without a word.
I scoot toward him as he wraps his arms around me. I’m still shaking as I bury my face against his shoulder.
He smells so clean. Not what I’m used to. But I don’t care. It’s still him.
“You okay, baby?” he mumbles, tightening his arms around me.
“I don’t even know. I... Everything... It doesn’t feel real.”
“I know. For me too. It feels like the whole world is swirling around me, and I can’t even keep my balance.”
“That’s how I feel too. It’s so strange that everything happened so quickly. And it’s crazy, but I almost feel sad. Like we left our whole life back there. We just took off and left it behind.”
“Did you want to stay?” His voice is hoarse, but he doesn’t sound surprised. He sounds serious. Like wanting to stay marooned on that island is really a possibility.
“Of course we can’t stay. Our poor families and all our friends will be waiting for us. It wasn’t real life back there. It just... It just felt that way.”
“It was life.” He nuzzles my hair. “We made it a life. It’s just not our normal one. At least we’re going back to showers and medicine and steaks.”
“And Coke and chocolate.” I smile against his skin. “And air-conditioning.”
He chuckles and rubs my back. “Why are you still shaking, baby?”
“I don’t know. I’m just... I’m just scared for some reason. Like everything is about to change.”