One Last Shark Dive

“No way!” Peyton exclaimed as she pushed herself towards the large bin of used books. She had been aimlessly weaving in-between the large folding tables, that were littered with paperback books, for about half an hour. She was in no rush, knowing full well, that her father was probably still asleep back at the hospice center.  She began her search, hoping to find some old magazines or a picture book for children, but had stumbled upon a priceless treasure. She had almost given up, but the dull blue-green matte cover with just a small bit of a shark’s tail fin, had caught her eye. She turned back and rushed over to it. Most of the book had been obscured by another larger glossy travel book for the country of England. She pushed the larger book aside and snatched up the smaller book peeking out from behind. Sure enough, the dingy white letters over the worn cover spelled out the title, Shark Reef Adventure. The underwater scene on the cover was something out of the 1950s. It featured a young male wearing a diving mask and swim trunks. His face was turned away, as if he had suddenly noticed the dangerous gray shark behind him. The image was all she needed to send her spiraling back in time, to when she was four years old.   

The memory was so vivid. Little Peyton sat low, short fleshy legs and short fleshy arms folded up in a ball. She was placed neatly in a bean bag chair on the floor, listening quietly to her sister, CiCi. Sitting on the floor wasn’t quite the feat at four, that it was forty years later. Peyton was suddenly aware of how many things were easier when she was four years old. The past few years of dealing with an ailing parent, made her yearn for a simpler time. The thought was short lived as she turned her attention back to the closed book in her hands. The cover had been burnt into her memory as a child.  

In her head, the book was no longer in her hands, but opened and swaying in the air a few feet away. The terrifying image on the cover was made somewhat less traumatic, hidden behind her sister’s fingers. The back cover more noticeable with a paragraph of white letters pressed deeply in the firm paper. The same blue-green color with a dull brown coral reef acted as a background and border around the paragraph. She flipped the book over in her hands to reveal the same white letters and brown reef border. Lastly, the true test. She flipped through the pages inside to confirm that it was indeed the book she remembered. Nearly every page had a dog-ear crease on the top corner, which suggested the book had exchanged many hands over the years. Every page was present and accounted for, tightly attached to the faded binding. At two dollars, it wasn’t just a find, it was a steal.  

Peyton rounded the corner of the plaza and made her way across the parking lot to the hospice center. The book sale was walking distance and provided the perfect break from the boring hospice room. Now, she had something engaging to share, and the excitement put some pep in her step. She quickly made her way up to the third floor and into her father’s room.  

“Hi, Daddy.” Peyton said as she came into the room. “Time for breakfast, huh?”  

The curtain was pulled back and the nurse was in the process of placing a food tray in front of her father. “Wow,” She said. “bacon and eggs and pancakes. Lucky.”   

“Let me know if he wants more. He can have as much as he wants.” The nurse grinned as she left the room. The same nurse had broken the news that an extra burst energy happens right before people let go and pass on. She wasn’t grinning hours earlier, when she explained the approaching death signals.  

There was a time when Peyton would have given the book to her father. She would have asked, “Daddy, do you remember this?” Now a days, it would have been a waste of time. There were days, when he rarely remembered Peyton’s name. Some days, he would call her by CiCi’s name. On the bad days, he talked to her timidly, as if she was a stranger. Over the years, he had gotten accustom to smiling and nodding at any question.  Peyton simply held the book up and said, “Do you want me to read to you? I found this book and it’s about sharks. I thought I could read while we wait on CiCi. What do you say? You want to go on a shark adventure, daddy?”  

He smiled and nodded. “Sure, Let’s go shark diving.”  

Peyton opened the book and began reading. She didn’t really remember what the actual story was about, but such a thin novel wouldn’t be too intense. After all, her sister could read it just fine when she was nine.   

The book started with the mystery surrounded around buried treasure. A professor was trying to find a treasure ship lost at sea. He enlisted the help of three teenagers to help him find it. The sunken ship was in the middle of shark infested waters. If they found it, the professor would use the treasure to prevent offshore drilling in the area. Thus, protecting the ocean and the sea life.   

In first three chapters, the professor was teaching the boys the importance of protecting the sharks and diving safety. Peyton had been reading for an hour when her father interrupted. “Your sister is going to be mad when she gets here.” He said.  

“She’ll be fine.”  

“No, she gets upset when she has a hard time getting here.”  

“She’ll be here soon.” Peyton reassured him. “She had a little delay with work and the flight was tricky to get. But, she’s on her way.” Peyton paused, while she stared at her father. He stared at the doorway of his hospice room. Finally, Peyton asked, “Do you want me to keep reading?”  

He kept his eyes focused on the doorway, and then nodded up and down.  

Peyton continued, but was interrupted shortly after one of the characters had a near miss with a tiger shark. Her father broke in with, “Sharks sleep, you know. People think they don’t sleep because they always need to be moving or they die. That’s wrong. They have to rest too.”  

Peyton knew exactly what her father was trying to convey. She didn’t know how to respond, so she smiled and nodded, then turned back to the book.   

In the last chapters, the three teenagers needed to prove that they had found the ship. The youngest decided to dive back down to grab a piece of the treasure. The villain followed him trying to prevent him from getting proof. Just as the villain was about to fire a spear gun at the young boy, a great white shark swims in and attacks. The boy makes it to the surface with treasure in hand. The villain never resurfaces.   

“I’m starting to see why CiCi liked this book.” Peyton looked up with a slight chuckle. “When we watched Jaws, she would cheer for the shark.”  

“Your sister likes sharks, because she is a shark.” He smiled and shook his head slowly. “Always moving. Never wants to stop. I was like that too, when you girls were younger. I worked all the time. I would take you girls everywhere I could afford, when I wasn’t working. I wished I could have done more with you girls, but I could find the time. I could have used the time I slept, but then I wouldn’t have made it this far. Everything has to take a break and rest.” Her father slid down in the bed. He tucked the pillow behind his head. “I think I’ll take a little nap, right now. Wake me up when she gets here. We can go for a shark dive again, this time, with the expert.”  He smiled and closed his eyes.

Peyton raised herself out of her seat and walked over. She kissed him on the forehead, and said “ I love you, daddy.”

She walked around the bed and out into the hallway. She took out her phone and tapped on the green message button. There were still no new messages. She lifted her head and stretched her neck, as she slowly wandered over to the soda machine. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hand full of change. She slid each coin into the thin slot. The can dropped into the bottom, with a loud thud. She popped the top the can as she came back up, and turned to see CiCi coming down the hall.

“Hey, You made it.” Peyton said, as she began back to the door of her father’s room. She pointed to the door, “He’s in here”

“I’m so sorry. They wouldn’t let me leave early. It took forever to find a flight.” She exhaled and smiled nervously before entering the room. CiCi spread out her arms wide. Her trench coat was draped over one arm and she held a large cloth wallet in the hand of her other. “Well, I’m finally here. What have you guys been up to?”

There was no answer. Their father laid in the bed quietly. There was no cardiac beeping or breathing machine. The nurses took them away to make the patient more comfortable in his final moments. When a couple of minutes passed, CiCi stared intently at her father and said, “Daddy?”

CiCi dropped her arms and steeped quickly over to the bed. Her wallet and coat fell to the floor. She slightly shook his shoulder while calling out to him, “Daddy, Wake up.”

The nurse came in and pulled her back, “Let me check him.” The nurse checked his pulse, then she turned and said, “I’m sorry, Honey. He’s gone.”

Peyton starred solemnly at her sister as she began to tear up. CiCi sobbed deeply and said, “But, I’m here now. I tried so hard to get here. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

CiCi crumbled to the ground, and started sobbing louder. “ I should have tried harder.” She called out from the floor.

Peyton knelt beside her and said, “It’s ok, CiCi. Daddy understood. He knew how much you tried to get here.” Peyton said softly as she rubbed her sister’s back.

“What were you doing before I got here? How long were you out of the room?” CiCi stared up at her sister, through teary eyes.

“I was reading to him. I found this book.”

CiCi looked at the book in her sister’s hands and said, “I know this book. I use to read it to you when you were little”

“Yeah, Daddy remembered”

“He did?” CiCi gasped in shock.

“Well, He remembered you liked sharks. He told me to wake him up when you got here, so we could go on a shark dive with you.” Peyton helped her sister up and over to a chair. “Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll read it to you.”

CiCi didn’t say anything, but nodded quietly in her chair.

The girls sat side by side, as Peyton opened the book and started reading.