The clicks were gone. For the first time in my entire life, the thoughts in my head were mine and mine alone. Mica and I had shared silent communication even before we knew words. For most of our lives, it was ideas, images, and feelings between us. Only in the past few years, had we gotten good at filtering. I’d learned to ignore every single thought and feeling that came through from Mica.

Now, I’d give anything for even the slightest flicker. But there wasn’t a single blip. Not when I cradled him in my arms for the endless minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive at the beach, nor during the ride to hospital; or when they spent unhelpful ages doing the same basic tests that hadn’t helped the others, at all. Since Mica had been surfing, they spent a lot of time examining his head for external bumps and bruises, which infuriated me to no end.

“It’s not from surfing!” I screamed at Billy, so loudly that he ordered me out of Mica’s room. I stomped up and down the hallway, hating the fake cheery blue on the walls and every single person who came by, offering support. The only person I needed right now was laying still and silent on a sick bed. And, there was nothing at all that I could do about it.

Billy finally came from the room, apologetic.

“Cami, I know you’re upset, and I want you to stay, but if you can’t be calm, you have to leave. I can give you something to help, if you want.”

“What, like a sedative?” I snorted, rolling my eyes.

Billy nodded, pity in his eyes. “Look, I gotta get back in to help Mica. Where’s Blake? Can he sit here with you until your mom comes?”

My anger exploded. “I don’t want him anywhere near me. This is all his fault!” I growled.

“What did Blake have to do with this?” Billy asked.

“He cut him off!” I wailed. “Because he wanted to win. He didn’t even notice when Mica went down—he just kept on going! Because winning was so damn important, nothing else mattered.”

Billy’s eyes widened even further and he patted my shoulder awkwardly.

“Cami, Blake didn’t do this,” he said.

“Then why are you looking for bumps on Mica’s head?” I sobbed out.

“It’s a precaution,” Billy said, using an extremely gentle voice. “We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t. But you and I both know, that this looks just like the others.”

“What if it’s not? What if it’s worse?” I asked.

“I won’t let that happen, Cami,” Billy said, his voice choking on the words. “Not to Mica. I need to get back in there. So, can you stay here and stay calm?”

“I’ve got her,” Celeste said, walking up at exactly the right moment. She put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in to give Billy a kiss. His eyes got teary from her kindness, and I felt awful for yelling at him. Mica belonged to him, almost as much as he belonged to me. So, I didn’t begrudge the extra seconds he stayed in the hug before going back to Mica’s room to save him for me.

With her full concentration and sympathy on me, I collapsed into Celeste’s arms. Within seconds, I’d soaked her shirt with tears. She didn’t care; she just let me cry until I’d drained every tear for the moment.

“Thanks for skipping the ‘it’s all going to be okay’ speech,” I said, sniffling in gratitude. She hadn’t interrupted, even once, with any of the ridiculous chatter I’d said to Alysha when she’d been in this very same position.

Of course, then it had seemed like a random accident, whereas now it seemed like something was very, very wrong.

By the time Blake arrived, my fight had left. Even lifting my eyes to look at him felt like too much work. I needed every bit of strength to ignore the way my heart beat a little faster the second he walked in.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” he said, leaning in to hug me, “but I had to wait to talk to The Guard.”

“Why? To get your trophy?” I asked, anger oozing with the words. He froze mid-reach for me.

“No,” he said, shocked at my outburst, “they needed statements. To try and figure out what happened.”

“I’m going to give you guys a minute,” Celeste said, attempting to rise from her spot at my side.

“Stay,” I gripped her arm. She settled back on the bench, clearly uncomfortable. But, at that moment, I needed her, and, selfishly, I just didn’t care that I was putting her in an uncomfortable position.

“You go,” I said to Blake. “Now!” Blake’s eyes flashed, golden flecks of fire coming through the silver as he prepared to argue, but I wasn’t about to let him get a word in. “I told you at the beach that I didn’t want to see you! Were you too happy about your win to listen to me?”

  “Cami, I didn’t win. They called the contest,” Blake sighed wearily. “Why are we even talking about this? What’s going on with Mica?”

“Nothing. Nothing is going on with him. He’s flat on a bed, in a coma. Thanks to you.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Blake asked, heating red under his golden skin. He bristled with strength and anger I’d never felt directed at me before. “I had no idea what was happening. You know I would have helped if I had.”

With a couple deep breaths through his nose, he calmed visibly, quickly changing tactics, attempting again to touch me. My body responded defiantly. It wanted his comfort, but my brain didn’t agree. I jerked my arm from his reach as if it were a jellyfish sting.

“Just go,” I whispered, turning my face back into Celeste’s shirt, hoping he’d listen.

But, he didn’t, so I ignored him. With every minute he remained, it got harder to fight the urge to go to him. I wanted to go back to the days where there had been absolutely zero attraction and I’d avoided physical contact with him. Mica’s condition felt like a punishment for finding time for my love life when, clearly, every spare moment should have been dedicated to helping Shay and Darwen.

In hiccoughed whispers, I tried to explain to Celeste, who patiently tried to talk me out of my tree. “Just give yourself time to calm down,” Celeste soothed. I felt comforted by her voice, even though I didn’t believe her words.

I took a peek at Blake, standing tight-lipped in the corner, attempting to respect my wishes, but clearly not wanting to leave. Though he wore headphones and tapped his long fingers angrily on the same board shorts he’d worn in the competition, I still felt him listening. Feeling evil, wanting him to feel my pain, I sent dagger eyes at him to pierce his golden-boy cool.

Immediately, Blake silently slipped out of the exit and down the fire stairs, setting off the alarm in his haste. The jaw-breaking noise sliced though my ears, straight to my gut like a spike. Loud enough to wake the dead, I prayed for it to wake the comatose, instead.

“Mica would never be mad at anyone for playing to win; least of all Blake,” Alysha said in a quiet voice. In the three weeks since Shayla’ accident, Alysha’s sparkle had dimmed.

“I know, but I think…” I paused and swallowed. “That, somehow, the trouble started when Blake and I got together. So, maybe I need to stay away to make it better.”

“I could slap you right now,” Alysha said, carefully digging her chipping black fingernails into her palms. My eyes opened wide in surprise at the anger coming from my least intense friend. “Blake helped you when you got hurt. Did it occur to you that he saved you from the same thing?” She paused, but instead of letting me answer, she held a finger up to my lips. I shook my head, but her rant had just begun. “Seeing you with him, is the only thing that’s given me any hope this summer. You just shine when he’s around—you actually look whole again in a way that you haven’t since Kaleb left. You guys are right. Want to fix things? Figure out why the three of them aren’t alive or dead, but in some strange sleep. Why have twenty-five more dolphins stranded this week? Don’t throw away the only thing about this summer that isn’t wrong.”

 Alysha’s lecture helped to diffuse my anger at Blake, but it got me thinking horrible things about my mother. As hospital administrator, she should have solved this problem for Darwen and Shay before this ever happened to Mica. Then, Gram walked in and took me into Mica’s room.

“This is her very worst nightmare come true,” Gram said, disappointment etching even more lines in her sun-weathered face. “She has done everything she could do for you, your entire lives, to keep you healthy and safe. The last thing she needs to feel from you is that she isn’t doing enough.”

Gram didn’t usually play the blame game. It was shocking to hear her so angry—but she was right, and that was exactly why I was so upset.

“But, Mom didn’t do anything this time, Gram. We all did nothing. Just went on about our lives.”

“This is no more her fault than it is yours. She and Doc have been trying everything they canthink of.”

“Everything that they can do here. What about the Mainland hospital?”

“Just because they haven’t shared every decision with you, doesn’t mean they haven’t considered it all, Cami,” she said, tight-lipped. “You have to know that. But, certain things raise more questions than we want to answer.”

I took a breath, wanting her to take me seriously.

“So why haven’t they gotten more help?” I asked, frustrated.

She looked down. But, not before I saw the tear in the corner of her eye. In all our years, I’d never seen Gram this upset.

“I’m sorry,” I said, taking her hand. I was doing the same thing to her as I’d done to my Mom, to Blake. Pushing away those that were there for me. It helped to keep a lid on the rage I felt toward all those who were not here, when they should have been. Like Kaleb, and my dad. I knew my anger wasn’t helping Mica, and it made me feel awful. I took a deep breath and gave Gram a hug. “I respect the old ways,” I told her, “I really do—but this has never happened before. Don’t you think something new needs to be done? Or, at least, tried?”

Gram looked up at me, “I do.”

I felt triumphant. Even so, Gram put up her hand to stop me from even mentally celebrating.

“Consider this, Cami,” she said, gravely. “Those tests are Xrays and radiation. If you’re still concerned that sonar might have had something to do with the comas, then the tests could be dangerous for Mica. Are you prepared to take that risk?”

I nodded, without hesitation. “We have to. Don’t you see? If we don’t try something new, then we can’t learn anything we don’t already know.”

She nodded, her eyes shifting around the room to check out the various pieces of medical equipment tethered to Mica.

“I’ll speak to your mother. If she insists on more testing, then the Doc will do it. But, you need to be nicer to her. Deal?”

I nodded, hoping she could convince her, and praying that the test wouldn’t do any further harm to Mica. My mom and Gram had often been at odds during my life. If Gram was working this hard to protect my mother, then I needed to listen.

“Come, sit,” Gram said, pulling up some extra chairs to the spot by the bed where my mother sat next to Mica, holding his hand. I gave my mom a silent hug and she hugged me back—without ever letting go of Mica’s hand.

The few monitors in the room were silent and steady, and for a moment all I heard was the wooshing in and out of Mica’s breath. I was so grateful for every single one.

We sat in silence together, Gram holding my hand and Mom’s, Mom holding Mica’s hand and Gram’s, linking us in a chain. It made me think.

“Come, let’s give your mom some time,” Gram said, leading me from the room. We sat in the hallway, which had become way too familiar to me lately.

“Did Gramps tell you we talked to Stoney and him about the ears and stuff that ran common in our people?” I asked her. She looked at me quickly, nodding but not quite meeting my eyes. She shifted back to looking at Mica, so I looked at him too. Laid out flat on the hospital bed, his usually frantic energy was only relayed in bleeps and flashes on the equipment. I vowed right then to do absolutely anything to get him back to normal as soon as possible.

I continued, “Don’t you think that it’s kind of strange that in your generation the hereditary traits are split up a bit, but in mine we all have them?” She looked at me, meeting my gaze this time. “I’m beginning to think we didn’t all just get super lucky with the hand we drew from the possible combinations of DNA.”

  “I suppose anything’s possible,” she said. “The gods work in mysterious ways.”

“We’re not exactly heaven sent,” I said. Gaining my nerve, I went on, “Gram, what’s in the old lab?”

Gram’s eyes widened, but she responded smoothly. “That old lab is just that—old. Leave it, Cami. It’s been closed for years.”

“Why, Gram?” I asked quietly, careful to tread lightly on such delicate ground.

“Because Doc was making the Elders all nervous, messing with nature. We stopped the treatments, shut it down.”

I paused, taking in the information, but not wanting to alert Gram that she had just told me something I had never heard before.

“What if there’s some information down there that could help? Tests and stuff?”

“Everything we need has been taken out, and it’s been sealed for years. There’s nothing down there that could help us, and you can’t get in, anyway.”

I nodded, but I began to plan.