I wake up to a loud noise. Alex is throwing things around, looking for something. "Oy, mate calm down," a soldier says.
"Don't tell me what to do!" I untangle myself from Tommy and go stand next to Alex. I gently place my hand on his arm.
"You yelling isn't going to make the boat get lighter or float faster," I tell him. His eyes have a wild look in them, softening when he looks into my eyes.
"You're right, sorry. I'm just getting restless, with all this waiting." The sound of the hatch opening makes everyone stop in their tracks. Alex shoves me behind him, straight into Tommy. He puts a protective arm around my waist. The men with guns train them on the hatch. Alex walks forward and drags whoever it is into the middle of the boat.
"Not German," the man says. "Dutch. I'm the captain of the boat."
"Why'd you come back?" Alex asks. "Is the tide coming in?"
"Many hours less, until float. Less weight maybe."
"Weight, weight," Alex mutters. "Someone has to get off. Now!"
"Alex," I say, "stop. One person isn't going to make a difference." He opens his mouth to respond when a bullet tears a hole through the side of the boat. Tommy drops down to the floor, pulling me with him. He hovers over my body, shielding me from the danger.
More bullets echo, someone screams out in pain. When the noises stop, I push Tommy off of me and run to the soldier. The bullet had hit him in the eye, blood gushing everywhere. I hand him a rag to apply to the wound and pray it's enough for now.
Three more bullet holes open up on the side at the same time the boat takes float. "Plug the holes!" Tommy yells.
"You first mate," a man says.
"Someone still needs to get off!" Alex yells. I shake my head as the water rises. Past my ankles and knees, dangerously close to my waist.
"Too late," the Dutch captain says. "Abandon ship. Now!" I try to swim to the opening, but I keep getting sucked down. Tommy grabs my hand and drags me along with him. The water is so high that my head is almost hitting the ceiling when I take a breath.
We get onto the deck, coughing and spluttering. "We have to jump down or we'll just get sucked back down," Tommy tells me. I nod and jump, leaving no room for second thoughts. The water is no less cold than any other time I've had to do this, though I'm better prepared.
"There's a boat over there," a voice exclaims. I look to see a small boat, a simple sailing boat, drifting in the distance. Worried about nothing but getting to that boat before my strength runs out, I swim as fast as I can. The noises of the plane are getting closer, but only when they're right on top of me do I duck under the water and cover my ears. I can feel the shockwaves from the bomb they dropped. When I think it's safe to resurface, I do, gasping in a welcome breath. I keep swimming towards the boat on the horizon.
"Grab her up first." I hear when I've reached the boat. Only when I'm safely on the deck of this family's boat do I realize I haven't seen Tommy in quite a long time. I search below deck, seeing only a few soldiers huddled together and what looks to be a dead body. The waters nearby don't contain any sign of him either. Panic builds up in my chest, desperate for some sort of relief that can only come from seeing my boy safe with me.
"We're heading into oil!" The boy who looks to be my age yells. "Oil!"
"We'll have to turn her around if we want to save any of these men," the boy's father and captain of the ship says.
"No, please!" I cry out. "Tommy's not here. He isn't on the boat yet! We can't leave him!" Alex, who had just gotten on the ship, wraps his arms around me. "Let me go!" I scream, hitting Alex's arms and trying to pry them off of me.
"Cece, you have to calm down!" He tries to help me down the stairs but I fight him off. I break down in sobs when the boat starts gaining speed, fleeing from the wreckage and oil.
"Tommy. . ." I drop to my knees, heart breaking into a million little fragments, that I know will never be put back together again properly.
"I can't pull him up," the boy, who's name I've learned is Peter, cried out. "Someone help me." A nearby man rushes to his aid, helping pull the last lucky soldier out of the water. Tears spill freely thinking about how Tommy is still stuck in the oily sea.
I'm so preoccupied I don't recognize the voice that says, "Take me home." That is, until I hear the whispered "Cece?" come from the cracking voice. I slowly lift my eyes to the boy that's on the deck, not daring to believe it could be him. When my eyes reach his blue ones, I let out another sob, this time though from pure relief and happiness.
"Oh, Tommy," I say racing to his side. He's just barely sat up when I tackle him over with a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I just left you!" I sob into his shoulder, overcome with emotions and fatigue eating away at my control over them.
"Darling, it's alright," he says, soothingly petting my hair. "You know that there's nothing I want more than for you to be safe, and you are. Cece, you did exactly what I needed you to." I pull back to read his face, and see that he truly means every word he just said. I don't hesitate when I lean in and kiss him. I can hear the hollers of the men on deck, the loudest of them being Alex.
Tommy breaks the kiss, a smile on his face and a blush creeping over his cheeks. "I liked that," he says, with a small laugh. "I really liked that." I take that as an invitation and kiss him again, more forcefully this time. The captain informs us that we need to move below deck, to leave more room in case we come across any other men.
Below deck, the last place I want to be right now. My hands shake, so I press them into fists to make it less noticable. These men have suffered so much more than me, how can I possibly complain about having to be below deck, especially when I'm going home. That's when I remember, sitting next to Tommy and Alex, that I don't have a home.
Where am I supposed to go? None of my family will take me in, after my mother told them what I did. I zone out of the conversation that the boys are having, trying to figure out where I can go when I get back. Perhaps I'll just have to go to a women's center and pray they have room amongst the widows.
"Are you okay?" It could have been Tommy or Alex who asked that, I wasn't paying attention. But it's Tommy who says, "Cece, talk to me," and lifts my chin up so I meet his gaze.
"We're going home," I begin, "but I don't have one. I was so focused on getting out of that dreadful place I never thought about where I would be going."
Tommy smiles. "I thought it was obvious." The confusion must be evident on my face because he then says, "You'll just come home with me. I'm sure my parents will want to meet the girl who saved my life."
"But I didn't. . ."
"C'mon Cece, you know you did. You gave me the hope and the strength to keep going, even when I felt hopeless."
He kisses my temple as Alex says, "And you can come stay with me for a few days. I was serious about you meeting my mother." I grab Alex's hand and lean into Tommy's embrace.
"We're going home boys.
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