I didn't understand what was happening, but when I opened my eyes, the jet ski had stopped right in front of us. The sunlight hitting my fearful eyes was dazzling. A man with broad shoulders and a strong build, whose face I couldn't quite make out, jumped off the jet ski. "Hey?" he said. As the glare of the sun slowly faded, his face became clear.
"You!?" I said, quickly struggling to my feet.
"Yes."
He had that same smirk on his face. I couldn't control my nerves. "Why do you keep... cough, cough..." Chris wiped the smirk off his face. He was looking at me with concern. "Are you okay?" He grabbed my arm. I pushed his hands away. "Don't touch me!"
Kiraz came closer and made me sit on the lounge chair to calm down. "Derya, please stay calm." My eyes were slowly closing, and my head was spinning wildly as I tried to force my eyelids open. "I..." Chris knelt in front of me.
"You don't look good. Are you sick?"
"I'm fine."
I turned to Kiraz. "Kiraz, please, let's get out of here."
"Okay, whatever you want." I tried to stand up, but I lost my balance for a moment in a dizzy spell and fell right into Chris's arms. Everyone on the beach was watching us. I looked away in embarrassment.
"Don't touch me!"
As I tried to stand again, I lost my balance once more. Chris gripped my body with his strong arms and lifted me up. He was holding me delicately in his arms as if I were a piece of jewelry that might break.
"Hey! Put me down!"
"No, little lady. I'm taking you to the hospital. After that, if you don't want to see me, I'll disappear, but we are going to the hospital!"
"I'm fine, put me down! Cough, cough, cough..."
Darkness slowly clouded my vision, and my heart began to slow. Chris was calling out for me to wake up, but I couldn't respond. Slowly, the sounds faded, and I let myself fall into the darkness.
The room brightened; I opened my eyes in a small infirmary. I was on the examination table. The doctor was shining a light into my eyes and taking notes. When he noticed I was awake, he pulled the light away and asked, "Ms. Derya, are you feeling alright?" I looked around; my friends were watching me through the half-open window. When they saw me wake up, they looked at each other with joy. I turned to the doctor and said, "I'm fine, Doctor." I slowly pushed myself up. The doctor moved to his desk and began writing something on a prescription.
"You fainted from a high fever. You're fine for now, but your immune system seems a bit weak. I recommend you use the medications I've prescribed and drink plenty of fluids during this process."
"Thank you…" He stood up and handed me the prescription. I examined the paper; it was clearly a doctor's handwriting no one but a pharmacist could possibly understand it.
"Normally, I would have procured the medicine from the pharmacy today, but things got delayed, so there's no supply of the medicine today. If there is someone who can help you, please don't forget to contact them."
"What do you mean? You don't have these medicines here right now?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"I see," I said dully.
As the doctor moved away from the door, he turned back to me. "Could you wait a few minutes?"
"Why? Isn't the examination over?"
"There is someone else who wants to see you."
"Who?"
"I can't say that much, unfortunately. I wish you healthy days."
He closed the door.
"But Doctor…"
After a while, the door opened. Chris was standing in front of me. "You!"
"Yes, me," he said and closed the door. I looked at my friends through the half-drawn curtain. We were looking at each other with confused eyes. Chris closed the window. "What are you doing?"
"We're going to talk."
"I don't want to talk to you."
"I'm sorry about what happened last night."
"Sorry? You have no idea you were trying to kill me, do you? Ha!"
"That wasn't my intention."
"What was it then? Trying to make it look like an accident?"
"You're misunderstanding me; my jet ski malfunctioned that night. I didn't do it on purpose."
"Oh, so you're saying your jet ski broke down and your intention wasn't to kill me that night." I indignantly propped myself up from the examination table.
"Why would I do that to someone I don't even know?"
"I don't know, I don't share the same thought process as psychopaths."
I walked toward the door. Chris blocked the doorway with his broad shoulders.
"I'm not finished with what I have to say." I looked up, meeting his eyes.
"What are you going to say? I told you I don't want to listen."
"You got sick because of me, I'm sorry."
"Why do you keep apologizing? I don't want to hear it."
"Because I'm at fault."
"Fine, I get it, you admit your mistake. Now can I go?" I opened the door and reached my friends.
"Derya, was that Chris?"
"How do you girls know?" I asked, continuing to walk. "He's the one who brought you here," Kiraz said. "Ooh, this man is madly in love with you." As the girls giggled with each other, I paused.
"Girls, really, it's not nice. I don't want to talk about him."
"Okay, okay, we're not talking."
They continued to laugh without me noticing. "So, what did the doctor say?" Kiraz asked curiously.
"The doctor wrote a prescription and told me to rest for a few days."
"That's great, let's go get the medicine right away."
"It doesn't seem very possible."
"Why?"
"The doctor said he usually gets the meds from the pharmacy, but due to some issues, he couldn't get them, so I couldn't get mine either."
"What about the pharmacy then?"
"The pharmacy is very far away too."
"Puff… What are we going to do then?"
"I don't know, maybe we have to wait until tomorrow."
"Are you sure you'll be okay until tomorrow?"
"I hope so."
We were almost at the hotel. I was sad that I wouldn't be able to sightsee today. I looked at my friends.
"Do you know where Georgios was going to take us today?"
"I don't know, did he text today, girls?" Sude asked, turning to the others. Emilia took out her phone and checked the messages.
"Yes, there will be surfing and windsurfing at the beach today around 2:00 PM."
"PUF!"
"Don't be sad, Derya, you can join other activities. Just focus on getting better now."
"You're right."
We reached the hotel room. "Emilia?" Sude called out. Emilia was staring at her phone and grinning. Sude continued.
"Emilia!"
"Yes." Sude pointed at the door with her eyes.
"Aaaa sorry, I'm opening it right now."
"Thanks, Emilia," I added. Emilia checked her bag and then turned to us. "Girls, I can't find the key." Sude pointed to her hand. Emilia looked at her hand, unaware she was holding the key. "Sorry girls, I'm sorry." "Emilia, did something happen? Why are you so distracted?" While trying to open the door, she said, "No, I'm fine, it's just…"
"Just what?"
"That young doctor, you know?"
"The one who examined Derya?"
"Yes…"
"I sent him a request." She finally opened the door, and I lay down on the bed with all my exhaustion. Sude continued to ask curiously.
"What do you mean, how did you find his social media account?"
"I'm an expert in these matters, look…" Using her phone, she showed us the account of the young doctor who had examined me. Sude began to laugh with a sweet smile. "Honestly, you're something else! Well done." Emilia and Kiraz joined in this sweet laughter. While watching everything with a smile, after a while, I stared at the ceiling. I felt a momentary disconnection while the girls were laughing among themselves. Wandering in the deep thoughts of my mind, I never thought my vacation would be like this.