The flashes popped and at the same time a strong wind
rocked the boat. I lost my balance and reached out to grab the
rail but I was blinded by flashes and couldn't see. My finger was
still in the can and I had no time to shake it off before
grabbing on to stop myself from falling. I felt rope and metal
and pain all at once. I had grabbed between the support line and
the rail, and the can was caught between that and my hand. I
think that was when I started to scream. I was leaning forward
trying to free my hand when the boat lurched. I fell overboard.
My finger didn't come with me. Matthew was standing at the rail
of the boat, screaming hysterically. Someone jumped in. It was
dark, but I saw the blood then, and when I reached for the life
preserver I saw what had happened. The little white nub of bone.
The rest of it gone. I passed out and woke up in the hospital.
They said that the can with my finger and my wedding band had
fallen overboard with me. They never found it. It's still out
there in the ocean, lost, Matthew and I with it."
They were silent for a very long time. She did not cry anymore,
she only lay there with her head turned on the pillow, eyes
closed, waiting for him to let go of her hand. But he did not let
go. Instead he kissed her right hand, then the left one, each
knuckle. She was frozen in place as he did this, as he kissed
between her pinkie and the middle finger, at the space where her
ring finger once was.
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