The Ties That Bind Us

EPILOGUE: Part 2

——— A year later ———

"You're restless these days, Mrs. Wayne," Bruce panted, dropping to the side.

"More like energetic. Good for me you can keep up," she said out of breath. "Wanna go for a round number three?"

He laughed, "I'd love to, but I gotta check on the boom and update the coordinates. And I have a feeling that if I stay here you're gonna keep me in this bed all day long."

"That was the plan."

"You know, the first step to overcoming an addiction is admitting you have a problem," he smirked.

"Okay. I have a problem. Now get over here."

Bruce laughed and reached for her lips, gave her a quick kiss, then promptly jumped out of bed.

"Come on," he said, "you gotta eat something. Rehydrate, at least."

"Ugh," she complained, then turned to the side and decided to try to fall back asleep. He chuckled and closed the door behind him.

They had gone back to Spain to spend the first weeks of summer on the beach. But when they got there, they decided on a whim to take a longer break and take the boat out again. Contrary to the time before, they had chosen to go south through Portugal and go around the bottom of the continent, finishing in France in time to go back straight home. Directly into the Atlantic, the seas weren't as calm as on their last trip, and Bruce had to constantly check the coordinates board to see if they hadn't lost direction.

They were just on the southwest coast of Portugal, heading north, and would stop from time to time to check out some towns and islands. It was their first morning back on the boat after making a four-day pause in Lagos, where they mostly spent their time eating pastel and laying by the beach.

Selina rolled around on the bed unquiet for about an hour, occasionally drifting off to vivid and semiconscious dreams. It was too hot to sleep, even wearing nothing at all. The smell of freshly scrambled eggs invaded the room and her stomach roared. It was past midday and she hadn't eaten since the night before. So she forced herself out of bed and grabbed one of Bruce's shirts from the floor to put on.

"I knew you'd show if I made these," Bruce smiled, already having prepared a plate for her.

She groaned in agreement, unwilling to talk yet. She wasn't sure if her "morning" moodiness was due to the hunger or the inability to sleep.

"Are you alright?", he asked, and she simply nodded, driving a spoonful of eggs into her mouth, "We're going to have to make another stop soon to check the oil. I think it might be leaking."

She muttered whatever unintelligibly and continued eating in silence. At first, she'd seemed to be starving, but then she just left half the food untouched and went to lie on the sunlounger.

Bruce went back to the control room to finish checking up on everything, then came back to lie with her under the sun for a while. When he got closer to her, he first thought she was asleep. But then he noticed her face was frowned oddly and she was moaning discontented.

"Selina? Are you alright?", he asked worriedly.

She groaned in response and stroked her neck anxiously, keeping her eyes shut tight.

"Talk to me, what's going on?", he squatted down next to her, and his voice had become urgent. "Look at me. Tell me, Selina."

Her agonized eyes found his only for a second before she darted out, running to the edge of the boat and kneeling down to throw up all her breakfast and a little bit more in the ocean. He moved quickly to help her, holding her hair back and stroking her back comfortingly, trying to stay calm and unconcerned. The sea really was abnormally agitated that day, and it was only natural that she felt sick after being on an empty stomach for so long.