After an hour or so out in the ocean, Mike started to become weak. In spite of his lack of strength, he held on to Lillian as tightly as he could. Amazingly in the last half hour she had become quiet. She was either exhausted or had run out of insults. To Mike's surprise, she suddenly spoke. It was neither an insult or a complaint, rather a desperate cry for help.
"Help, somebody help, I'm so cold and so scared. Help me Michael, don't let me die," she cried.
"I know it's cold. I'm cold too. Hop on my back and hang on to my shirt. I'll try to swim a little," Mike suggested. Lillian pulled herself around as she piggy backed Mike and grabbed a fistful of shirt. Mike tried to swim as he paddled with his arms, but his legs moved slowly. Suddenly, he felt motion as Lillian tried to kick her weak legs. He was grateful for her help, but it wasn't getting them very far. He suddenly stopped and gave up in defeat.
"This is getting us nowhere. We'll be so weak we won't be able to save ourselves," Mike said. Mike had kicked his legs for almost an hour, just to stay above surface, when a miracle occurred. Just about twenty feet away he spied what looked like a busted panel from a crate. Mike saw this as a golden opportunity.
"Come on, there's a piece of wood out there. IF we can get to it, we can climb on and float to land," Mike said as his adrenaline kicked in. He swam as hard as he could with Lillian on his back and finally reached the floating board. With what little strength he had, Mike hoisted Lillian onto the board and somehow managed to pull himself up as well. He immediately embraced Lillian and then began to massage her arms and legs to get the circulation going again. after a few minutes of rubbing his own feet, they both fell flat on the board into unconsciousness.
********************
Once the storm had subsided, Peter decided he was going to go look for Mike.
"Guys, I'm really worried. Mike should have been back by now I would think," Peter said.
"We'll go with you. I can't sleep if I'm worrying about Mike," Micky said as he got up from his bed.
"Me too," Davy replied as he followed.
Once they got up to the deck, a whole crowd of people were up there. They were all chatting about someone going overboard.
"And I seen a guy and this one lady fly over the boat from my cabin window," a little boy told the captain.
"Please, tell me it wasn't Lillian, please," Derreck pleaded, looking to the sky.
"Why would my little girl be out here in such a terrible storm? She has better sense than that?" Mr. Vanguard asked.
"We had a terrible fight sir, and she left the cabin and I assume she came to the deck," Derreck admitted.
"This little boy hasn't given me a description of the persons yet. Can you tell me what they looked like?" The captain asked the child.
"Well," the little boy began, "the lady had on a fancy dress, a red one. She had long blonde hair." At the description of the woman, Mrs. Vanguard went hysterical.
"My baby! My baby! My lovely daughter, oh she's gone!" She screamed over and over.
Micky got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. At this bit of information, he somehow knew Mike was the man that had been thrown overboard. He fought back his tears, for Peter and Davy's sake, until the identity of the other person had been confirmed.
"How about the man, do you remember what he looked like?" The captain asked once again.
"He had shaggy, dark hair, and he wore a blue shirt and grey pants, and he looked mighty tall," the boy said. That was it, the news Micky dreaded to hear. It was the perfect description of Mike. Peter opened his mouth to say something, but instead passed out. His face was white as a sheet. Davy rushed to his side.
"Peter, you ok man?" Davy asked. The doctor came and tended to Peter as Micky and Davy embraced each other. Suddenly, the two were approached by Derreck.
"This...this is all your fault!" Derreck screamed as he pointed an accusing finger.
"How is any of this our fault?" Micky asked. "Our friend is gone too. We could blame that on that fancy girlfriend of yours."
"How dare you!" Derreck retorted.
"Yeah, Mike just came up here to get some fresh air, and now he's gone," Davy said through his tears.
"I told everyone to stay in their cabins! Nobody should have been up here," The captain said, obviously very upset.
"What were you two fighting over?" Mr. Vanguard demanded.
"This," Derreck said as he handed the receipts to Mr. Vanguard. A look of shock and dismay overtook Mr. Vanguard as he thumbed through the receipts. To think someone he had trusted like one of his own was stealing from him.
"Derreck, I can't believe this! I loved you like my own. To think I put my secretary on suspension for the mere suggestion... I, I guess I should have listened. My daughter's gone forever because of you! This is all your fault!" Mr. Vanguard shouted through his tears.
"Gone forever? Mike's dead?" Peter said as he finally came to.
"I'm afraid so Pete," Micky said. Peter began to weep "Oh Peter, don't cry... no, go ahead and cry," Micky said as he rubbed his sobbing friend's back.
"I'm going to notify the Coast Guard immediately," the captain said, "an all points bulletin will be sent out to every ship at sea. Perhaps they've been spotted. In the meantime, everyone should go back to their cabins."
He then turned to the Monkees and Mr. and Mrs. Vanguard, "I am terribly sorry about all of this. It is my prayer that the two will be found very soon."
The captain didn't even look them in the eyes. He knew his heartfelt speech offered no comfort. In fact, deep down he was sure the two never could have survived the rough waves and chilling water. If they were lucky, perhaps they never knew what happened.