Island

He quickly asked if she was going to puke. She shook her head. He asked her if she was in more pain, more back pain. She just shook her head again. She cried harder. Nan and Ann came over. Nan asked Lisa what was wrong. She just shook her head again and tried to smile but kept crying. Nan held her hand. Ann stroked her forehead. Lisa's voice squeaked, "Sorry."

He had smiled and told her she was doing fine, that lifting her head was a very good sign. She nodded and sniffled and her tears slowed He asked her if she was ready for another sip. Her face pinched and she shook her head twice. He asked if she minded if he had a sip of her water. She smiled and nodded. He grinned and asked if that meant shedidmind. Tears ran down her down her cheeks but she released a soft brief giggle as she shook her head once more.

He took a few sips from the bottle. Then looked at Lisa again. Liz came over and knelt down next to Lisa on the opposite side from him. She stroked Lisa's knee and asked how she was doing. Lisa cleared her throat, and then told them all she was fine, and was sorry for being so dopey.

He asked if she wanted more water. She smiled at him and nodded. He started feeding the water to her slowly. While he did, he didn't look at Liz but asked how bad her headache was. She said it was awful, the worst thing she had ever experience. He asked how bad her arm hurt. She said that was awful too.

He asked Ann to get the Ibuprofen from the med kit. He told Liz to take two tabs with little sips of water. He told Nan to watch her sip and to grab the bottle from her if she gulped it. He knew Liz glared at him without looking at her.

He asked Ann to give two tabs to Lisa and to him too. He took the tabs from her, then when Lisa was taking a short break from sipping, he took the pills with a swallow of water. Lisa told him to drink more. He said beautiful women always came before middle-aged guys. She roll her eyes then took the pills from Ann. He brought the bottle to her lips.

Nan asked what they should do first, if it should be a signal fire. He asked if the lighter had worked. He couldn't remember. She said it had. He said a signal fire was a good first step, then added his head was aching too much to help gather the wood. Nan had said, "Du-uhhh."

He smiled knowing the bottled water had raised everyone's spirits including his own. Nan left to gather wood and he told Ann she might want to get the rest of the stuff from the raft. Ann had said okay. Liz said she'd help. He asked her if she was dizzy and she said no. He said okay. He kept helping Lisa drink. A few moments later she said she had enough.

He raised the bottle and estimated that with his drinks and Liz's chugging Lisa had only drunk maybe eight ounces. He told her she had to finish the bottle. She rolled her eyes at him and sipped more. A minute later she said she really couldn't drink any more. He raised the bottle again. There was about a gulp left. He finished it. He lowered his hand behind her head to the sand but didn't pull it out.

He glanced around then looked into her eyes and smiled. He asked if she had been in more pain a few minutes ago. She asked if he meant the crying. He nodded. Her eyes welled again but she didn't cry. She said the pain was about the same, maybe a tiny bit less today. She took a breath and her eyes teared more, her voice squeaked saying again that she was sorry about crying. She then took another breath and just looked at his eyes for a few moments before saying she had been so scared since the sail boat, and when he had held her head, it somehow made her release it. She said she was sorry two more times. Her hand moved to her face and she wiped her eyes and nose.

He smiled and told her he thought she had been the bravest of all of them. He glanced around again, leaned down and in a soft voice asked if she would keep a secret sacred until she was ninety years old, then she could tell anyone.

Her brow had pinched and she said she would. He told her that he had been scared shitless from the moment he had noticed the sky get cloudy yesterday on the boat. She rolled her eyes and told him to quit trying to be funny. He said the funniest thing about it, was that it was the absolute truth.

He now recalled how much he had wanted to kiss her smooth forehead at that moment. He told her he had some reading to do, the first aid book. He gently pulled his palm away and was glad to see she raised her head a little to let it slip out. He thought it and her arm movement had been good signs regarding her back.

He pulled out the first aid book from its plastic pouch, to look up head wounds and suturing. He started reading the suturing section first, but it seemed to make his headache worse. He asked Lisa if moving her arms caused more pain. She said it didn't for the most part. He held the open book at her breast and she took it with both hands. He asked her to read it to him if she could. She asked him to raise her head. He palmed the back of her head again and she started reading.

Nan came out of the palm trees carrying an armload of sticks. She said she made piles that she'd be bringing out. Ann and Liz returned depositing more supplies. Ann said there was about one more trip.

He continued looking through the medical kit as Lisa read. Nan passed by a couple times caring armfuls of sticks and dried palm fronds. When Lisa finished reading the suturing section he asked her if she had good retention. She gazed at him for a moment, then smiled saying she could remember what she read.

He asked her to read the section on concussions. She turned to that chapter. She abruptly stopped reading after a certain sentence. He drew his eyes away from the kit and looked at her. She had an expression of concern on her face. He had asked, "What?" She said that nausea and vomiting really were symptoms of a bad concussion. He responded, "Yeah-yeah, keep reading, and remember what the hell you're reading, because with this headache I doubt I'll keep anything straight."

Ann and Liz returned. Ann said she thought they had it all. Liz said she wasn't feeling well. He had asked her to sit down next to him. Lisa stopped reading. Liz sat down. He told her to look directly into his eyes. He thought her pupils looked the same size. She giggled nervously and asked if he was trying to look into her soul. He said he was trying to look into head. She asked if she could move away. He said sure. Lisa told him to look into her eyes. Ann and Liz watched and both giggled.

He recalled that moment as if it had just happened. He had wanted to fall into Lisa's gray speckled, blue pools. He wanted to fall in and never come out. He couldn't remember how long they gazed at each other but Ann's giggle brought him out of it. He turned to see Liz's hand on Ann's naked shoulder, her voice forced low, asking Ann to look deeply into her eyes. A realization hit him. He turned back to look at Lisa. She was still smiling. She said his pupils looked even, then she told him he had beautiful eyes. He thought she had blushed but to this very day he wasn't really sure she had. Lisa continued reading. Nan came out of the forest and asked Ann to help her with the wood. Ann said sure and followed. Liz sat down with her back against the tree.

Just as Lisa finished reading the concussion section. Ann and Nan came out of the trees carrying the last two armfuls of sticks and fronds. Nan asked if that was enough. He said it looked like a good start.

He knew if it was really dry they'd be running back and forth for wood all the time. They had it piled twenty feet away, and about midway from the trees to the water. Nan asked if they should light it. He had wondered if it would be seen during the day. He said sure, but they might set aside some palm fronds and wet them to toss on top if it didn't smoke at all. They could toss them on if a plane passed over. He saw that Nan had first placed dried fronds under all the sticks. Nan walked to the pile with Ann. She knelt down and used the lighter at the base. A frond started burning she moved around the pile lighting it periodically. The fronds burned fairly fast. The pile started smoking.

Nan yelled, "Woo-hoo!"

He had stared at the growing fire and Nan dancing around it. He noticed she did have a very nice body and her tits had a very appealing bounce. He had mumbled evenly under his breath, "Kids shouldn't play with matches." He heard Lisa giggle softly. Lisa asked if she could see the med kit. He put it on her abdomen, then reached for another life vest to slide under her head.

Ann and Nan returned and sat down. They said the fire was getting really hot. He asked them to look through the supplies and see if there was something to eat they all could share but not to make it a feast. Ann said there were about a dozen MREs, and a box of cracker things that looked wet.

Nan found a tin box of two dozen small energy bars. He asked to see one of those. She raised something that was the size of a granola bar. He had said, "Let's eat three of those."

Nan pulled out three and handed them to Ann, pulled three more and offered them to Liz when he had laughed, then winced with shooting head pain. It took him ten seconds to open his eyes. They were all staring at him. Ann asked if he was all right. He nodded, then told Nan he meant three total, not three each.

She blinked and said, "Oh. But... how can we split three little bars for five people?"

He had stared blankly at her wondering the same thing. Lisa had come to the rescue. She said to break them in half, then everyone could have a half bar and the last half would be saved for later.

Liz had then whined that she was starving. He had shot her an intense look and it took a few seconds for her to add that she had planned to start a diet soon anyway. Nan handed out the half bars and put the last half back in the box.

He opened a water bottle and told them to take one little sip and pass it on. When the bottle got to Liz he watched her take a sip then she stuck her tongue out at him and handed him the bottle. He smiled as he took it. He asked Lisa if she could hold the bottle. She said she'd try. He watched her and she spilled a little out the corner of her mouth. She said she was sorry. He just smiled and took a sip.

He then asked all of them if they had sewing skills. Except for Lisa they all laughed briefly, then Nan's face had gone blank. She said, "Your head."

He again asked if anyone knew how to sew. No one laughed, but they all said no, except for buttons and that kind of thing. Lisa interrupted and asked if her legs could be moved down a little, they were starting to ache. He held Lisa's legs as Nan pulled out the vest and unrolled it some, then pushed it under Lisa's knees as he moved her legs out more. He watched Lisa tense but she didn't say stop. Ann asked her how that felt. Lisa said her back was hurting a little more but it had gotten too uncomfortable the other way. She said she thought it would get better in a few minutes. He told her to tell them if the pain didn't lessen. She nodded.

He got back to the suturing, saying someone had to volunteer to sew up him and Liz. Liz had gotten wide eyed and asked if she really needed stitches. He asked Nan and Ann to look at Liz's wound, telling them he thought she should have it sewn up. Liz said she'd take her chances and not get it stitched by one of them. They might be rescued in an hour or two.

Her comment had made him realize again that he still wasn't thinking straight. He told everyone to relax for a minute. He asked Nan give him the flare gun and a cartridge and any instructional booklet there was for it. She handed him the gun and a shell, then she and Ann rummaged through the booty. There wasn't an instructional booklet.

He asked if any of them knew anything about guns. No one did. He confessed he didn't know anything either, but he thought a flare gun was fairly simple. He showed them the lever at the top of the grip which opened the barrel. He pushed the cartridge inside, then snapped it closed. He shifted around to face away from everyone. He put both his hands around the grip and then raise both his arms vertically. He told them to be sure to use two hands, point it nearly straight up with their arms bent slightly at the elbow, and only then put their finger on the trigger and finally squeeze the trigger. He lowered it, opened it and took the shell out, then looked at it again.

He told them he forgot to mention the safety on it. He said he guessed it was the slide button that showed red next to it. He pushed it and it revealed a green mark. He raised it over his head again and squeeze the trigger. They all heard a click. He lowered it and pushed the button to the red position.

He handed the gun to Nan and told her to open it, close it, take the safety off and point it above her head with two hands and squeeze the trigger. She did it. He told her to pass it around and everyone should do it. When it came back to him he gave it to Nan, told her to hold onto it and put the shell in her shorts pocket. They'd figure out some place to keep it later, where anyone could get to it. He smiled and told her not to go walking into the fire with the shell in her shorts. She raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a few moments.

"So, do you two think Liz needs stitches?" he had asked.

Ann and Nan had concurred. He was concerned they had waited too long, but he guessed he needed stitches no matter what. He asked who wanted to play doctor. There was silence for ten seconds, then Lisa said she'd do it. They all looked at her. She said maybe her back was getting better and she could sit up. Nan took a breath, exhaled, and then said she'd do it. Lisa threaded the curved needle. He asked Nan if she knew the standard tie stitch. She said she knew it. They poured hydrogen peroxide on his wound as an anticeptic and to loosen the scabs, and alcohol on the needle and suturing thread.

[He shifted against the tree and wiped his brow. He didn't want to remember how much that suturing had hurt.]

It had turned into a two person job. Ann had to help. She flattened and pushed together the two pieces of his scalp, while Nan sewed. At first he had winced, cursed, shook, and nearly passed out, not from the needle but from Ann pushing the two parts of his scalp together. It had scared both Nan and Ann and they had both backed away.

When the pain subsided and he was able to open his eyes again, he told both girls not to pay attention to his twitching, swearing, or screaming, to ignore it all and just do it. He told them not to rush, to just do a really good job. Before they started again, he had actually put a stick between his teeth.

He didn't really swear or shout again, he did growl loudly during the first part of it though. Half way through it, he wondered if skull was fractured, although at about the same time he learned to somewhat deal with the pain. He pulled the stick out from between his teeth to tell Liz it really wasn't that bad. Later it took the other three girls to convince her to let Nan sew up her laceration.

In the afternoon, Nan and Ann had searched for the passion fruit tree. They didn't find it. In the evening Nan used the folding hatchet and opened up a half dozen coconuts. They lost a lot of the milk, but the meat was eaten along with tiny pieces of one and a half energy bars.

*

The next morning everything that had occurred started hitting the girls. Lisa had mentioned she hoped her mother and sister weren't insane with worry. Nan and Liz said something similar. Ann had looked at him and said she hoped Cheryl wouldn't worry too much.

The girls started talking about Carol, Beth Ann, and Deb wondering why they hadn't been able to stay in the raft. Nan, who was a close friend of Amy, said she hoped she, Barb, Jeff and everyone else in the other raft were okay. Liz added that maybe the other raft would be rescued first and then the searchers would find them easily.

They all talked about how terrified they had been, at first the storm had seemed exciting, that they never expected that Jeff wouldn't be able to get the boat through it. But then the waves had gotten so high that they thought they'd never live through it. They cried on and off as they talked. He had stayed silent for the most part. He had put his arm around Ann when she had sobbed for a few minutes.

He had wondered about the girls' parents. He never had a kid, but he assumed losing a child was the most gut wrenching, intense grief and shock. What was mostly on his mind and had been since the second morning, was whether or not Barb had somehow radioed a distress call. He thought she hadn't. He wasn't going to mention that to the girls. When they were cried out, he passed around the water bottle and then handed out halves of the energy bars with more coconut chunks. They ate and drank in silence.

When they were finished eating he asked Liz to see her cut. She showed it to him. The bandage they had applied the night before had some blood spots on it. He pulled the gauze back. The cut had scabbed up. It wasn't a horrible laceration. The stitches almost looked professional and complimented Nan on her sewing skill. He asked Liz if it felt hot. She said it was throbbing like yesterday. He knew exactly what she meant. He asked Ann to put some hydrogen peroxide on it, and then more anti-bacterial cream. He knew the scab should be scrubbed with peroxide to lessen the scarification, but he didn't want to waste the peroxide. Her hair would cover it anyway.

He asked Nan to look at his wound. It didn't feel hot. It did feel extremely odd though. Half his scalp was numb, yet extremely sensitive to the slightest touch, even a movement of air. It didn't make any sense to him. She said there was a line of dried blood on his bandage. He asked if it was stuck. She pulled it slightly and he winced. He told her to dribble hydrogen peroxide along that line of dried blood and try to work the bandage off after the peroxide stopped fizzing. She had to fiddle more with the bandage and more peroxide before she got it off.

He asked if his skull was showing between the stitches. She hadn't been sure yesterday because the flaps of scalp hadn't matched up perfectly. She said that those spots that had either been flesh or skull-like areas between the stitches were now all scabby. He asked if it was bleeding, oozing any puss, or smelled like cheese. Ann and Liz giggled at the latter part of the question. Nan said it was bleeding again where the bandage had been stuck. He told her to leave the bandage off. Lisa asked to see his head. He leaned down and showed her. He heard her inhale louder than Nan had. She said it looked like it was healing. He sat up and got dizzy for a moment, then asked her how her back was. She said better.

He looked at her bent legs resting on the rolled vest. He asked her to try just a little to raise her feet a tiny bit off the sand. Her eyes shut tight and her jaw clenched as her feet rose a couple inches for a few seconds, then she exhaled and dropped her feet to the ground.

He asked how much that hurt. She said "a little bit" which he had interpreted as "quite a lot." He asked if she wanted to try to roll onto her side. She instantly said yes, that she was going crazy lying on her back. He said they'd try to get her vest off to look at her back if possible after rolling her onto her other side, only if it wasn't painful. She readily agreed.

He asked Ann and Nan to help. He told Nan to open Lisa's vest, they'd all work from one side to get her rolled over. Liz asked to help. He told her to get on the other side, keep Lisa's legs bent and guide them down as Lisa turned.

Nan finished opening the vest. He was at her middle back, Ann at her hips, Nan was at Lisa's shoulders, and Liz was on the other side at her knees. He told Lisa to tell them to stop if her pain got any worse. They rolled her slowly. Lisa tensed but she didn't say stop. They finally had her on her side. She said it was okay, the pain was about the same.