Island Rush

by Marien Dore

  “I do. It’s worth it.”

  I smiled slightly and moved back against him, both of us now lying on our backs, my head resting just against his shoulder. His one arm was wrapped under me, cushioning my neck with his hand resting on my hip.

  I stared up at the logs that covered us as well as the stars beyond that. My mind still on our stressful situation, he gave me reassurance. “I’m right here. Do you understand me?” he whispered gently in my ear. “I’m fine and will always be fine if you are here with me.”

  I nodded, knowing that was only partially true. He was here with me, and he would always be in a healthy atmosphere with me since we healed each other emotionally. But there were two types of fine we needed to worry about. The first being his well-being. From the time we were stranded to now, he was able to find himself again and who he really was. He was happy being who he is now.

  The other ‘fine’ being his body; physically fine and healthy. That was what we needed to worry about. He said he will be fine, but nobody can make sure of that. Nobody can control what is going to happen if it’s passed that person’s power. And this was. He couldn’t control the sickness.

  I sighed, tilting my head up from where I was resting against his shoulder. Finding his face, I watched his breath slow. I knew he was starting to get tired and fall asleep. Watching him there for I don’t know how long, thoughts continued to race through my head. Like how long would this last? How long will he have this sickness? How long will it take for it to go away? Will it go away? I thought about some of the things that were in the first-aid kit, but there wasn’t anything better than what I was already giving him. This wasn’t just a cut like last time.

  I leaned up, placing a delicate kiss on his cheek before lying back down against him, whispering to him, “I love you.”

  By the time he was asleep, I was soon to follow, my hand still holding his as we drifted off.

  “Oh, Janice? Hmm… where could she be?” he said in a friendly, playful voice.

  I was hiding in the closet in our kitchen, the door cracked slightly for me to see out of the darkness. I saw my dad walking by, his smile shining with his eyes looking everywhere for me. I held in a giggle as he continued looking for me. He found me many, many, many times before because I would make some sort of noise. Usually, I would laugh and give my spot away. No, sir! Not this time! I was going to be as quiet as a mouse.

  Daddy was my best friend along with mommy. Our favorite game was hide-and-seek. And surprise, surprise… I was winning! Daddy can be such a goofball sometimes. I mean, come on! This had to be the fourth time in a row I hid in this closet. This very same closet!

  “Where’s my little cutie-patootie?” he called out. I watched as he walked pass the crack I was looking through, his hands on his hips. He looked like he was thinking hard.

  I had to put both hands over my mouth to keep me from laughing. Through the teeny tiny crack, I saw him come closer. He was coming closer, moving until he was right in front of the door.

  “Hmmm,” he said, thinking hard now. “I wonder…”

  I felt the closet door shake slightly, and I pushed it open before he could find me, screaming as I ran out and away from daddy. “Hahaha! You still didn’t find me!”

  I ran through the kitchen as I heard daddy start to chase after me. “I’m going to get you!” he called and chuckled.

  I looked back – and yeah, I know. You’re not supposed to look back. But hello! It was an emergency! I needed to know how far ahead I was of dad. I saw that he was coming, and I took off again, running through the living room and going into the dining room.

  What Daddy didn’t know was I had super socks on. The floors of the house were hard and shiny, so when I wear socks, I can slide to any place in the house. So I was going to win this game.

  Darn it! The dining room had no good hiding places, but I know what room did! It would mean having to go back and get passed daddy. I looked down at my small feet and told my socks they needed to get ready.

  As I heard daddy start to come, I ran towards him but slid out of his reach. “Whoa!” he shouted in surprise. I passed him in time to race towards the stairs, turning back as I ran and sticking out my tongue as he turned towards me and began chasing me.

  I ran up the stairs and opened the door to mommy and daddy’s room, running in. I saw daddy was being a slowpoke and didn’t see me come in here since I didn’t see him yet. I raced around their bed, got on my knees, crawled under their bed, and held my hand over my mouth again. I couldn’t give away my spot and lose the game after all I did to get this far!

  Watching along the floor, I saw the bottom of the door swing open and daddy’s feet as he walked by the bed. I put my head down in my arms, trying my best to be quiet.

  “Oh, honey! Where are you?” he said. “Is she…. In the bathtub?!” He looked into their bathroom (Yeah, they had a bathroom inside their bedroom! That’s how rich we were).

  When he saw I wasn’t there, I wanted to laugh. Silly dad. Who would hide in a bathtub?

  “Is she… behind my door?!” He looked there this time, and I held back my giggle when he continued to look.

  “Hmmm…. Is she... under the bed?!” I felt daddy grab my legs and pull me out from under the bed as I screamed. By the time he was holding me in his arms, I was laughing as he was too. Daddy looked to me, a bright white smile shining.

  “How did you find me?” I asked him.

  “Your legs were sticking out from under the bed, sweetie.”

  My lips screwed up into a scowl as he said that. That meant it was my own fault! “But I was super-duper quiet this time!”

  He chuckled and kissed me on the forehead. “How about I’ll tell everyone that you won if you let me give you an airplane ride down stairs.”

  I smiled. “Yeah! Come on daddy, do the airplane!”

  He set me down on my feet before he lifted me up with one hand on my chest and the other on my knees, raising me just above his head. I was looking ahead where daddy was which was at the door.

  “Is everyone on board?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m ready!”

  “Stretch your arms out like a real airplane sweetie.”

  I did and felt myself smile. I was so excited! “Go, daddy, go! Take off the plane!”

  “I need to know where my passenger is going,” he said first.

  “Fly to mommy!”

  “Flight Cutie-Patootie, ready for takeoff!” He began to make takeoff noises as he flew me out of the room, heading towards the stairs. We made it safely down the stairs without hitting anything. Daddy flew me through the whole house! The whole house as we looked for mom. We finally landed in the laundry room.

  When he put me on the ground, I ran up to her. “Mommy, Mom! Guess what? Guess who won again!”

  “Um…” She finished up with the laundry before looking down at me, tapping her chin in wonder. “Was it dad?” she asked, smiling at him.

  “No, silly! It was me! I won!”

  She grew excited for me, and I became proud, looking to dad as he winked at me and smiled.

  Then, the memory and dream disappeared. I woke up, cool tears in my eyes. I was able to remember with complete clarity the fun nights we spent as a family. I wish I didn’t. I wish I didn’t have dreams like that to remind me of how wonderful of a family I use to have. It was a great memory, but it hurt. To know those memories, those events took place, it bothered me even more.

  It doesn’t matter why dad and Alex did what they did. They did it, end of story. I just wish I knew how they could have done that. How my family could go from that to the hell, I was living since my mom died… I still didn’t get it. I still didn’t have answers. To have a dream like that made me want all those answers and justice.

  Sighing, I wiped the tears away I hadn’t noticed had fallen during sleep. Maybe that was what caused me to wake up. Maybe it was the dream itself. But I realized what it was once I heard something. It sounded like coughing, but more violent t
han normal. A gasping, a gagging sound….

  I whipped my head around towards where Casey should be, and he was gone. In his place was his shirt and pants he wore going to bed. That meant he was only in boxers, and it was the middle of the night. My heart began pounding. I rushed out of the bed without another thought.

  Stepping onto the cold ground of dew, the fire nearly gone now, my eyes scanned over the area. The moonlight helped as I headed towards the creek, which is where I heard that sickening noise. Walking along the lake, I stopped in place as I saw him. He was lying on the bank, stomach down with his head hanging over the side and above the creek. I moved towards the bend and when I got there, I looked closer.

  He was lying right there, breathing hard. His bare skin was against the cold ground covered in sweat. I realized what had happened. He was throwing up in the creek. Now, though, nothing else seemed to be coming up as he rested his head against the edge of the bank.

  I collapsed on my knees beside him. “I’m here,” I stroked his hair back from where it was hanging around him. As I did that, he tilted his head towards mine. The moonlight caught his face, making him more visible to me.

  I felt my own mouth drop open at how he looked. It made my stomach turn to see he was most definitely not okay. His skin was more than pale. It was a hint of green. What surprised me even more was that he somehow looked a little older! Maybe it was because of the lines under his eyes. Maybe it was his eyes in general. They seemed to have reflected more seriousness because this made it official. This was no longer a situation crowded with ‘maybes’ and ‘chances’. This was happening.

  He whipped his head back towards the creek and threw up again. Threw up all the food that was important for us to have. I grabbed his hair, holding it back as he continued puking in the stream for who knows how long. He told me I could go back to bed and that he was fine. I’m sure he was somewhat embarrassed I was witnessing this and holding his hair back. But that wasn’t my problem with all of this. I was more than happy to help him, to hold his hair back. My problem, Casey’s problem, our problem… was that he wasn’t getting any better. He was getting worse.

  Chapter 61

  I was trying as hard as I could to hold it together. It was more than a little hard considering I was watching him become weaker by the minute right before my eyes. I was holding his hair back, the sickening noise burning my ears.

  I wasn’t sure how long I was kneeling there with him. I just knew it was long enough that everything in his stomach was out. At that point, he was violently throwing up a small amount of water and air. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any other choice other to hold his hair back and gently rub his back, helping him and making him at least know I was here with him.

  When he stopped, he moved back a few inches from where he had his head hanging over the bank. Resting his warm cheek against the cold dew, he breathed hard, eyes closed and just catching his breath. The moon on my side tonight, I was able to see him well. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing considering the sight of him made my heart sore.

  I moved a few feet away from him before lying down with him. Besides his terrible breath, I didn’t want to be too close to him because of how warm he was. Though there were a couple feet separating us, I saw his hand slid through the grass and clasp mine.

  We laid there silently for a minute or so more, waiting to see if he needed to vomit again. Though there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up, it didn’t mean he was better.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, getting to my feet a moment later, knowing I couldn’t lay there another minute, watching the sweat drip off him when he should be shivering as I was.

  I grabbed a small piece of torn clothing and walked to the lake that was a couple feet away. I dunked the cloth with the cold water before wringing it out, making it damp. Taking a deep breath, forcing all the shouting thoughts in my head aside, I tried to get a hold of myself.

  I nearly convinced myself that this was a dream and that we were still sleeping. But this wasn’t a dream. This couldn’t be because if it were a dream, everything wouldn’t be highlighted in such detail. Not to mention, this happening seemed to be our luck. It was too real.

  Now that I was thinking about it, it was very realistic that this would happen. Ever since we got here, we just keep getting hurt. When one injury is healed, one of us gets hurt again it seems. I really shouldn’t be surprised, but what did we do to deserve this?

  With a shaky sigh, I walked back to where he was lying on the bank, the moonlight reflecting his sweaty, exposed back. I knelt next to him, gently moving the cloth to his forehead, pushing his sticky bangs back. I didn’t realize he was sweating so badly so I leaned over him, pushing the rag into the stream and soaking it this time. Dripping along the way, I pressed it to his forehead, the drops sliding down his face and wetting his hot cheeks and neck. I ran the cloth all the way back through his hair. Doing that several times until all his hair was wet and out of his face, I moved the rag around his neck and back.

  “How does this feel?”

  He nodded, opening his eyes. “It feels good,” he said simply in a quiet voice, his expression tired and defeated. He looked as if he was ready to just pass out right then and there.

  I took his hand in mine again, my other still working the cloth over his skin, sliding it to his lower back before moving quickly to his legs. Wasting no water in the cloth, I rub it out and over him. I prayed every drop would help and keep him cool. It was unbelievable that he was sweating right now. It was the middle of the chilly night when I was freezing! I didn’t even want to think what it was going to be like for him tomorrow under that deadly sun.

  “How long have you been up for?”

  “Before you got here, maybe half an hour.”

  A half hour added to the time that I was here to help him… That means he has probably been in this state for maybe an hour. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my breath even. I couldn’t have a breakdown; not now when he is suffering. I had nothing to whine about when he was the one that was sick. I needed to pull myself together.

  “Please… don’t worry,” he said, probably after seeing my face.

  I wanted to scream at him that he wasn’t fine, and I had to worry! That he couldn’t protect me from the truth. Even more, he couldn’t protect himself from it! He needed to understand what was happening. It hurt at the same time. I didn’t even like him dealing with that cut! This was so much worse.

  “You should have woke me when you first started throwing up,” I said quietly.

  “I didn’t want you —”

  “You didn’t want me to worry. Yeah, I know! Does that change the fact that this is happening? No, it doesn’t!” I snapped.

  He groaned. “Look, I didn’t want you getting worked up or upset over something that will pass in a day or so. I don’t want you to worry about some small sickness that will go away.”

  Sighing, I nodded. “Yeah, I know, but it’s happening. And though we don’t want to admit it… it’s more than just getting sick for a few days. You were bitten by a rat,” I said, forcing out how serious I knew that could be.

  He didn’t say anything. He continued resting his head against the cool grass. Then, his hand in mine tightened slightly, and his eyes grew. I saw his skin pale even clearer than before. With the rapid change in his body language, a rapid change of actions occurred after that.

  Lifting his head, he leaned forward more until his face was no longer hovering over the grass. The second after his mouth was above the water of the flowing creek, his body reacted violently. Casey’s lips parted, a terrible noise leaving him as he tried vomiting again.

  Since his hair was already damp with water and out of his face, all I could do was rub his back in comfort. He still was holding my hand, his fingers squeezing in mine as I heard the splashing sound of water hitting the water. All that was coming up was just more water. Only a small amount too since a lot of that time was spent just breathing hard and at
tempting to throw something up.

  In the moonlight, I saw his body tense, his back arching with the strangled sound coming from his lips. I felt my heart collapsing, my eyes burning with the sight. It would be better if he at least were properly vomiting. But he wasn’t throwing anything up anymore! Just some water and a horrible gagging noise. It was killing off hope in me, though it hasn’t even been a full day yet.

  Grasping his weak hand in mine, he squeezed back every time his head slumped forward, and he made that gagging noise again. I felt my eyes water, but that was all that I would allow. Casey was the one suffering, not me. I had to pull it together, be here for him and show him I was okay. He needed to see I was fine so he wouldn’t worry about me.

  His gasps and empty vomiting finally ended, and he moved back a foot or so until he was over the grass again. In a tired and drained voice, he spoke. “Please don’t worry.”

  I looked away from him, his gaze on something far away anyway. I felt my chin quiver, and my heart grew a lump. Out of everything, he just wanted to know I was okay. That I wasn’t stressing over anything. And that was the saddest thing out of everything. That he didn’t care about his health before he cared for how I was. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.

  I grasped his hand harder and looked back to his defeated body. “I know. I’m not worried,” I said with as much hope as I could pack into those words. “Like you said, it will probably pass.”

  Looking at him, I didn’t know if he heard me. There was no reaction to my words, no energy left to react. Sighing, I grazed my nails lightly up and down his back, silently waiting. After about fifteen minutes lying there in the grass on the bank, he didn’t get sick and throw up again after that.

  “I think I’ll be fine,” he said, wincing at the taste in his mouth.

  I nodded, shifting towards the edge of the bank more, leaning down. I cupped my hands together. “Here,” I said as I filled my hands full of water, raising it up to his chin. “Rinse your mouth out.”