Island Rush (16 page)

I felt his gaze fall on me, and he broke the silence. “What are you smiling about?”

I turned and looked up at him, his lips tilting up slightly too. “I’m just happy that we are surviving well.”

“It surprises you?”

I scoffed, watching our feet go forward. “I didn’t expect to last as long as we have. I thought after a few days, I would be dead.” Though I never thought I would die, I did realize how relieved I was to be alive at this point.

“You are clever and should give yourself more credit. I knew you would live from the beginning. You’re that strong.”

I felt like giving him a hug for that, but my eyebrows dipped in confusion. “What are you talking about? You came for me when I ran. And I ran because I was dragging you down. I was the weak one struggling to live whereas you were fine. That’s why you came after me because you knew I couldn’t survive on my own.”

When I looked up and saw his face pale, it made me raise an eyebrow. It was like he revealed something he hadn’t meant to. I noticed that he refused to look at me.  “No. I knew you would be fine. I guess… I wasn’t sure I would be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said before, I was scared,” he confessed. “I am not as strong as I try to be. It’s embarrassing.  I didn’t want to be alone and end up talking to a volleyball, instead of you,” he chuckled in a nervous tone after offering up that reference. “I didn’t want to go through this alone. For many reasons.”

I could see why he would be embarrassed to admit that. Confessing to one of your students that you needed them around for the sake of just being around would seem childish.  To me, it made it that much sweeter.

I couldn’t tell him how much his words meant to me and how much they pierced my heart, knowing I couldn’t respond to them like I wanted to. “I didn’t think you thought of me as someone to keep you sane through this. True, you might have lost your mind in isolation without me but so would I.  I’m not that strong.”

He scoffed. “You got those coconuts down and gave us a small supply of water. I doubt I would have thought of that. Beyond that, you
live
. You pressed on with your life at home.  Even now, you don’t give up despite how much you whine and cover yourself with it. You are very strong.”

“I said praise me later, but I didn’t see this coming,” I laughed uneasily. How else could I respond? Nobody ever said anything like that to me.

His face was back to its normal color by now. He smiled one last time to me as the conversation closed and our day of walking progressed.

A few hours passed, and we were breathing hard. Seeing as there was no cover from the sun at this time of day, it was drowning us. It made us stop and sit against a tree where we decided we would stay to try once more to fish. The sound of waves added to our hard breathing as I handed him the cup of our water first, removing the leaf that covered the top.

He took it from me and tilted his head back, taking a careful drink and making sure he didn’t spill one drop. My chest twisted at the thought of him swallowing water that came from my mouth. When it was my turn, I took the cone with eager delight I kept hidden as I sucked the rest down.

We sat there for a minute and rested. It wasn’t long until he stood up and took my hand, pulling me to my feet.  His hand lingered in mine for longer than necessary before he let go and headed down the beach with me behind him. I left the empty leaf cone on the beach as I walked out into the water with him. As we continued walking out, it remained shallow.  However, the surface beneath us turned from sand to a very rocky floor, forcing us to move slower until we stopped.

He stood there, the spear in hand. Unlike me, he looked around, figuring a fish would not swim close or directly under him like I did. It was a better method too because not five minutes later, his stance tensed. I followed his gaze ahead, seeing a school of fish.  They were decent sized too. We both got too excited.

He whipped his hand back to a position one would form when throwing a dart. Only, Mr. Rush threw the spear ten times harder than he needed to. It sailed many yards off and in the other direction; it didn’t even scare the fish.  He would be very embarrassed later, but right now, I raced after the spear. My feet on the rocks experienced a lot of pain because of the speed I was going. My stomach pushed me past the pain, but it also forced me to outrun my common sense. 

Running and splashing through the water scared the fish.  By the time I got to the spear, and my feet were stinging terribly, they were scattering. But I wasn’t giving up! I swung my hand back as I gripped the stick and threw it towards one of the fleeing fish. When the point of the spear hit the water, the fish darted.

I groaned, going after the spear once more and the second I got to it, I threw it at whatever was zipping through the water. It sailed straight for the fish, but my throw was off again. I ran for the spear again, but it was too late.  They were all out of sight.  I scared them all away.  But it was him who threw it like a crazy man. 

Looking at Mr. Rush, who appeared as if he hadn’t moved, made me want to practice a few throws on him.  He sighed and assured me, “Don’t worry about it. We are further out, and that means more will come soon enough.”

“Okay, but do you think I can be the one who does it this time? That was pretty pathetic,” I said and surprised myself by laughing. 

After shifting my weight over the rocks, I hissed and froze. I couldn’t compose my face by the time he noticed. His eyes widened before he came over to me and looked down at my feet through the water.  Glancing with him, there was a red liquid floating around my feet where the rocks penetrated my feet. Figures from how hard I ran after the stupid spear.  “Fuck,” I groaned in frustration, the salt in my split skin making it worse. 

Before I knew it, my sight blurred, and I was no longer looking down but up. Mr. Rush had swiped his hand behind my legs, knocking them out from under me. It forced me to fall back and into his other arm. My arm instinctively wrapping around his shoulder, he stood there and looked down at me in his arms.

He started to slowly walk but stopped at my words. “What the hell are you doing?”

His face held annoyance when he answered. “Though I might have thrown the spear terribly, it was you who scared the fish away with what looked like a drunken dance. We could have quietly made our way to the spear without scaring them. But nope. You had to panic and go for it, slicing your feet open in the process.  So, we are going back to shore.”

“I wasn’t the one who threw it halfway around the world in the first place!” I argued. “Put me down.  I am fine and don’t need to be babied. I can walk back on my own, and you can continue trying to catch a fish.  But you couldn’t catch a fish, even if it swam up dead!”

I was shocked that he actually put me back down to the rocks, gesturing for me to go on. I gawked as I noticed how many rocks we walked through to get this far out but I didn’t hesitate. I carefully took a step — and bit my lip as I felt a grunt begging to escape me. A few more steps were all it took, and I felt my knees start to buckle. 

I hadn’t even touched the water, and he was there. He was probably watching and waiting, knowing I couldn’t take it. He rose with me in his arms again, but this time, he looked more concerned.  His eyes swam in my surprised ones, staring at me.

He closed his eyes for a second, his brows dipping in what looked like pain before they opened.  He stared out at the island and started walking towards it when I found my voice. “No, really, it’s okay. You can put me down. My weight added must be killing your feet too on these rocks.”

He kept his eyes ahead. “If you move slowly, it doesn’t hurt. Remember that the next time we are out here.”

I rested in his arms, the side of my head pressed against the front of his shoulder.  With my ear against his chest, I managed to hear his heart thumping loudly. He was probably getting tired already. I wasn’t the skinniest girl around most of the time. I felt his breath hitch as well, and I felt bad. “I know I’m not the lightest girl. Don’t try and prove something to me. I’m fine if you just put me down.”

He snorted. “I’m fine carrying you. You aren’t that heavy.  Or are you just saying that because being in my arms is bothering you?” He looked down at me, amused now.

I flushed but because I was more than fine to be in his arms. “No, it doesn’t bother me. I just noticed that you are breathing hard. I won’t be offended if you tell me that I am too heavy.”

His face went red this time; the amusement was gone. “You are not heavy for me,” he repeated, and it was the only thing he said to that as he continued to carry me. After we reached the sand and he walked up the beach and into the trees, he bent down and placed me on the grass before standing back up. “Is your back okay?”

I narrowed my eyes. How did this have to do with my back? “Are you sure I am keeping you sane?”

“I don’t think you want your pants ripped off you this time since you have no shirt to help patch up your feet. So, we can use the one stuffed under the belt if your back doesn’t need it anymore.”

I was seriously considering taking off and using my shorts just because I didn’t want him seeing my back anymore. Though the cut on my back was better, the scars would still be visible. “Can’t we use grass like I did for your hands?”

“Well, I don’t walk on my hands. The grass wouldn’t last with all the walking we do.”

I groaned. “My back feels okay. But… I am fine to go without a bandage—”

“I won’t look at your back. I promise. I won’t ask questions either,” he interrupted, his voice filled with sympathy.

I looked up at him. I knew I could trust him to keep his promise.  “Okay,” I said quietly.

He walked behind me and out of view when I heard him knelt down in the grass. When his fingers made contact with my back, I took a deep breath. I was already disgusted with myself for how much the scars showed. Take the belt off, it would make me hate my life back home even more because I knew Mr. Rush couldn’t stand the sight of it.

Chapter 13

He slid his hands to my stomach from where he sat behind me, leaving paths of shivers as he untied the ripped shirt acting as a belt. He pulled it out from under my arms along with the other shirt it had been holding. It left my back bare, except my bra, and I allowed for the nerves to kick in. Mr. Rush promised to keep his mouth shut, but that was before I could feel the tension in the air as he looked over the scars. 

When he first helped me with my cut, he saw my back in full view. Sure, a lot of my back has been exposed since then. Just not like this. I had the belt to hide a lot of the marks, and now, they were exposed. It made me very conscious of myself for many reasons. Like I said before, I didn’t need him getting overly curious and asking questions. However, I now realized that my self-consciousness was returning too, like how it was with not brushing my hair or shaving, this was one more thing.  I have come to care about what he thought of me — in all aspects.  He said Jill was beautiful, but I always did wonder how far off I was from her.

Silence followed for a long moment as I felt him stare at my back.  Did he forget how bad my cut was? Or did he just forget how disgusting were the scars my dad left? “Well? How does the cut look?” I pushed, not being able to put up with the silence.

“The cut looks a lot better, but it still has some healing to do. You won’t need the belt anymore for it, though,” he answered as he crawled into my view. He sat in front of me, the gross shirt from my cut in his hand.  I glanced at his face, searching for a reaction at him seeing my back.  All I could see was worry though and… anger? I wasn’t sure, but I let it go.

Fabric in hand, he inched back a bit so he could take my bare leg and stretch it over his lap. He let my foot rest on his lap as he examined the cut. I was surprised to see the cut was longer than I thought.  That surprise though quickly shifted when I felt something I never dreamed of.

Mr. Rush’s hand slid up my leg and under my thigh, holding it up with one hand so he could angle my foot with his other hand. I tried to compose my face in time. Otherwise, it would be clear how I felt about his touch. Before he even looked up, though, he took the shirt and slid my foot through the neck hole and started from there. Sliding his hand back down from my thigh, he began to wrap the shirt around my foot. He buried my cut beneath the material and took the last of it between his fingers. I watched him tie it to where he started. It looked like a shoe with how it was completely wrapped around my foot.

After he had set that foot aside, I noticed he hadn’t once glanced up to me. The man’s eyes stayed down as he leaned forward, his hands caressing the side of my thigh. Before he could do the same thing with my other foot, his eyes couldn’t help but finally flicker up to mine. It made my heart jump because they looked sad at first and sorry. Then, surprise took them over. I knew why too.

He caught my reaction to his touch that I hadn’t anticipated. He saw just how much I loved this.  Before anything else could happen, his eyes flew back down. My own widened. I wanted to scream that what he saw wasn’t my attraction to him in full view, but that would give it away.

I expected him to turn stiff with his movements, but he acted as if we didn’t share that look.  He just went to work with my other cut. Since he used my shirt for the last foot, he was using the shirt used as the belt for this one. As he held up my thigh, his hand seemed to slide up slightly further when he placed my foot in his lap. His hand slid down when he started to wrap the fabric around the cut. Just as intense was the silence between us. He probably didn’t know what to say, whether or not to confirm to me he saw it or not. Instead, he looked up at me and smiled nicely, as if nothing happened.  The silence must have been getting to him too. 

“You know, if we ever get back, we can laugh at the world of medicine. Doctors go to college for years and get paid ungodly amounts of money. Just get stranded on an island for free and come out a doctor in days. Seems like the better deal,” he joked with a smile that dissolved the tension crackling between us. It made me laugh for a change as he continued wrapping my foot up.  That little bit of laughter was enough to make his hands unsteady.

“Stop shaking!” he laughed with me before he tried again. It made me notice that he never laughed like this before, with a smile so flirtatious and carefree. When I still couldn’t keep still, he snorted and gripped my leg harder, chuckling and finally tying it off.

My attention wasn’t on my cuts but rather on the lightheartedness of the situation and goofing around a bit.  It was nice to put the things weighing on us aside like that.  It was nice while it lasted.

“Are you going back out to try again for a fish or can we search for food?” I asked once he stood up. My stomach was starting to ache again.  Plus, I wasn’t sure what I could do with my feet wrapped up like this.

“Well, we really do need food so it’s better to look for something here instead of trying our luck with getting a fish, which is going to be hard until we get the hang of it. You can walk, though, no problem. You just can’t let any dirt get into the cuts,” he said as I got to my feet, feeling a sting at the bottom of both feet. To know we are walking around this island until we find the creek was a big headache.  At least we would be looking for food as we progress on.

We picked up where we left off walking along the edge of the trees, working our way closer to our destination while also specifically looking for coconut trees or berries.  We could have missed some before and didn’t even know it, but now, we were paying close attention.  In some spots, we even strayed back into the trees to look.  It at least felt more productive, walking and looking for food at the same time.  He commented that it was like killing two birds with one stone. I had a better argument, though: killing two birds with one stone would be so much easier than using his method for fishing or looking for food.

When I said that, and he chuckled, it made me look at him more closely. Made me see that overall, he was strangely happier than he was when we first got stranded.  Though I have no idea what he was like before he met Jill, I saw the difference in his personality from how he was before to now.  He is slowly changing back into the guy he really is and use to be.

That’s when something caught my attention.  Something that made me stop in my tracks and turn towards the trees more.  A few yards in stood a tree that was unlike any other.  It had to do with what I spotted on that tree. 

“Mr. Rush?” I said, glancing at him.  I held back a smile and just nodded in the direction of it, he followed my movement with his eyes.  I couldn’t hide my smile anymore though when I watched his eyes widen. 

We said nothing. We just started walking towards it, and when we reached its base, began to examine it. Or rather something that specifically caught my eye: a long green stem hanging down and holding a cluster of bananas.

“Oh my god,” I mumbled under my breath, staring up at it.  This was heaven, and it was hanging only a few feet above me.

I jumped up in excitement without another thought, reaching up to see if I could reach it.  I did it without a thought and felt stupid for it too.  How could I not when I landed on my feet and stiffened?  Yes, let me jump up and try to reach the bananas just after I had the bottom of my feet patched up. I’m such a dumbass. 

He groaned and shook his head at me. “Well, that was your own fault. We can’t let food drive our brains, Janice,” he said in a preachy voice deliberately. He was right, though. It was stupid to let my stomach control me like that.

We eyed the tree, which really wasn’t that big.  It looked more like a plant, but it was several feet taller than him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t able to reach.  He extended his hand above him, and I raised my eyebrows at seeing he could actually touch the bananas.  Enough to get them all down? I don’t think so.

Eyeing up the little tree, it was clear that we weren’t climbing it. The trunk seemed more like an unstable stem. “I didn’t think most of these banana trees get this tall. Of course, this one did,” he murmured.  “Do you think we could use the spear somehow?” he asked.

“I don’t think it would do us any good. Not with your throw anyway,” I said, unable to help myself.

He turned to glare at me. “Okay, look, I panicked. You see a fish after wanting it long enough, you would have done the same thing.”

I threw his words back at him with an amused grin. “We can’t let food drive our brains.”

Before he could retort, I watched his eyes move back behind me. He stared for a minute as I studied his face. I glanced over my shoulder but saw nothing besides trees.  “What are you looking at?”

“I have an idea,” he said with a small smile as he brushed past me. I followed behind him until we stopped under a tree. He looked up, and I did the same, searching for a cause to his reaction. It became clear what it was. There were very few trees here that supported what I saw. “Vines. Oh man, we could seriously benefit from this,” I said, staring up at the hanging vines.

He turned to me. “Sure can. We could use them for so much and for this, it’s long enough. We can throw the vine up and swing it around the stem holding the bananas. With the both of us, we can break it easy.  How awesome would it be to have all those bananas?” he said, getting excited now.  It was hyping me up too.

The question was how were we going to get the vine down?  It wasn’t high up. In fact, I could reach out and grab it; it was hanging directly in front of me.  I noticed Mr. Rush was eyeing how tightly the vines were attached to the tree, though. I guessed a simple pull wouldn’t work. 

He reached out and took the vine, testing it by pulling it down a few times.  Next thing I know, he was backing up, a vine in hand, and pulled it at an angle. Nothing happened other than the branch it was attached to slightly swaying. Then, started circling the vine, sizing it up. All of a sudden, he jumped up, grabbing the vine at the highest point he could reach.  In that millisecond, he thrust his hands down with it in his grasp.  It finally snapped and hit the ground.

Mr. Rush still held the part he grasped before in his hand. He smiled brightly at me as he bowed, tucking his hand with the vine in over his stomach and the other hand out in the air in a dramatic gesture. I felt like he deserved a round of applause so I gave it to him.

“That was amazing,” I said, giving him credit. 

He shrugged. “It made sense. Enough weight would break it. Then again, a magician never reveals his secrets,” he teased.

I shook my head, trying to hide my smile as I bent down and picked up the other end from the ground. The vine was very long, to the point where we had to wind it up so we could carry it easily.  

“So then how do we do this?” We dropped the vine to the grass when we walked back to the banana tree with it.  We looked it over from where we dropped it.  Then, he took out one of the pieces of flint from his pocket (he grabbed a few before we left).  He began hacking at the thick vine until it cut, making it shorter by a few feet.

He picked it up and caught my eyes. “I throw one end up, swinging it inward so it wraps around the stem of the cluster. You catch the end, then come and stand next to me.  Then we each pull our ends.  It will snap easily with us pulling in the same direction as each other.”

I nodded to him. Sounded simple enough. Hopefully, this would be a case where something really is as easy as it seems.