Island Rush (59 page)

“How do you feel?  Does it hurt badly?”

The small red dots on his arm didn’t look too bad from where the rat bit him.  I didn’t want to let that fool me.  I brushed a thumb over where the rat’s teeth sunk into his skin, feeling the tiny holes it left.  God, he had to be okay. 

“No.  It just... tingles.”

“What if it gets infected?  There is a good chance you will get sick—”

“I feel fine.  And it’s just a small bite.  I’m alright.”  He smiled at me after he cut me off, not willing to hear those terrible words.  He curled my crazy hair back and around an ear.  He looked… unsure but showed me a mask that said something very important.  Said we both needed to believe he was okay.

Dropping his arm with a sigh, I tried forcing away that awful feeling in my gut so I could communicate.  “Well, what a way to start a late day,” I said uneasily.

He chuckled slightly and looked okay.  He seemed okay anyway.  He was okay, I finally decided after a few more minutes of replaying the events that occurred back in my head again.  At least, that’s what I had to force inside my head.  That he was indeed okay.  I knew having bitten by a rat had its risks.  But Casey was fine.  He really was. He had to be.  Of course, better safe than sorry.

“Let me give you something for it,” I said, instantly heading towards the luggage.  I dug out the first-aid kit and tried my hardest to tell myself that this was just a precaution.  He didn’t need anything, but it’s good just in case.

He didn’t argue when I pulled out the most promising thing I could.  I found some ointment and some medicines that could possibly help.  It may not be befitting for something like this, but it was the best I could do, and at least hopefully, it could help avoid possible infection.  More than anything, it at least made me feel better, and I’m sure Casey.

After I finished up and put the things away, I watched him carefully.  He looked… disturbed.  He looked tense, unsure, and worried.  His eyes told me he was scared, but I didn’t want to even think about why he had a reason to be frightened.  A moment later, though, he shoved all those feelings aside.  He tried to convince himself along with me that this was nothing.  This was harmless.  It had to be!  What else could we do since we already tried what we could from the kit?  Jesus, I just hope he doesn’t get sick or infected.

“I’m okay,” he repeated, trying to convince himself and trying to reassure me everything was going to be fine.  We both knew from the second it happened, even though we repeatedly told ourselves that he was fine, deep down we knew he might not be.  We sure had a hard time denying it later on when we headed down to the ocean.

We went out fishing. I handled our fishing pole he made while he stood many yards away with the spear. The sky started to cool by now as hours must have passed.  Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything yet like I feared.  It was nearing dark, the sky filling with pink and bright orange spirals. 

In those hours I sat on the beach, I watched Casey with worried eyes.  He was standing far away as he scanned the water for fish, seemingly fine.  But I became more worried as I let go of some of the denials I had earlier.  I began to see a few signs, and it scared me. 

Questions were beginning to race in my mind, the first being: was he going to be okay? Then came the more detailed questions I didn’t want to think about but couldn’t help.  Like why did he look weak as he stood there, looking for fish?  What does that mean?  What could a rat’s bite really do?  Was he infected?  Was he going to get sick? 

Earlier, I told myself, over and over, that he was going to be okay.  Now, I had to face it.  I couldn’t help but think of the possibilities... possibilities that I knew were becoming reality literally before my eyes.

A few of my answers came too quickly.  I saw Casey begin to sway violently on his feet in the shallow water.  From where I was sitting, I saw him fall back, the spear dropping from his weakened grip and into the shallow water with him.  His back hitting the water with a big splash, I felt my heart fall with him. 

“Casey!” I screamed, jumping to my feet without another thought.

I couldn’t believe this was happening to us.  Couldn’t believe that this day started so perfectly... us waking happily.  Not a few minutes after that did he get bitten.  And now I didn’t have a clue what was happening.  Part of me wanted to remain in the dark, not willing to accept anything other than that he had to be okay.  Now, watching him pass out like that, it didn’t help my sanity at all.  It was all too fast, the events of today. 

I ran as fast as I could down the beach, down to where I saw his body floating helplessly in the shallow water.  “CASEY!” I shouted as I could feel my heart suffocating.  His body laid in the water, floating like a corpse with no life.  Oh god, this wasn’t happening!  The hot sand under my feet turned wet as I ran out to where he was. 
No, no, no, no, no, no! Oh god, he had to be okay.
  As I neared him, I saw he was unconscious.  The water was so shallow though that the sandy bottom held him up and above the water. Thank, God.

Collapsing on my knees beside his outstretched and useless body, I gasped at his color.  His skin was pale, looking very weak.  I grabbed his shoulders, dragging his body closer to me as I tried to level him, keeping his head up.  Wrapping an arm around him as the waves were gently pushing us, I held him to me, his side pressed against my chest as I supported him with the help of the water. 

“Casey,” I groaned.  “Wake up.”  I brushed his now wet hair back and away from his face, my fingers freezing on his skin.  Another bad sign hit me.  His skin... was warm.  Warmer than it should be.  He was sweating heavily I noticed, and I brushed my wet hand up and over his face, clearing what I could of the sweat and cooling him down a little.  I was growing hysterical at the same time.

This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t our reality! Oh fuck, what if the water wasn’t this shallow when he passed out?  What if it wasn’t and his body completely turned over, and his face had buried in the water?  He could have drowned, right then if the water was a little deeper!
  I was shaking.  I felt tears sting my vision as I looked down at him in my arms, floating there unconscious. 
My lord, he was getting sick.

I sniffed, trying to keep my tears down.  “Get up.  You said you would be okay.” My voice broke.  “Get up!” I grabbed his arms, dragging him up shore with the help of the water carrying some of his weight.  When his weight was coming back to me, and I was dragging him through the sand now, I stopped and let him lay on the shore, his skin an awful color with the dark sand under him, making him look worse.

I knelt beside him in the sand, shaking him.  “Casey please!” I was going to lose it – and soon if he didn’t wake up.  But a few seconds after I spoke, I saw his eyelids move, his lips part in a breath as he slowly opened his eyes.  He looked up to me and in that gaze, I saw realization.  The realization that we couldn’t deny this.  That we needed to accept the fact that this was a problem we had to face.

“Janice?”

I gasped as I felt my arms go around him, resting my head against his chest as I hugged him, a few more tears releasing at the relief of him waking.  I felt his arm lightly rub my back in comfort.

“I’m okay.  Please don’t worry.”

I shook my head, looking up to him.  “No.  You are not okay.”

I took note that he didn’t deny it.  He just pursed his lips and hugged me to him again, which scared me more.  We sat there for a few minutes in silence, needing each other’s presence and arms around each other. 

“Come on,” I said, sitting up and looking down at him.  “Let’s go back.  You don’t look good and should lie down.”

He took a deep breath and nodded.  I helped him to his feet and after grabbing the spear that floated back up the shore, I wrapped an arm around him. We began walking back to our shelter as twilight arrived, along with all the comforting sounds night brought.  Yet, that in no way helped us in the situation we were now in.  A situation we had no control over. 

A situation that was much more serious than we thought it was at the moment.

Chapter 60

By the time we got back to the shelter, night had moved in. I had Casey lie down on our bed as I made a fire. The fire beginning and spreading as the smoke and sparks rose into the sky, I moved into bed with Casey.  I lay down beside him, me on my side and him on his back.  I watched with overwhelming worry.

I grasped his hand, his sweaty clasp in my cold hand making me feel worse.  His hand should be cold like mine, not hot.  With a sigh, I looked up to his face, the slow sweat forming again on his forehead and catching in his eyebrows. His lips were parted as he took in deep breaths. The fire I made not only made him sweat more, but it lit up his pale skin.

“We should eat some of the berries,” I said.

He swallowed before he spoke, not even looking as if speaking would be easy. “Sure,” he said.

I pulled the carry-on full of berries up onto the bed. Pulling it up beside us and in easy reach, I glanced up at him and saw he didn’t even look like he had enough energy to raise his hand and take a handful of berries. He did though and picked up a couple of berries, sitting up slightly to eat. Eating them one at a time, I watched him carefully, the sweat continuing to stream down his face and body. He ate a few handfuls before he had enough and laid back down. Only he moved to lie on his side, facing me.

I sighed and met my eyes with his tired ones, resting my cheek against the clothes. His gaze looked worried.  I don’t think it was for himself.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he whispered.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like you’re begging me. You are looking at me as if you lost hope and are just praying for a miracle.”  He gave me a soft smile.  “I’m getting sick.  It was inevitable, and I will be okay.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that at first. It was kind of true, but when he said it, it sounded pretty bad. With a sigh, I finally responded, “Is it my fault I worry?”

He pursed his lips. “No. I just wish you didn’t. I am going to be fine.  It’s just been a bad day is all. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

I doubted that, but he could be right. He might feel great tomorrow. But I, and probably even him, didn’t think that was a good chance. A rat bite probably doesn’t cause an occasional cold, 24-hour flu, or fever because those things would go away fairly soon.  Though it does appear he has a fever, if it became worse or other problems arise... then it’s not a just some fever.

“If you’re trying to make me not worry, if you are trying to be just strong for me, please don’t. I don’t want you hiding your fear when I can maybe help you with it. Sure, I am shaken by all this, but I can handle it if you are scared too.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Janice, I’m okay. Trust me.” His words were weak.  I knew that he couldn’t believe everything was going to be alright. “I’m just a little sick, it will be gone soon, and I’ll be back to normal.”

He had nothing to argue.  He basically just repeated the same thing.  I realized then that there were two reasons that he would refuse to admit that he was sicker.  One being maybe he was really trying to make me not worry. Even if he say everything was fine, he knows it doesn’t reassure me. He knew I wouldn’t buy that anyway.  Therefore, I don’t think he would keep that to himself to protect me in this situation. 

No, it was mainly because he refused to accept the fact that he might be sick himself.  He didn’t want to believe it and therefore was just denying it.  After all, it’s been less than a day since it happened.  To know that you were living healthy one minute and dying the next wasn’t something easy to accept…

My eyes widened, and I cut the rest of my thoughts off after that word entered my mind.  Living healthy one minute and
dying
the next.  Maybe I wasn’t ready to accept that either. Dying…. 
No, he was not dying.  He was just sick, that was all!  We don’t know yet if it will get worse, and if it does, that does
not
mean he will die! Stop being so dramatic.
  Though I don’t deny he was sick, we both were denying the possibility of death.  I needed to stop overreacting.  Casey will be fine.  As I did when we got back from the beach, I could keep giving him medicine and rub that ointment over the bite.  That was all we had but it had to be enough.

Sighing, running a hand back through my hair, I understood where he was coming from.  We were both denying the severity of the situation – or how severe it could get; that’s what I mean.

Looking at him and his sweaty body, I moved slightly away from him, knowing my body heat wouldn’t help him any. My hand refusing to let his go, though, I squeezed it to try to give him some form of comfort. With my other hand, I pulled up a few articles of clothing over me as the fire also was helping.

“You don’t need to do that,” he said.  “Though I am sweaty and hot, I still want you beside me.  Of course, if you think I’m too sick, then you can stay out of my space if you want.  But, since I’m not, I wouldn’t mind having my arms around you.”

“I don’t need you to heat up anymore with my body heat,” I said.

“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.