| Chapter 10 "Where the hell is it?!" A.J. asked, scanning the sky. "I dunno, "Howie said, shielding his eyes from the sun. The four silently searched the sky, not able to tell which direction the sound was coming from. "There!" Diane said, seeing the plane come over the trees. All four began jumping, waving their arms and screaming. The plane circled overhead for a moment then moved its wings from side to side to let them know they had been seen. "Oh thank God!" Kevin said, watching as the plane disappeared over the trees again. "Now what?" Howie asked. "Now we wait," Kevin said. "For how long?" A.J. asked, wanting desperately to get back to civilization. "I dunno, as long as it takes for them to get to us," Kevin answered, turning to walk back into the tent. The three followed him in to the hopeful eyes of Nick and Brian. "Did they see you?" Brian asked, his voice almost in a whisper from his pain. Kevin smiled at him, "Yes." Brian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Thank God." Howie and A.J. moved to sit down next to Brian and wait for their rescuer's to arrive. A.J. tripped over the corner of Brian's sleeping bag and put his hands out to catch himself, grazing Brian's leg. "AAAAHHHHHH!!" Brian screamed. "God, B, I'm so sorry," A.J. begged, "I didn't mean to ...." Kevin took his cousins hand trying to calm him down. "Hang on Brian, they'll be here soon," he said, glaring at A.J. "I'm sorry man, I tripped," A.J. defended. "It's OK," Brian said, his teeth clenched in pain. A.J. sat down, biting his lip, feeling awful for causing Brian more pain. Howie patted his leg, "It's alright Bone, it was an accident." A.J. nodded, sighing heavily. Diane sat next to Nick. He half smiled at her, taking his notebook and painstakingly writing: How long? "I'm not sure. It may take them a while to get to us," she answered. He sighed, looking over at Brian, then back to her, Don't feel good. Diane looked at him questionably, "You or Brian?" Nick tapped his finger on his chest. "You're head hurt?" she asked. He nodded, then wrote. Tired. Diane took his hand in hers, "Why don't you sleep for a while then?" Nick stared at her for a moment, gripping her hand as tight as he could. She could see the emotion in his eyes, wondering what it all meant. "What is it?" she asked. Don't leave me, he wrote, staring up at her with pleading eyes. "I won't Nick, I promise," she said, beginning to realize just how much he depended on her. He smiled a smile that melted her heart and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. Diane looked over at Kevin who was still holding Brian's hand. The look between them said it all. They had made it. It wasn't easy, but they got there, together. Brian moaned in pain, pulling Kevin's attention back to him. Diane looked back down at Nick. He looked so peaceful as he slept. None of the worry or frustration that was evident when he was awake could be seen. She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb, "I won't leave you, I promise," she whispered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several hours later everyone still sat in the tent. They all kept quiet as Brian and Nick slept, but the looks they shared conveyed their fears. What if the plane really didn't see them? It had been to long, surely someone would have gotten to them by now. Diane could tell that Kevin was getting antsy. He kept looking out the door of the tent, then looking at his watch. "They'll be here," she said, breaking the silence. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance. They could hear the sound of several engines moving towards them. The four got up leaving the tent. They stood in the clearing as several men on ATV's rode towards them. A.J. and Howie hugged each other for a second then pulled Diane and Kevin into a huge group hug, wanting to share their relief and happiness. "Hello!" a middle aged man called as he entered the clearing and turned his ATV off. Kevin approached him, "You don't know how glad we are to see you." "I bet. We've been looking for you for a week now," the man said, "Are you guys alright?" "No," Diane said, "We have two that need a doctor." "Where are they?" the man asked. "In the tent," she said, leading him in. The man grimaced at the sight before him. Brian strapped to a door and Nick's head injury where apparent. "Tell me what happened," he said. Diane pointed to Brian, "He hasn't been able to feel his legs since we crashed until this morning. Now he's in severe pain and screams if you so much as touch them." The man nodded, "What about him?" Diane and Kevin exchanged worried glances. "He um, he was dead when we found him," Kevin said, "We revived him, but ..." Diane put her hand on Kevin's arm, "He was unconscious for the first two days, then slowly started coming out of it. He's been having seizures and he can't speak. He knows what's going on around him, but he can't make himself say anything. He has weakness on his right side as well." The man looked worried, "Alright, the chopper is on it's way, I'll radio them and let them know the situation." The man turned to leave the tent, then stopped, "We where told there was eight of you." "The pilots didn't make it," Kevin said. The man nodded, "After seeing the crash site, it's a wonder any of you did." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diane watched as the medical team worked to get Brian and Nick ready for the flight to the hospital. The helicopter had landed on the other side of the clearing and the team went straight to work. They had decided to leave Brian strapped to the small door, not wanting to risk moving him, and had given him some pain medicine, much to his relief. They picked him up, door and all and placed him on the stretcher, making sure the IV and various monitors they had hooked to him where settled then headed to the chopper with him. Nick held Diane's hand tightly as they worked to get him ready. He refused to let go, making the medical team work around her. They had hooked an IV to him and where moving him from his bed to the stretcher. "The flight should take about an hour," one of the team was telling Kevin. Nick stared at Diane with fear in his eyes, shaking his head no. "What?" she asked. Nick continued to shake his head, tears spilling down his cheeks. Diane handed him the notebook and watched as he wrote: No fly! "Nick you have to," she said. He shook his head, begging her with his eyes. "What is it?" Kevin asked, seeing the younger man become increasingly upset. "He's afraid to fly," Diane answered. Kevin walked over, looking down at him with his �fatherly' look, "It'll be alright Nick. It won't take long and then you'll be on the ground again." Nick shook his head. "Brian's going with you," he added, "You won't be alone." Nick stared at Diane, tugging on her hand. "I can't Nick, there's not enough room for me to go with you," she said, the look on his face breaking her heart. "We need to go," one of the flight crew urged. Nick clung to Diane, not letting them move him. His sobs filled the clearing. Kevin pulled one of the medics over, "Can you give him something to calm him down? Maybe knock him out for the flight?" "Yeah, we can do that," the man said, preparing a syringe. "Shh Nick, it's OK," Diane soothed, "I'll be right behind you OK. But you and Brian have to go first." Nick shook his head, pointing to the notebook he had next to him. His finger resting on the words he'd written earlier: Don't leave me. Diane let her own tears fall, "I'm not Nick, I won't ever, but I can't go with you right now. You and Brian need to get to the hospital. I'll be there as soon as I can, OK?" Nick shook his head again as the medic administered the shot into his IV. "Nick, try and go to sleep alright? We'll be there when you wake up," Kevin assured him. Nick stared between them, unwillingly calming down as the drug took affect. He held Diane's hand tightly for as long as he could, fighting the sleep that was slowly overtaking him. When he began to nod off, the medics moved him to the helicopter, placing him next to Brian. "Bri, we're right behind you," Kevin called. Brian gave him the thumbs up and reached over to hold Nick's hand as the medics shut the doors and started the engines. Everyone backed away from the machine as the rotors picked up speed and it lifted from the ground. Diane turned to go get their packs from the other tent, blinking away tears. Kevin followed her, "Di, you OK?" She shook her head, "I'm not sure I'll ever be OK." Kevin nodded, helping her get the packs and go to sit with A.J. and Howie to wait for their ride. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, everyone set back there?" the pilot asked. "Yeah, let's go already," A.J. said, not hiding his anxiety very well. The four sat in the back of another helicopter, waiting for the engine to get going. They where all nervous at flying again, but also happy to be leaving. As the chopper lifted Kevin put his arm around Diane, "We made it." She nodded, holding Nick's pack in her hands, along with her own. "Yeah girl, you saved us," A.J. added. Howie nodded his agreement, "If you hadn't been here, things would be quite different." Diane dropped her head, not wanting to see their faces. She didn't feel like the hero they where making her out to be. She felt like a lost child, afraid and alone. Kevin hugged her tighter, "It's OK, you don't have to be brave anymore." She nodded, letting her tears fall and her body shake as she cried. She leaned on Kevin, crying into his shirt as A.J. and Howie each reached across and placed a hand on her knees. "Holy shit," A.J. said, looking out the window. "My God," Kevin whispered as Diane sat up, wiping her eyes. They where flying over the crash site, looking down at the broken plane. It looked so different from the air, almost unreal. "We survived that," Howie said, looking at the others, "I know we can get through anything now." "Yeah, as long as we're together," A.J. said, "We can do anything." Diane watched as the bond between the men seemed to grow even stronger right in front of her. Kevin looked down at her, his green eyes conveying how much he cared, "And you're part of us now. You kept us together and saved Brian and Nick. You will always be a part of our lives, from now on." Diane smiled at him, her tears returning. A.J. leaned over, "Yeah, welcome to the family known as Backstreet." They all laughed. "We can be snotty brothers at times, so it's only fitting we get a sister to keep us in line," Howie smiled. Diane looked at the three and smiled, "I always wanted brothers." "Well now you got em," Kevin said. Chapter 11 |