| Chapter 5 Diane sat by the fire and looked around. Between the four of them, they had gotten camp set up and where in the process of cooking dinner. It was late afternoon, and the sun would be setting before long. She sighed, wondering when they were gonna be found. They hadn't heard a single plane all day. She looked over at Brian and Nick. They where both resting comfortably. The guys had pulled the cushions from the couches and had laid Nick and Brian on them, giving them each their own bed. The guys where busy setting up the last canopy tent. Diane laughed at them, You'd think after putting one together the second would be easier. "You guys need some help?" she asked. "Naw, we got it," Kevin yelled back. Diane surveyed the camp, glad that Larry was a yuppy camper. He had everything under the sun in the cargo hold. There where two huge canopy tents, two full sized air mattresses that automatically blew up, four sleeping bags, all kinds of pots and pans and a months worth of dehydrated food. They had set up one canopy tent where Brian and Nick where laying. Placing them in the middle and putting one of the air mattresses on each side of them. They had given Brian and Nick their own sleeping bag and had unzipped the other two, placing one on each mattress. They would have to pair up to sleep, but she didn't care. Just as long as she didn't have to sleep with A.J. He was still giving her looks every so often, and as much as it flattered her, she had other things on her mind. The guys finished putting the second tent together. They started placing all their luggage and the rest of the equipment inside it. Diane stirred the soup she was cooking and moved it off the coals of the fire to let it cool. She got up, walking into the tent and kneeling down between Brian and Nick. "Hey, you feel like eating?"she asked. Brian looked up at her, "Not really." "Brian, you need to eat to keep your strength up," she said. He sighed, "I hurt to much to eat." "Where, your back?" Diane asked. Brian nodded, biting his bottom lip. "Is it getting worse?" she asked, getting concerned. "I don't know," he said, a tear escaping his eyes and running down his face. Diane reached over and wiped it away, "At least try and eat, and I'll go rummage through our bags and see if anyone has anything for pain, alright?" "I'll try," Brian said. Diane patted his arm then checked on Nick before leaving the tent. She walked past the fire pit and into the other tent. "Good thing that pilot was a take everything but the kitchen sink kind of camper," Howie said. "Yeah man, this would actually be fun except for the plane crash and Brian and Nick being hurt part," A.J. said. Kevin laughed, "I never figured you for much of a camper." "I'm not, but this is interesting," A.J. said. "Guys, help me look for some pain medicine," she said, going to one of the bags and rummaging through it. "Brian hurtin?" Kevin asked. She nodded, "Yeah, and I've got the mother of all headaches." "You probably have a concussion," Howie said. "Probably," she agreed, still looking through the bag. "Here's some," A.J. said, pulling a bottle from the bag he was looking through. Diane walked over and took the bottle quickly downing a couple of pills. "Howie, take this to Brian and give him some. The food is cooling, go ahead and eat, I'm gonna go down to the river and clean up a bit," she said, unzipping her bag and pulling out some clothes. "You need any help?" A.J. asked. Diane smiled at him, "No thanks, I won't be long," she said, grabbing what she needed and leaving the tent. Kevin laughed, "Alex, you're beating a dead horse." A.J. smiled, "I gotta try." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diane winced as she pulled her shirt over her head. Her side was killing her and looking down, she saw why. Her entire left side was one big bruise. She pulled the rest of her clothes off and looked at herself. She was covered with bruises and small cuts. She sighed, grabbing her shampoo and wading into the river. The water was cool and felt good on her aching body. She quickly washed her body, then tackled her hair. It took her a little while to get the dried blood out of her hair and get it rinsed. "Why do I have to have long hair?" she asked herself, thinking it would so much easier to deal with short hair. It didn't take her this long to wash Nick's hair, and his was full of blood. She finally finished, wading back to shore and drying off. She wrapped her hair up in the towel and started to get dressed. She had put on her panties and sports bra, and had just pulled her jeans on when she heard something behind her. She turned, seeing Howie coming out of the trees. "Diane, we....." he started, then stopped, staring at her, "Are you OK?" he asked, seeing her bruised side. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she said, trying to put her shirt on. "Here, let me help," he said, walking to her and taking the garment from her, sliding it over her head. "Thanks," she said, pulling her arms through and putting her shoes on. "What did you need?" she asked, standing up and grabbing her things for the walk back. "Oh, we where just wondering if you where OK. You where gone for a while," he said, as they walked. She smiled, "Well, I am a girl, we take longer." Howie laughed, "I guess so." They walked in silence for a moment, then he looked at her, "Is Nick gonna be OK?" She sighed heavily, "I don't know." "When are they gonna find us?" he asked. "I don't know that either, but I do know they won't stop looking until they do," she said. "How do you know that?" he asked. "Howie, you guys are one of the biggest acts out there. They won't call off the search until they find us, no matter how long it takes," she said. "Yeah, but how long do we have? I mean Brian and Nick need a doctor, and we can't stay out here indefinitely. We don't even know where here is," he said. Diane stopped walking and looked at him, seeing the fear in his eyes, "Howie, I promised Nick I would take care of him, and that goes for you guys as well. We'll make it through this, all of us, we just have to stay positive and not panic, OK?" Howie nodded, then reached out and gently hugged her, "Thank you. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't been here to help us." Diane fought her tears, "You're welcome," she said, as he pulled back and continued walking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When do you think he's gonna wake up?" A.J. asked. Kevin looked over at Nick, "I don't know." A.J. sighed, taking another bite of his soup. Kevin continued to feed Brian until Brian refused to eat any more. Kevin looked at him sternly, "You need to eat." "I can't Kev," he said, his voice revealing the pain he was in. "Bri you need to...." Kevin started, just as Howie and Diane entered the tent. A.J. stared at her, her hair hanging loose and still wet, the jeans that fit every curve of her body and the cute t-shirt she was wearing. "Bone, shut your mouth you'll catch flies," Howie teased. A.J. blushed at being caught staring, and went back to his soup. Diane did her best to ignore A.J. and knelt down next to Kevin, "Let me try, you go ahead and eat." "You sure?" he asked. She nodded, switching places with him, and sitting next to Brian. "I can't eat any more," Brian said. "You need to eat more than this," she insisted. Brian shook his head. Diane looked him in the eyes, "Brian, I know your in pain, and you don't feel like eating, but you need to. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for Leighanne and Baylee." Brian stared at her, the sadness growing in his eyes. Diane dipped the spoon in the soup and offered it to him, "Just a little more, OK?" Brian looked at her for a moment, then opened his mouth, taking in the food. Diane smiled at him as she continued to feed him. Howie leaned over to Kevin, "She's good." Kevin smiled, "Yeah, I never thought about playing the family card." "She's also hurt," Howie whispered. Kevin looked at him. "Her left side. She has to have some bruised if not broken ribs," he said. Kevin nodded, looking back over at her. Diane looked up, seeing them staring, "What?" "D says you're hurt," Kevin said. Diane turned her attention back to feeding Brian, "We're all hurt Kevin." "Diane, you don't have to act like nothings wrong with us," he said. She looked back up at him, "Kevin, I'm fine. My side hurts and I have a headache, but I'll be alright. We need to be worrying about Brian and Nick, not me." Kevin started to say something, then stopped. Instead he just stared at her. Diane looked back to Brian as he took the last bite. She gave him a drink, then got up and walked out of the tent. Brian looked over, "Way to go cuz." "What? I'm concerned about her," Kevin defended. "Yeah, but I think you just pissed her off," A.J. noted. "Guys, we can't let her get sick, she's the only one left of the flight crew," Kevin said. "What does that have to do with anything?" Howie asked. "They train for this stuff. She knows what to do," Kevin said. "Kev, how the hell do you train for this?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, she's just like us, scared shitless. Although she does a better job of hiding it than we do," Howie said. Brian laughed. "What?" Kevin asked. "Howie just said shitless," Brian said, laughing. Howie blushed, "I did didn't I?" "Yeah and the world didn't end either," A.J. chuckled. Kevin shook his head, a smile creeping across his face, "Leave it to you to find the humor in the worst situation." Brian smiled weakly, "Hey, it's a gift." "Well, you and your gift rest, I'm gonna go talk to her," Kevin said, leaving the tent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diane sat near the fire, her head in her hands. She had held it together until now. Now all she wanted to do was cry. She was scared. Scared for Brian and Nick, for not being found, for everything. All day the guys had looked to her for guidance and now she needed it. She knew she couldn't tell them who she really was, not now, it would destroy the small thread that was holding them together. She had seen it all day. They trusted her because she was part of the flight crew. She �knew' what she was doing. If she told them any different, everything would go to hell. Kevin walked up and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." She looked up at him, frantically wiping her eyes, "It's not you Kevin. I'm just ....." "Scared?" he said. She nodded, "Yeah, I've never been in this situation before." "Well neither have we," he said, "So we can get through this together." "Yeah," she said. They sat in silence as the sun dipped out of sight. "We need to sleep in shifts," she said, "Someone needs to be up with Nick and Brian at all times." Kevin nodded, "I'll take the first shift. Why don't you go get some rest?" She nodded, "Do me a favor?" "Anything," Kevin said. "Don't let A.J. sleep next to me," she said. Kevin laughed, "You got it," he said, following her into the tent. Chapter 6 |