| Chapter 9 A loud clap of thunder brought everyone out of their sleep. Kevin sat up, noticing how cool it had gotten and how much the wind was blowing. "Looks like we're in for a bad storm," he said. "Yeah, I hope you guys secured the tent really well, or we're in trouble," Diane said. Kevin got up moving to let the sides of the tent down, "A.J., Howie, help me before it starts raining." As they where doing that, Diane moved in between Brian and Nick, "You guys alright?" "Yeah, man it got cold," Brian said. Diane pulled his sleeping bag up around his shoulders, "Yes it did. How's the pain?" "The same," Brian said, "Hurts like hell, but I can't do anything about it. So I just try to not think about it." "That's a good strategy," she said, looking over at Nick, "You OK?" He shook his head no as the sky lit up with lightening and it began to rain. In the flash of light Diane could see the pain in his face. "You hurting?" she asked. Nick nodded his head, reaching up to touch his forehead. Diane grabbed his hand, "Don't touch it." Nick let her move his hand back down to his side. "Are you cold?" she asked, noticing him trembling. He nodded, and she helped him get his sleeping bag situated. Kevin, A.J. and Howie came over to sit next to Nick and Brian, away from the sides of the tent. "I hope that holds," Howie said, as it began raining harder. "It should," A.J. said, pulling his and Howie's sleeping bag around him. "Hey, share please," Howie protested. A.J. groaned, letting him have a side of the bag to wrap around him. Brian laughed, "Two peas in a pod." "Oh shut up Rok," A.J. said, then laughed. "Kevin, hand me the flash light," Diane said, reaching for it. Kevin handed it to her and she turned it on, aiming it up so the light would illuminate the entire tent. She looked at Nick for a moment. He was grimacing, moving his mouth like he'd just eaten something that tasted awful. "What's wrong?" she asked. He looked up at her and pointed to his tongue. "You have a bad taste in your mouth?" she asked. He nodded. "Is it kind of metallic tasting?" she asked. He nodded again. "Shit," she mumbled, looking up at the guys, "A.J. go get a pan of water and some wash clothes. Kevin, help me find something he can bite down on, quick." "What's going on?" Brian asked. Diane looked at Nick, "I need you to try and relax alright?" Nick looked at her confused. "This is an early warning sign of a seizure," she said, "Just try and relax." "Here, will this work?" Kevin asked, handing her a hand towel that he had tied several large knots in. "Yeah, that's great," she said, taking it. "Nick I need you to bite down on this," she said. Nick opened his mouth and bit down on the towel, his eyes locked on Diane. She could see his fear, and took his hand in hers, "It'll be alright." Just as the words left her mouth, Nick's eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp. Diane quickly let go of his hand, before the convulsions hit. "Oh Nick," Howie said under his breath, as Nick's muscles started jerking. A.J. came back into the tent, drenched. "Damn another one?" he said, watching Nick ride out his seizure. This one wasn't as bad as the first. Instead of full on convulsions it was more of a jerking movement. It didn't last as long as the first one either. Nick's body stopped moving and began to relax. A.J. handed Diane the pan of water and the already wet cloths. She carefully washed his face and neck. "Should we take this out?" Kevin asked, pointing to the towel in Nick's mouth. "No, leave it in for now," she said, "If he goes into another one we won't be able to get it back in." Kevin nodded, taking Nick's hand and staring down at the younger man. It was several minutes before Nick came out of it, looking around. Diane was right there, talking quietly to him, calming him with the sound of her voice. "Everything's alright," she said, gently stroking his cheek, "This one wasn't bad." Nick stared at her, still confused and scared. She took the towel from his mouth and laid it to the side, grabbing a water bottle and helping him get a drink. Then she helped him get settled, pulling the sleeping bag up under his chin. Nick was fighting to stay awake. She smiled at him, "It's OK, go to sleep." Nick shook his head no, pulling on her hand. Diane stared at him, wondering what he wanted. Nick reached out for her. "You want me to lay down with you?" she asked. He nodded, a pleading look in his eyes. She looked at the guys for a moment before laying down, letting Nick rest his head on her chest and hug her to him. She held him as he quickly drifted to sleep. The rest of the guys sat quietly, waiting for the storm to blow over. Another loud clap of thunder caused them all to jump. Nick looked up at Diane. "It's OK, go back to sleep," she said. He lay his head back down and was asleep in seconds. Kevin moved closer to Diane, covering her with part of their sleeping bag, "We can't wait to be found," he whispered. She looked at him, "We don't have a choice." "Yes we do," he said, "I can hike out and get help." Diane shook her head, "No Kevin, that's not a good idea. We don't even know where we are." "We have to do something. They can't wait much longer for a doctor," he insisted. "Please don't do this," she begged, "You could get lost, or hurt." "I'll be fine," he said. Diane stared at him, "Please don't leave me. I can't do this without you." Kevin sighed, "I have to do something." "I know, but please stay here. We all stand a better chance together," she said. Kevin looked at Nick for a moment, then over to Brian, who was drifting to sleep. "Please Kevin, just give it a few more days. They'll find us, I know they will," Diane begged. Kevin thought for a moment, then looked up into her pleading eyes, "Alright, a couple more days, but after that, I'm going to find some help." Diane breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you." Kevin looked back down at Nick and ran his hand over the back of his head gently, "Two days, that's it." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was mid-day before the rain stopped. The sun made an appearance and quickly started drying the ground. Everyone slept in, not being able to do anything while it was raining anyway. They couldn't start a fire because the wood was wet, so they resorted to eating the packages of pretzels that where on the plane and rationing their water until they could boil more. Nick slept for most of the day, only waking up a time or two for a minute before slipping back to sleep. Howie sat in the tent with Brian and Nick, feeling completely useless. There was nothing to do until they could get a fire going. Kevin, A.J., and Diane where in the other tent, making sure their supplies didn't get wet. "D?" Brian said. "Yeah man," Howie answered. "I um I think you better get Diane," Brian said, his voice stressed with pain. Howie looked at his friend for a moment then ran out of the tent, "Diane!" She came out of the other tent, "What?" "Brian needs you," he called, as she ran across the clearing and into the tent. She promptly made her way to his side, "What's wrong Brian?" "My back .... it feels like it's on fire, and ... it's, it's shooting pain down my legs," he explained. "You can feel your legs?" she asked. He nodded, tears trailing down his face, "They're on fire." Diane pulled the sleeping bag off Brian's legs, looking at them. She timidly reached out and touched his knee with her finger tip. Brian screamed in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Diane said, moving back up to face him. She carefully replaced the sleeping bag, "Brian do you remember that relaxation technique?" He nodded. "OK, let's try that. Close your eyes and start with your toes this time," she said. Brian closed his eyes and tried to make himself relax. After a few painful minutes he looked up at her, "It's not working." She took his hand, "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you." Brian closed his eyes, letting his tears come out in streams. He knew crying wasn't helping him any, but he couldn't stop. He gripped her hand tightly as the pain washed over him. "God, someone kill me," he cried. Kevin looked at Diane, a determination in his face. She knew what he was thinking. He was gonna leave to find help, and he wasn't going to wait two days. She silently pleaded with him to stay, knowing that if he left what hadn't already fell apart, would. Brian was moaning in pain, unable to keep quite. Nick stirred in his bed and opened his eyes, seeing everyone gathered around Brian. He tugged on Kevin's shirt, getting his attention and pointed to Brian, a questioning look on his face. Kevin smiled at him, "He's in a lot of pain." Nick gave Kevin a worried look. "I know, we're all worried. Why don't you rest some more, OK?" Kevin said, patting Nick's arm and turning back to Brian. Nick watched as everyone tried to get Brian's mind off the pain. They made him tell stories, sing, anything to keep him thinking of something else. Nick lay back on his pillow staring at the top of the tent. He was just about to drift back to sleep when he heard something. He listened for a moment, making sure he really did hear it. Looking over, everyone was still paying attention to Brian, not noticing the sound. Nick tugged on Kevin's shirt again. Kevin turned around, seeing Nick staring at him. "You need something?" he asked. Nick shook his head no then pointed to the sky. Kevin looked up, not knowing what Nick was trying to say. Nick tugged on his shirt again, shaking his head no and reaching for the notebook. Kevin handed it to him and waited while Nick wrote something, turning it around for him to see: LISTEN! Kevin listened for a moment, "Guys, be quite for a minute." Everyone stopped talking, wondering what he was doing. Then they heard it, the faint sound of an engine. They all looked at one another wide eyed, not believing it. "Oh my God, it's a plane," Howie said, as they all ran out of the tent, leaving Nick and Brian alone. Nick reached over and took Brian's hand, staring at his friend with hopeful eyes. Brian smiled at him through his pain, "They found us, God, they found us." Chapter 10 |