The Price of Friendship Chapter 19
�He�s having a seizure,� JC said in a voice close to panic as he turned Joey onto his side so that he would not choke if he happened to vomit during the seizure.
Justin moved down to Joey�s legs and gently grasped them in an effort to protect JC from being kicked since he was kneeling in front of Joey, intently watching his face for any signs of distress.
Not knowing if what he was doing was the right thing or not, Chris grabbed the cloth that had fallen from Joey�s head with his first movements and quickly wrapped it tightly around a small stick as he looked at the trickle of blood that was tracking its way down the side of Joey�s mouth from him biting his tongue. He leaned over Joey�s body watching as his friend unconsciously continue to open and close his mouth until he found the opportune time to quickly shove the cloth covered stick into his mouth, preventing Joey from biting his tongue again.
Meanwhile, Lance had placed his hands under Joey�s head, in order to protect it from the dirt floor. He instantly felt the knuckles on his right hand tear against the rocks underneath. Although he felt pain, he was thankful that it was his hands taking the beating and not Joey�s head.
�It has to be the fever,� Lance said loud enough to be heard over Joey�s guttural sounds as well as the harsh breathing of the rest of the group.
�You�re right�we need to get him cooled down,� Chris replied. �Just as soon as he stops, we need to get him outside and into the pool�okay?�
�Okay,� they all replied as they continued to watch Joey�s flailing body.
Seconds later, Joey�s thrashing body suddenly went completely limp and he lay deathly still.
�Oh�my�word,� Lance gasped as he brought his scraped and bruised hands out from under Joey�s head to cradle them against his chest while Chris pulled the cloth covered stick from Joey�s slackened mouth.
JC then swiped the inside of Joey�s mouth out with his hand then the group carefully rolled the limp figure over so that he was lying on his back.
�Is he breathing?� Justin asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
He, Chris, and Lance watched JC as he laid his hand on Joey�s chest.
�Yes�he�s breathing,� JC choked out as he lifted his hand, tears streaming down his face.
He then placed his head on Joey�s chest and listened to his heartbeat. For several seconds, Joey�s heart kept up its racing pace, then, slowly it began to resume a more normal rate, much to JC�s relief.
�His heart�s starting to beat more normally too�not as fast as it was,� JC stammered, knowing that he probably didn�t make any sense but for the moment, he didn�t care.
�We need to get him into that pool now,� Chris said as he stood up, clearing a path to the entrance of the cave.
�Help me get him out of his clothes so he�ll have something dry to wear when we get him out of the water,� JC said quickly as he and Lance began to work on getting Joey�s shorts off of him. At the same time Justin tugged at Joey�s shirt.
In a matter of minutes, the four young men were carrying an unconscious Joey, clad only in his boxers, outside the cave.
It had been at least a full hour since Joey had had his seizure and he had not shown any signs of awakening.
Chris had taken Justin�s position and was now seated in the shallow water with Joey�s head in his lap. Justin had been scooping handfuls of water over Joey�s limp body and was growing more and more discouraged by the fact that he had not stirred or made a sound during the entire time.
�Does he feel like he still has fever, Chris?� Lance asked.
He and JC were seated in the sand just a few feet away from Chris, watching and waiting for their turn to once again take over Justin and Chris�s positions
�I really can�t tell,� Chris said, his teeth slightly chattering. �My hands are getting pretty cold. Can you check?�
�Why don�t you let me trade places with you?� Lance offered as he stood over Chris and Joey, looking down to see that Chris had goose bumps on his arms, chest and back.
�No�there�s no use in you getting wet again,� Chris explained, his voice slightly shaking with the cold. �How�s he doing?�
Lance glanced down at Joey�s pasty features before bending over to place his fingers on Joey�s head then on his chest.
�He feels cooler than when we first put him in here,� he said, his voice showing a glimmer of hope.
�Why don�t you and JC go find us some food,� Justin suggested as he poured another scoop of water over Joey�s chest.
�We�ll need to eat something to get us warmed up again.�
�Okay,� JC answered as he stood up, brushing the sand from his shorts. �Are you sure you�ll be okay?�
�Yeah�if he does it again, we can get him out of the water and then we�ll call for you,� Chris answered. �Just don�t go off too far.�
�Don�t forget to watch out for those cameras too,� Justin said quietly.
Lance ran a hand through his hair. He had completely forgotten about the cameras. Chris looked up and saw the look on the younger man�s face, but could not really read it. He then glanced over at JC and saw that his attention was glued on Joey for the moment and he was sporting an expression that resembled indecision, so Chris decided to allay their possible fears.
�It�ll be okay, Jace�Lance�just try to keep track of where you see them and whether or not they�re on,� Chris said. �We�ll talk more about the cameras tonight�okay?�
JC nodded his head in agreement as he pushed his hands into his pockets then turned to walk away.
Lance reached down one more time and ran his hand over Joey�s head before following JC down the trail.
�We�ll be careful,� he called out over his shoulder before trotting to reach JC�s side.
Lance and JC walked quietly, looking for the cameras as they searched for food, and, so far, they were coming up empty handed in both departments.
The silence was good for JC. Since he and Lance had left the others, he had been formulating a plan to help Joey. He had most of the details worked out in his mind, but was going to need to run the idea by Lance. That was going to be the hardest part by far in his mind.
He cleared his throat and Lance turned to look at him before looking back down at the trail.
�You know,� JC began, not really sure how he was going to approach Lance with his idea without the younger man totally freaking out.
�You�you got help when you couldn�t breathe the other night. Maybe, if we could find those people, we could get them to��
Lance didn�t even let him complete his sentence. Instead, he stopped in his tracks and turned quickly to face JC.
�Are you out of your mind, C?� he asked, shocked by what JC might be suggesting.
JC closed his eyes then opened them and glanced around at the trees surrounding them, trying to gather his thoughts.
Lance sensed what he was trying to do and tried to wait patiently for JC to answer him, but was finding that to be very difficult. As he waited, he glanced up in search of any cameras and did not spot any. He then brought his gaze back to JC who was standing there, staring at him.
�Are you ready to tell me what�s going on?� Lance asked as he slowly lowered himself to sit on the dirt trail.
JC remained standing and pushed dirt around with his bare feet while he spoke.
�Lance�Joey is getting really sick��
�I know JC, but what does that have to do with getting our attackers to help?� Lance asked, his tone somewhat frustrated, but at the same time, sincere in wanting to know where JC was going with his thoughts.
�They helped you when you needed it�now Joey needs help�maybe even more help than you did,� JC said quietly as he knelt down beside his friend.
�So�what you�re saying is that you want to go�look for these people?� Lance asked incredulously�his eyebrows raised.
JC nodded his head.
�Nuh-uh�no way, Joshua�you can�t mean that,� Lance spit out as he stood up, waving his arms in the air.
�That�s too dangerous, Josh�way too dangerous. I can�t believe that you�re thinking about doing that!�
JC quickly stood up and grabbed Lance�s shoulders and spun him around so that they were facing each other. JC�s blue eyes bore intensely into Lance�s green, searching them for understanding as he struggled to come up with the words that would push Lance over onto his side of the argument. Seconds ticked by as the pair stared at each other, neither wavering from their stances before JC once again spoke.
�Lance�it�s too dangerous not to help Joey,� JC replied, his voice full of emotion as he gently squeezed Lance�s shoulders. �I�ve heard of people going into comas with high fevers�even dying. That seizure�it was the first step toward something like that happening.�
JC�s voice cracked with the last statement and a single tear tracked its way down his face as his gaze continued to search Lance�s.
In response to JC�s emotional plea, Lance�s knees seemed to give way and he sat heavily down on the ground while JC remained standing, looking down at him.
After a few moments of silence, Lance finally spoke.
�What do we need to do?� he asked in a voice barely above a whisper as he stared at his hands in his lap.
With a small sigh of relief, JC knelt down in front of Lance and slowly explained his plan to him.
�I wonder what�s taking JC and Lance so long,� Justin said as he sat on the sandy bank of the pool with Joey�s head in his lap. He and Chris had pulled Joey out of the water a few moments earlier and had redressed him. Now, they were letting the sun slowly warm him. Once JC and Lance had returned, they would take Joey back into the cave to put him by the fire.
�I don�t know,� Chris said as he stood up and stretched his tired muscles.
�If they aren�t back soon, I�ll go looking for them.�
Minutes later, Lance could be seen slowly walking out of the tree line surrounding the pool of water. In his hands were several bunches of bananas along with a coconut or two.
�Where�s JC?� Justin asked, thinking that JC was just probably a few steps behind Lance. He was so busy looking for JC that he missed the look of worry and fear that crossed Lance�s features as he approached, but Chris didn�t.
His stomach immediately flip flopped as his mind raced��no�he didn�t�no�he didn�t.�
He quickly raced up to Lance and harshly grasped the younger man�s shoulders, causing the fruit to tumble from his arms.
�Tell me he didn�t do what I think he did!� Chris shouted at Lance, who winced as he tried to back away from him but was unable to due to the fact that Chris�s grip on his shoulders was too strong. Lance closed his eyes and turned his head in a small effort to avoid Chris�s anger.
In the background, Lance could barely hear Justin�s confused shouts over Chris�s shouts of anger.
�What�s going on? Who did what? Don�t hurt Lance, Chris�let go of him!�
Lance�s lack of resistance and silence only further frustrated Chris and he began to shake Lance in an effort to get some sort of response from him.
Shocked at what he was seeing happening, Justin quickly pulled himself out from under Joey then stood up and ran over to Chris, grabbing him about the waist to pull him away from Lance who had turned a pasty pale and was trembling.
�Chris�what are you doing?� Justin yelled. �Let go of him!�
Justin kept a strong hold on Chris�s waist and turned him so that he was now between Chris and Lance.
When Chris�s hands left Lance�s shoulders, he limply sank down to sand and put his head in his hands.
Chris and Justin watched Lance�s begin to rock back and forth and instantly the anger left Chris and he pulled himself out of Justin�s grasp. He quickly dropped to his knees beside Lance then placed his hand under Lance�s chin and brought his face up so that they were looking at each other.
�He went to find help�didn�t he,� Chris said more as a statement than a question.
�He what?� Justin asked in confusion as he also dropped to sit beside Lance.
�I�m sorry�I�m so sorry, Chris,� Lance whispered. �I tried to stop him�honest�I tried to tell him how dangerous it would be for him, but�he was right��
�What�how was JC right?� Chris asked, his eyes searching Lance�s in an effort to understand the logic behind JC�s foolish move.
�It would be more dangerous for Joey if he didn�t go look for help,� Lance said in a voice barely above a whisper.
At that moment, the three young men glanced over at the figure lying prone on the sand knowing that JC�s move, although foolish, was necessary.
The trio rose to their feet and walked over to Joey and slowly lifted his limp body from the ground and carefully carried him into the cave to wait for JC�s return.