The Price of Friendship Chapter 2
It was several hours later before Justin again began to regain consciousness. He felt a warm breeze caressing his face, blowing his curls haphazardly about. He could hear birds crying softly in the distance and hushed voices nearby. He recognized the voices and moved his head in the direction that they seemed to be coming from.
�Hey, Chris. I think he�s waking up,� said Lance quietly as he scooted closer to Justin�s prone body. Lance and Chris sat down in the sand beside Justin�s form as he began groaning quietly in his effort to awaken.
�Sh�sh�J�you�re okay.� Chris put his left hand over Justin�s forehead in an effort to keep the damp cloth in place they had laid there. The bleeding from the many scrapes and minute cuts on the young man�s forehead had finally stopped bleeding several hours ago, much to their relief and he did not want it to start again.
�Chr�Chris?� Justin moaned as his eyes began to flutter open. The sun temporarily blinded him, causing him to bring his hands up to shield his eyes from the brightness.
�Here,� said Chris as he brought the cloth down to cover Justin�s eyes.
�Better?�
�Uh huh�what happened? I remember the boat sinking and that�s it,� Justin asked with a weary voice as he slowly attempted to move his body, trying to determine what hurt and what did not only to find that, unfortunately, more of him hurt than not.
�I don�t really know myself. I guess I passed out before we made it to the island,� answered Chris quietly, frustrated at his own lack of memory.
�I can remember crawling out of the water, trying to drag you up on the shore with me. I think you were doing the same thing, Justin because I couldn�t have been able to get everyone out of the water. I was too weak and tired,� admitted Lance as he rubbed his head, confused at his own lack of recall.
Justin quickly sucked in a deep breath as he suddenly remembered JC and Joey being injured on the boat. He tried to sit up, but was held down by Lance�s large hands.
�Where are JC and Joey? Are they okay?� Justin cried out in a frightened voice as he pushed the cloth from his eyes in a desperate attempt to find his friends.
�Sh�they�re fine,� Chris murmured as he ran a hand over Justin�s curls to calm him.
Yeah, J�they both woke up a little while ago and now they�re resting beside those rocks over there in the shade,� Lance said as he pointed off to Justin�s left where he could see both Joey and JC lying side by side seemingly asleep.
Justin groaned in relief and relaxed as he realized that they were all alive�they were all okay.
�We didn�t want to move you yet because we didn�t know how badly you were hurt,� Chris explained. �Do you think you could make it over to the shade if we helped you up?�
�Yeah�just take it easy. My head really hurts and I think I pulled every muscle I have in my body,� the young man whined.
�There�s the Justin we all love,� joked Chris as he and Lance slowly pulled Justin up into a sitting position. Once they had accomplished that feat without Justin passing out, they gingerly pulled the young man up to his feet then guided him over to the still sleeping figures of Joey and JC.
�Are you sure they�re okay?� whispered Justin, although he had no idea why he was whispering. If the nearby sounds of the surf and the loud crying of the birds from overhead hadn�t awakened them, then his speaking probably wouldn�t either.
�Yeah�they were both pretty confused when they woke up, but they knew who they were and what had happened on the boat. They�re just really tired�I�m really tired�� Chris� voice trailed off as his eyes searched the long beach that seemed to run endlessly in either direction.
�Why don�t you close your eyes for a while, Curly. We�ll wake you up when Joey and JC wake up, okay?�
�Sure Lance.�
Justin rolled over to his side so that he was facing Joey and JC. He reached out with his left hand so that it rested on Joey�s left arm, before he closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overtake him.
�I guess he was more worn out than we thought,� said Lance wearily as he ran and hand through his hair, which was filled with sand and grit.
�Yeah. The captain didn�t say what the name of the island was or if any other islands were nearby did he?� asked Chris.
�No.� was Lance�s quiet reply. Tears instantly sprang to his eyes as his mind drifted back to the last time he saw the captain and crew of the yacht that they had rented.
Lance, Chris and Justin struggled to swim away from the sinking vessel as they pulled an unconscious Joey and JC along with them. The captain had yelled that they were to swim to the west and they were to not look back. Suddenly the darkness was almost instantly illuminated by a bright, red flair that one of the crewmembers had fired into the night sky. Lance happened to glance back to see if he and the others were going to be joined by the captain and the crewmembers. To his horror, he watched as the captain became entangled in the masts� unfurled sails along with at least 2 of the crew. Lance watched in dismay as the captain�s arms flailed momentarily, before his terrified gaze caught Lance�s. The captain instantly stopped his panicked movements and calmly sank beneath the surface of the dark waters as Lance helplessly looked on.
The sudden memory brought Lance to his knees where he instantly began retching violently into the sand.
�Lance�oh man�are you okay?� asked Chris as he knelt beside the shaking man as another wave of nausea hit him causing him to again vomit.
Chris stood and bent over Lance�s body to hold his head up for him as he continued to cough and spit into the sand. Moments later, Lance sagged against Chris in a dead faint. Alarmed, Chris pulled Lance a few feet away and lowered him to the ground. He took in his friend�s pale features and how still he looked. If it had not been for the ragged breathing coming from Lance, Chris would have sworn that he had lost his friend.
�I�ll be right back.� Chris pulled his t-shirt over his head and dashed out into the surf to wet the shirt. He returned to Lance�s side and used the soaked shirt to wipe the young man�s face and arms off. After a few minutes, Lance began to show signs of awakening by groaning as he shifted his body in the sand.
�What happened, Lance? Did you hit your head or something? Are you dizzy or anything?� Chris asked in concern as he continued his ministering to the young man.
�No�I don�t think so. I just remembered something and it made me sick at my stomach,� moaned Lance, fighting to keep the rising bile in his throat at bay.
�You saw them die, didn�t you?�
Lance�s gaze flew up to meet Chris� sad eyes.
�You did too?� he whispered.
Lance did not an answer to his question because he could see it in Chris� haunted eyes.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Russell and Leigh Johnson were preparing for a quiet walk along the beach of their remote island. The couple had come to live on the island some ten or more years ago in a quest for privacy. They were originally from England and had fallen madly in love with the small island during one of their many world cruises. After years of effort, they were finally able to purchase the 20 square mile property. They had built a magnificent home with multiple luxuries and had been living there since. A cargo plane would visit every 4 weeks, bringing with it supplies and mail, along with the occasional visitor. But, Russell and Leigh preferred each other�s company best and made it a point to keep to themselves as much as possible�on the surface. In reality, though, they lead different lives altogether.
�Are you ready dear? I�m sure the west side beach is full of treasures after last night�s storm. I do so want to get over there soon,� urged the 60-year-old man.
His 59-year-old wife quickly finished getting ready by pulling a colorful scarf over her head before picking up a large wicker basket for the trinkets they might find washed up on the shore.
�Yes, I�m ready. You should tell Davis and Marco that we will be gone for a while.� Leigh was referring to the two island natives that served as helpers on the island. They not long after they had arrived to the island and had remained faithfully in the service to the Johnson�s.
�I have already taken care of that my dear. Shall we?� Russell asked, as he offered his arm to his wife.
The pair quietly walked through one of their many tropical gardens and headed toward the west side of the island.
An hour later, the couple was busily admiring the various seashells and driftwood that had washed up on the shore.
�I do believe that I could carve a beautiful subject with this piece,� murmured the man as he bent over to retrieve a foot long piece of driftwood from the sand. As he picked up the wood, he noticed a piece of wood that had writing on it. He pushed the seaweed, which was wrapped about it, away from the wording.
�Leigh, look at this,� he said as he continued to look at his unusual find.
�Yes, what is it Russ?� Leigh walked over and stood by her husband�s side. She followed his gaze to the brightly painted piece of wood lying at their feet.
�It says, The Sea Drift. A boat must have gone down last night.�
�Do you suppose all were lost�could there be someone here washed up on the shore somewhere?� she asked in an alarmed voice. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes as she gazed about, looking for any signs of survivors or more debris.
�I don�t know, but let�s not panic yet. Let�s keep walking and see what we might find.�
Russell knew well what Leigh was fearful of, but for the moment, he was just concerned in making sure that no one was on the island with them besides Marco and Davis.
Moments later, they found that they were indeed not the only ones on the island as they came upon 5 figures lying in the sand.
�Are they�� Leigh began as she placed her hand over her mouth in apprehension.
�I don�t know.�
Russell quietly walked up to the group of young men and bent over the figure closest to him. He carefully placed his hand above the nose and mouth of the curly headed young man and felt hot air moving beneath his hand. He continued this practice until he had reached the last young man, who also happened to be blond headed. He stood and quickly returned to his wife�s side.
�They�re all alive, dear�they�re all alive.� The man drew a shaky breath as he continued to view the five young men lying seemingly either unconscious or deeply asleep, on the sand before him.
�Oh Russ�what will we do? We can�t be found out.� Leigh looked at the young men as she realized the possible implications of them being on their island.
�We�re going to get them back to the house first and then we�ll decide what to do with them,� he replied.
Leigh glanced at her husband and saw a glint in his eye that she had not seen in quite some time. He happened to glance at her�and they both began to smile.