The Price of Friendship Chapter 24
Lance had been asleep for less than an hour when he was startled awake by movement under his arm, which he had laid across Joey�s chest before falling asleep. Lance sat up quickly and blinked heavily trying to fully awaken as he looked down at the older man to see that he was ever so slightly moving his head and his hands were also beginning to twitch signaling his return to consciousness.
Lance stood up and ran out the cave�s entrance to see if Justin and Chris were anywhere nearby. After jumping through the waterfall concealing the entrance, Lance stood on the rock outcropping and glanced at the trees surrounding the clearing. He decided against calling out to his friends since he had no idea how close the nearest video camera was and didn�t want to their watcher to find them. After several minutes of his silent search for Justin and Chris and seeing no sign of them, Lance jumped back through the cascade into the cave.
While Lance was outside, Joey was ever so slowly becoming alert as his mind fought to climb from the depths of darkness that was enveloping him from all sides. As he progressively became more conscious of his surroundings, Joey grew to be more aware of several sensations almost all at once.
First and foremost, his right arm hurt�it was a pain that he couldn�t possibly describe...one that he had never experienced before in his life. It was intense enough to cause waves of nausea and dizziness to pass over him as he continued to struggle to the surface of consciousness.
He next became aware of the hard surface beneath his body and of the thick cushion on which his head rested. With a small, inaudible moan, Joey tried to shift his body on the unforgiving ground only to grimace in pain when there was no comfortable position for him to be in. In his growing discomfort, Joey allowed another, more audible moan to escape his lips.
The second low moan brought immediate movement in the semi-dark cave, which slightly startled Joey, but he was too caught up in the sensations assaulting his body to fully react to his fear.
Almost instantly, at the sound of Joey�s moan and moving about, Lance crossed the distance between himself and Joey�s stirring figure. On his way to Joey�s side, Lance grabbed a nearby bottle of water and damp rag that he, Chris and Justin had been wiping Joey down with throughout the morning.
In his haste to reach Joey�s side, Lance accidentally kicked a small rock across the hard, dirt floor. It struck a nearby wall with a sharp sound, which caused Joey to suddenly jerk and gasp out in surprise. Lance instantly slowed his approach when he saw Joey�s startled reaction knowing that the older man in his shallow state of awareness might become easily startled if he continued to move too quickly toward him and cause more noise.
�Hey�Joey�how are you doing?� Lance asked quietly as he knelt down beside his friend and watched as Joey�s eyelids fluttered open then blinked heavily several times in what seemed to Lance to be an effort to bring things into focus.
Lance gently ran a hand over Joey�s perspiration dampened head to help the older man in his attempt to make sense of what was going on. �Chris and Justin are going to be mad that they weren�t in here to see you awake,� Lance quietly added as he watched Joey�s fever glazed eyes slowly looking about him.
�Wha�� Joey managed to croak out before being overtaken by a slight bout of coughing that was beginning to sound as if it was settling into his chest. With an inward groan, Lance shook his head. That was not an added complication that they needed. With a small sigh Lance pushed his fears aside and concentrated on the task at hand.
�Here�let�s get you up a little so you can get some water,� Lance gently murmured as he scooted behind Joey before carefully pulling his friend into a semi-reclined position. Once Joey was resting against his chest, Lance placed the opened bottle against Joey�s lips and allowed a small trickle of water to enter his friend�s mouth. Joey leaned toward the bottle and tried to lift his hands up to grip it, but he was too weak to do that. Instead, his arms remained at his sides with his hands slowly opening and closing.
�Don�t worry,� Lance said quietly trying to push his emotions to the side as he watched Joey�s helpless movements. Seeing a usually robust and lively Joey weaker than a kitten was almost too hard for him to bear. Taking a deep breath, Lance continued to speak to Joey in quiet, calm tones. �I�ll let you drink as much as you think you can Joey, but we need to take it slow.�
Joey seemed to understand what was being said to him and he tapered back slightly, allowing the water to slowly trickle its way into his dry mouth, over his swollen tongue and down his parched, burning throat. Minutes later, Joey closed his mouth and Lance pulled the bottle away when he saw water slowly tracking its way down the sides of Joey�s mouth to his throat and bare chest.
�Had enough�huh?� Lance asked as Joey pressed turned his head to press it into Lance�s neck. Lance was greatly relieved to feel Joey feebly nod his head against him as he attempted to clear his throat.
�Do you know what�s going on?� Lance quietly asked, not sure if he really should tell Joey everything that had been happening but knowing that Joey might be less afraid if he knew.
�I�m sick�I think,� Joey whispered as he blinked rapidly at the darkness that was beginning to encroach upon the fringes of his vision. �How long?�
�You�ve been pretty sick for two days now�I�m going to let you lay back down now,� Lance answered as he slowly lowered Joey back to a prone position on the floor of the cave.
Surprised at Lance�s answer, Joey took a deep breath, which seemed to help in holding back the darkness that was threatening to overtake his senses.
�Others?� Joey quietly asked as his half-lidded eyes slowly traveled about the cave as he searched for the rest of their group.
�Out�looking for food,� Lance said, trying to keep his voice steady as possible. He stood up and took the cloth over to the mouth of the cave and let water from the waterfall to thoroughly soak it�he didn�t want to give Joey the chance to get a good look at his face. He was a terrible liar and the others always knew when he wasn�t telling the truth. He was not born with a poker face�not at all.
He turned around and glanced over his shoulder to see that Joey had once again closed his eyes. Lance wrung out the cloth then walked back to Joey�s side and knelt beside him. Joey stirred slightly when Lance placed the damp cloth on his forehead.
�How about a little banana?� Lance asked. �I could mash it up for you�the potassium would probably be good for you.�
�Okay,� Joey answered. �Just a little bit�my arm hurts�bad�making me�um�sick at my stomach.�
�Let me look at your arm,� Lance said as he carefully grasped Joey�s right arm in one hand and unwrapped the bandages surrounding it with the other. �I can get my shirt wet and wrap it around your arm�the cold water might numb it up a little bit,� he added as he continued to unwind the gauze. Joey quietly hissed in pain several times though Lance worked as carefully and gently as possible.
�Do I need to stop?� Lance asked anxiously as he looked down at Joey to see that his features were tightly wearing a painful grimace and his skin coloring was taking on a waxy appearance.
�No,� Joey mouthed as he took a deep breath in an effort to deal with the pain that he was experiencing as Lance continued to unwind the gauze from his arm.
Moments later, Lance had finished and gazed upon a red, angry looking wound that was slightly weeping. The sight caused his stomach to flip flop and Lance had to take a deep breath in order to calm his own stomach. He hated to see any kind of injury, but those involving blood or open wounds like Joeys would just about do him in.
Lance pulled his shirt off over his head as he stood up and made his way over to the waterfall. He thrust the shirt into the water then wrung it out before returning to Joey�s side.
As carefully as possible, Lance wound the wet shirt around Joey�s arm and was relieved to see that the pained expression that Joey had been wearing had relaxed somewhat and now he seemed to be on the verge of sleep once again.
�Lance�I�m not so�um�hungry�now,� Joey murmured. The pain that he had endured as Lance cared for his arm was enough to push any thoughts of food aside.
�Go back to sleep Joey,� Lance whispered as he ran his hand over Joey�s head. �The others will be back in a little while and I�ll wake you back up. Maybe you�ll be ready to eat then.�
Joey nodded sleepily and turned his head slightly before giving into his exhaustion.
As Lance watched Joey drifting off to sleep, he quickly said a prayer. �Dear Father�please take care of Jace�keep him safe�guide�guard�and protect him. Help him to find help for Joey soon�bring him back to us�please. In Your Son�s name�amen.�
As he finished with his petition, Lance laid down beside Joey. After placing a hand on Joey�s uninjured arm, Lance closed his eyes and willed himself to relax knowing that worrying about the unknown was not going to help JC in the least.
JC quietly walked behind Davis along an unfamiliar trail to the cave. Davis had explained at him home how he knew where JC and the others had been staying. He also told JC of how he had found Joey under the tree and how they had been keeping a close eye on them to keep them safe from harm. Davis�s explanations brought up more questions but JC was choosing to hold off on asking them until Joey, Justin, Lance and Chris were there to hear the answers too.
Following Davis were his brothers who were right behind and beside JC. For the most part, they were all walking quietly without much conversation, which was fine with JC. They had been walking for 30 minutes and already he was beginning to wear out. His head was beginning to ache and his vision was varying from double to just blurred. With a sigh, he wearily pulled the bottom of the shirt that Imelda had given him up to his face as they walked and wiped the perspiration caused by the high humidity from his forehead.
Thomas, to his right, caught his movements and immediately spoke strange words to the group and a container of cool water was handed back to JC without their steady pace slowing down.
�Thank you,� JC murmured wearily as he took the offered container from Thomas who glanced worriedly at the American.
He only hoped that the journey would not prove to be too much for him.
JC gratefully opened the container and took several small sips of the liquid inside finding it to be sweet, but not so sweet that he was thirsty.
After two small sips, JC began to close the container in order to hand it back to Thomas, but he stopped when Thomas quickly gestured for JC to drink his fill.
Hearing Thomas�s urgings, Davis called out over his shoulder to JC.
�Thomas wants you to drink as much as you can so that you will endure the long journey.�
�Thank you,� JC answered then nodded at Thomas with a smile before bringing the container back up to his lips. Minutes later, he drank the last of the cool liquid and handed the now empty container to Thomas and thanked him again before falling into silence once more.
Sometime later, Davis led the group toward an area that suddenly looked very familiar to JC.
�I know this�it�s not much further is it?� he asked hoping that he was right.
�Yes�we will be there very soon,� Davis answered. �How are you doing Joshua?�
�Okay�my head hurts, but I�ll be okay when we get back to my friends,� he answered.
�It won�t be much longer,� Davis replied as he slowed his pace slightly. He was also anxious for JC to be with his friends, but not so much to cause JC to collapse.
�Good,� JC murmured. He was growing wearier by the minute.
Lance awakened from his second nap with a start. He had fallen asleep with his arm slung over Joey�s chest when the older man had suddenly sat up apparently in the throes of yet another nightmare, but this time Lance was completely on his own in handling it. Joey�s terrified screams reverberated loudly within the confines of the cave�s walls much as they did last night, causing Lance to wince in pain.
�Joey�Joey�� Lance called out between the screams of fright. He reached over and began to firmly shake Joey�s left shoulder in an effort to awaken him, but the older man continued with his frantic movements and screams. When his efforts proved to be fruitless, Lance stood up then bent over Joey�s struggling form all the while moving from side to side to avoid the punches Joey was now throwing wildly at the air.
It was eerie to look down at the older man only to see that his eyes were open but unseeing�his face screwed up into a grimace that spoke of the horror of what only he could see�
Lance grasped Joey�s face in his hands and directed his line of vision toward him.
�Joey!� he shouted. He was nearing the panic stage himself. This was what he had feared by staying alone with Joey.
�What do you see Joey? What is it?� Lance shouted above the screams.
Suddenly, without any warning, Joey�s strength multiplied and he came further to life under Lance�s hands. In general, Joey was the more powerful of the two, but in this nightmare state, Lance didn�t even stand a chance.
Joey suddenly grasped Lance by the forearms. Surprised by Joey�s movements, Lance was unprepared for what happened next. With his being bent and standing over Joey, Lance never had a chance to keep his balance when, with a sudden burst of energy, Joey powerfully pulled Lance toward him before ducking away.
The younger man yelled out to Joey in an effort to stop his friend, but his panicked cry went unheard. With his arms firmly caught in Joey�s grip, Lance was unable to stop his forward movement into the unforgiving face of the cave wall behind Joey and crashed head first into the wall, instantly falling limply to the ground beside his friend without any further sounds.
Breathing heavily from exertion and fear, Joey looked at the still figure lying beside him and shuddered. Still in his fever-induced dream, he lay back down with a groan then rolled away from the creature by him. With another groan of effort, Joey rolled to his chest then pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he lowered head back to the ground.
�Gotta�get�out�of�here,� Joey said to himself in time with the waves of dizziness, which were growing stronger at a rapid rate. Joey took a deep breath and brought his gaze up to look at the cave�s entrance across the room from him. The fever caused the distance between him and the entrance to narrow and double almost instantly. The floor slightly tilted as Joey slowly began to crawl across the room.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the monster he had knocked out was still lying on the ground, unmoving, much to his relief, not knowing in his fevered state that the creature was actually no creature at all, but was his friend Lance. With abject horror and fascination, Joey watched a thin trail of blood flow from the creature�s head then drip down to the dirt floor. Joey then brought his hazy gaze back to his goal�the cave�s entrance only to see that it now seemed even further away than before. Joey took in a deep breath in an effort to ward off the darkness that was beginning to breach his vision causing a dark tunnel to form about him.
With a groan of frustration, Joey lowered his head and took several deep ragged breaths in an effort to clear his vision before beginning his slow progress toward the cave�s entrance.
�Almost there�almost there,� Joey said to himself in a voice that he did not readily recognize as he began to cough�his body straining to continue moving across the room not realizing that he was going to make one of the worst mistakes that he could possibly make�leaving the confines of the cave.