A cruise ship sinks in the South Pacific, and the two survivors are a less than desirable couple...
Hours and days and weeks and months and years...it all sort of worked its way into reverse as she felt her consciousness fade back in from black oblivion. Feeling sick--very sick -- she coughed, coughing fiercely, bringing up seawater from her lungs, from her stomach. She felt so very sick...
She rolled over onto her elbows, heaving more water from her body, feeling the gritty sand beneath her--
SAND???
Her mind jolted wide-awake, confused and a bit terrified by this revelation. What was she doing lying on sand? What happened to the cruise ship?
Then she remembered...all at once, actually, like a single flash of action instead of the long minutes it had been. The storm, the reef, the incredible speed with which the ship had gone down... she'd survived?
She looked up, finally, staring astounded at the white sand and the palm trees and the blue sky above. Miles and miles of lovely, relatively calm ocean lapped behind her, presently tickling her lower legs.
An island...
She pulled herself out of the water, shaking. Not from cold, for the water and air were both positively balmy, but from fear.
An island...
She turned in wide circles, looking out desperately at the ocean, looking in equally desperately at the vegetated interior of the island.
She was on an island...
A deserted island? Alone? With nothing? Just the clothing she wore? A pair of shorts, sandals and a bikini top? Tangled in the crown her hair, she could still feel her sunglasses...she wondered vaguely if they'd survived the waterlogged trip. She took a moment to extricate them from her partially dry hair. They were for the most part intact. Slightly bent, with loose hairs in the joints, and horribly scummy from the sea, but undamaged.
Panicking suddenly, she rummaged through her pockets. A few dollar bills. Her ID. Much sand. The key to her cabin. Nothing more. Aggravated, she sighed. Alone, as far as she knew, on an island, the survivor of a shipwreck, and very little to aid her trek to civilization...or if need be...continued survival...
Her ears caught the sound of coughing and her heart leapt--another human alive on this God-forsaken island! She bounded towards the source of the sound, her long legs struggling through the sand.
There! A form on the shore some yards down...up on its elbows, hacking up seawater just as she'd done. She neared, fell to her knees, coaching the coughing fellow until he ceased coughing and lay down in the sand again, rolling onto his back to breathe easier.
"Oh my word, it just HAD to be YOU!"
Annoyed beyond belief, Detective Samantha Francisco--Scarlet to those who knew her at all-- snarled and jumped to her feet, storming a few feet away from the man who at present stared up at the sky. Dazed, still stunned, he turned to see who spoke, then smiled. That dashing, disgustingly charismatic rogue's smile.
"Scarlet...what a surprise seeing you here..."
Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Scarlet cried, "Dear God, please don't let this be some pitiful deserted island! And please PLEASE don't let me be stranded here all alone with ANTONIO SIROCCO!!!"
He snorted and rose to his slightly unsteady feet. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Shielding his eyes from the sun, he gave a good look around him, noting as she had done the vast expanse of blank sea and the solid vegetation inland.
"Where are we, anyway?"
Scarlet sighed--an angry sigh--and plopped into a cross-legged position in the sand. "An island somewhere in the South Pacific. Which one, I'm not sure. How far we are from the cruise ship's last position, I have no idea. Whether this stinking rock is even inhabited, I have absolutely no clue."
A fleeting glum expression crossed her face before she glowered at him again.
"What about you, genius? You got any bright ideas as to where we might be?"
He shook his head, his raven hair a thorough mess, despite his attempts to slick it back. "Mio Dio, the ship...and all those people..." He turned to her. "Are we really the only ones left?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up coughing the ocean from my lungs a few minutes ago. There might be more people around here somewhere and we just haven't found them yet."
He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know whether I pray for their sake that they made it...or if I hope they did not..."
"Antonio!"
She swallowed. That was an unnerving thought. She shook her head.
"Before we get philosophical about it, can we at least see if, first, this is actually a deserted island, and second, whether there're any more survivors on it? We can't be the only two that made it. I refuse to think that the heavens would play such a prank on me."
He smirked. "Nice to see that despite a cataclysmic event, you still have your head on straight."
"My head's never been any other way, mister. Now I want to see about this island before I decide to panic and make any rash decisions."
He trotted to her side as she started walking. "Good idea. We can scan the coastline for other stragglers or a village or something. Or even a boat."
"Exactly, except for one thing." She turned on her heel, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. "You're going the other direction."
He stared at her. "But...love...why?"
"Because we can cover the island faster if we split up. If we happen to meet halfway with no information, then we know where we stand."
He smiled. "On a deserted island. All alone."
* * *
The sun was setting when she met Antonio, who was going the other direction.
"Find anything?"
He shook his head, shading his eyes as he looked out at the sunset. "No. You?"
"No. Nothing."
Dejected, Scarlet found a large rock by the water and crawled up on it to sit and watch the sun set. Antonio followed, standing behind her.
"Do you think we should find someplace to sleep before the sun sets?"
She snorted in disgust. "We're going to die on a deserted island, Antonio, and you think I care where I sleep?"
He shrugged and ran his hands along her shoulders, stroking them gently. She swatted away his touch.
"We can address our situation in the morning, love. Come on. I saw a spot out of the way of the wind a few hundred meters ago."
"You go. I'll find my own place."
He sighed as she turned her back to him again, staring out fiercely, fervently at the setting sun, which was minutes away from dipping below the horizon. She shivered. The temperature was dropping just enough to make her a little chilly...and wearing only a bra top didn't help. She hated to admit it, but Antonio's warm hands had felt good... He leaned in, his head over her shoulder, right next to hers.
"You're going to be awfully cold out here on this rock all night. How about we share some body heat?"
"Now is not the time for your Don Juan impression, Antonio."
He sighed. "All right, maybe not, but I hate to see a woman freeze."
"In the South Pacific? I'm not exactly in danger of hypothermia."
He said nothing to this, only slipped off his Hawaiian shirt and draped it across her shoulders.
"Come on. Sitting out here and brooding won't do either of us any good."
She snorted. Regathering his words, he tried again.
"We'll be rescued... don't worry. Until then, just think of it as having a beautiful island paradise all to ourselves."
After several seconds of silence, she turned around to face him. "Do you know the first thing about surviving on an island?"
He shook his head. "No. I doubt you do either."
"So how do you expect us to last long?"
He ventured to put his hands on her shoulders again, and when she did not resist, he massaged them gently.
"Scarlet my love, improvisation and luck is part of who we both are. Without it, I doubt either of us would have lived this long."
She looked at him, half scowling and half-thoughtful. "As much as I hate to say it, you may actually be right."
Antonio thought he caught the edge of a smile as she said, "Darn you."
* * *
It was a small clearing, from what she could see of it by the faint light of the moon. She supposed it was her fault they'd not reached the place Antonio had suggested for sleeping before the sun went down. She'd been too busy griping about the impossibility of surviving. Fancy that.
It was actually a good spot, she noticed. A row of vegetation blocked the breeze coming off of the beach, and the sandy ground was level.
"It's not much," he sighed, "but tomorrow we can find something better."
He knelt on the sandy, mossy ground, then reclined on one side, half-propped up on an elbow. His expression--what she could see of it in the moonlight--seemed expectant. She shook her head.
"If you think I'm sleeping next to you, forget it. The situation may be dire, but that doesn't mean I feel any differently about you and me in close quarters."
She could almost hear him smiling as he said, "I fail to see what the alternative is. There's no room in this little clearing to be more than a foot or two away from each other, and the beach will just get colder as the night goes on..."
She scowled, though he couldn't see it in the darkness.
"And anyway, I'm only offering sharing warmth."
"You're not going to get fresh with me?"
He shrugged. "If you let me, I will..."
She sat next to him--as far as the clearing allowed and pointed a finger in his face.
"Consider yourself officially threatened within an inch of your life if you touch me in any way."
He only smiled as she settled on the sandy ground and became still.
"I love it when you threaten me, you know?"
She growled. "Do you have a death wish or something?"
He chuckled lightly. "You only threaten me when you're trying very hard not to want what I'm offering..."
She gave him a half-hearted kick and turned her back on him. "Smart aleck. Go to sleep."
She could almost hear him smiling as they both shifted position a few more times to find comfort before it became silent again. She sighed. It was going to be a long night.
* * *
If there had been any time between closing her eyes and awakening the next morning, Scarlet had no memory or concept of it. She supposed she'd slept rather soundly all night. She was surprised the dawn had awakened her at all. At least the sunlight was warm...
She blinked and yawned, then looked around. Something wasn't right. She recognized the clearing, sort of. It was the one Antonio had coaxed her into last night. All surrounded by trees and low shrubs... nice and shady...
Wait a minute. Shade meant no sunlight. And no sunlight meant no warmth. So, why was she warm?
It was a sickening realization, as she gradually became aware of an arm draped around her torso from behind. She was warm because cuddled behind her, holding her close, was Antonio. Bare-chested. His face was nestled in her hair, breathing warmly on her neck.
Suddenly she was very claustrophobic...
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"
The shriek jolted him awake, and she managed to struggle out of his grasp before he realized what was going on. Scarlet could only stand there and have a case of the heebie jeebies, vigorously brushing herself off to rid herself of the sensation of Antonio's hands...
"I have the distinct feeling I was just awakened by a goddess screaming in my ear."
Antonio was on his knees now, rubbing the ear that had caught the majority of her shriek. He turned the other to her. "Could you do that again? I think I can still hear in this one."
Scarlet only fumed in disgust. "I woke up this morning and found you curled around me like an octopus..." she shivered. "I hope you got your kicks 'cuz I'm finding myself someplace ELSE to sleep by next sun down."
He snorted in something that looked like disgust but was really just masked amusement. "So sue me for trying to keep you warm. Last night, after you were well asleep, I saw you shivering. I touched your skin--you were like a block of ice, love. I was keeping you warm."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
He shrugged. "I never said I didn't enjoy it, but I swear, my intentions were completely honorable!"
She eyed him fiercely for several seconds, then dropped most of the look.
"If that's really all it was, fine. But please, don't touch me."
"You'll change your mind later."
She shot him a look. "Don't even go there. And anyway, the first item of business today is finding food, water, and shelter -- not making out."
He brushed the sand off of him and rose. "So, how do you plan to accomplish these goals? Do you know where to look?"
She shook her head. "Not a clue. But I know the next best thing."
He raised an eyebrow. "And that is..."
She smiled at him. "I'm a detective, Antonio. I know how to look."
* * *
It was late afternoon before Scarlet found something promising. They'd delved inland, into the vegetated interior of the island, assuming that freshwater would more likely be found there. The assumption proved accurate. Antonio had spied a rock face, and Scarlet had noticed that it looked wet. She wasted no time finding a dribble of water that continually flowed out of it like a tiny waterfall, the flow no stronger than that of a drinking fountain. But it was wet, and it was constant. That was all the pair of city slickers cared.
Both of them had drunk their fill before Antonio bothered to voice, "Shouldn't we have purified that somehow, first?"
Scarlet, who was resting against the rock face, gave a weak smile. "How? With what? We don't have any containers to put it in, and we have no way of starting a fire to boil it anyway. Unless you're secretly some sort of Boy Scout or something."
He rummaged in a pocket. "Boy Scout, no, I'm afraid not."
Something in his tone made her turn to look at him. He picked something shiny out of his pocket. She blinked. A lighter.
"Where did you get that?"
He shrugged. "It was lying on a table in the dining hall while the ship was going down...I grabbed it on my way by. I think it was just instinct... come on, darn you, light!"
He flicked it several times, then finally, a flame sprung up.
"Presto! Fire."
Scarlet folded her arms in annoyance. "Why didn't you tell me you had that earlier?"
He shrugged again. "You mean like last night?"
"Yeah. I was freezing my butt off last night!"
A sly smile slithered across his dark face. "Do you honestly think I'd suggest an alternate heat source when I would much prefer to share body heat with a beautiful woman, hmm?"
She glared at him. He shrugged it off. "Besides, I kind of forgot I had it."
"Dare I ask what else you've got in there?"
He grinned. "In my pants? I'd be happy to show you..."
"In your POCKETS, Antonio!"
The Italian sighed, his face declaring that, at least for the moment, Scarlet was being no fun at all. He rummaged through his pockets, coming up with a wallet, a penknife, and his watch. The contents of the wallet revealed dollars and lire, assorted coins, ID, his cabin key, scraps of paper with messages and phone numbers--and other assorted items, some of which Scarlet was all too happy to relegate back to the deepest, darkest corners of Antonio's wallet again...
"Well, at least that gives us a source of fire and a sharp blade to work with... dang I'm hungry."
The realization had struck her all at once. She'd not eaten in over twenty-four hours, and her stomach, now that her immediate thirst was quenched, had decided to make its uproar. Antonio's stomach gurgled in response.
"Ah, what I wouldn't do for a heaping plate of Mama's fettuccini...all smothered in shrimp and oysters and Alfredo sauce, with garlic bread sticks and marinara sauce and olive oil on the side...and some tiramisu..."
Scarlet smacked him. Not too hard. He hadn't actually done anything wrong, but his culinary fantasies were only making her hungrier.
"Quiet. My stomach is gonna eat itself if you keep that up."
He muttered something in Italian. Scarlet ignored it.
"Get used to slim pickings, Antonio. We're probably going to be living off of fish, bananas, and roots or something."
The Italian groaned, sitting on a nearby rock. "I refuse to eat any bugs. I don't care how hungry I am. I'm not eating any bugs."
Scarlet rose and stretched. "Well, it's getting late in the day. If we're going to eat, we'd better find something. That means more walking."
"We still need a place to sleep. I suggest we build a shelter first."
Scarlet shook her head. "I don't know that we have that much time--we don't have much daylight left."
"We can at least make a place to sleep nearby this place--be close to water?"
After a moment and a glance around, Scarlet nodded. "Okay, yeah... that sounds good. I can stand another night without food, and it's probably too late to start looking anyway..."
