“Are you in pain?” I ask Adrian, kneeling down next to him and putting a hand on his head. No fever or clamminess.
“No,” he shrugs. “It’s like it is still attached.”
Oh boy.
Bless you, Adrian.
“Well, we’re goin’ to give him the antibiotics from the new kit now,” Kellen tells me. “We don’t want a repeat of Iris.”
Nobody argues.
Not this time.
We will do everything we can to keep everything clean.
“I’m goin’ to get some water,” Ace says.
“I’ll come, we’ll do a big run,” Kellen claps his hands together.
“We’ll get Adrian comfortable and fed,” I tell them.
They disappear and Aggie helps me adjust Adrian so he is sitting upright. He doesn’t want to lay down. We also elevate his leg, or what’s left of it. Then, we give him a protein bar. He needs that more than any of us right now. He insists he doesn’t want strong painkillers, so we stick to just Tylenol which he seems to have no problem with.
This man is something else.
“Are you sure you’re not in pain?” I say, adjusting a blanket behind his back and the rock wall so he is comfortable.
“No pain,” he says, casually, as if his leg wasn’t bitten off by a fucking shark a few hours ago.
Maybe he’s in shock still, that’s possible.
“Adrian, I’m asking in the kindest way possible,” I begin. “You do know that you were attacked by a shark earlier and went through an incredibly traumatic situation?”
He looks at me. “Yes, I am aware. I am alive though, aren’t I?”
“Yes, but...”
“That’s good enough for me.”
Okay, maybe it is shock.
I don’t argue.
“Okay, well I am going to get a couple of coconuts so you can get some electrolytes.”
He nods, already picking up a stick and using his knife to sharpen it.
When I die and come back to life, I want to come back as Adrian.
I set off into the jungle, heading towards the watering hole to get some coconuts. I’m just appearing out of the track we have slowly paved through the jungle, when I hear Ace and Kellen talking. Usually, I wouldn’t stop, I would just bust right in, but one sentence stops me in my tracks. It’s like someone has a remote and presses pause, because suddenly, I can’t move.
It’s like the whole world stops.
“You two are gettin’ serious,” Kellen is saying. “You need to tell her. We got fuckin’ paid to deliver them, Ace. We knew what was waiting for those girls at the end of that boat trip and we were very willing to hand them over. If she finds out from anyone but you, that’s it. Everything you two have—gone.”
A long silence.
“I know, but if I tell her, I lose her. I can’t fuckin’ lose her, man.”
