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“Anna, you’ve re-injured your ankle. This is no time to push it. Let me help you.” I smack his ass a few more times. Not gonna lie, it’s fun. But then I give up, tucking one thumb into the waistband of his board shorts for stability as he walks.
Sebastian slows when we reach the cliff side stairs, picking his next footing as we begin our descent. I find a good tree branch to hang onto, making sure we don’t slide down the hill, breaking us both.
“Ready?” he asks, before moving.
“Ready.”
“Here we go!” He shifts our weight as he teeters us to the next rock down. “Heave to the ho!”
“I’m not a ho.” I find a new tree branch to grab.
“Don’t I know!” Luckily Sebastian can’t see me because I have a shit-eating grin on my face at his rhymes.
“What is this, a Dr. Seuss book?”
“When we get the internet, we’ll just have to look.”
“Are you going to stop rhyming?”
“When you stop whining.”
I hit him on the ass again for good measure, and he laughs, his shoulder shaking against my belly. But he’s distracted me from the worst of our descent, and we’re back at the bottom of the cliff now, hiking along the flat dirt track through the jungle.
“Come on, let me down,” I say, even though there’s still a dull throb in my ankle.
“We’re almost back,” Sebastian says. “We should head to the ship and get you to the ship’s doctor for a real checkup.”
He’s right, I know. I’ve already acted enough like a willful child today, so I don’t argue. When we get to the river, Sebastian wades into the water, and then, when he’s waist deep, he lowers down so I can release off his shoulder and float on my back. He wraps his arms under my knees and shoulders and lifts me like a baby.
“You good?” he says. “All comfy?” I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his chest, hiding my eyes from everyone on shore, too late discovering how intimate it is to press my eyelids and nose into his bare skin. The ruddy scent of his sweat mixes with the coconut mineral smell of his sunscreen. I don’t want to let him go when we finally get to the other side.
* * *
SEBASTIAN
When our cab pulls up at the ship’s dock, I tell Anna to stay in her seat so I can come and get her. She rolls her eyes, but she listens. When I pull her out of the car, lifting her in my arms, I’m gratified that she puts her arms tight around my neck again, the way she did in the river. She’s starting to trust me.
Across the dock, someone cries out, “Oh no!” Turning, I see a curvy blonde woman covered in parrots, trying to come towards us without disturbing the birds all over her body. She stops and stands while the birds shuffle around on her arms and shoulders and head. The tall red-headed guy she’s with is looking our way in concern. A man sitting on a stool beside them takes the birds back one by one, and the red-headed guy hands him some cash before the pair rushes towards us. I stop walking.
“Do you know them?” I ask Anna. As they near, I realize the blonde woman is the actress Anna offered to help when they got back to LA.
“Anna!” the woman calls out. I turn to face the pair. “Anna, what happened? Are you alright?”
“Hey, Adrienne,” Anna says, smiling at her. “I’ll be fine. I slipped on some wet rocks back at the waterfall.”
“Slipped?” I roll my eyes. “Anna has a very generous concept of the word slipped. I’ll be surprised if her ankle isn't broken.” At my words, the red-headed dude raises his eyebrows and looks at Anna’s ankle with a furrowed brow.
“My name is Aris. Dr. Aris McElfry,” he says. “I’m a surgeon and I’m happy to look at it or be of any help you might need.”
Anna gives him the sweetest smile. The sort of smile she’s never given me.
“Aris, it’s so nice to meet you.” She’s purring. “Adrienne had nothing but great things to say about you when we chatted the other day. I’m Anna. And this is Sebastian.” She tilts her head back at me without even a glance. “Sebastian thinks I should see the ship’s doctor and go from there, but what do you think?”
Anna raises her leg a hair and Aris steps over to take a quick look. Keep your hands to yourself, buddy. Why don’t you stick with Adrienne, who seems to like you so much? Anna’s taken. Married.
“It’s pretty swollen.” The doctor says, acting all expert and everything. “If nothing else, you’ll want to get some ice on that as soon as possible. Compress and elevate it tonight if you can. Use a crutch and rest it a lot.”
“So I’ll be walking again soon?” Anna asks.
