Chapter 7

 

 By Rachel

The next time I regained consciousness, AJ was sitting beside me, and Nick was lying down with his head in AJ's lap.

"Hey, Rok," AJ said quietly as he realized I was awake.

"Hey, J," I replied just as quietly while I tried to sit up, only to have AJ push me back down gently when I winced in pain.

"How long was I asleep?" I mumbled as I shut my eyes and opened them again seconds later.

"Not long, Brian, about 35 minutes," AJ replied seconds after he shifted his position to make it more comfortable for Nick.

"How is Nicky?" I asked while I watched Nick's chest rise and fall as he peacefully slept.

"About the same as before Rok, nothing has..." started AJ, but was interrupted by the voice of Howie yelling from the front of the plane with urgency apparent in his voice.

"Get up here now, AJ! I need your help with something!"

I watched with sleep-filled eyes as AJ gently lifted Nick's head off of his lap, placed it on my good leg, and jogged up to the front of the plane.

Moments later, I saw Howie walking backwards into the area where Nick and I were, and it was then I noticed both AJ and Howie were carrying something in their arms, or rather someone.  Howie was cradling Kevin's head and supporting his neck as AJ held up his legs and had a navy blue duffel bag strapped over his shoulder.

I then realized they was going to lay Kevin down right next to me, so I scooted over to my left to make more room for him. I instantly pushed my pain aside and tried my hardest to not wake Nick up as I made myself comfortable. I sighed in frustration when I realized I had failed in this task when I felt Nick move around and slowly sit up.

"Hey, Frack," I said as I forced myself to smile for his sake. Nick looked around with his sleepy baby blue eyes and took in the image of everything around him. I saw his facial expression turn to a frown as he finally seemed to realize again where he was.

I quickly noticed that Nick was shivering slightly, and I put my hand on his shoulder and used it to help pull myself up. "You okay, Frack?" He nodded in response but refused to look me in the eye when he answered. I saw him shiver again, and I immediately took the blanket off of myself and put it around his trembling shoulders.

 "No, Frick," Nick mumbled as he took off the blanket and gave it back to me.

"You need this blanket more than I do." I stubbornly refused to take "no" for an answer so I made him look me in the eye as I explained to him that I didn't need the blanket and if he didn't use it, then it wouldn’t do anyone good. He reluctantly took the blanket and put it around him as I gently pulled him back and allowed him to again rest his head on my good leg.

I noticed that Howie and AJ had laid Kevin down on the floor next to me, and AJ was now running up to the cockpit to get the blankets that were on Kevin before they moved him. He ran back in and gently put the blankets over Kevin's body and sat the duffel bag down by my feet.

"Who does that bag belong to?" I asked Howie as I looked at the bag trying to remember if it belonged to one of the guys.

"It is Jason's," Howie said solemnly as he sat down on the plane floor near me. A few moments of silence followed, but that was broken when someone's stomach growled loudly.

"Hey, guys," AJ spoke up, "let's look for some food in the bags; I'm starved!"

Howie and I both nodded our heads in agreement, and AJ got up and started to retrieve all our bags that were scattered around the plane. Howie got up to help AJ, but not before handing me Jason's bag and telling me to look through it. With a sigh, I balanced the bag on my good leg, away from Nick's sleeping form, and unzipped the bag, feeling guilty for going through Jason's stuff.

I guess it doesn't matter now, I thought with a sad sigh as I remembered that Jason had died in the crash. After searching through the bag for a few minutes, I cried out in triumph. I had found a blanket and about five packs of crackers hidden within the duffel bag amongst Jason's clothes.

"What did you find, Rok?" asked AJ anxiously.

"Some crackers and a blanket. How about you guys?" I asked as I threw the packets of crackers at the two men in front of me. Both exchanged looks and brought out a bag of Starbursts.

"We didn't find anything but this bag of Starbursts in your bag, Bri," AJ told me as he threw the bag closer to me.

"Thanks, J," I said as I reached for the bag but stopped about midway. For the second time since I had woke after the crash, a sharp pain shot through my lower stomach area and dulled to a throbbing ache after a few moments, taking my breath away and causing me to involuntarily wince.

"You okay?" asked both Howie and AJ in unison.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said moments later, when I finally caught my breath. The attention was drawn away from me when all three of us heard a soft moaning sound. It couldn't be, I thought as my eyes rest on Kevin, willing him to moan or say something to me, anything at all. I had almost given up when he let out another small moan, and I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. I then bent over to quietly beg him to please wake up because I knew if he woke up, he would have a better chance of surviving.

Sharp pains then started hitting my lower stomach area repeatedly, breaking down my pain tolerance barrier with every course they made through my body. I finally lost all self control and let go of Kevin's hand and grabbed my stomach area.

The pain hit me one last time, and I screamed.  The darkness enveloped me, and I welcomed it immediately. As the darkness finally consumed me, the last thing I heard was my head hit the floor, and everything then went black again.

***

 

 

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