“Oh, my God!” Brian gasped as he got a good look at AJ. It wasn’t his ashy gray color or the fact
that he wasn’t moving or breathing that freaked Brian out. It was his leg.
AJ’s entire leg was a bloody mess. If it hadn’t have been attached to his body,
one would never be able to tell what it was.
The shark had luckily not severed it off with his bite, but he had done
extreme damage to it. Brian was not
sure AJ would ever gain use of that leg again.
That is, if he even survived.
Nick had grown deathly pale, as he stared at AJ, practically numb
with shock and horror at what had happened to his friend.
Howie, however, did his best to hold his emotions back and do what
he knew he had to do. He pinched AJ’s
nose closed and breathed into his mouth, but nothing happened.
He glanced at Nick and Brian, about ready to ask one of them to
come over and help. But when he saw
their faces, he knew neither of them would be very helpful. So he turned back to AJ himself. Pressing his fingers up to AJ’s neck, he
checked for a pulse. To his horror, he
felt nothing.
“Come on, AJ, don’t do this!” he shouted tearfully. Frantically, he cupped his hands one over
another and started doing chest compressions on AJ. “Breathe, AJ, please!”
In the background, Howie vaguely could hear the sound of
crying. Brian or Nick. Maybe both.
He ignored this thought and concentrated on what he was doing.
Stopping the chest compressions, he breathed into AJ’s mouth once
again, determined to bring him back from the brink of death.
To his joy and relief, AJ began to cough. Water came sputtering out of his mouth.
“Oh, God, thank you!” Howie shouted, rolling AJ gently to his side
so that the water flowed from his mouth.
“He’s alive?!” Nick shouted, looking at AJ with tear-filled eyes.
“Yes, he’s alive, thank God,” Howie said.
Brian let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, murmuring a
whispered prayer of thanks to God for bringing AJ back.
“He’s hurt bad though, guys,” Howie said, glancing at AJ’s leg
sadly. “If we don’t get him some help
soon, I doubt he’s going to live long.”
Nick and Brian said nothing, just nodded sadly, knowing Howie was
speaking the truth.
“Hey, we’re almost there!” Nick said, brightening a bit, as he
pointed to the beach just ahead of them.
Howie’s eyes narrowed as he stared at it. “There’s nothing there,” he said softly,
realizing that the beach looked deserted.
And beyond the beach, he could see nothing but jungle.
Nick stared harder at the land, realizing Howie was right. But he could not accept that. “No,” he said firmly. “There has to be something there. I’m sure there’s a town or something. Maybe you just have to go through those
trees a ways before you can see it.”
“I hope so,” Brian murmured, scenes from Gilligan’s Island
flashing through his mind.
The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert
isle, with Gilligan, the Skipper too…
If their predicament hadn’t have been so serious, he would have
starting singing the all-too-familiar theme song. But this situation was now a life or death
matter.
***