Lying back down against the sand, its squishy bed forming to my body, I relaxed into processing the events of the day. I began to realize how much pain my body was actually in, now that the adrenaline had worn off. My limbs were throbbing and my stomach felt like it had been kicked in. I took slow deep breaths, birds chirping behind me and a gentle breeze lightening the heat that the sun was beating down.
I drifted into a short nap, the crashing waves acting as a lullaby to my tired muscles. It was light, more like a meditation where I was unconscious and conscious at the same time. Dreamless and aware of my surroundings.
When I woke up, salt water stuck to the roof of my mouth, thirst leaving a bitter aftertaste behind. I opened my eyes again to the much too bright sky. Looking over I saw Grayson was missing from his spot in the sand.
I pulled myself up to a sitting position and could see the bruising spotted over my body. Lashes of black and blue whipped across my arms. I dared to lift my shirt to see the discoloration across my stomach and ribs. When I tried to stand, my legs gave out. A deep pain radiated from one ankle and my ribs burned with every little movement.
I hadn’t realized I had hurt myself so much. The force of the crash into the water had truly battered me, I hoped the bruising was the worst of the injuries. I called out Grayson’s name but heard nothing in return. I wondered if he’d abandoned me and I tried to crawl to the edge of the forest. I don’t know what’s worse, being stuck on an island alone and injured or being dependent on someone like Grayson.
The crawling didn’t get me very far, the pain too great as it drummed through my body. I yelled out for Grayson again. It was clear to me I would need his help and cursed at the universe for putting me in such a situation. Then a thought occurred to me, what if Grayson had been injured from the crash as well and didn’t realize until walking off how serious it was?
I imagined him lying in a pile of dead leaves, internal bleeding having taken over his body. Part of me smirked, it’s not like he wouldn’t deserve it. Although, he had saved me on the plane. I would have drowned had he not freed me with his claws and carried me through the ocean water to this beach. And I did need his help now, I guess I would have to wait before I could wish him death.
"Grayson! Where are you?" I called out into the thick wall of vibrant forest life. I tried scooting closer to a nearby tree to use it as leverage to stand when a shadow fell over top of me. I twisted, pain screaming in my ribs to see Grayson looming in all his shirtless glory. It was unfair for such an evil man like him to have a body sculpted by God’s.
"What do you want?" He asked, as though he was angered by my very presence on this treacherous island.
I rolled my eyes and sighed through my nose, "I need help. I can’t stand." He stared at me with a glaring indifference. I stared up at him from where I sat, trying to avoid eyeing the muscles that baited me with their sweat glistened rigidity.
Bending down, he scooped me up as though I were a pile of clothes. I gasped, unprepared, and held tight around his neck. I could smell the salt on his skin and fought the thought of what it might taste like.
He began walking parallel to the forest, my legs dangling from over his forearm. "Where are we going, and where did you go earlier?"
Ignoring me, he made his way to an opening in the brush. He followed an animal trail and I stared in wonder at the way the sun fell through the trees from above, the light bouncing off plants I had never seen before. Everything looked so much more clear and colorful than what I was used to.
We came to an opening and he set me down, more gently this time than the last, against a wide tree trunk. I could hear a stream nearby and although the sun shone brightly in the open field, it was somehow much cooler here.
My mind immediately began working, picturing notepads and calendars in front of me. "We need to gather wood for a fire, have one here and one on the beach as a signal fire. We also need to figure out how to make a shelter, and set traps for small animals. Do you know anything about foraging? We should start exploring the area before it gets dark."
He was kneeling down, cupping water into his mouth from the stream. "You do that," sarcasm dripping like the water through his fingers. I looked down at my bruised and beaten body wondering how long before the pain would ease and I could stand.
He stood, his back turned away from me and walked off. "Wait," I yelled. He paused but didn’t turn, waiting. "Don’t leave me alone." I felt small as I said it, like a child afraid of the dark. His hunched posture seemed to soften slightly.
He answered without looking at me, the side of his face turning slightly for me to see his downturned eyebrows, "I’m only going to collect firewood. Stay here, call out if you need me. I’ll hear you." Then he left. I shifted in my position, helpless and now alone. I hated that I wanted him to stay after how he treated me but the sounds this strange place made had me counting the seconds until his return.
An odd noise caught my attention, a demonic groan far off in the distance. I pictured each animal that could be making the noise, none fitting the faces I could recall. I hadn’t spent much time in nature. I enjoyed gardening and walks with my mother but even in our rural town, I hadn’t spent much time outdoors.
Now the sounds of the birds and the rustling of leaves were louder than my mind was comfortable with. My skin itched with phantom bugs and I could smell the creek water, and every flower, every creature. It was suddenly overwhelming, the blue sky closing in around the various shades of green.
I jerked my head towards a twig snapping, Grayson appeared from the ferns with an armful of sticks and twigs. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding while Grayson studied me carefully. For a split second, I wanted to know what he was thinking behind those guarded eyes but quickly changed my mind as the memory of myself tied to a bed and Grayson straddling me popped up into my head.
He placed his collection down and began digging a hole before placing the sticks strategically together. I was about to ask how he would start the fire when he pulled a small metal box from his pocket. Flicking it open, a flame appeared and he held it against what looked like a tangle of light green string.
I watched with a deep interest as the flame caught quickly and smoke began obscuring the wood above it. Once the fire caught, the smoke died down and Grayson sat back admiring his work.
"Are you going to set a signal fire on the beach?" I asked.
"No," he said sternly and without a follow up explanation. I figured it was his stubborn indignation for his reasoning so I pressed.
"Well, we need some way to signal that we’re here. Every second without one, a ship or plane could pass by, never knowing we were here. Unless, you’re not wanting to get off this island?"
He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes like I was an annoying little sister he couldn’t stand to be around. He sat by the fire, one leg outstretched with the other bent and propping his arm up over his knee. He seemed to be resting, deep in thought. I was far enough to be free from the heat of the fire but close enough to see the twitch of the jaw muscle just below his ear.
"We can’t." His tone pissing me off more than his words. I thought of the wind, the ocean spray, maybe the sun. Could he be worried about the fire spreading to the forest if it were un-monitored? I would sit with the fire if that were the case.
The longer I was in this place, alone with Grayson, the more nervous I became. We needed to be rescued. I wanted to go home. Not to mention how we would even survive. I’d never even been camping and Grayson lived in a castle-mansion with servants ready to preform his every desire. We wouldn’t survive here very long.
"Why not?" I challenged, ready to plead my case for whatever his excuse might be.
"Because," he said through gritted teeth, stretching the word. "We are not alone on this island."