The blood ran down her face as she hung from the tree, her foot caught between two branches. She was almost certain it was broken, although she could not feel the pain. It was a miracle it hadn't been ripped from her body as she plunged out of the sky and into the forest. She could hear the screams of the fellow passengers and the ear splitting roar of the airplanes engine from a distance. She had no idea what was going on though, she just hung there, afraid to move her foot from fear of crashing hard to the rocky ground below her. Tears rolled down her forehead, mixed with the blood and sweat that was accumulating on her brow. She was scared, seventeen years old and nearly dead. She couldn't scream, the gurgling in her throat only meant that she was drowning on her own blood or as she was upside down the blood was trying to come out. She tried not to move, she was about twenty or thirty feet into the air, but the rocks below her gave her very little comfort. If she fell, her head would hit first.
The screaming continued in the distance and the blood was still rushing to her head, and spitting out of her mouth. She was internally damaged, and she knew it. Fear was all she could feel, her body nearly numb from the mass amount of blood she was losing. Images of her friends being ripped from her grasps replayed in her head. Tormenting her, intensifying the pain she that was already flooding through her head. Her hands dangled below her and she slowly reached for the vine that was hanging just a few inches from her head. Her fingertips just barely touched the edge of the vine and the fear of slipping from the tree was overtaking her.
She tried with all her might to reach the vine and she barely grabbed a hold of it when a large explosion rocked the forest. The force of the explosion pushed the trees back and the volume and range it was in made a severe ringing in her ears. She froze, her foot was slipping. The tree was swaying and her ribbon tied sandals weren't giving her any kind of grip. She cried and whimpered as she tried to reach for the vine, catching it just as her foot slipped from the tree.
The vine ripped at her hands as she slid down, not having the strength to hold her weight. The smell of burning skin was intense as she slid down at a rapid pace. She screamed out in pain, causing her throat to open and any blood that was settling her throat began rushing into her lungs. She let go of the vine as it dug straight into her bone, and she fell.
It was like it was slow motion, her body slammed against the ground and erupted with a fire like no other. She was lucky enough for her head to miss the rocks, but that only kept her awake to feel the pain that was screaming in her legs. She was no longer numb from the waist down, she could feel every ounce of pain that was attacking her.
Another explosion rocked that forest and she could do nothing but cry. The screams of the survivors were loud and excruciating. She only hoped that at least half of her group had survived, if not, at least one.
She lied there for what felt like forever, the sun was going down and the screams had subsided. Every now and then she faintly heard someone sobbing, but she could never get the strength to call out to them. She was no longer in pain, but she was too afraid to move. She couldn't look at herself, and could barely keep her eyes open. Tears ran down her blood stained cheeks as she gazed around the forest floor. She had no idea where she was, but she could hear the waves crashing in the distance. The forest floor was covered with exotic flowers, bushes, and bamboo stocks. It was so beautiful, but dangerous at the same time. She couldn't help but think that no one would find her until she was gone.
She laid there for what felt like forever. The tears rolling down her cheeks and her breathing was getting wheezy. She could taste blood every time she swallowed and could no longer hear anybody. Things were getting hazy and the sun was setting, she was going to die.
"Is there anybody out here?" She heard a man's voice in the distance. She had no idea if he was far or right behind her, everything was blurry and a mess. Her hope was restored though and she fought the drowsiness that was slowly taking over her small body. "Is there anybody out here?" He was getting closer.
"Help," she whispered as loudly as she could.
"There's no one out," a woman yelled over to him.
"Help," she tried to whisper louder, choking on the blood that was settling in the back of her throat. The burning was ferocious and was the only pain she could feel now.
"Yes there is." She heard him as he started to run in her direction. She could hear the breaking of twigs get closer and light from the flashlight shining on her. "There's someone over here, go get Jack."
The tears were rolling down her cheeks as the relief flooded from her body, she was being rescued. She felt the ground shift slightly as he knelt down next her, he pulled her hair out of her face and tried to get a pulse.
"What's your name?" He asked in a slight panic. He was unsteady with the flashlight as he looked over her bloody mess of a body. He brought his face closer to hers as she tried to speak.
"Hart," She managed to choke out, splattering blood all over his face.
"You're okay Hart, we have a doctor and he is going to get you cleaned up." He spoke with such certainty that for a second, she almost believed him. The drowsiness was taking over though, and surviving was slipping from her mind.
"Open your eyes Hart, stay with me." He begged as he gently caressed her cheeks. "Come on, open your eyes."
She tried to listen to him, but it was too strong. She had been lying there for much to long, losing to much blood and without water.
"Jack." He screamed loudly as he debated whether or not to pick her up. She was coughing up blood, and from what he had seen within the last few hours, that meant an internal injury, but he wasn't sure. He was a bit of a way from camp, and she closed her eyes. She wouldn't open her eyes for him, but she was a bloody mess, he had not a clue what to do. "You're not going to die." He promised her as he carefully picked up her broken body and ran quickly for camp.
"What's wrong?" The doctor ran up to him and placed a hand on his back as he guided him to the makeshift hospital bed he had made out of the cushions from the plane seat.
"She stopped breathing."
"Did she say anything?" The doctor asked as he motioned for him to lie her down.
"Just her name," he said as he entered make shift shelter. He was trembling as he laid Hart on the blue cushions and before he could do anything else the doctor pushed him out of the way. He stepped back and Jack quickly went to work, tearing her shirt off to see where the blood was coming from. He sighed and quickly started pounding on her chest, stopping every few seconds to pinch her nose and give her air. He repeated this over and over again, until she finally arched her chest and began choking. He watched as Jack quickly rolled her onto her side and the blood spewed from her mouth.
"Can you hear me?" Jack asked her desperately as he clutched both sides of her face. She mumbled something low, too low for anyone to hear her. "What's your name?"
"Her name's Hart."
"Boone please, I need her to answer me." Jack scolded him as he checked her pulse again. Her eyes widened as she looked at Jack, but couldn't keep them open for a few seconds at a time. "What's your name?" Jack asked her again.
"I don't," She whispered, coughing up more blood. She opened her eyes once more, before her head fell limp.
"What's wrong?" Boone asked as he tried to get closer.
"I don't know yet, but she's breathing." Jack stood up and wiped his bloody hands on a shirt that had been sitting on a luggage case.
"Will she be okay?"
"I don't know." He was stressed and confused, this was all too familiar to him and he didn't know why. "What did she say her name was?" He asked as he ripped open her shirt the rest of the way, exposing her bruised chest, and black lacy bra.
"Hart," He swallowed deeply, "I think she said Hart." Boone watched in horror as Jack cut her pant legs with a knife, exposing this bloody mess of a girl to whoever wanted to see her. He turned around and shut the tarp, so the group that was forming outside of the tent couldn't see what was going on. "Can you fix her?"
Jack's face went white as the words came out of Boone's mouth.
"I hope so."
