Present day – Thursday, 20th October 2005
She's tired and cold, so very cold. All she wants to do is stay curled up here and sleep forever, welcome the oblivion. She has no energy left to move. But as she lets herself sink into the wet sand, her last thoughts are of him, his frown, his smile, his warm, expressive, hazel eyes, his rich, tender voice calling her name, and something inside her comes to life again, a spark of determination, a spark of hope. He'd saved her life and she doesn't have the right to throw it away like this. He'd pushed her out of the way of the rocks when they'd been thrown against them, shielding her with his body, protecting her. And then she'd lost him. He'd given her the only life vest, and when he'd been knocked unconscious by the blow, she hadn't been able to hold onto him. She'd tried; she'd tried desperately to hold him, to keep his face out of the water, but the waves and the current had been too strong and he'd slipped from her numb fingers and had been swallowed up by the sea.
Two days ago – Tuesday, 18th October
She's scared, so very scared. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was just going to be another small field op like last time and she'd been excited about it. Harry was trusting her again, obviously pleased with her performance before. What was it he'd said? "I've no doubt you'll pull it off with the same aplomb as last time, Ruth." She smiles briefly as she remembers his warm voice and gentle gaze as he'd said it. So she'd gone out to meet the mark, but something had gone wrong. He'd known who she was, and before she could react, she'd been knocked out by a blow to the back of the head.
When she'd come to, she'd discovered that she was on some kind of boat. She could tell from the salty smell of the air and the way the floor pitched slightly. The room, or rather cabin, had been pitch black, but someone was sitting close to her; she could hear their breathing. "Who's there?" she'd asked in alarm.
"It's me, Adam," Adam had replied, "You okay?"
She'd sighed in relief and then began to pay attention to her physical condition for the first time. Her head hurt, but there was no other pain except from the ties digging into her wrists where they'd bound her hands together behind her back. "Yes," she'd said. "Just a headache. They knocked me out. Are you all right?"
"Yes," he'd replied. "My leg's a bit painful. They kicked my knee in when I tried to run. Otherwise, I'm fine."
"Where are we? How long have we been here? What are they going to do with us? How did they know?" she'd asked, the questions tumbling out one after another.
"On a boat," he'd answered, "somewhere off the East coast. I don't know what they know. They haven't asked anything yet. We'll just have to wait and see."
So now they're sitting close together, having found each other in the dark, and are waiting, for what, neither of them knows. Hopefully, to be rescued. Please, Harry, she begs silently, please find us.
