{Sections of this story that is written in Italic's will be flash backs unless stated otherwise. Please do enjoy!}
She couldn't remember sleeping on something so soft in a good while. She was used to makeshift beds, sleeping bags that were lead out on the floor or simply not sleeping at all. However, she winced slightly when she began to turn towards the left. A sharp pain had shot through her right leg, causing her to sigh deeply and roll her eyes behind her closed lids. Assuming instantly that she had slept on it funny. She inhaled deeply, smelling the air that surrounded her. She tried to think back to a time when she had been in a place that offered up fresh air, but couldn't remember ever smelling air as fresh as what she was currently breathing in. She sighed once more in contentment before she stretched her arms above her and slowly opened her eyes.
At first glance, she wasn't alarmed. She had spent more time than she could account for sleeping under trees. What did make her eyes open wider was the fact that she was alone and did not remember taking refuge. The all to familiar smell of blood caught her nose, causing it to wrinkle as she turned her head to the side.
She noticed she was in fact lead on a small clearing of long grass, which explained why she wasn't uncomfortable. However, what was supposed to be green grass had turned a crimson red beside her head.
Lifting a shaky left hand to her forehead, she pressed gently on it and felt her fingers slip and slicken with a substance she knew before even taking a look.
Blood.
It was clear to her that something had happened. However, whether it be from her head wound or a moment of panic. She couldn't remember. Slowly and gently, she pushed herself into a sitting position and glanced around the clearing. Frowning slightly, she eyed the middle of what was once, long, uncut grass. However, where her body lay, the grass was flattened against the ground.
Her head throbbed as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, begging herself to remember. She vividly remembered the airport. A woman telling her she had been switched to another flight...
"I'm very sorry about the delay, but it seems as though you are being re-directed to another flight."
"Right... Sorry, why is that?"
"Flight 716 has been cancelled. The pilot had to make an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia."
"Can't I wait for that flight?" She asked with a confused look.
"I'm afraid you've been booked onto Flight 815."
"Right." She sighed. "Look, I've just come from Afghanistan. As you can probably tell from my passport, I'm English. I've already been re-directed once and I really don't fancy taking a trip to the U.S then catching a flight home. I've been out there for eight months."
"I'm sorry Miss, there really is nothing I can do."
"No... It's alright..." She mumbled as she sent a smile at the receptionist.
She grabbed her bags and began to walk through the barrier before she heard the receptionist call out once more.
"Sorry?" She asked as the receptionist smiled.
"Thank you for you service, Miss."
"Riley." Riley smiled. "It's Riley."
Riley opened her eyes as she looked down at the uniform she still wore. Although parts of her uniform was covered in blood, she shrugged, remembering days on the front line when no one could make out the natural colour of the outfit.
"Oh, no way!" Riley groaned as she glanced at her right leg. A small piece of a branch, being the cause for much of the blood surrounding her, had lodged itself into her thigh. Riley glanced around in search for her pack which contained her medical kit but couldn't locate it.
Everything suddenly came back to her as she realised why she didn't have any of her belongings with her. The plane, the turbulence. The crash.
"Well, shit..." Riley mumbled as her eyes took in the sight of smoke in the sky. Shaking her head slightly, she grabbed the small branch in her hand and took a deep breath. In a swift motion she snapped the part not inside her thigh, leaving a small amount outside. Riley grimaced as she took deep breaths before pulling herself off the ground and taking off in the direction of the smoke.
The leaves and branches that had overgrown were pushed aside as she stumbled through. The closer to the smoke she got, the louder the noise was.
It was as if she was back on the job again. Screams and shouts filled her ears, the sound of small explosions in the background. Her breathing grew more frantic as she thought about what was going on. She could only wish it wasn't as bad as she had seen in the past. Luck, however, was not on her side.
Breaking through the tree line, she just managed to stop herself from gasping. Her eyes took in the sight quickly.
Unless you knew the wreckage was a full sized plane, you wouldn't believe it. All Riley could see of the plane was the middle section. The tail section and cockpit were missing. Where? Riley could only imagine.
"HELP!"
"Help!"
Riley didn't know which way to look. People screaming, begging for help. The yells were coming from every direction. She took a quick glance around before sprinting towards a man who was attempting to give a dark skinned woman, mouth to mouth.
"No, Stop." She panted as she slid to her knees and nudged the man back slightly. "You're doing it wrong."
"What?"
"Her head's not tilted back enough." Riley stated as she placed her fingers under the woman's chin and pushed her head backwards slightly.
Riley leaned down and hovered her ear against the woman's mouth, listening for any sign of breathing.
"Are you sure?" The man asked, sceptically.
"I'm pretty sure." Riley scoffed as she blew air into the woman's mouth.
"That's what I was doing!" The man quickly stated as he nudged Riley back who glared at him. "I'm a life guard, I'm licensed."
"Really?" Riley raised her brow. "I'd give that license back, if I were you." Riley put her right hand on top of her left and began to push rhythmically on the woman's chest with the pounding of her own heartbeat.
"Maybe we should do that hole thing?" Riley raised an eyebrow at him before he continued. "You know? Stick the pen in the throat?"
"Oh for..." Riley tried to keep her cool as she smiled at the man, sarcastically. "Good idea. You go find me a pen." She rolled her eyes as the man nodded and scampered off to find a pen. She continued her chest compressions for a further two minutes before her own heart started to beat faster.
"C'mon... C'mon... Please..." Riley began to panic as her compressions picked up the pace and pushed harder against the poor woman's chest. Just as she was about to give up, the women jolted and sucked in a deep breath. "Thank you." Riley breathed to the sky as she helped the women sit up. "Deep breaths... Deep breaths..."
Riley breathed with the women who stared into her eyes with wide, comforting eyes. It wasn't until, if possible, the woman's eyes widened that Riley knew something was wrong. Before she could attempt anything, the plane a bit behind them exploded.
Riley saw the flames before she felt the heat. She ducked over the women slightly as the heat nipped at her back. As quickly as the explosion happened, it was gone. kneeling up, Riley squeezed her eyes tightly shut as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided.
"Are you going to be alright?" Riley asked the woman, kindly. "I'm just going to go and see if anyone needs help." The women nodded ever so slightly at Riley who smiled before she stood up. gasping slightly, she glanced down at her leg which still held the snapped off branch.
⁂
Riley spent a good thirty minutes looking around the beach, glancing every so often at people who looked to be hurt. Once she was sure they weren't any worse than they had started off, she continued on.
Content with how everyone was, Riley made her way towards the plane that was no longer a danger. She glanced around at the luggage for a moment before her eyes landed on a familiar rucksack. She grasped the strap of the rucksack and swung it on her shoulder before turning back towards the forest and making her way a little inwards.
One she was happy with the spacing, Riley took a seat on a small rock and placed her rucksack in front of her. She began to rummage through it until she pulled out a small container full with medical equipment.
Placing the small container on the rock beside her, she grasped the hole in her trouser leg with both and pulled them away from each other. The wound which still held the tree branch was fully exposed as Riley glared down at it. With a sigh and shrug, she realised she had dealt with much, much worse.
Grabbing an alcohol wipe and ripping the top off with her teeth, she wiped her hands clean before grabbing another one and opening it the same way. With a deep breath, Riley began to clean around the wound with the wipe, cleaning off the dried blood. Riley rummaged through the container once again and pulled out a handful of cotton which she folded into a square. With a deep breath and a quick nod of reassurance, Riley grasped the end of the branch with her right hand, held the cotton beside the wound with her left, and pulled.
She pulled slowly at first until she felt the branch just on the inside of her thigh. Once she felt the feeling, she pulled up and out and quickly pushed the pad of cotton against the steady flow of fresh blood with her left hand.
Before Riley had the chance to find some thread, a man stumbled through the trees. "Sorry." He breathed out as Riley raised a brow. "Do you need some help with that?"
Riley stared at him with a blank expression before he nodded towards her leg. She glanced down and her eyes widened slightly. "Oh! No... I'm good, thanks... Done this a million times... Er, do you have any thread?" She asked as she glanced in her container to see none.
"Yes." He breathed a laugh as he handed her the small pack.
Riley smiled as she took the thread and glanced at it.
"Since we're here... Do you think it'd be wrong if I used blue thread?" Riley smirked at the cotton.
The man breathed a laugh as he took his jacket off slowly. Riley winced at the amount of blood covering the back of his shirt. She looked back to her thigh and lifted the cotton off, slowly. The wound was still bleeding but not as much as it would have had she not placed the cotton on the wound.
She threaded the needle with the blue thread before she removed the pad of cotton and got to work on her wound. Every now and then she would wince from the feel of the needle going through her skin. Once she got to the end, she double stitched it before tying it off and cutting the rest of with the tiny scissors given in the kit.
"That is some beautiful stitch work." She grinned as she glanced at the man who knelt on the ground, trying to look at his wound. "Would you like some help?" Riley asked.
"I'm a doctor, I'd do it myself but I can't reach... Would you mind?"
"Just... Sit on the rock..." Riley muttered as he nodded, taking Riley's seat when she stood up. She grabbed her small container and took two alcohol wipes out. His wound wasn't as deep as hers was so it shouldn't need any cotton to stop the bleeding. "Any colour preference?" She grinned as he breathed a laugh.
"No. Standard Black." He smiled as Riley threaded the black thread through a sterilised needle.
Riley gently knelt on her knees behind him as she opened the alcohol wipes and wiped around the area. She wiped her hands down once more before she set to work on his wound.
A few minutes in, Riley's eyebrows furrowed as she opened her mouth and asked a question she was asking herself. "Er... You don't seem scared... At all..." She whispered.
"You don't seem to scared yourself." He replied with a chuckle.
"Oh, no... Trust me. On the inside, I'm having a breakdown. First plane crash and all... I'm Riley, by the way."
"Riley... Jack." Riley nodded before she realised he couldn't see her. "Well, fears sort of odd an thing. When I was in residency, my first solo procedure was a spinal surgery on a sixteen year old girl. And at the end, after thirteen hours, I was closing her up and I... I accidentally ripped her Dural sack." Riley grimaced to herself as she neared the end of the wound. "It's at the base of the spine where all-"
"The nerves come together." Riley finished for him. "I know."
"It ripped open... Nerves just spilled out of her like angel hair pasta, spinal fluid flowing out of her... The terror was just so... Crazy, so real... And I knew I had to deal with it. So I just made a choice. I'd let the fear in. Let it take over. Let it do it's thing." Riley couldn't help but listen intently to what Jack was saying as she tied the stitch off. "But only for five seconds, that's all I was gonna give it. So I started to count" Jack explained. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five. And it was gone. I went back to work, sewed her up and she was fine."
"I've seen a lot... I don't think I would have been able to stay chill in that situation..." Riley muttered.
"You're accent... British?" Jack asked.
"Yeah..."
"How did you end up on a flight to the U.S?"
"That's a long story... You're done."
⁂
That night most of the survivors huddled around each other as many fires were lit, hoping someone, anyone would see the light and send help. Riley stood off to the side as she watched the peaceful waves of the ocean. She watched the ripples form as the water crashed to the beach almost silently.
"Hey!" Riley spun around quickly. Her eyes landed on a large man with long, extremely curly hair. He smiled at her as he nodded towards the crate in his hands. "Hungry?"
"Er, no... I've got some stuff thanks." She nodded at her rucksack.
"Oh! I don't think we've met. Riley, right?" He smiled as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yes... How'd you know?"
"The doc, Jack mentioned you helped a few people. Said you were wearing uniform. I'm Hurle- Hugo. Hugo Reyes. Hurley is cool."
"Hugo, nice to meet you." Riley smiled. "Actually, isn't there a pregnant woman?"
"Claire, yeah. She's over there" He pointed of towards the left and Riley followed his finger.
"Er, I'll have mine... Don't worry about the fork." Riley grasped the small foiled container and pulled her rucksack back onto her back. She began the small trek across the sand towards Claire who sat huddled in a blanket. Riley slowed down as she reached her in fear of startling the girl. "Claire?" Riley called out.
Claire looked around at the sound of her name. Riley raised a hand and gave her a little wave. She couldn't understand why she was being so awkward. She had met many people in her time. So why all of a sudden did she feel awkward? "Yes?" Claire asked, looking up at her.
"Do you mind?" Riley asked, nodding at the pipe beside her.
Claire shook her head as Riley dropped her rucksack in front of her and took a seat beside Claire.
"Hurley... Gave me this, Er... Well, I don't know what it is and I thought... You'll need it more than me." Riley stated as she held the foiled food out to Claire.
"Oh, no. I'm okay, I've just had some. You need-"
"Please... I have stuff from the journey. I insist." Claire took the foiled food from Riley with a smile as she nodded.
"Thank you..."
"Riley. So... Baby's alright, then?"
"Yeah, He's settling down."
"It's a boy?"
"Well, I just have this feeling..." Claire trailed off as she pulled the blanket around her more tightly.
"Motherly instinct?" Riley grinned.
"Yeah, something-"
Riley jumped up as she narrowly missed tripping over her rucksack. Something huge was knocking over trees. Making the most gruesomest noise Riley had ever heard in her life. She helped Claire up as she picked up her rucksack and lead Claire quickly away from the tree line.
"Wha- What was that?" Claire asked.
"I don't know..." Riley muttered as some of the other survivors came and stood next to them, staring into the island. She couldn't help but shudder at the sound. It soundest both like an extremely large animal, but also an alarm going off.
"Is it me or is it getting closer?" Riley asked to no one in particular.
"Brilliant."
⁂
The first morning on the island rolled around with no rescue and while Riley didn't sleep at all, many of the other survivors did. She was standing amongst many of them as they debated over what the noise they heard could be. Riley tried her hardest not to laugh at some of the suggestions people were coming out with.
"It didn't sound like an animal." A man Riley had not met shrugged. "Not exactly."
"That sound that it made," Rose, the women Riley had saved last night began. "I keep thinking there was something really familiar about it."
"Really, where are you from?" Shannon asked.
"The Bronx."
"It might be monkeys." Riley couldn't hold her snort of laughter in as the man glanced at her with narrowed eyes. "What?"
"Monkeys?" Riley repeated with a smirk. "What monkeys have you heard that can make noise like that?"
"I bet there're monkeys in there!" He repeated.
Riley nodded sarcastically. "Oh yeah, perhaps theirs some massive monkeys in there, capable of making that noise. Hey, perhaps it's King Kong!"
"I'm only putting suggestions out there."
"Technically, we don't even know if we're on an island." Another man butted in causing Riley to role her eyes.
"Where do you say we are?" Riley asked. "Neverland?" A few of the survivors went back to the ground they had claimed leaving half a dozen to sit on the ground and talk things over. Riley smiled as she took a seat with them and crossed her arms over her knees.
"Were you on your way to a costume party?" Shannon asked causing Riley to raise a brow at her.
"No." Evelynn scoffed. "I was on my way home... Well, to the U.S. Then home."
"Where you from?" A man Claire had told her was Charlie asked.
"England."
"Me too!" He grinned. "Manchester, you?"
"Bristol."
"Ahh.." Charlie nodded before he glanced around. "Does anyone have any sunblock?"
"I doubt anyon-"
"Yeah, I do." Shannon interrupted Jessie who looked at her with a blank look.
"You're something else..."
"You work for the Army?" Sayid asked as he pocked the sand with a stick.
"Er, yeah..." Riley nodded.
"What is your title?" He looked up at Evelynn with a questioning look.
" Lance Corporal." Riley shrugged.
"What does that mean?" Charlie asked as he lathered some of Shannon's sunblock on his face.
"Oh... Well, Lance Corporal is above a Private but below a Corporal... I was promoted to Lance Corporal after about three years as a private."
"What's the difference?" Shannon asked, looking genially interested.
"You have to complete Phase 1 Training, all new soldiers start as Privates although the title may be Trooper, Gunner, Signaller... Depending on Corps or Regiment. I'm a Lance Corporal so I'm required to supervise a small team of up to four soldiers which is called a section... Sometimes I'd undertake specialist military training..."
"Ah..." Charlie nodded. "Never met a soldier... A female one at that."
"Trust me, I'm no different to you." Riley snorted. "Hugo." Riley greeted Hugo as he made his way over to the seven of them. His face was paler than Riley remembered it being last night. He greeted her before kneeling down and addressing the small group.
"So... I was just looking in the fuselage... It's pretty grim in there. You think we should do something about the... Uh... B-O-D-Y-S?"
"What're you spelling, man, 'bodies?'" Michael asked with furrowed brows.
"B-O-D-I-E-S." Michael's son, Walt quickly corrected him.
"That a good idea, Hugo." Riley nodded, smiling sadly.
"No." Shannon declared. "They'll deal with it when they get here."
"We don't know how long it'll be until they get here." Riley sighed. "Don't you think it's a little heartless to just leave them on the beach?"
Before Shannon could reply, Jack had made his way over to the group and knelt down to address them. "I'm gonna go out and look for the cockpit," He began, looking at everyone. "See if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal. Help the rescue team."
"I'll tag along?" Riley asked rather than stated.
"Kate's coming, I need people to make sure the wounde-"
"I'd rather not sit around doing nothing."
"I'll come with, too." Charlie nodded.
Riley and Charlie followed Jack to where he had a backpack and a woman with long wavy hair was filling the bag with a few essentials. Riley smiled at the women as she stood up and turned to the trio. Riley's eyes however, widened slightly as she recognised the woman, Kate. Kate seemed to recognise her too as she looked as though she wanted to run as fast as she could.
"Kate, Charlie and Riley wanted to tag along."
"Hey." Charlie smiled as Riley forced a smiled on her face.
