In The Cave
By: Jessica R Vance
Rating: Um... G, I guess... I usually don't go past PG-13.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, capesh? So don't say, 'Hey! She can't do that!' K?
Summary: Uh... J & J get stuck in a cave for a day... you get the idea...
Feedback: Sure, why not? JessicaVance@lovelornpoet.com... but please don't flame me unless you have a reason for it. No "You sucked" and move on, please! ^_^
In The Cave
Chapter One- Tired
What a day. We "blasted off"... twice. We landed rather painfully... twice. And we failed... again.
Business as usual.
Reformation was looking better and better. As my blue-haired comrade once observed, "The heroes always get the breaks."
Boy, was he right.
All I wanted right now was rest. Being tired usually made me cranky, but right now, I was too tired to be cranky. Tells you something, huh? So I just wanted to rest for a while. Any other time, I would want loads of other things, but this was not any other time. So I just wanted to rest. Not sleep. Rest.
So I rested. And thought. Not about how we could catch Pikachu, like I normally do, but about other stuff… like betterment. I'm serious. I, Jessie, of Team Rocket, the ultimate secret underground crime organization, considered "going good". And it's not like the thought just fluttered through my mind, either. Thoughts *do not* "flutter" through my head, thank you very much.
I actually gave some real thought to the idea. For about a half-hour. Where James and Meowth were, I couldn't tell you. After serious regard to the matter, I decided that I'd better just stay bad for now. It would be better for me. And James, who came over to me. "Can we talk?"
"Sure. About what?" He sat down next to me. I was sprawled on the grass. Un-Jessie-like, I know, but hey! I was tired. Being exhausted does things to people.
"I've been thinking…" James began. Uh-oh. "Would you mind very much if we were to… I don't know, uh… well…"
"Spit it out, James." I prompted. Why can't he just *say* stuff to me?
"Well, um… do you think that maybe… we could… become good guys?"
Huh? Had I heard right? James and I must have some sort of psychic connection. We say stuff at the same time, we think the same thing, and we do things in unison *all the time*. Amazing. "I don't know, James. Where would we go? What would we do?"
"Maybe we could go with those kids. They might let us." He said, apparently excited that I had halfway agreed with his idea.
"Yeah…" I still had my doubts.
"So… what do you say? You wanna?"
"I need to think, OK, James?"
He looked up at me with those big green eyes and said, "OK. Whatever you want."
I found myself at a small lake a few minutes later. There, I made a decision. I couldn't go through with it. I was just… too bad at heart. James could go if he wanted, but… I felt a small stab of pain at the thought. He wouldn't… would he? I didn't hear him come up behind me. I was too drained of energy to jump when he laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "You all right?"
But I was perfectly able to feel my pulse quicken when he pulled me into a hug. It was at that moment that I realized that I didn't want him to let go. I suppose now that I've always known, but I'd just never admitted it to myself.
"I'm just tired James, that's all." 'Don't let go,' I thought, 'Don't let go…'
He did. But he held onto my upper arms, like I was going to run away or something. That's a laugh. "Did you decide?" He asked softly. I nodded. "And?"
I shook my head. "I can't. I'm sorry…" I began.
"Don't be." He said, pulling me back into his arms. I felt so safe there…
"Then again," I said, "I'm really exhausted. I might not be thinking right" I felt him shake his head.
"No. We just need… a break. We'll take a few days off." He suggested. He read my mind, as usual. "Then we'll be ready to…"
"Catch Pikachu." We said in unison. Amazing.
Chapter Two- What to Do? What to Do?
A whole week off! I was thrilled! The Boss must've been in a great mood. I wouldn't know; I didn't call him. James was sweet enough to do that for me. Meowth, for some odd reason, said that he'd decided to take a vacation from us. Who knows where he went. Oh, well. I didn't really care if he left or not.So it was just James and me. I couldn't have been happier. Well actually, scratch that. I might have been happier if we had had a bit more cash, but that's beside the point. Right then, the main thing on my mind was what James and I were going to *do* with a whole week off.
The beach?
Nah.
Secluded cabin in the woods?
Got that already. Heh heh.
Mountain retreat?
No.
Well, that presented us with a poser. Neither of us had a clue as to what we wanted to do. We finally settled on lounging around until we thought of something. So we did.
Then it hit me. "What about going cave exploring?"
"What about what?"
"Cave exploring. You go and explore caves. That's why it's called that."
"OK. Hmmm…" He thought about it. As I watched him do so, I noticed his right eyebrow raise and his left one lower. Cute.
"Sounds great!" So we grabbed some gear (courtesy of Mondo) and headed to the caves by the river.
* * *
Into the cave we went. We brought out our color-coded flashlights (mine red, his blue, naturally) and began to explore.
Chapter Three- The Cave
"Wow. This is a big cave."
"No kidding."
"Hey Jess? What if there's a cave-in, and we get stuck, and there's no food?" I swear, James sounded like a worried little kid.
"Calm down, James. There won't be a cave-in, and even if there is, Mondo's got food, right?" James nodded. Mondo lives behind James' back (most the time) and lets him pull stuff from behind himself. Food included.
"OK, what now?" We had reached a fork in the caverns. The right trail led down a long corridor that had a small light at the end. It led outside. The left one, however…
"Well we know where this one," I gestured to the right tunnel, "leads, so…" We nodded at each other and headed to the left.
* * *
We had taken several forks and were now deep inside the cave. Good thing we had extra batteries. The inner tunnels seemed to get darker and darker. Finally we reached a sign. It read, in big red letters, "KEEP OUT."
So naturally, we went in.
And went we went into was a small tunnel. It wasn't big enough for us to stand up straight, but it wasn't so small that we had to crawl, either. We just bent over a little. "Wow. This tunnel goes on for a while, doesn't it?" James asked.
"Yeah. And I think it's getting smaller." Sure enough, the tunnel was minimizing pretty quickly. We ended up crawling. But the tunnel just kept going. That led me to believe that it just came to a dead end.
And here's something that'll surprise you: I was wrong. We came upon a small hole at the end, *just* big enough for us to squeeze through. I was glad that I had jeans on instead of my Rocket uniform. James wouldn't have had a problem, even if he hadn't been wearing jeans.
So we went through a came into a small cave. I was shining my flashlight in the opposite direction of James, so I didn't see what happened. I'm assuming he stubbed his toe, because all of a sudden I heard him yell. It went something like this: "AH!"
I whirled around to face him. "Don't yell! You can cause a…" The walls shook, "CAVE-IN!"
The cave walls began to crumble. All from one little yell. I saw a rock falling down toward me. I felt James grab my arm, then everything went black.
Chapter Four- Stuck
When I woke up, I felt something soft under my head. "What happened?" I said, hoping James was conscious.
"I, uh, didn't get you out of the way in time. A rock hit you in the head and you blinked out. You OK?" His voice was right over my aching head (our flashlights weren't on; I couldn't see a thing), so I concluded that I was laying in… uh, his lap.
I sat up. "If you take away the fact that my head feels like a semi ran over it, yeah, I'm fine." I looked around. Not that it helped much; everything was pitch-black. "Where's our flashlights?" I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hold your hand out." I did, in the direction of his voice. I felt something brush my hand, then he set a flashlight in it. "I don't know how well they work. I haven't tried them yet."
I flicked mine on. I glowed dimly for a second, then went out. "No good. Try yours." I waited. Nothing. "Did you try it?"
"Yeah. It didn't even come on."
I sighed. "Well, we're just going to have to find a way out of here by other means." Standing up, I stretched out my hands and felt for a wall. I heard James get up. I found a wall and began looking for an exit.
James was scuffling around. I could hear him. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"Don't move!" He said. "Now keep talking so I can find you."
"OK… um…" I heard him scramble around some more.
Then he said, "Is that you?"
"What?"
"Is my hand on your shoulder?"
"Uh, no."
"Eee! Oh, um, OK." More scuffling. Now I felt it. "How about now?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Whew! Good." I felt him come up to me. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a way out.
I wish I had… hey! Get another flashlight from Mondo!"
"It won't work."
"Huh?"
"Mondo's not behind me. While you were out cold, I went back for a pillow but he wasn't there." I blushed slightly at remembering waking up in his lap. Good thing it was dark.
"Oh." That got me worried. "So, what do we do now?"
"What you were doing just now. Look for a way out." He answered. So we continued looking. After about an hour, James said, "Found anything yet?"
"No. Believe me, if I had, you would've known."
"Oh. Where are you?"
"Over here."
"Where's- AH!" There was a splash, then, "Eee!" I heard a hissing sound, then a thump about a yard away from me. I headed for it. "Ow."
I almost tripped over him. "Sorry." I knelt down beside him. "What happened?" From what I could tell, he was doubled over on the ground.
He moaned in pain. "Hot. Very hot. I… I… fell into a Hot Springs, I think." He straightened out. "It was really hot. Ow."
I rolled my eyes. "Hence the name." I muttered. "C'mon, get up." I tried to help him up, but he was a limp deadweight. "James?"
"I… don't think I can get up, Jessie."
"Why not?"
"It really hurts…"
Sighing, I stood up. Knowing James, "really hurts" could mean a tiny scrape. "OK, fine. Where is this Hot Spring?"
"Over there."
"Oh, *that* tells me a lot. About how far from where I'm standing?"
"Where are you?" Something hit my ankle. James' hand, apparently. "Oh. Uh… maybe… 2 yards over thatta way?"
"*Thatta* way?"
"Uh… if you're facing me, turn… left. Go about two yards."
I turned left and slowly advanced. Suddenly, I felt a little slope. The edge of the springs, I gathered. I knelt down and felt the water. Gently. It *was* hot! That made me wonder how bad James really was hurt.
"Did you find it?" James' voice cam through the dark.
"Yeah. How bad did you get burned, James?"
"Uh… I dunno. Come see."
"See?"
"Well, just come here."
So I did, nearly tripping over him again. I sat down and said, "Where are you burned?"
"My side."
"Ooooo… K." I tried to find the burn. Found his face first, or rather my finger found his eye.
"Ow."
"Sorry." Hesitantly, I began to search. Not that I minded doing this; it's just that I don't know how much *he* minded. Eventually, I found it. A burn about the size of my palm, right below his left ribcage. "There it is."
"Ouch!"
"Yeah, I know. Hold still." I felt at it. It wasn't horrible, but it felt pretty bad.
"Ow! Hey, don't poke!"
"Sorry, sorry. I had to see how bad it was."
There was silence for a minute, then, "How bad *is* it?"
I sighed, then replied, "Somewhere between awful and OK." He heaved a loud sigh. I dug in the small pack that was still strapped around my waist and found some disinfectant. Oh, did I not mention the pack? We had first aid stuff, just in case.
Which reminded me…
I dug through some more and found a small flashlight. Flicking it on, I was delighted to see that it still worked!
"Hey, light!" James said. The flashlight may have been small, but it put out a powerful beam. Therefore, I could see James' wound better. It looked… pretty bad. A spot of charred skin and shirt on his side.
"Lemme see." James painfully sat up and looked down at his side. "Oh, nooo…" He moaned. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. I felt so sorry for him…
"It'll heal. You'll be all right." That was all I could give him (short of a kiss, but you can forget that). Being comforting is *not* my strong point, if you haven't noticed.
His eyes shot open and he grabbed my empty hand. "I won't have a scar, will I, Jessie?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why should it matter? It's not as if that many people are going to see it."
His expression changed. Fright and worry switched to… relief? "You mean, you wouldn't… think it was weird or anything?"
"Me? Well, no, because I'd know how you got it." I gently touched the burn. "Besides, even if it *does* leave a scar, it wouldn't be a very big one. Now, hold still." I poured the medicine on the burn.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" He yelled.
Clamping my hand over his mouth, I coarsely whispered, "Quiet! You wanna cause another cave-in?" His eyes widened and he shook his head. "OK then." I removed my hand. "Hold still and keep quiet. Take it like a man." As I poured more, the burn bubbled and James winced. "It's OK…" I said.
After I dabbed the excess disinfectant away, I said, "Do you want the bandage over or, um, under your shirt?"
"Under." He said. I nodded and set the little flashlight down. Thank badness for bendy-neck flashlights! James slowly pulled his T-shirt over his head. It looked like it hurt him to do it. The burn looked even worse without the shirt around it. It was a big-OK, so not *that* big-blotch in the middle of otherwise smooth skin.
I wrapped the bandage around him four or five times… which wasn't exactly the *worst* thing I've ever experienced. Actually, I rather liked being in that close of quarters with him… But anyway! As I was tearing the bandage, James said suddenly, "Your head's bleeding!"
"Huh?" My hand went up to my head, where I felt something wet. Strange, it didn't hurt that much. "Hmm. Guess I'll have to bandage myself, too."
I began to pour the medicine, but James stopped me. "Let me." He offered. Hey, no problem. So I let him. He was… surprisingly gentle. I was rather aware that he hadn't put his shirt on yet…
After he was done, he put a bandage on *my* head. Then he pulled his shirt over his hair. "Thanks." He said as he smoothed it down. "For helping me."
"No problem. What are friends for?" A strange look came into his eyes when I said that. It's the only time I've ever seen anyone look happy and sad at the same time. "Anyway," I said, "You helped me, too. That's thanks enough." Now it was pure happiness. "What time is it?"
James checked his watch. "Almost 1:00."
"Wow. No wonder I'm so sleepy. Time to hit the sack, huh?" 1:00? How long had I been unconscious? Had James watched me and… held me the entire time? My gut felt weird at the thought.
"Yeah." We began to try and get comfortable. I sat to the right of him, so I wouldn't upset his burn if I moved in the night. Not that I was *planning* on sleeping *that* close to him…
But I ended up that way. Right up next to him, with… uh… his arm around me. I was just about to get goosebumps. I don't know exactly *how* we ended up like that; it just happened. But it was comfortable. *Really* comfortable…
Chapter Five- Rescue
I must have slept for ten hours straight, because when I awoke and asked James what time it was, he said 11:00.
My head ached *horribly*. Ever feel like there was a Snorlax rolling around in your head? That's what it felt like. "Oh, my head…" I moaned. James immediately came over to me and gave me a pain pill from my pack. It helped a lot.
"How's your side, James?" I asked him. He was sitting across from me. When he shrugged, I said, "Let's see." There went his shirt again. While I unwrapped the bandage and checked him up, I thought about the dream I had had the night before.
In my dream, I was sleeping in the cave next to James, just like in real life. But I woke up (in my dream) and I was really wigged out about something. James was awake, and obviously worried about me when I woke up. "Shhh…" He said, trying to calm me down. "It's OK."
With that, he slid the arm that had been around my shoulders down to my waist. Then he bent down and gave me a gentle kiss.
Needless to say, that calmed me down.
I didn't realize that I had stopped bandaging him until James said, "Are you OK, Jessie?" I snapped my head up to look at him.
"Uh, yeah. Just… thinking."
He nodded. "About what?" I blushed.
"Uh, just… um, a dream I had last night." He grinned and nodded again.
"Oh." After I finished patching him up, he said, "Your turn." And unwrapped the bandage on my head. I couldn't meet his gaze when he asked me, "What did you dream?"
"Uh…" I really didn't want to tell him. What would he think? So I just said, "I dreamed about being here. In the cave."
He finished up and studied me. "And?"
"And what?"
He grinned again. "And what happened? Anything? Or were you just in the cave?"
I sighed. No way out of this one, I guess. I stood up, turned around, and took three steps away before telling him the *whole* thing. About a minute passed in silence. Then, curious to see what he was doing, I turned around to find him standing *right in front of me*. I could feel a blush creep onto my cheeks.
"You wanna know a secret?" He said confidentially. I nodded shakily. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist slowly, which made my heart leap up into my throat. Then he bent his head down and whispered softly, "That was no dream."
My eyes widened, but before I could say anything, James put a finger to my lips, then replaced his finger with *his* lips. I was sure he could hear my heart beating. I sure could.
Just as we separated (at the mouth, anyway), a section of the wall crumbled. We jumped away from each other and watched as a rescue crew came in. "You kids all right?"
We nodded and gathered our stuff. When we stepped outside, the sunlight blinded us. Well, not literally. "We would have gotten you out sooner," one of the rescue workers explained to us as James put his shirt on, "but we couldn't identify where the cave went in." Then he gave us a hard look. "From now on, I'd advise you to keep out when a sign says so." We nodded and, after assuring him that we were fine, went on our way.
As we entered camp, James said, "Well, what do you wanna do for the rest of the week?"
I sighed and flopped down on my sleeping bag. "Oh, I don't know." He lay down on his side next to me and propped his head up on his hand. I mirrored him. "Nothing sounds too great right now."
His eyebrow went up. "*Nothing*?" I laughed and lay back down on my back.
"Not really, no." James nodded. Then he leaned over me. We looked into each other's eyes for a minute, then he kissed me again.
*Now* I couldn't have been happier.
The End
By: Jessica R Vance
Rating: Um... G, I guess... I usually don't go past PG-13.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, capesh? So don't say, 'Hey! She can't do that!' K?
Summary: Uh... J & J get stuck in a cave for a day... you get the idea...
Feedback: Sure, why not? JessicaVance@lovelornpoet.com... but please don't flame me unless you have a reason for it. No "You sucked" and move on, please! ^_^
In The Cave
Chapter One- Tired
What a day. We "blasted off"... twice. We landed rather painfully... twice. And we failed... again.
Business as usual.
Reformation was looking better and better. As my blue-haired comrade once observed, "The heroes always get the breaks."
Boy, was he right.
All I wanted right now was rest. Being tired usually made me cranky, but right now, I was too tired to be cranky. Tells you something, huh? So I just wanted to rest for a while. Any other time, I would want loads of other things, but this was not any other time. So I just wanted to rest. Not sleep. Rest.
So I rested. And thought. Not about how we could catch Pikachu, like I normally do, but about other stuff… like betterment. I'm serious. I, Jessie, of Team Rocket, the ultimate secret underground crime organization, considered "going good". And it's not like the thought just fluttered through my mind, either. Thoughts *do not* "flutter" through my head, thank you very much.
I actually gave some real thought to the idea. For about a half-hour. Where James and Meowth were, I couldn't tell you. After serious regard to the matter, I decided that I'd better just stay bad for now. It would be better for me. And James, who came over to me. "Can we talk?"
"Sure. About what?" He sat down next to me. I was sprawled on the grass. Un-Jessie-like, I know, but hey! I was tired. Being exhausted does things to people.
"I've been thinking…" James began. Uh-oh. "Would you mind very much if we were to… I don't know, uh… well…"
"Spit it out, James." I prompted. Why can't he just *say* stuff to me?
"Well, um… do you think that maybe… we could… become good guys?"
Huh? Had I heard right? James and I must have some sort of psychic connection. We say stuff at the same time, we think the same thing, and we do things in unison *all the time*. Amazing. "I don't know, James. Where would we go? What would we do?"
"Maybe we could go with those kids. They might let us." He said, apparently excited that I had halfway agreed with his idea.
"Yeah…" I still had my doubts.
"So… what do you say? You wanna?"
"I need to think, OK, James?"
He looked up at me with those big green eyes and said, "OK. Whatever you want."
I found myself at a small lake a few minutes later. There, I made a decision. I couldn't go through with it. I was just… too bad at heart. James could go if he wanted, but… I felt a small stab of pain at the thought. He wouldn't… would he? I didn't hear him come up behind me. I was too drained of energy to jump when he laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "You all right?"
But I was perfectly able to feel my pulse quicken when he pulled me into a hug. It was at that moment that I realized that I didn't want him to let go. I suppose now that I've always known, but I'd just never admitted it to myself.
"I'm just tired James, that's all." 'Don't let go,' I thought, 'Don't let go…'
He did. But he held onto my upper arms, like I was going to run away or something. That's a laugh. "Did you decide?" He asked softly. I nodded. "And?"
I shook my head. "I can't. I'm sorry…" I began.
"Don't be." He said, pulling me back into his arms. I felt so safe there…
"Then again," I said, "I'm really exhausted. I might not be thinking right" I felt him shake his head.
"No. We just need… a break. We'll take a few days off." He suggested. He read my mind, as usual. "Then we'll be ready to…"
"Catch Pikachu." We said in unison. Amazing.
Chapter Two- What to Do? What to Do?
A whole week off! I was thrilled! The Boss must've been in a great mood. I wouldn't know; I didn't call him. James was sweet enough to do that for me. Meowth, for some odd reason, said that he'd decided to take a vacation from us. Who knows where he went. Oh, well. I didn't really care if he left or not.So it was just James and me. I couldn't have been happier. Well actually, scratch that. I might have been happier if we had had a bit more cash, but that's beside the point. Right then, the main thing on my mind was what James and I were going to *do* with a whole week off.
The beach?
Nah.
Secluded cabin in the woods?
Got that already. Heh heh.
Mountain retreat?
No.
Well, that presented us with a poser. Neither of us had a clue as to what we wanted to do. We finally settled on lounging around until we thought of something. So we did.
Then it hit me. "What about going cave exploring?"
"What about what?"
"Cave exploring. You go and explore caves. That's why it's called that."
"OK. Hmmm…" He thought about it. As I watched him do so, I noticed his right eyebrow raise and his left one lower. Cute.
"Sounds great!" So we grabbed some gear (courtesy of Mondo) and headed to the caves by the river.
* * *
Into the cave we went. We brought out our color-coded flashlights (mine red, his blue, naturally) and began to explore.
Chapter Three- The Cave
"Wow. This is a big cave."
"No kidding."
"Hey Jess? What if there's a cave-in, and we get stuck, and there's no food?" I swear, James sounded like a worried little kid.
"Calm down, James. There won't be a cave-in, and even if there is, Mondo's got food, right?" James nodded. Mondo lives behind James' back (most the time) and lets him pull stuff from behind himself. Food included.
"OK, what now?" We had reached a fork in the caverns. The right trail led down a long corridor that had a small light at the end. It led outside. The left one, however…
"Well we know where this one," I gestured to the right tunnel, "leads, so…" We nodded at each other and headed to the left.
* * *
We had taken several forks and were now deep inside the cave. Good thing we had extra batteries. The inner tunnels seemed to get darker and darker. Finally we reached a sign. It read, in big red letters, "KEEP OUT."
So naturally, we went in.
And went we went into was a small tunnel. It wasn't big enough for us to stand up straight, but it wasn't so small that we had to crawl, either. We just bent over a little. "Wow. This tunnel goes on for a while, doesn't it?" James asked.
"Yeah. And I think it's getting smaller." Sure enough, the tunnel was minimizing pretty quickly. We ended up crawling. But the tunnel just kept going. That led me to believe that it just came to a dead end.
And here's something that'll surprise you: I was wrong. We came upon a small hole at the end, *just* big enough for us to squeeze through. I was glad that I had jeans on instead of my Rocket uniform. James wouldn't have had a problem, even if he hadn't been wearing jeans.
So we went through a came into a small cave. I was shining my flashlight in the opposite direction of James, so I didn't see what happened. I'm assuming he stubbed his toe, because all of a sudden I heard him yell. It went something like this: "AH!"
I whirled around to face him. "Don't yell! You can cause a…" The walls shook, "CAVE-IN!"
The cave walls began to crumble. All from one little yell. I saw a rock falling down toward me. I felt James grab my arm, then everything went black.
Chapter Four- Stuck
When I woke up, I felt something soft under my head. "What happened?" I said, hoping James was conscious.
"I, uh, didn't get you out of the way in time. A rock hit you in the head and you blinked out. You OK?" His voice was right over my aching head (our flashlights weren't on; I couldn't see a thing), so I concluded that I was laying in… uh, his lap.
I sat up. "If you take away the fact that my head feels like a semi ran over it, yeah, I'm fine." I looked around. Not that it helped much; everything was pitch-black. "Where's our flashlights?" I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hold your hand out." I did, in the direction of his voice. I felt something brush my hand, then he set a flashlight in it. "I don't know how well they work. I haven't tried them yet."
I flicked mine on. I glowed dimly for a second, then went out. "No good. Try yours." I waited. Nothing. "Did you try it?"
"Yeah. It didn't even come on."
I sighed. "Well, we're just going to have to find a way out of here by other means." Standing up, I stretched out my hands and felt for a wall. I heard James get up. I found a wall and began looking for an exit.
James was scuffling around. I could hear him. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"Don't move!" He said. "Now keep talking so I can find you."
"OK… um…" I heard him scramble around some more.
Then he said, "Is that you?"
"What?"
"Is my hand on your shoulder?"
"Uh, no."
"Eee! Oh, um, OK." More scuffling. Now I felt it. "How about now?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Whew! Good." I felt him come up to me. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a way out.
I wish I had… hey! Get another flashlight from Mondo!"
"It won't work."
"Huh?"
"Mondo's not behind me. While you were out cold, I went back for a pillow but he wasn't there." I blushed slightly at remembering waking up in his lap. Good thing it was dark.
"Oh." That got me worried. "So, what do we do now?"
"What you were doing just now. Look for a way out." He answered. So we continued looking. After about an hour, James said, "Found anything yet?"
"No. Believe me, if I had, you would've known."
"Oh. Where are you?"
"Over here."
"Where's- AH!" There was a splash, then, "Eee!" I heard a hissing sound, then a thump about a yard away from me. I headed for it. "Ow."
I almost tripped over him. "Sorry." I knelt down beside him. "What happened?" From what I could tell, he was doubled over on the ground.
He moaned in pain. "Hot. Very hot. I… I… fell into a Hot Springs, I think." He straightened out. "It was really hot. Ow."
I rolled my eyes. "Hence the name." I muttered. "C'mon, get up." I tried to help him up, but he was a limp deadweight. "James?"
"I… don't think I can get up, Jessie."
"Why not?"
"It really hurts…"
Sighing, I stood up. Knowing James, "really hurts" could mean a tiny scrape. "OK, fine. Where is this Hot Spring?"
"Over there."
"Oh, *that* tells me a lot. About how far from where I'm standing?"
"Where are you?" Something hit my ankle. James' hand, apparently. "Oh. Uh… maybe… 2 yards over thatta way?"
"*Thatta* way?"
"Uh… if you're facing me, turn… left. Go about two yards."
I turned left and slowly advanced. Suddenly, I felt a little slope. The edge of the springs, I gathered. I knelt down and felt the water. Gently. It *was* hot! That made me wonder how bad James really was hurt.
"Did you find it?" James' voice cam through the dark.
"Yeah. How bad did you get burned, James?"
"Uh… I dunno. Come see."
"See?"
"Well, just come here."
So I did, nearly tripping over him again. I sat down and said, "Where are you burned?"
"My side."
"Ooooo… K." I tried to find the burn. Found his face first, or rather my finger found his eye.
"Ow."
"Sorry." Hesitantly, I began to search. Not that I minded doing this; it's just that I don't know how much *he* minded. Eventually, I found it. A burn about the size of my palm, right below his left ribcage. "There it is."
"Ouch!"
"Yeah, I know. Hold still." I felt at it. It wasn't horrible, but it felt pretty bad.
"Ow! Hey, don't poke!"
"Sorry, sorry. I had to see how bad it was."
There was silence for a minute, then, "How bad *is* it?"
I sighed, then replied, "Somewhere between awful and OK." He heaved a loud sigh. I dug in the small pack that was still strapped around my waist and found some disinfectant. Oh, did I not mention the pack? We had first aid stuff, just in case.
Which reminded me…
I dug through some more and found a small flashlight. Flicking it on, I was delighted to see that it still worked!
"Hey, light!" James said. The flashlight may have been small, but it put out a powerful beam. Therefore, I could see James' wound better. It looked… pretty bad. A spot of charred skin and shirt on his side.
"Lemme see." James painfully sat up and looked down at his side. "Oh, nooo…" He moaned. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. I felt so sorry for him…
"It'll heal. You'll be all right." That was all I could give him (short of a kiss, but you can forget that). Being comforting is *not* my strong point, if you haven't noticed.
His eyes shot open and he grabbed my empty hand. "I won't have a scar, will I, Jessie?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why should it matter? It's not as if that many people are going to see it."
His expression changed. Fright and worry switched to… relief? "You mean, you wouldn't… think it was weird or anything?"
"Me? Well, no, because I'd know how you got it." I gently touched the burn. "Besides, even if it *does* leave a scar, it wouldn't be a very big one. Now, hold still." I poured the medicine on the burn.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" He yelled.
Clamping my hand over his mouth, I coarsely whispered, "Quiet! You wanna cause another cave-in?" His eyes widened and he shook his head. "OK then." I removed my hand. "Hold still and keep quiet. Take it like a man." As I poured more, the burn bubbled and James winced. "It's OK…" I said.
After I dabbed the excess disinfectant away, I said, "Do you want the bandage over or, um, under your shirt?"
"Under." He said. I nodded and set the little flashlight down. Thank badness for bendy-neck flashlights! James slowly pulled his T-shirt over his head. It looked like it hurt him to do it. The burn looked even worse without the shirt around it. It was a big-OK, so not *that* big-blotch in the middle of otherwise smooth skin.
I wrapped the bandage around him four or five times… which wasn't exactly the *worst* thing I've ever experienced. Actually, I rather liked being in that close of quarters with him… But anyway! As I was tearing the bandage, James said suddenly, "Your head's bleeding!"
"Huh?" My hand went up to my head, where I felt something wet. Strange, it didn't hurt that much. "Hmm. Guess I'll have to bandage myself, too."
I began to pour the medicine, but James stopped me. "Let me." He offered. Hey, no problem. So I let him. He was… surprisingly gentle. I was rather aware that he hadn't put his shirt on yet…
After he was done, he put a bandage on *my* head. Then he pulled his shirt over his hair. "Thanks." He said as he smoothed it down. "For helping me."
"No problem. What are friends for?" A strange look came into his eyes when I said that. It's the only time I've ever seen anyone look happy and sad at the same time. "Anyway," I said, "You helped me, too. That's thanks enough." Now it was pure happiness. "What time is it?"
James checked his watch. "Almost 1:00."
"Wow. No wonder I'm so sleepy. Time to hit the sack, huh?" 1:00? How long had I been unconscious? Had James watched me and… held me the entire time? My gut felt weird at the thought.
"Yeah." We began to try and get comfortable. I sat to the right of him, so I wouldn't upset his burn if I moved in the night. Not that I was *planning* on sleeping *that* close to him…
But I ended up that way. Right up next to him, with… uh… his arm around me. I was just about to get goosebumps. I don't know exactly *how* we ended up like that; it just happened. But it was comfortable. *Really* comfortable…
Chapter Five- Rescue
I must have slept for ten hours straight, because when I awoke and asked James what time it was, he said 11:00.
My head ached *horribly*. Ever feel like there was a Snorlax rolling around in your head? That's what it felt like. "Oh, my head…" I moaned. James immediately came over to me and gave me a pain pill from my pack. It helped a lot.
"How's your side, James?" I asked him. He was sitting across from me. When he shrugged, I said, "Let's see." There went his shirt again. While I unwrapped the bandage and checked him up, I thought about the dream I had had the night before.
In my dream, I was sleeping in the cave next to James, just like in real life. But I woke up (in my dream) and I was really wigged out about something. James was awake, and obviously worried about me when I woke up. "Shhh…" He said, trying to calm me down. "It's OK."
With that, he slid the arm that had been around my shoulders down to my waist. Then he bent down and gave me a gentle kiss.
Needless to say, that calmed me down.
I didn't realize that I had stopped bandaging him until James said, "Are you OK, Jessie?" I snapped my head up to look at him.
"Uh, yeah. Just… thinking."
He nodded. "About what?" I blushed.
"Uh, just… um, a dream I had last night." He grinned and nodded again.
"Oh." After I finished patching him up, he said, "Your turn." And unwrapped the bandage on my head. I couldn't meet his gaze when he asked me, "What did you dream?"
"Uh…" I really didn't want to tell him. What would he think? So I just said, "I dreamed about being here. In the cave."
He finished up and studied me. "And?"
"And what?"
He grinned again. "And what happened? Anything? Or were you just in the cave?"
I sighed. No way out of this one, I guess. I stood up, turned around, and took three steps away before telling him the *whole* thing. About a minute passed in silence. Then, curious to see what he was doing, I turned around to find him standing *right in front of me*. I could feel a blush creep onto my cheeks.
"You wanna know a secret?" He said confidentially. I nodded shakily. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist slowly, which made my heart leap up into my throat. Then he bent his head down and whispered softly, "That was no dream."
My eyes widened, but before I could say anything, James put a finger to my lips, then replaced his finger with *his* lips. I was sure he could hear my heart beating. I sure could.
Just as we separated (at the mouth, anyway), a section of the wall crumbled. We jumped away from each other and watched as a rescue crew came in. "You kids all right?"
We nodded and gathered our stuff. When we stepped outside, the sunlight blinded us. Well, not literally. "We would have gotten you out sooner," one of the rescue workers explained to us as James put his shirt on, "but we couldn't identify where the cave went in." Then he gave us a hard look. "From now on, I'd advise you to keep out when a sign says so." We nodded and, after assuring him that we were fine, went on our way.
As we entered camp, James said, "Well, what do you wanna do for the rest of the week?"
I sighed and flopped down on my sleeping bag. "Oh, I don't know." He lay down on his side next to me and propped his head up on his hand. I mirrored him. "Nothing sounds too great right now."
His eyebrow went up. "*Nothing*?" I laughed and lay back down on my back.
"Not really, no." James nodded. Then he leaned over me. We looked into each other's eyes for a minute, then he kissed me again.
*Now* I couldn't have been happier.
The End