"Are we nearly there?" Zane asked as Lewis took in his bearings.
"It's just up ahead!" Lewis yelled over the storm. Bolt lightening darted across the sky and a deafening rumble of thunder sounded as the rain lashed against them. "They're there!" He yelled again as they approached the beach.
Lewis jumped into the shallow water and waded over as Zane attempted to drag the boat onto the beach.
Rikki sat up as Lewis reached them, "The hut Lewis! You and Zane need to carry her and get her dry!"
Lewis nodded as Zane ran over looking panicked, Lewis reached under Emma's arms and Zane attempted to gently carry her tail.
"Watch her head!" Cleo sobbed as they moved away towards the hut.
Rikki shuffled up and gripped Cleo into a hug, hoping the rain would disguise her own tears.
Zane and Lewis ran back towards them, "We need to get you inside guys, who first?"
"Take Cleo, I'm fine." Rikki said, smiling weakly. She sat and waited for them to come back for her, and attempted to get herself composed. 'Come on Rikki, get a grip.' She told herself.
"Are you alright?" Zane asked her as they reached the inside of the hut, it smelt like mould and wafts of rotting fish kept tainting their nostrils. Holding out her hand and nodding, Rikki then proceeded to dry herself, Cleo, Emma, then Lewis and lastly Zane.
He took her outstretched hand and squeezed but Rikki didn't squeeze back, feeling numb.
"What are we gonna do?" Cleo asked, holding Emma's limp hand, stroking it gently.
"We could take her back with the boat?" Zane suggested.
"She's too heavy with her tail and then plus me, and this storms not letting up at all, there's no way we can keep her dry."
"We could swim with her." Cleo shrugged.
"She's got an open wound, there's too many sharks, they'll be on us in a second." Rikki replied. "I think we're gonna have to wait this one out, how's she doing? Is that an option?"
Lewis looked down at Emma as he checked her pulse and nodded. "Her pulse is a little fast but I've stopped the bleeding. Her legs are really banged up though."
Rikki moved over towards Emma and knelt down next to her head, and stroked her hair.
"You're gonna be ok Em." She whispered, there was an odd silence as the storm raged above them.

_______

Cleo sat in Lewis arms in the corner looking pale and occasionally glancing over to Emma who was still unconscious. Rikki leant against the wall next to Emma's head and Zane sat next to her.
"What's going on with you Rikki?" He finally asked.
"What do you mean, what's going on with me?"
"Sometimes I'm not sure if you love me or hate me, and it doesn't seem like you're sure either."
"I don't hate you, of course I don't."
"But you don't love me?"
"I do."
"But?"
"There isn't a but, I just do."
"Well what's going on then, why are you always so angry at everyone?"
Rikki bit her lip.
"Just drop it."
"You see, any time I bring up anything remotely sensitive you close up. Why won't you let me get close? Why won't you let anyone get close?"
"I-it's not, I-." Rikki began to stutter and then fell silent noticing that Cleo and Lewis were watching her.
"Do you feel the same, like I close up?" She asked them, her eyes glistening with tears. 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry'. She repeated to herself swallowing as the lump rose in her throat and her head began to ache in an attempt to block the emotion.
"I think, that you have your reasons for being how you are, it's just sometimes it seems like you're trying to keep everyone at arms length."
Rikki's lip was trembling, despite her best effort to stop it. She felt trapped, unable to go outside all eyes on her.
"Everyone let's you down in the end, people die, leave, lie, the further away people are from me, the better off I am and the better off they are." She concluded.
"Have we ever let you down?" Cleo asked, also close to tears.
Rikki sat and thought, they hadn't, but was that because she'd not given the opportunity to let her down or because they wouldn't.
"No. I'm sorry." She said, allowing the tears to fall from her eyes. She gasped as she felt a hand grab her ankle.
"Em, are you ok? How are you feeling?" Rikki said moving forward right next to Emma's head.
"Sore..." She croaked. "I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't talk to us about anything Rikki."
Rikki shook her head; "Shh, you don't need to talk about that now. Are you in a lot of pain?"
Emma was breathing oddly, and nodded, her body was shaking with every breath. "We need to get out of here."
"But the storms still-" Zane began but stopped as he noticed the three girls moving closer together.
"Are you sure?" Lewis asked Emma and nodded again raising her hands in unison to the sky above them, fingers clenching.
The storm crashed one last time, then proceeded to die away as soon as it had come. Emma let out a little moan and her eyes flickered as she lost her battle with consciousness for the third time that day.

____