Chapter 6

Fever

Day 70: Late afternoon

Daley ran to the beach where Lex lay faster than she had ever ran in her life. Nathan, weakened by his withdrawal symptoms was barely keeping pace and Taylor was lagging behind. In fairness, she'd already been running all afternoon, trying to keep Lex occupied. Daley skidded to a stop as she came across the small form laying on the beach. She went down on her knees beside him and listened as she lay a hand on her stepbrother's face.

Her hand seemed to be scorched as she touched the hot skin of the Latino boy. Damn. I was afraid it would be something like this; he's burning up with fever. We better get him to shelter, fast. Suddenly, she realized he was mumbling something. Taylor had mentioned that he had been trying to talk after his collapse. A bitter flicker of amusement rose within her as she realized she had no problem understanding him. She's grown up speaking Spanish, especially since a quarter of her family fit that description. Funny how many people forget that Marin isn't an English last name, she thought distractedly as Nathan and Taylor caught up.

" Taylor, you had me scared to death about his speaking in tongues or whatever. You've lived in Los Angeles county your whole life and you don't understand Spanish? He's talking about his dad, " she said witheringly. Forcing her irritation down, she told them, "We need to get him up to the shelter so we can try to get his fever down and figure out what caused it."

Shortly, they had ensconced the fevered child in one of the tents , by the shade of the nearby trees. Nathan had went to bring the big first aid kit up from the boat while Daley and Taylor tried to make Lex comfortable. He had finally roused after they had put his on top of his sleeping bag and Daley as beginning to question him about how he felt in order to try to narrow the possibilities down.

" Why didn't you tell anyone you were feeling nauseous all morning Lex?" his stepsister asked as she sat down beside the sweating child.

" Because I thought it was just me being nervous after Nathan tried to kill himself." he responded sharply. Realizing that, he added in a more moderate tone, " And you know I still get kind of seasick when we're in still waters. I don't know why waves don't bother me much. Plus, I just got tired of being atched after, all the time."

" You should have said something Lex, " Taylor reached over to lay a gentle hand on his arm, " I was trying to cheer you up, not run a sick kid into the dirt, " she said, shaking her head regretfully.

" What are your symptoms Lex?" Daley asked briskly.

" I'm hot, obviously, " he said with a weak smile as he mopped seat from his forehead, " but I started out cold, for most of last night, then I started to get hot. And I ache all over. Plus, I threw up right after we found the spot for the latrine."

" I wondered here you had gone off too. I was busy with Nate and the others were gearing up to leave, I should have been paying attention, but you know the rules Lex; you're not supposed to be alone in case on of those things turns up."

The boy had a grimace on his face, " I hate having to announce when I have to go. It's humiliating."

" Would you rather be eaten or humiliated?" Daley asked reasonably.

Lex flopped back and looked up at the tent's roof as he answered:" I get the point Day."

The tent's flap opened just then and Nathan slid in , the large first aid bag that they had somehow managed to hang onto the entire time in his hands. He was wringing wet with sweat and looked on the verge of collapse. His usually springy hair was almost limp.

He collapsed onto Daley's nearby sleeping bag, breathing heavily, " Here it is , " he panted, "man, I didn't realize just how bad I felt until I tried running."

" Thanks Nathan, " Daley said as she dove into the bag, getting Abby's anatomy and physiology book out along with the first aid manual. " we need to try to track down what's wrong ith Lex, like we did when Jackson got sick."

In an aggrieved tone, Lex spoke up: " It's probably the flu. All of the symptoms are about right."

" Thank you Doctor Marin, Daley reproached him gently, " You know it's never a good idea to diagnose yourself." Her eyes grew dark for a moment as memories of her dead mother flickered behind her aquamarine eyes. She had kept telling Daley and her dad it was only arthritis until the biopsies had proven conclusively it was bone cancer.

" I'm going to got up the beach and see if I see any sign of the others." Taylor announced, rising up from her spot by Lex, " I'll try to hurry them up. We need Mel; she's good at all the medical stuff." The blonde patted Lex's arm and left the tent as Daley began questioning Lex.

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One Hour Earlier

" It's a good thing there's no cops here or we'd all get busted for indecent exposure." Jackson said , looking at Mel and Eric, both as nude as he himself.

" You worry too much man, " Eric said drowsily. The recent activities had tired him out in a most pleasant and enjoyable way. Every inch of his body felt like it should been glowing from the lingering pleasure. He flinched slightly as Mel ran a slim, cool hand up his thigh, causing him to jerk slightly. " Dammit, I should have never told you I was ticklish." he growled.

Mel laughed , " Like Cody said, we don't have any secrets left. May as well enjoy ourselves. Everyone on this island has been expecting us to do this. And, " her voice suddenly got a dark overtone to it, " it's not like you and Cody can get one another pregnant. Or me."

Mel had told them about that when, at literally the last possible second, Jackson had pulled back long enough to mention it. She had told him hat Doctor Watson had told her as they had gathered the rare tarasia plant needed for the Subversion and Perversion drugs.

" What would be the point of taking pleasure enhancing drugs for females if you wound up pregnant? After all, no birth control is completely foolproof. Of course , the drawback is, after a large enough dosage, permanent sterility will occur, in men or women. You can't have your cake and eat it too, my dear Ms. Wu, " the monster had told her with his oh so charming smile.

And if any three people on Earth have had more Subversion than us, especially Cody and Eric, I'd hate to meet them.

It was the simple truth. Both the men of her life had been given the drug time after time. Bob Russell had given Jackson so much that even as he was being literally raped and tortured to death, he'd begged for more pain, more sex. And Eric had gotten nearly as much. She'd been exposed twice to it as well. As they had briefly talked about it, the guys had been blunt.

"I do want kids one day, but I want you to now." had been Eric's comment.

Jackson had been both more mature and contemplative. " When we get home, we'll have to see a doctor about it. All we can do until then is love each other. We damn ell earned the right . I want kids too, but that's for another time." And with that, it had become a forgotten topic as the hormones ruled them for a glorious hour.

Mel, awed at her own daring, reached over and gently tugged at two patches of hair that weren't on the guys heads to get their attention. With a sigh, sexy new carefree Mel took a break and the old reliable Mel came to the fore.

" We need to get dressed and check the caves out."

Eric moaned, " Aww, I was hoping for one more round," sitting up to caress Mel's shoulders.

Jackson stood up, a look of regret on his face , " I kinda was myself, but she's right, We're using up daylight." He reached down and began gathering his clothes as Eric sighed in resignation.

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Two hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set, an excited threesome hit the beach from the edge of the jungle. They saw the tent set up off in the distance and began to head that way. It as harder than it had been earlier because they ere no each carrying not one but two backpacks. They also sported different clothes than when they had left. They had crossed nearly a third of the distance when Taylor came running at them.

" Uh oh," Eric said in alarm, " Taylor doesn't run unless something's wrong." He slid one backpack down to the white sand as the blonde rapidly approached.

He's right about that. Shit, now what? Jackson thought as he went up to meet the young woman as she slid to a halt in front of them. She put her hands on her knees and blurted, " We need Mel at the camp Now! Pee Wee is sick and the signs are pointing towards the flu or malaria.' She suddenly did a double take, looking at the brilliant gold and green shirt Mel had on, " Hey, I like that. Hre did it come from? For that matter, you're all wearing ne clothes. What gives, is there a store here?!" she looked hopeful.

Mel took off without a word towards the tent.

Jackson spoke as he took off at a jog, "We found Russell's stash here. We'll talk later. Let's get to Lex now."

The three took off at a feverish pace to see to the well being of the boy who was a brother to them all.