"Natalie?!" Ian ran away from Amy and into the woods.

"Ian!" Amy called after him. She sat up, gripping her forehead from the excruciating pain pulsing underneath. She cried out as she tried to stand. One of the boys came over and helped her lie back down. The boy was about her age with sandy colored hair and green eyes. A dash of freckles decorated his nose and his teeth were white and slightly crooked as he smiled.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine," Amy said, cursing herself for stuttering.

"Do you need anything? he asked.

"Water would be nice," she said faintly. The boy nodded and headed off to retrieve clean water.

Amy found herself smiling. She shook her head, causing her to become slightly dizzy. What am I thinking? she scolded herself. I have Ian. Amy's eyes widened. Ian. Is he okay? What if he's hurt? Where is Dan?

"Here's your water," the boy said as he returned with clean water in a leaf. Amy drained the water and handed the leaf back to the boy.

"More?" he asked.

"No, that's okay. Thanks." She smiled up at the boy.

"My name's Derrick, by the way." The boy stuck out his hand.

"Amy." She took his hand and shook it.

Just then, Dan and Ian came crashing out of the woods, Ian holding Natalie in his arms. She was crying loudly, clutching at her hand. Amy could see that it was oozing. Amy covered her mouth to stop herself from vomiting.

"Somebody bloody help!" Ian yelled. Derrick ran over and took Natalie from Ian. He set her on the ground near the fire and examined her hand.

"Snake bite," he muttered to himself. He grabbed a nearby leaf and ran to the ocean to soak it. He ran back and pressed it to the would. Natalie screamed and tried writhing her arm away. Derrick held her wrist tightly as he continued to press the now pus-filled leaf to her hand.

"Stop moving," he said forcefully. She stopped and bit her lip to keep from crying out. Derrick removed the leaf and retrieved another.

"Does anyone have a rubber band?" Derrick yelled.

"I do!" a little girl said. She ran over and handed him a hot pink scrunchie. He tied it around Natalie's hand to keep the leaf in place.

"Just leave the leaf on for a couple of hours and we'll clean it some more later so it'll stop oozing." He smiled at Natalie and stood. He walked back over to Amy and said, "If you need anything, let me know." He grinned and walked back over to a group of people, most likely his family.

Amy blushed as Ian came over and sat beside her. "Will she be okay?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. That kid helped her." Ian glanced at her. "Do you need anything? How's your foot?"

Amy looked down at her foot. It was oozing like Natalie's hand and turning purple. "Not well. It hurts a lot."

"Let me get that kid to look at it." Ian started to get up.

"No!" Amy blurted. Ian looked at her quizzically. "I-I mean, I can do it."

"You can hardly stand." Ian looked at her with a worried expression in his eyes.

"Fine. Go get him." Amy crossed her arms over her chest.

Ian raised an eyebrow and turned in the direction of Derrick's family.

I can fix my stupid foot by myself, Amy said stubbornly. All Derrick did was put a stupid leaf on Natalie's hand. How hard can it be?

Amy dragged her body over to a nearby leaf. She winced at the pain in her foot and the nonstop pulsing in her head. She kept moving, using her arms as anchors. She reached the leaf and grabbed it. She looked to the ocean. It was a bit away from where she lay. Amy groaned and laid her head down on the sand.

Derrick came over, Ian behind him. Derrick raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He took the leaf gently from Amy and walked over to the ocean. He soaked it, came back, and secured it with a piece of string.

"Thank you," Ian said, patting Derrick on the back.

"No problem, man." He grinned at Amy and left.

"How does it feel?" Ian asked.

Amy tore her eyes from Derrick's receding back and looked at Ian. "It feels better, but my head is still killing me."

Ian bent down and picked her up. He carried her back over to where she was and set her down gently.

"Try to get some sleep," he said. "It'll be dark soon." He glanced at the setting sun.

Amy nodded and curled her body into a sleeping position. Ian stroked her strawberry-blond hair. Amy smiled as she closed her eyes and dozed off into a deep sleep. Her smile vanished, however, when she saw who was invading her dreams. Derrick.