Bailey continued to look around the perimeter of the hole and tried to spot Cody.

"Cody!"

Still no response. Hot tears formed in Bailey's eyes and threatened to spill onto the soft ground.

"Cody!"

Finally, there came a moan from the blank darkness

"Cody? Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"Yeah…My left leg is sore and I have a cut on my right arm."

"Okay. Hold on, Cody. I'm going to come down. How far are you down?"

"Five or six feet."

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Okay."

Bailey stood up and wiped away her tears. Then she found a way to climb down the hole carefully. When she reached Cody, Bailey quickly knelt down by his side and took off her backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out a portable first aid kit. As she pulled out a few items from the first aid kit, Bailey looked at Cody.

"Cody, where does your left leg hurt?"

"Around my ankle."

Bailey was unwrapping the gauze as she examined Cody's ankle.

"Can you move it?"

Cody rotated his ankle but held back a moan.

"Cody, does your ankle feel stiff and does it especially feel painful in the back?"

As Bailey spoke, she turned her attention back to Cody. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"No."

Bailey sighed out of relief.

"Well, that's one good sign. Did it bend behind you when you fell?"

"No."

"Okay."

Bailey then proceeded to roll up Cody's jean to his knee and wrapped the gauze around the ankle. As she did this, Cody focused on Bailey.

"Bailey?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you relieved about?"

"That you didn't break your ankle. You just twisted it. But you're going to have to be careful walking on it especially when we get out of this hole."

"Oh."

Once Bailey had fastened the gauze around Cody's ankle, she got out ointment and another gauze out. She looked straight into Cody's eyes.

"Sit up straight and give me your arm."

Cody obeyed Bailey without a second thought. Bailey gently cradled Cody's right arm in her left hand and pushed up the short sleeves of his shirts. Then she rubbed ointment around the open wound and then wrapped it with gauze. When she was done and packed up the first aid kit into her backpack, Bailey checked how Cody felt.

"How do you feel, Cody?"

"A little better, but my ankle still is bothering me."

"It'll heal. Just go easy on it. No running or jogging and no strenuous exercises."

"Yeah. I know. Could we get out of here before it gets too dark?"

Bailey placed one hand on Cody's back and the other one in his right hand. Cody pushed himself up while Bailey pulled him up from the ground. With their combined effort, Cody was able to stand.

"Thanks, Bailey."

"No problem. Now, I'm going to have you rest against the dirt wall while I get our stuff together."

Bailey gently brought Cody over to a dirt wall so he could lean on it. Then she had put on her backpack and grabbed Cody's camelback and spear. She handed Cody his camel back and made sure he could put it on his back without any complications. At once when they were ready to go, Bailey helped Cody climb up the hole and got them both back on flat ground. The rest of their journey back to the camp, Cody leaned on Bailey for she acted as his crutch. She was his support. By the time the two of them got to their camp site, it was near twilight. They had just a few more minutes of sunlight before it got dark. Bailey helped Cody lay down on the sand and then made a fire.

As the fire kindled, Cody was sitting peacefully near it by five feet. His legs were stretched out and he occasionally rotated his left ankle to get some more blood flowing and make sure that the joint didn't stiffen up. He had been alone for ten minutes while Bailey went off to get some fresh water and fruit. He wished that he didn't look back on Bailey when he had fell down the hole but he wanted to make sure that she didn't fall behind and get lost. Cody thought some more of the whole ordeal and decided that he would rather that he got a twisted ankle than to have lost Bailey. He knew deep down inside that he would put Bailey's life before his own so he didn't mind that he was injured. But, at the same time, he did mind being injured because he had to sit around for Bailey to come back with food and water. Surely, it was her turn to get provisions, but he still wanted to have the capability to help out and provide for the both of them. Soon enough, Cody got lost in his thoughts which around the time Bailey came back. She saw Cody spacing out. She sat down next to him and waved her hand in front of his face. She waited for a while and then saw Cody blink. He turned toward her.

"Bailey, you're back."

"Yeah. I'm sorry it took longer than usual, but I was having trouble finding a stream of fresh water."

"That's okay. You're here now and that's all that matters."

Bailey beamed at Cody.

"Anyway, Cody, I got us some mangos and berries. I hope that's okay."

"It's just fine."

"I'm glad. Here you go."

Cody took a handful of berries that Bailey handed to him. He thanked her and then ate the berries. Bailey ate her berries as she watched over Cody. As they finished their berries, Cody and Bailey bit into their mangos. They stole glances toward each other when the other wasn't looking and busy eating their mango. As soon as the two of them had full stomachs, Cody and Bailey turned toward each other. They could hear the soft crackle of wood breaking under the pressure of the flames.

"Bailey."

"Yeah, Cody?"

"I'm sorry I fell down a hole."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. If I was paying attention where I was going then I wouldn't have fallen down in the hole."

"Cody, I know why you weren't looking ahead in front you. You were only making sure that I was keeping up so we wouldn't get separated."

"Oh. I guess I didn't need to explain."

"It's okay, Cody. I know how it must be hard for you to feel how you do now. You must feel like you're of no use which isn't how you should view things."

"Then how should I view things?"

"Take this time and reflect on your injury. With an injury like yours, I mean why it happened, you could have some deep emotional unrest that you need to take care of."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess I could think about my emotions."

"Great. I'll leave you alone so you can have time to yourself to think. I'll be over at the shelter if you need anything. Just call for me and I'll come to you."

"Thanks, Bailey."

"You're welcome."

Bailey got up from where she was sitting and went over to the shelter. She then knelt down and rifled through her backpack to do something while Cody thought to himself. After some time, Cody felt a little tired. Bailey looked over at him from where she sat just two yards from him.

"Cody?"

Cody turned his head toward Bailey who sat behind him.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if I could look through your journal about the discoveries you made."

Cody felt drowsy and forgot about his other entries. He yawned and laid down on the sand.

"Sure. It's not like there is anything exciting in that journal. It's just my observations while I was on my trip."

By this point, Bailey had moved closer to Cody. She was currently two feet behind him.

"Are you sure, Cody?"

"Well, there are a few interesting things in there."

"No. What I meant was that are you sure you want me to look through your journal while you rest?"

"Yeah. Now, I'm going to take nap. Wake me up when we need to sleep for the night under the shelter. I'll be able to stay awake long enough to go my bed which is the sand."

Bailey smiled at how Cody could be goofy in sweeping moments. She watched Cody fell asleep on the sand and then knelt down to his camelback and pulled out his journal. She found a comfortable spot on the sand that was far enough from the fire so her eyes would not be irritated by the smoke but close enough to Cody in case she needed to be there to help him with any medical needs. Bailey opened Cody's journal and read the entries. Some of them made her smile and some of them made her feel excited about leaning new cultures and how everyone is connected in the vast world. But when she got to the thirty ninth entry, she tilted her head to the side. She certainly was interested that Cody began to write about him meeting her and what his hopes were. Bailey kept reading on until she got to a certain point where things drastically changed for her. She rifled back and forth between significant entries and her eyes went wide. They were not wide from fear but from shock. Her cheeks were heavy hue of red and the heat came with it. The heat was not from anger, it came from embarrassment. Bailey closed the journal and momentarily placed it on the sand. She turned her body away from Cody and stared at the fire. She allowed her mind to drift off as her eyes followed the movement of the red and yellow flames and orange sparks.

To Be Continued…