A/N: Hey everyone, I know it's been months since chapter 10, and in case you were wondering, no this story is not dead. Chapter 10 was a very emotionally engaging chapter to write, and as I went to write chapter 11, I found that I now have difficulty writing the day to day life of the campers...so I guess it was a bit of writers block. I took some time to search for other camp stories and read a few, looking for more inspiration...I found it. I have a whole new set of plot lines that I can't wait to share with you guys. Again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to write, but thank you for sticking with me.
Overwhelming force pressed against him, the roar of the water, all encompassing.
Darius knew exactly where he was, he was back in the drain, against the grate, and worse yet….so was Brooklynn. It didn't make sense, how were they back? Yet here they were again, the life slowly being crushed out of them.
Hey prayed it was only a flashback, it had to be, they couldn't really be in the same situation all over again….could they?
The sickening feeling of Brooklynn's rib breaking, followed by the second, confirmed his theory, any second the grate should fail.
A third rib snapped …..and a fourth.
"Wait, no, only two of her ribs broke." He thought.
Before he could process what was happening, Brooklynn's rib cage crushed completely, forcing sharp fragments of bone through her heart, lungs, and liver.
Her eyes went wide, and immediately distant as their light drained away, a river of blood poured from her open mouth.
"This isn't a flashback." He panicked.
Darius shot up straight, damp with sweat and hyperventilating. Slowly he unclenched his fists, revealing bloody crescent marks where his nails had dug into his palms.
Looking around frantically, his eyes came to rest on the shape under the covers of the bed in front of him, a mass of pink hair nestled into the pillow.
Focusing hard, he could just make out the telltale rise and fall of the sheet.
"She's alive."
Sighing in relief, Darius collapsed back into the recliner, working to get his breathing and heart rate back under control.
"Just a nightmare." He thought, taking a deep breath and rubbing his eyes.
It was the middle of the night, probably two or three a.m. The room was dimly lit with small, AA battery powered led light that they'd scavenged from a neighboring room.
It was just the two of them in this room, the severity of Brooklynn's injuries had earned her a bed to herself, though she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sleeping alone.
Kenji and Yasmina shared a bed in the master bedroom, while Sammy camped in another recliner in that room. She frequently came in to check on Brooklynn, and to a lesser degree, Darius, knowing his emotional state was anything but stable.
Nervous to go back to sleep, he stared intently at his injured friend. Her color had finally returned, leaving her lips light pink instead of the shade of grayish blue they had been at the waterfall.
Sammy had done an excellent job of patching her up, though her screams when Sammy used the iodine to sterilize her wound, still rang in his ears.
He tipped his head back and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly before leaning forward to study the girls face.
Her eyes were closed lightly, her breathing shallow but still steady. For the most part, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
Darius prayed that was the case, she'd been through enough without having nightmares on top of it.
Getting up he paced the room, glancing protectively over at her every few minutes, unable to accept that she was really okay, for the time being at least. He really wasn't sure what was worse, being asleep and having the nightmares, or being awake with his thoughts.
Even though Brooklynn was still alive, she'd come far to close to death. Darius had promised to protect her, to keep her safe, and yet he'd watched her nearly die not once, but twice.
How could he have let this happen to her? If he'd just been stronger, maybe he could have kept some of the pressure off her, like he had in the beginning. Instead he allowed his own body to nearly crush her to death…how could he have let that happen? She had trusted him….and even worse, she still trusted him.
Against his will, silent tears once again began to fall as he stood at the foot of the bed, watching his friend sleep in relative safety, unable to let go of just how close he'd come to burying her.
A soft whimper jarred him from his thoughts.
Rushing to her side, Brooklynn was in obvious distress. Her brow was furrowed, her head jerking from side to side, uttering something too mumbled to understand.
"Nooooo" He thought sympathetically. "Not her too."
Darius leaned over and gently stroked her hair.
"Brooklynn….Brooklynn, wake up…you're okay Brooke." He cooed.
She gasped as her eyes shot open, darting around the room before finally landing on his.
"Darius?" she squeaked.
"Shhh, it's okay Brooke, I'm here, it was only a dream, you're safe now." He said soothingly.
"There was…you were…..I tried…." She stuttered as tears slipped out, running down her cheeks to the pillow.
"Shhh, it wasn't real. We're both safe, we're here together, everything is okay." He continued, wiping her tears away with his thumb.
She stared at him as she began to relax, taking comfort in his nearness.
"Darius?"
"Yeah?"
"If everything's okay….why are you crying?" She asked nervously.
Before he could come up with an answer, there was a light knock at the door, Sammy poking her head in a second later.
"Oh, you two are up. I was just coming to check on Brooke….uh..why are you both crying?" She asked.
"Nightmares" Darius muttered.
"After what you two went through, I can only imagine." She agreed, shaking her head sympathetically.
"Anyway, since your up, Brooklynn, how's your pain? On a scale of one to ten?"
"Probably like an eight and a half." Brooklynn admitted.
"I figured as much. Here, take this, it's Vicodin, might give you some relief." She offered, holding out a little white pill.
"Where did you find that?" Brooklynn chuckled, reaching for the narcotic.
"Suitcase….belonged to a…. Kenneth Miller." She answered, reading the bottle.
Brooklynn stared at the pill for a moment, then gently placed it back in Sammy's hand and shook her head.
"Save them for Kenji and Yaz……I can manage."
Sammy furrowed her brow in concern.
"I already offered Yaz, she's on an Ibuprofen regiment that's working for her and was…..strongly……against taking prescription pain killers, so you don't need to worry about her." She explained.
"I appreciate the offer Sammy, I really do, and if the pain gets much worse, I might take you up on it. But right now I'd rather you save them for Kenji…those burns have got to be awful….and he kinda saved my life sooooo." Brooklynn responded.
"More than kinda." Darius snorted.
"Okay, I get it, that's really nice of you to put him first like that…he's not really used to it." She smiled. "Well, I'll let you two rest. Remember Brooke, if you need anything, just let me know."
"Thanks Sammy, I will." She said as the Texan closed the door behind her.
"Nightmare huh?" Brooklynn asked, turning her attention back to Darius. "What about?"
"Storm drain……..you…you didn't…" he stopped himself, biting his lip, trying not to remember the scene.
"It's okay…you don't have to say it." She told him, noticing his distress.
"What about yours?" He asked, changing the subject.
Caught off guard, the girl stared at him for a moment before her eyes fell.
"You." She answered. "There were dinosaurs….I don't know what kind, I didn't recognize them, you were running…..but….there were three of them……I couldn't help…it was like I was paralyzed."
"I guess were both kinda scared of losing each other right now."
Brooklynn nodded slowly, still unable to meet his eyes.
"You should probably try to go back to sleep…your body needs it." He said. "I'll be right here in the chair, you'll be safe."
Her head snapped up to face him.
"Don't go back to the chair..I don't wanna sleep alone…..please." She pleaded, patting the bed next to her. "It…it would make me feel better."
"Brooke, I cant." He said sadly. "What if I bump your tube….or knock it out, and you can't breathe again?...I…I don't wanna hurt you."
"You wont." She said, grabbing his hand and looking him in the eye.
Darius sighed in defeat as she pulled him down next to her, unable to argue with his own desire to be near her. Nervously, he settled down on the bed, Brooklynn scooching herself over to tuck herself under his arm, resting her head on his chest.
"Your on this side, my tube is on the other, your not gonna hurt me." She tried to reassure him, sensing his unease.
"I sure hope not." He muttered
"You won't." she insisted, relaxing into him. "Maybe we won't have nightmares about loosing each other if we're cuddled up to one another." She offered.
"Maybe." Darius said, still trying to chase the terrible images from his mind.
Despite his nervousness, he needed this as much as she did. The weight of her head on his shoulder, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, the warmth of her body, all helped him to accept that she was alive, that she had survived, and….that she would, in time, heal.
Ever since her first coughing fit on the stairs, the specter of her death had weighed on his soul like a wet blanket, making it difficult for him to accept that they had manged to avoid that terrible future. He feared that if he allowed himself to believe that she'd been spared, that it would somehow revoke the blessing, and he'd wake to find her dead.
Darius knew he wasn't okay, and what's more, he wasn't sure he'd ever be okay again.
Staring at the ceiling as Brooklynn slowly drifted off to sleep, his eyes again filled with tears at the thought of his failures. With nowhere left to turn, he closed his eyes and prayed.
Sammy gently and quietly closed the door behind her as she entered the room. For once, Kenji wasn't snoring, he actually seemed to be sleeping fairly peacefully despite what he'd just been through, not to mention the pain of his burns. He and Yasmina lay on opposite sides of the queen size bed in the master bedroom, adjacent to the room Darius and Brooklynn were in.
Sammy glanced over at Yaz as she made her way to Kenji's side of the bed. The athlete seemed to be on the mend, even able to help with Brooklynn and Kanji's injuries. However, she knew Yaz was nowhere near as healed as she tried to pretend she was.
Sammy hadn't said anything yet, but she'd noticed dried out vomit and a small pool of dried blood on the stairs during a trip up to the VIP suite for supplies. She wasn't sure of course, but she had a pretty good idea of what had happened, especially noticing the way Yasmina would sometimes wince when she turned her head.
No doubt about it, the girl was an absolute warrior. She didn't know the word quit, and was willing to sacrifice everything without a second thought…too willing.
"What happened to her? Why is she so eager to die? There has to be more to it than just being willing to sacrifice herself for us….No, there's something…something she's not telling us." Sammy thought.
With no choice but to let it go for now, she sat down in the recliner, staring at Kenji's gauze wrapped face and hands.
"He was every bit as tough as Yaz out there." She thought, remembering the way he'd pushed through what must have been excruciating pain. The jungle vines and thorns had essentially shredded the burned and weakened flesh on his legs. It had broken her heart to have to sterilize and dress his wounds, though he had remained mostly silent throughout the procedure.
She knew why, despite the pain, he hadn't wanted her to feel bad for doing what needed to be done.
Now with time to think back over the events of the past twenty four hours, she realized that Kenji had known exactly what was going to happen.
There was a reason he had insisted she tuck herself far back in the cross shaft, he was making sure the flames didn't touch her.
Though she had no way to know if he'd expected to be killed by the blast or not, it was clear that he had at least expected to be injured.
"That's why he was talking to me the way he was….giving me instructions beforehand…..he didn't know if he was going to survive." She suddenly realized. "He was willing to do whatever it took to get us out of there…even if it meant only one of us got out."
Sammy filled with emotion.
Awe, guilt, gratitude, and anger all swirled through her mind as she contemplated how differently things could have turned out.
She shuddered at the thought of not only losing Kenji, which would have utterly devastated her, but also losing Brooklynn, who certainly would have died had Kenji not been there and known what to do. It was a future that came far too close to reality.
On the other hand, as badly as she wanted to be angry at him for taking such a risk, she couldn't deny the fact that if he had chosen the safe route and just moved on, they never would have gotten out of the tunnels in time to see the flares. Brooklynn would be dead..there was no getting around it.
"There's simply no way this is all coincidence…it's just not possible….Thank you Father for saving them both….only you could have orchestrated things so perfectly." She prayed.
Looking back on how every decision, every event, lined up perfectly to bring Brooklynn and Kenji both back home alive, albeit a bit worse for wear, was proof enough that her faith was not in vain.
"You're a hero Kenji Kon." She whispered as she pulled the blankets up to his chin, tucking him in in an almost motherly way.
Satisfied that there was nothing more she could do for her friends, Sammy leaned back in the recliner next to the bed and closed her eyes. Within moments, sleep overtook her.
Pain…burning pain. "Why does it hurt so much more than yesterday? Was the adrenaline really making that much of a difference?" Kenji wondered.
Now that he was thinking about it, this was the first time he'd been able to relax since the fireball. He and his friends were finally safe, finally home, well, their makeshift hotel home anyway. Now that they were finally resting…it made sense that the pain would catch up to him now.
But dang…he didn't expect it to hurt this much.
Slowly, Kenji opened his eyes. It was early morning, sunlight just beginning to filter in through the hotel windows. To his left, Yasmina lay on her side facing away from him, on his right, Sammy was asleep in the recliner, obviously having fallen asleep watching over them.
"She's so awesome." He thought, smiling at the sight of her. "OW, ow, ow, ok smiling hurts….no more smiling."
Though still groggy and not wanting to get up, Kenji could no longer deny his bladder. Slowly he moved to the edge of the bed and sat up. Like his face, his legs and hands radiated pain as well, this was gearing up to be the worst trip to the bathroom of his life.
He sat there a moment, gathering the nerve to stand, something he knew was certain to be painful.
It was.
Clenching his teeth, he hobbled to the bathroom for some much needed relief. As he gingerly tried to wash his hands afterwards, he couldn't help but stare into the mirror.
"I look like a freakin mummy." He thought.
He hadn't actually seen the burns on his face yet, he just assumed that they were similar to the burns on his hands and legs, but now staring at they way Sammy had wrapped his face, he was starting to get worried.
"Just how bad is it?" He wondered. "What if it leaves scars? ….what if I'm disfigured?"
He was beginning to have serious doubts about his choices.
"Why did I have to play the superhero…was is really worth it? Why didn't I just keep looking for another ladder? Was it really that important to impress her….Wait! Why am I even thinking that….impressing Sammy had absolutely nothing to do with this…..did it?"
"Ugg..It soooo wasn't worth it…should have just kept looking." He muttered to himself as left the bathroom. After shutting the door behind him, he paused for a moment, staring at his sleeping friends.
Yaz had been through so much in such a short period of time, it was amazing that she was even still alive. She was truly one of the toughest girls he'd ever met….physically at least.
Mentally, She was a bit more complicated. It was plain to everyone that the athlete had a dark past, it was the only thing that could account for how closed off she was. Unfortunately Ben's death seemed to have her at her breaking point. It was painfully obvious how much she blamed herself, and as hard as it had been on the rest of them, it seemed to hit her especially hard.
"Torture." He thought. "That's the word that describes what I see behind her eyes. Sooner or later she'll have to open up….she'll explode if she doesn't."
Thinking of the word torture made him think of Brooklynn.
"She just went through her own torture." He thought. "Sitting there under that waterfall for hours, barely able to catch a breath, …..just waiting to die."
He couldn't even imagine what that must have been like…What she must have been feeling.
Quietly, he slipped out of the room and approached the next door over. He carefully turned the knob and peeked in.
In the dim light, he could see Brooklynn's pink head on Darius' chest, both sleeping soundly.
Kenji breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her chest rise and fall in steady rhythm.
Though he and Brooklynn had certainly had their issues from time to time, he was completely unprepared to find her in the condition she was in as he entered the cave.
The look of sheer helplessness in Darius' eyes coupled with grim acceptance in Brooklynn's was an image he couldn't forget. If they'd arrived even a minute later……
"I guess it was worth it after all." He thought.
Suddenly, it no longer mattered how bad his scars were, Brooklynn was alive and safe….they all were, that's what was really important.
Kenji was just about to ease the door closed when a hushed voice called out to him.
"Kenji, is that you?" Brooklynn asked.
"Crap, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I was just…..checking on you guys I guess." He explained.
"It's fine, I wasn't asleep, I woke up a little while ago, just been laying here trying to fall back asleep." She whispered.
Kenji quietly slipped through the door and kneeled at the bed side.
"How you feeling?" He asked, eyeballing her tube.
"I can breathe…so that's something…my ribs hurt the most, Sammy says I've got two that are broken."
"How do we fix that?" He asked.
"She says everything feels like it's where it's supposed to be…thinks when they broke, they were being pushed out of place because I was being crushed. That's when they would of punctured my lung. Says they must have went back more or less where they were supposed to when the pressure was off me. She says I got really lucky……..I was so sure I was going to die." She said, looking back at the ceiling.
"Yeah….that was way too close." He agreed.
"There was one moment….I almost let go." She whispered.
"Well, we're all glad you didn't……if we would've lost you…."
"That's the one thing that kept me here.. I was scared of what would happen to him if I ……you know." She admitted, referring to Darius.
"Yeah, he definitely wouldn't have been okay." Kenji agreed.
"Honestly, I don't think he's okay even now." She added in concern.
"No, probably not…..having the girl you love nearly die in your arms has gotta mess with ya."
The words came out before he even had a chance to stop them.
"CRAP!...why did you say that you moron?...Darius is soooooo gonna kill you!...Okay, calm down…..there's a lot on her mind…..she probably didn't even notice." His mind screamed at him.
Brooklynn went silent, eyes widening as she stared at him.
"Crap!"
"He……loves me?" She squeaked.
"NO…I mean…I don't know…he never said that…I mean I… I can't read his mind obviously. Ya know I should be getting back to…….
Brooklynn grabbed Kenji's forearm and squeezed it like a vise.
"Oh your not going anywhere…..now spill….what has he told you?"
"Gahh, what the heck! Why are all these girls grips so strong!"
"N..nothing, that you guys are just friends….the same thing you say." He explained.
"Really….then why did you say that, hmmm?" She asked, totally unconvinced.
"Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me you haven't noticed the way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, the way he's perfectly content to hold you every night?"
"You and Sammy cuddle." She pointed out.
"Hey, that's……different." He complained, the bandages hiding his blush.
"Mmhmm." She said, once again in her unconvinced tone.
"The only time we've talked about you was after we hid from Rexy. He said he he told you you were beautiful and was beating himself up over it because he didn't want you to get the wrong idea." He confessed.
Brooklynn visibly deflated.
"Knew he didn't mean that." She murmured.
"Oh, he meant it. That's why he was so freaked out about it. His problem is that here on death island isn't the best place to start a relationship….and I don't think he's ever been in one before so honestly the idea is probably terrifying to him."
"I haven't either….so I DEFINITELY get that….it's just….in the cave, it seemed like he was admitting it..though I guess he never outright said it."
"You were also dying Brooke….kind of a now or never situation."
She looked away, unable to hide her growing disappointment.
"All I know is he looks at you the same way you look at him…he gets nervous and flustered whenever someone asks him about you…..same as you do when someone asks you about him. But even if you two were openly madly in love with each other, he has a point…..This island complicates things."
"Yeah, I guess." She sighed.
"Don't worry Brooke, if it's supposed to happen, it will."
"I know….thanks Kenji."
"Now I should probably get back to bed before Sammy wakes up gets worried that I'm not there."
Brooklynn raised an eyebrow at him.
"Shut up superstar!" He teased, giving her a chuckle.
"Good night Kenji….thank you again for saving me." She said as he slipped out the door.
He looked back at her and smiled…..painfully.
"Anytime….now get some rest."
"Yep, totally, absolutely worth it." He thought as he approached the door to the master bedroom. Just as he was about to grab the knob, the door jerked open and a figure rushed through, coming face to face with him.
"Ahhg!" He yelled, tripping and falling over backwards, landing hard on his rear end, sending a shockwave of pain through his body.
Standing in front of him, Sammy gasped and covered her mouth.
"Kenji!...I'm so sorry, are you okay?" She squeaked, rushing to help haul him to his feet. "I was just coming to look for you, I woke up and you were gone and…… I got nervous."
"Just came to check on Brooklynn and Darius, just wanted to….you know…"
"Make sure she's still breathing?" Sammy asked.
"Yeah." He sighed.
"I get it…..that was tough on all of us…that was too close…but, she's alive.
"I know….I just hope we can all stay that way….oh, the pain is getting pretty bad again, do you have another one of those Vicodin?" He asked.
"Umm sure, it's probably been six hours, you should be okay for another. Come on, let's get you back to bed and we'll see if we can knock that pain down."
Brooklynn lay in bed, wide awake. It wasn't that she didn't want to go back to sleep, she just simply couldn't. Far too much was now running through her mind after talking to Kenji.
Up until the waterfall, she'd been fairly certain she knew where Darius and herself stood. But then some of the things he'd said, some of his reactions, had convinced her that maybe she'd had it all wrong. She had almost died believing that he cared for her not just as a friend and team member, but romantically as well.
That thought stuck in her mind.
"He likes me…as more than a friend….right?...or maybe….maybe that's what he thought I wanted to hear so he said those things because he knew I was dying….does that even make sense?...ughh!"
It felt like her head was going to explode. Honestly she wasn't even sure how she felt, let alone how Darius felt. Though it was undeniable that there something between them. What exactly that was, was a bit more of a mystery.
For Brooklynn at least, she certainly felt the most comfortable with Darius. He made her feel safe and protected, like nothing could harm her as long as he was holding her. Though she wasn't sure what that meant.
She had had crushes before, but they weren't like this. No, those amounted to no more than flirting with boys she thought were cute. She honestly didn't know the first thing about their personalities. Darius was different.
He wasn't exactly what she would have defined as a "hot guy" but she certainly didn't find him ugly either. But for once, she really couldn't care less about looks.
What attracted her to him was his heart. The way he cared for everyone, always putting himself last. Darius was the definition of selfless. Not to mention the way he made her feel.
It had always been there, no matter how much she tried to ignore it. Though she valued his friendship more than anything else she could think of, there was always a whole extra set of feelings she kept buried just below the surface. She'd often wondered if he had a similar set that he kept hidden.
The more she thought about it, the more instances she could recall where his actions hadn't exactly supported his "just friends" claim. For example, the hug in the gyrosphere she could chalk up to just comforting a friend during a panic attack, the way he reacted to her injuries after the Ceratosaurus attack on the other hand were much harder to explain.
Not to mention all the little looks and comments that would normally go unnoticed.
Despite all of that, she had always stuck with the notion that they were friends….and friends only……untill the waterfall.
As they cuddled there in the cave, waiting for her time to run out, there was a difference in the way he held her, in the way he spoke. She couldn't not notice it, even with death closing in.
It was a mixture of loss and regret.
She knew because she felt it too.
"I can't lose you, not now, not after everything, not now that I finally see…"
That's what he was saying before she cut him off.
"Uggg, why didn't I let him finish?...what did he finally see?"
She had been convinced he was going to say something along the lines of finally seeing that he had feelings for her, but the more she thought about it, the more conceited if felt.
"What if I was way off base? What if that was going to be 'I finally see how much your friendship means to me'? What if it had nothing at all to do with romantic feelings?...But then again……What if it did?"
Brooklynn's mind was a wreck.
On one hand, she couldn't deny the fact that she had feelings that were more than mere friendship. But on the other hand, she was quite comfortable with whatever it was they had going on now and she certainly didn't want to jeopardize that. She'd never be able to cope with losing what they already had.
"Pull yourself together Brooklynn, your way over thinking this. Maybe it's just better if I pretend it never happened…..just carry on like we always have. There's really no need to make it awkward……If Darius wants to be more than friends…then he can make the first move."
Yasmina awoke to the sounds of her friends talking quietly and milling around the room, groggily she rolled over and peeled her eyes open. The others couldn't have been awake for too long, Kenji was still in bed next to her talking to Sammy in the recliner.
"Morning Yaz, how you feelin?" The Texan asked.
"Mmm dizzy, sore, like I've been run over by a truck….but I still feel better than Kenji looks." She teased.
The VIP quickly rolled over and stuck his tongue out at her.
"Gah! I forgot you were a mummy." She mocked. "Please don't put your curse on me, Oh powerful one!"
"Yaaaaazz, come on, that's mean!" Sammy complained.
"No, no, Sammy it's fine. Yaz here is just a little bitter that she was stuck in bed, all weak and helpless, while you and I were out rescuing our friends." He snipped.
Yaz narrowed her eyes.
"Weak and helpless?...I'll show you weak and helpless!" She threatened, sitting up on her knees and holding her pillow above his face menacingly.
"Shhhh, it'll all be over soon!"
"Yasmina!...drop it!" Darius called as he entered the room. "No killing Kenji."
"Bah! Spoilsport!" She retorted, glaring at the VIP before leaning in close and whispering in his ear.
"Don't you think for a second I've forgotten about your date with the Mosasaur."
Kenji just chuckled nervously.
"So, how's superstar this morning?" She asked, scooting away from Kenji and off the bed.
"She's hurtin pretty bad today. She actually wanted me to ask you if you had any more Ibuprofen." Darius answered.
"Yeah, but they're still up on the fourth floor. I'll head up and grab em, I could use some too." She explained.
"I do still have Vicodin if she'd rather try that?" Sammy offered.
"That's okay Sammy, I'd rather see if I can get away with a couple of Ibuprofen before I resort to the heavy duty stuff." Brooklynn answered, suddenly appearing behind Darius.
"BROOKLYNN!" Darius exclaimed, spinning around. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be moving around! What if you open your incision again?
"Relax dino nerd, I'm just going to the bathroom."
"Still, you shouldn't be moving any more than necessary." Darius chided.
"Oh I'm sorry, what're ya gonna do? Put me diapers?" She teased.
Darius wasn't smiling, still clearly unhappy about her being out of bed.
"I could bring her a bed pan." Sammy suggested.
"Umm no, that's not gonna happen, that's gross. Darius, I assure you I'm fully capable of getting up and taking myself to the bathroom."
"And I thought Sammy was overbearing." Yaz thought to herself as she stood up.
"Where ya goin?" Sammy questioned.
"Grabbing those pills for Brooklynn."
"Ya want company?" She asked.
"Knock yourself out cowgirl." Yaz shrugged, as Sammy hurried after her.
As soon as the door shut behind them Sammy's demeanor changed.
"Okay Yaz, level with me, are you okay? How bad was your fall while we were gone?" She interrogated.
Caught off guard, Yasmina's jaw dropped.
"Uhhhh, how did you….what makes you think….."
"So are you actually going to claim that you didn't try to come find us and end up falling down the stairs?" Sammy cut her off accusingly.
"How…..how could you know that?" Yaz asked in disbelief, turning to face the girl.
"I saw dried blood and vomit on the stairs yesterday…also I notice the way you wince when you turn your head just right….and finally, I know you Yaz, you're way to stubborn to stay here while we're trapped, I knew something must have stopped you." Sammy explained, folding her arms.
"Okay Ester Stone, you got me…..I knew where to find the key…yes, I was going to bring it to you, but I tripped and fell down three flights of stairs and passed out. I don't know how long I was out, hours…days…..no idea, just knew by then you'd either have made your way out…..or you were dead…..all I could do really was wait." She huffed.
"Three flights? Your lucky you didn't break your dang neck!...what was the blood from? Your wrist? Your head?"
"Umm neither…I uh, while I was unconscious….I started." Yaz explained sheepishly.
"You started what?...oh…OH….got it….ughh, I should be due any time now, Brooklynn probably isn't far away either. So…what did you do?….for that I mean." She asked.
"That's how I ended up on the fourth floor. I went for the closest room and ended up finding some products in a suitcase. I would imagine if we checked more rooms we could find more."
"Good plan, I'll start looking when we get a chance. It's probably better to have that stuff on hand rather than have to search when we need it. I'm assuming that's why you changed shorts?"
"Yep."
"The boys have it soo much easier….they've got no idea what we go through." Sammy complained.
"Pfff, they'd never survive." Yasmina laughed.
"Not even for a day." Sammy agreed.
Giggling, they stepped inside what had been Yasmina's fourth floor room.
"Ibuprofen should be on the kitchen counter, there's a two liter of Pepsi you might as well grab too, it's fresh. I need to step into the bathroom for a moment." Yaz explained.
"Oh, yeah…I get it, take your time. I'll grab the pills." Sammy responded, heading for the kitchen.
Just as Yasmina had said, a two liter of Pepsi and a bottle of Ibuprofen sat on the counter. She quickly stuffed the pills into her pocket and was about to grab the Pepsi when movement in the distance caught her eye.
Slowly the Texan stepped up to the sliding door to the balcony. On the other side of the Mosasaurs lagoon, Rexy, the Isla Nublar Tyrannosaur, stalked her way down main street.
Sammy watched as dinosaur bent down, picked something up and tossed it into the air, catching it in her jaws and gulping it down.
"My God, that was a person……she's eating the bodies." She realized.
Suddenly the full scale of the scene dawned on her. It wasn't just Rexy consuming the dead, it seemed every compy, every Pterosaur on the island, had all descended upon the remains of the once happy, carefree park goers. These people's bodies would never be recovered, would never have a proper burial.
These were no longer people….they were carrion.
Sammy felt sick as her hand slowly raised to cover her open mouth, eyes welling up for what seemed like the millionth time in the last few days.
"Pretty horrible isn't it?" Yaz said from behind her, causing her to jump.
"The family that had our room is down there….our first room…the VIP suite." She confessed.
Yaz drew her lips into a tight line and nodded solemnly.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I looked at the pictures on the phone, I recognized the dad's shirt….they all died together, they were piled on top of each other, they were…."
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Yaz said, gently cutting Sammy off.
"The daughter, the one who's clothes Brooklynn is wearing, she was just like us…..she could have been one of us…..why are we here, and she's there….it's not fair." She cried.
"No…it's not." Yaz said, placing a sympathetic hand on Sammy's shoulder. "But that's life…life isn't fair, never has been. When I went to find Ben….I almost became one of those bodies. Something was chasing me, I'm not sure what, but I couldn't outrun it, it was right on top of me. The only thing that saved me was Rexy showing up, belive it or not.
If she'd have been a second later, it would have got me….if she'd have been a second earlier, she'd have got me. Then on top of that, there was the Allosaurus, and then the fall. But despite all of that, I'm still here, still alive……but Ben's dead…..how is that fair?" She asked.
"It..It's not." She admitted. "But I'm really glad you made it."
"Me too….most of the time anyway." She said sadly. "But…..it's hard…it should be all of us, not just five."
"They all should have made it too." Sammy said, looking out the window. "None of this should have happened." Sammy lamented.
"Your right, but it did. All we can do is concentrate on surviving each day untill we finally get outta here. If we all work together, hopefully we won't lose anyone else."
Sammy wiped her eyes and sniffed before turning and pulling an only moderately protesting Yasmina into one of her signature bear hugs.
"Thank you Yaz, I know feelings aren't really your thing."
"I'm trying to expand my horizons." She said sarcastically, attempting to pull out of Sammy's grip.
"Alright." Sammy said, stepping back and switching to her happier persona. "let's get these pills to Brooklynn."
Ben was suddenly rethinking his decision to camp out on the lookout.
He'd been asleep for what he assumed had been a few hours, but now he was wide awake. He felt much less secure on the lookout than he did in the control room.
Out here, he knew most dinosaurs couldn't climb up to him…..but some could. He also realized that while Archie was still currently sleeping on his lap, that he was always gone when Ben woke up.
The idea that a dinosaur, perhaps another Troodon, could climb right up to him was disconcerting, especially if it happened to be after Archie had left for the morning, he'd never know it was there untill it was too late.
Aside from feeling a bit exposed, he was also chilly without his makeshift bed and blankets. However the lookout did have one advantage. Light…..Due to the full moon, the visibility was far superior to that inside the control room, but that one pro simply did not outweigh the cons.
"Okay Archie, you gotta move." He said, gently moving the dinosaur to the catwalk. Archie simply looked up for a moment, then tucked his head back into his wing.
"Wish I could sleep like that." He thought as he stood, wincing as his injured leg took the weight.
Behind him, off in the distance, a flare arched into the night sky. Ben turned just as the red light faded from existence.
"This island really is beautiful…if only it weren't so deadly."
Letting out a deep sigh, he turned and started down the ladder.
A second to late, the second flare traced the line of the first into the sky.
Easing his way down the ladder and stairs, Ben stared out across the rotunda bathed in ghostly moonlight.
"Hmm…a bit spooky down here at night." He murmured to himself .
"Come on Ben, get ahold of yourself! You fought a Troodon and a Dimorphodon at the same time and killed both. Are you seriously scared of crossing the rotunda at night?" He thought, mentally chastising himself.
Silently, he slipped across the rotunda and stopped at the control room door, turning back to look one last time…..nothing.
"See, nothing to worry about. No predators, no danger, no threats. Stop working yourself up over nothing." He told himself.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.
Ben stepped into his sanctuary and locked the door behind him, it wasn't something he usually did but something still just felt off and the more time he spent here, the more he was learning to trust his instincts.
After one last look out over the rotunda, he retreated to his bed. Finally comfortable and warm, his anxieties began to ease, and soon, sleep overtook him.
Several hours later, Ben woke to a bellow from the rotunda, he knew immediately who had made it.
"Alright Bumpy, I'm up, just give me a second." He yelled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Getting to his feet, he stretched, and headed for the control room door. Stepping out into the rotunda, he was greeted by a very excited Ankylosaur.
"Morning girl, you're awfully pushy this morning."
Bumpy bellowed happily.
"So, seeing as we no longer have a banana grove." He said, narrowing his eyes a little at the dinosaur. "I was thinking you and I could do some exploring, maybe find some more food sources."
Bumpy bellowed in what he assumed was agreement.
Ben slung his weapon across his back and met his companion on the rotunda floor, scratching under her chin and hugging her massive head.
"Alright Bumpers, you wait here, while I go up and check the lookout. Gotta make sure the coast is clear."
The Ankylosaur moaned impatiently and flopped down onto the rotunda floor.
"Oh, very dramatic, it'll only take a minute girl, have some patience." He chuckled, climbing the stairs to the ladder.
The scene from the lookout was once again worthy of a postcard, with the beautiful greens of the jungle and the long necks of the Brachiosaurus herd in the distance. But despite the picturesque landscape, Ben was fully aware of the dangers beneath the canopy. Fortunately, the immediate area seemed clear.
Satisfied, he descended the ladder to his impatiently waiting companion.
"Sorry girl, but better to be safe than sorry." He said, scratching her chin as she stood.
Cautiously, he led the Bumpy out the back of the visitors center.
"Alright girl, I figure if we start here and spiral out for maybe a mile, we will have a pretty good idea of the resources in our immediate area. Once we know that, we can start branching off further, eventually, I'd like to find main street." He explained.
Bumpy kneeled, again allowing Ben to climb atop her armored back.
"Heh, I don't think I could ever get tired of this!" He chuckled. "If only Yaz could see it."
Bumpy moaned back at him.
"Ha ha, very funny…. She's just a friend, that's all." He insisted.
"Hmmm, maybe I'm reading into Bumpy's noises a little too deeply." He thought.
There was simply no way she was actually teasing him about his crush….right?
"Crush! Ha, yeah right! I do NOT have a crush on Yasmina…..she's just…a friend. A friend who just so happens to be amazing, and smart, and hilariously sarcastic, ...and beautiful……wait!"
Ben shook his head.
"Just a friend." He repeated.
The pair had only just looped around the front of the visitors center and started around the opposite side of the building before Ben brought Bumpy to a halt.
"Woah, girl, what do we have here?" He asked, sliding down from Bumpy's back.
He was on what had obviously been an old road, strangely leading directly to the side of the visitors center. As he approached the side of the building, the square doorway of a garage came into view. Moving closer, he could see the garage was collapsed. A single red and tan Jeep Wrangler was half buried in the debris.
"I think this is where the caved in doorway between the control room and the dry goods storage led." He guessed. "Hmmm, I was curious about that."
Climbing back aboard Bumpy's armor, the pair continued their expanding spiral path. It didn't take long to notice a pattern in the vegetation. There was a distinct difference between older jungle and newer jungle.
"These trees are all the same size in this area. That should mean they are roughly the same age. I bet all this stuff is about twenty years old, so it would have been clear when the park was running." Ben reasoned out loud.
After a few more uneventful rounds, he once again directed Bumpy to stop. This time it was more than mere ruins he found. Stretching out before him was an entire other building.
The building was difficult to make out, having been completely overtaken by jungle. Upon closer inspection, it was definitely some kind of paddock. The rectangular building seemed to have a control or maybe observation center at one end, overlooking a large rectangular pit, almost like a jungle filed swimming pool. Old electric fencing surrounded the pit, giving the feeling that this was no regular paddock…..it was the maximum security enclosure. In fact it kinda reminded him of the Jurassic World Raptor pen……Raptors….that had to be it, he'd discovered the original Jurassic Park Raptor paddock.
As he moved along the side of the structure, a bent and broken section of fence came into view.
"There it is." He thought. "That's where they broke out that night."
Ben was well versed on the history of the first parks downfall, having read Dr. Ian Malcom's book on the ordeal. He knew that when the park had been sabotaged, the Raptors had gotten free, killing two people and nearly killing Dr. Allan Grant and Dr. Ellie Satler, not to mention John Hammonds own grandchildren.
It was strange to think that the carcass of one of those very same Velociraptors was locked in the freezer of the kitchen not fifty yards from where he slept every night.
"A lot of history here girl." Ben said, climbing back aboard the dinosaur's back. "Let's keep moving."
In the bathroom mirror, Brooklynn stared into her own jade colored eyes.
As she washed her hands in the cold water, she was still a bit grossed out by the idea of having to use a bedpan.
"Never gonna happen." She thought to herself. "I'll die first."
Even still, as annoying as Darius's newly acquired overprotectiveness was, she didn't entirely hate it. In fact, she found it sweet that he was so worried about her.
"Would he be that overprotective if he didn't like like me?" She wondered.
Staring into her reflection made her question that theory.
"Ugh, what's to like? I'm a hot mess." She thought.
Her black eye was looking a lot better, but she was covered with new bruises from her time in the storm drain with Darius, and most unattractive of all, her entire chest and abdomen was bruised and discolored from being crushed. Taking a long last look at herself, she let out a disappointed sigh.
"There's no way he's into me like that….maybe if I wasn't so beat up, or had nicer clothes, or better makeup….maybe if I was a little smaller in some places….and a little bigger in others." She thought dejectedly.
Finished, she left the bathroom and retreated to her room, or at least the room she and Darius had been sharing. She didn't exactly want to, but she knew Darius wouldn't be happy if she did…..well pretty much anything until she healed a bit. This was the annoying part of his overprotectiveness. But on the other hand, he wasn't wrong. She knew the best thing for her would be to simply rest and heal.
Slipping back into the blanket's warm embrace, she closed her eyes and tried to let herself relax. Unfortunately her mind was still stuck in overdrive.
Her near death, consumed the lions share of her mental energy, while the nature of her relationship with Darius filled out the rest. Not to mention the little things like not getting eaten, and eventually making it home to what was left of her family.
Her thoughts finally landed on the beach, that wonderful place in her mind that Darius had taken her to as the end was drawing near. Now that the life wasn't draining from her body, she couldn't help but laugh a little. The very idea was exactly the kind of cornball thing Darius would come up with, and honestly, it was exactly what she had needed.
The experience had been so real she had actually felt it, she could feel the sun and the sand, smell the ocean and the food cooking. But by far, the most real part had been seeing her dad. He looked exactly like he did in the pictures, around five foot ten, with a muscular build and sea green eyes that could pierce one's very soul.
He had simply radiated respect and honor, as he stood in uniform on the beach, seemingly watching over her and her friends. He hadn't said much, but she could feel both his love and joy at being reunited with his daughter, yet there was detectable sadness in his voice when she'd introduced him to Darius.
His jaw had been set, his face hardened when she'd dragged the dino nerd up to him, but softened as she excitedly explained their friendship to him. In fact….Darius and her dad almost seemed to have some sort of unsaid understanding.
"He's a good one, Brooke." He told her, without so much as even speaking to Darius.
She knew he was right of course, but she couldn't help but wonder how he could know that so quickly.
"That's gotta be sign, right? My father approving of the guy I lo…like." She rationalized.
"Thinking about Darius?" Yasmina asked, startling Brooklynn and causing her to jump violently.
"GAH!...God that hurt….Yaz, you were NOT just there a second ago." Brooklynn breathed, clutching her ribs.
"Heh, sorry I guess you were too deep in thought to notice me come in….I brought the Ibuprofen." She explained.
"Oh, yess, thank you! Yeah, I guess I have a lot on my mind….and no I wasn't thinking about Darius" She lied."
The athletes eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Really?...your blush says otherwise."
Brooklynn stared at her for a moment before flopping back and groaning, pulling her pillow over her face.
Yaz chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Look um, I may not be the best with emotions and sappy stuff like that but…if you wanna talk about it, I'll listen." She stated a bit nervously.
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm sure he only sees me as a friend….and that's fine cause that's how I see him too." Came Brooklynn's muffled voice from beneath the pillow.
Yaz rolled her eyes.
"Okay no offense, but you're both idiots. It couldn't be any more obvious how you two feel about each other but instead of doing something about it, you're both so d* scared of rejection that you'd rather let each other slip away than take a chance and tell each other how you feel." Yaz explained simply.
"Hey! None of that is true!" Brooklynn protested, jerking the pillow off her face and glaring at the athlete.
"Really? Exactly where am I wrong?" Yaz challenged.
Brooklynn only blinked.
"UGHH!" She groaned, pulling the pillow back over her face.
"I rest my case." Yaz chuckled, patting the younger girls leg. "I think you should tell him."
"Can't you just hold this pillow down and put me out of my misery instead?" Came the muffled reply.
"HA! Darius already yelled at me this morning for trying to smother Kenji, I doubt he'd be too pleased if I smothered you!" Yaz laughed.
"Wait, seriously? Well that's ironic." Brooklynn laughed, once again removing the pillow. "What did he do?"
"Called me weak and helpless." Yaz admitted.
"Well that was dumb." She stated.
"Like I said, Darius saved him this time…….but he's soooo not off the hook. I'll have my revenge." She declared with a quiet maniacal laugh that both amused Brooklynn, and made her fear for Kenji's safety.
"Well on that note," Yaz sighed, "I'll let you rest. I need to go find Darius anyway."
Brooklynn's eyes widened a little
"Relax superstar, I won't tell him…..I'll leave that up to you." She grinned.
Her only response was Brooklynn's unamused, deadpan stare.
Darius Stared out at the ruins of Jurassic World from the second floor balcony. Lost in thought, he felt as though the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders, well maybe not the world, but at least the weight of his friend's lives.
"Penny for your thoughts." Sammy said gently, coming up to stand beside him.
"Oh, hey Sammy." He said, flashing her a tired smile. "How ya holdin up?"
"I'm doin alright I guess…..kinda having a hard time with that." She admitted, nodding toward the feeding frenzy on main street.
"Yeah, I get that. On the plus side, in about a week's time, there probably won't be a trace left, so in the meantime I'd try not to dwell on it too much." He said.
"It's hard not to, I mean, those are people, some of them kids…kids no different than us." She explained.
"No, those were people. Their souls have moved on…all that's left is meat." He added, staring out at main street.
Sammy stared at him, a little shocked to hear him say something that seemed so cold.
"At least that's what I tell myself." He continued. "Hopefully the people are in heaven, so only the bodies remain."
"Yeah, I guess that's true." She agreed.
"In your professional opinion, how do you think Yaz is doing?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Well, she fell down three flights of stairs and almost broke her neck trying to come rescue us. And she's still pushing herself more than I'd like, but that being said, she seems to be healing amazingly well." She admitted.
"Good, we're gonna need her." He replied.
"Well….she's still got quite a while before she can do anything that might be dangerous. Her concussion and her ankle seem to be healing the fastest, even her eardrum is healing faster than I figured it would. Her biggest issue is that wrist. It's been reopened so many times that it's really not wanting to close up….if it doesn't, I'm not sure what that will mean for her hand."
"Your not saying…." Darius started.
Sammy nodded solemnly.
"It's too early to know anything yet, but if that wound doesn't close up, or it gets infected, or her tissue starts to die, then yes, it's probably going to have to come off."
Darius let Sammy's words sink in for a moment. He couldn't even imagine having to amputate the girls hand, without anesthetic, the pain would be unbearable.
"Sammy, you know Yaz…she seems to find her identity, her self worth, in her abilities….if we had to take her hand, I'm afraid it would absolutely destroy her." He worried.
"But if we left it, it would kill her." She reasoned. "Which is exactly why we need to make sure she stays down. Even though she's recovering quickly and sometimes it seems like she's fine, she's not. She can't be doing anything physical at the very least until she's healed enough for me to remove her stitches……I'd much prefer she stay down at least a couple weeks after that, but it's Yaz we're talking about, so I'll have to compromise at least a little."
"You realize she's gonna be super mad, right?" Darius warned.
"Yeah, it's not gonna be fun but she NEEDS to let herself heal." She insisted.
"Well since we're already on the subject of making Yaz mad, you realize it's up to the two of us to provide for her, Kenji, and Brooklynn, right? Which means it's gonna be just the two of us….out there….gathering supplies." He cautioned.
Sammy nodded, looking out towards the park.
"Speaking of, without power, we've got no way to cook." She started. "So I was thinking, this balcony is cement, I don't see any reason we couldn't build a cooking fire on it….we just need firewood."
"Which means jungle." He pointed out.
"That or we start busting up furniture." She admitted.
"Hard to say which is safer, on one hand if we use furniture, we don't have to leave the hotel, but then again, God knows what chemicals are in the varnish or stain or glue….it could possibly taint the food." He reasoned.
"Right. And with firewood from the jungle we don't have to worry about that. But then again….." She began.
"It means…..going into the jungle." Darius finished.
"Under the circumstances, I think I lean more with a quick trip into the jungle. It's not far away and it's daytime, with two sets of eyes, we should be relatively safe." She said.
"Makes sense, I guess that settles it. You and I are going to the jungle." He stated.
"Like H* you are." Came Yasmina's angry voice from behind them.
Darius and Sammy spun around to find Yaz glaring at them arms crossed. The look on her face was clear…she was NOT in the mood for their reasoning, no matter how logical it might be.
"You two can't be serious." She hissed. "After everything that just happened, you're already planning on separating again?"
"Yaz look." Darius sighed. "I honestly don't like the idea either, but the simple fact is that the power is out. Most of the food in the hotel is spoiled or spoiling as we speak. And while we can get by for a while on the canned food that's there, we still need a way to cook it….which means firewood. This isn't a all day walk to someplace like the comms building we're talking about, just a quick trip to the jungle for firewood, thirty minutes tops." He explained.
"And it takes less than one minute for you to become one of them!" She retorted, waving her hand dramatically towards main street.
"Yaz I get where you're coming from….." He tried.
"NO! Darius, you DON'T! You have no idea how I feel, Or what I've been through. None of you do, and you never will, my life is my problem and mine alone…..but that's beside the point. The point is that you don't get to pretend for a SECOND that you know where I'm coming from. You have no idea what it was like for me….knowing the people I love most were out there fighting for their lives…..while I'm here doing nothing to help them. You don't know what it's like to lay in a bed, broken and bleeding, and dwell on the fact that everyone you care about is probably dead…..that you're alone….truly alone." She ranted. "You have no idea how dark your own thoughts can get when there's nobody left." She added, tears threatening to fall.
"Yaz..I….." He tried again.
Yasmina held up her hand to cut him off.
"It's just….a good thing you guys got back when you did….." She finished, stopping herself and looking away.
Sammy stepped forward silently, wrapping Yasmina in a hug which she neither fought, nor returned.
"Yaz" Darius tried again, a little firmer this time. "You're right, I don't know what you've been through, and no, I don't know exactly how you feel….but...I DO know what it's like to lose people you care about and be powerless to stop it. I couldn't help my dad, I couldn't help Ben, I couldn't help……Brooklynn. And I DO know what it's like to know your friend is out there somewhere, possibly dead or dying…..we all know what that feels like….you showed us that when you snuck out."
Yasmina's 's eyes widened at the realization as a pang of guilt washed over her.
"We absolutely shouldn't have left you alone, that was my bad and I'm sorry. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have tried. I hated splitting us up, but the idea of getting a signal out and all of us getting out of here together was worth the risk….but I should have left someone with you….just in case. Nobody could survive being alone on this island. That being said, we have friends who are severely wounded, as well as limited food and supplies. We don't have a choice but to gather what we need, when we need it…and right now, we need firewood." He explained.
"Then I'm coming with you." Yaz decided.
"No, you're not. Sammy and I are going, you're gonna stay here with Brooklynn and Kenji and try to heal." He insisted.
"That's BS! I might be a little banged up but I can still gather supplies, I have one good arm, I'm not useless, I can do it, I know I can." She snapped.
"I believe you….and that's exactly why you're staying." Darius argued calmly.
"WHAT? THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!" She yelled.
"Look" Darius sighed. "Let's be real for a minute. You're the strongest, most driven, most stubborn girl I've ever met. But if you don't let that wrist heal, there's a good chance your gonna lose that entire hand." He said.
Yasmina's eyes shot to Sammy for confirmation, who nodded sadly in agreement.
"But more importantly, if all three of us go out there and something does end up happening, and none of us make it out……what happens to Brooklynn and Kenji? In their current condition, how long do you think they would last on their own? A week? Maybe? If something happens to me and Sammy, they need someone to protect and provide for them until they're healed. Even if you were fully healed, I wouldn't send all three of us out there just for that reason. I'm not leaving anyone alone again, but we are going to have to split up from time to time…when that happens, there will be groups." He finished.
"I really, really hate you right now Darius….if you get yourself eaten out there, I swear to God, I'll track whatever dinosaur it was down and cut it open just so I can kill you myself, do you understand me?" She growled.
"I love you too Yaz." He chuckled.
"Same goes for you cowgirl." She warned, narrowing her eyes at the Texan.
"We'll be careful Yaz, I promise." Sammy smiled. "Oh, did you give Brooklynn the Ibuprofen?"
"Yeah, she was in bed but she wasn't sleeping." She answered. "Speaking of which, if you guys are doing this, you better go let her know, cause I ain't covering for you, and if she finds out you went out there without telling her….then the dinosaurs will be the least of your worries." She warned.
Darius looked to Sammy, who shot him a sympathetic smile.
"She's probably right, we probably should tell Brooklynn…..just in case, ya know?" Darius admitted.
"What's this we stuff?" Sammy asked, taking a step back. "This one's all you."
"Thanks" He said sarcastically, as he headed inside.
"Good luck Romeo!" Yaz called after him, snickering to herself.
Darius spun around and opened his mouth to say something, before thinking better of it and simply ignoring her, leaving the two girls cackling on the balcony.
"Maybe Yaz is right, maybe I should just tell him." Brooklynn thought, staring up at the ceiling. I mean, what's the worst that could happen."
An image of Darius, rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically, while she ran out of the hotel and jumped into the Mosasaur lagoon flashed through her mind.
"Get it together girl, there's no way that's going to happen, Darius isn't like that!" She argued with herself.
Another scenario took form in her mind. This one with Darius telling her how honored he was, but that he simply didn't look at her that way…..followed immediately by herself running out of the hotel and diving into the lagoon.
"Hmmmm not any better. Happy thoughts Brooklynn, happy thoughts.
A third scenario played out. This time Darius on his knees, holding her hand and confessing his undying love for her. Immediately she watched herself swoon…….and fall into the Mosasaur lagoon.
"Oh what the heck!" She blurted out, eyes snapping open. "I guess my happily ever after's broken."
A gentle knock at the door brought her back to reality.
"Brooke, it's me, are you awake?" Darius' voice rang from the other side of the door.
"Uh..uh..yeah of course, come on in…..you don't need to knock." She stuttered, blushing brightly.
"How ya feeling?" He asked, stepping into the room and gazing at her in concern. "Your cheeks are a bit red, are you feeling feverish?" He pressed, laying the back of his hand gently against her forehead.
"N..no I'm fine, just sore is all." She answered weakly.
"Are you sure? I could come back another…."
"No, no, you're fine, is something up?" She asked.
"Well" Darius sighed. "There's kinda something I need to talk to you about."
"W..What is it?" She asked nervously.
"Well Sammy and I were just talking to Yaz and……"
"SHE'S LYING!!" Brooklynn blurted out, sitting up straight so fast that the pain knocked the wind out of her.
Darius caught her in his arms as she doubled over in agony.
"Easy, Brooke, easy….just breathe." He cooed. "Now what the heck are you talking about? Who's lying?"
"Yaz…wait…what did she tell you?" she asked in confusion.
"Um nothing, just yelled at me for leaving her alone here….why? What did you think she told us?" He asked with a growing suspicion.
"Better think fast Brooklynn, you've just about got yourself backed into a corner now." She thought.
"That…..that….I pick my nose?" She sputtered, immediately wishing she was dead.
"WHAT??? WHAT??? WHY? WHY DID I SAY THAT?, BROOKLYNN YOU IDIOT!
Darius just stared at her, to shocked to find words.
"Did…did Yaz catch you picking your nose?...I mean, no judgement…just trying to understand what's happening here." He asked, his thought process in utter disarray.
"Noooooooooo, definitely not!" She cried, on the verge of tears. "I was just scratching…."
"OH MY GOD, HE'S NOT BUYING IT….HE TOTALLY THINKS I PICK MY NOSE NOW……….WHAT DID THAT LACK OF OXYGEN DO TO MY BRAIN???"
"Oookay….well now that that's settled, um first off, she didn't say anything about you or your nose." He assured her.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid…..exactly how far away is that lagoon?" She wondered.
"Second, I…….I just wanted to let you know…………I just……I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He lied.
"I can't do it….the girls a nervous wreck. How could I tell her I'm going back out there, especially after her dream….she'd worry herself to death, I can't let her go through that." He justified.
"Oh, um okay…well, I'm doing fine, just tired and sore." She promised.
"Okay, good, I'm gonna let you rest then and I'll check on you again when I get……uh..later I mean." He stuttered.
"Um okay, I look forward to it." She said, leaning into him for an awkward hug.
"Sleep well." He said, quickly slipping out the door.
The second the the door shut, Brooklynn threw herself back on the bed, causing her to wince in pain.
"Pick my nose?...look forward to it?...seriously, what is wrong with me?" She asked herself, before yelling into her pillow in frustration.
"So how'd she take it?" Yasmina asked as Darius came out into the living room.
"She uh….took it fine….she's sleeping now, so I wouldn't bother her." He lied.
Yaz narrowed her eyes at her friend.
"You didn't tell her….did you?" She accused.
"No, I didn't….and you're not going to either. She's a nervous wreck….the last thing she needs is more stress." He admitted.
"Well I guess you better hurry it up, because if she figures out the two of you went back out there……" She cautioned.
"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "It's just that her injuries are so fresh..and she's already got so much on her mind after nearly dying. Not to mention she just had a nightmare about being helpless while some unknown group of Dinosaurs got me."
"Well that's comforting….you didn't tell me that part." Sammy complained.
"Don't worry Sammy, it was just a dream." He said, giving Yaz a nod and opening the door. "Just a quick trip to grab enough firewood for a few meals. Thirty minutes tops. It'll all be okay."
"Yeah" Sammy answered with a long sigh, looking from Darius in the hallway, back to Brooklynn's door. "It'd better be…..for her sake."