Chapter 6: Strength

 

Jason desperately swam back to Brenda, who was still in the airplane. Frantically, he grabbed her around the waist. Floating around her was reddish colored water, and Jason saw that the right side of Brenda's face was opened above her forehead. 

Jason felt a dagger go through his chest, and he realized that his breath wasn't going to last much longer. With Brenda clutched to him, he swam madly from the plane. On his way out, his shirt was caught on something.

He continued to try and swim, causing his shirt to rip down the arm. He grimaced as the white, hot pain went down his arm, and his blood shed into the water as well.

Brenda and him finally made it out of the plane, and the surface was visible, but Jason felt his energy leaving him.

GO! He urged himself. Just a little farther! Swim! You can make it!

He fell back into the ocean, but he pushed himself forward. Brenda suddenly grew heavier in his arms, and he couldn't feel his hands or feet.

Go…

****

"Who is this?" Sonny asked.

"Ask your sister what she thinks about Morgan when he gets back. Study both of them closely, and you'll see what I mean."

Click.

"What the hell…" Sonny mumbled, and he dialed *69 to see who it was who had called him.

The phone rang, rang, and rang. No one picked up. Sonny cursed. Some one was obviously up to something, and he was going to figure it out before anything happened.

****

"Are you just going to listen to him like that, Carly? He's treating you like a dog. When he says bark, you bark," Courtney said as her and Carly were walking out of Kelly's.

"No," Carly joked. "When he says bark, I ask how loud."

"I'm serious."

"I know you are, Courtney, but Sonny was serious too. There is something going on, and he doesn't want us interfering with him stopping it."

"Right, we can't in any way help. We are here to look pretty and be silent. Well, what's happening?"

"Nothing," Carly answered, dismissively waving a hand. "At least, nothing yet." 

Courtney stared her, puzzled.

****

Jax walked back into his house.

"Brenda?" he shouted. "You back?"

He walked through the main parts of the house, searching for his fiancée. When he wasn't able to find her, he walked over to the message machine.

"You have one new message," the automated voice informed.

"Jax," Brenda's voice came over the machine breathlessly. There was a muffle of other people in the background, and he heard a male voice speak urgently,

"Brenda, come on!"

Brenda continued, "We couldn't get the annulment in the Dominican Republic, so we're going somewhere else. I shouldn't be gone too long. I should be back home in two days at least. I miss you. Bye."

"No more new messages."

Jax picked up his phone and dialed the number of Brenda's cell phone.

****

Jason just laid there, his eyes closed and not moving. He couldn't feel any strength left in his body. The blood from his right arms formed a puddle around his hair and neck, but he didn't bother to move it.

He turned over on his back, and the bright sun, even with his eyes closed, made him wince. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He let out a groan as a dull pain flowed all through his entire body.

A few feet away, Brenda was face in the sand, the surf coming in softly over her scratched feet. Jason quickly dragged himself over to her, despite the pain in his left ankle, to see if she was all right.

"Brenda," he said, his voice hoarse. She didn't move. He turned her over, and he saw that her eyes were closed.

****

"What do you mean 'nothing yet'?" Courtney asked. "Something's wrong, now what is it?"

"It's nothing, really. You shouldn't have to worry about it."

"Carly, I won't worry about it; I just want to know what is going on. I have a right to know what is happening in my own life, don't I?"

"Yes, you do, but-"

"Then what is going on?"

"Courtney-"

"Tell me!"

Carly threw her arms above her head, broken down. "Jason is missing! Okay? That is what's going on!"

****

Jax waited for Brenda to pick up, so he could hear her voice again and know when she would be back in his arms.

The phone rang, rang, and rang. . .

Meanwhile, in the Brenda and Jason's old room in the Dominican Republic, Brenda's cell phone lay on a table. After a few times of Jax calling back, a wanderer picked up the phone.

          "Brenda?" Jax spoke into the phone once he heard that it had been picked up.

The person on the other line couldn't speak English, so they didn't answer. Jax, thinking it was Brenda, kept repeating her name.

"Brenda. Are you there? If you are, please answer me. Brenda?"

In the end, the wanderer just hung up the phone.

Jax stared at the phone, puzzled by Brenda's actions. He hung up his phone too, feeling rejected and still not knowing when Brenda would be returning home.

****

Jason leaned in closer to Brenda, and he could hear that she was still breathing and her heart was beating, slowly but beating. He was slightly relived. He moved Brenda up onto the land, propping her against a tree.

He ripped of a piece of his half torn shirt and began to pat Brenda's gash on her forehead. Her soft, damp hair tickled the cut on his arm. Once he finished tending to her gash, he just sat there, looking at her.

After a few minutes, he looked away, seeming embarrassed that he just looked at her face even once. So instead he began to examine his surroundings. It didn't talk long to see that they were on a remote island with nothing around and no way out.

Wise men say, only fools rush in,

But I can't help, falling in love with you.

         

Shall I stay?

         

Would it be a sin?

If I can't help, falling in love with you.

         

Like a river flows to the sea,

         

Darling, so it goes, some things are meant to be.

Some things are meant to be!

Take my hand. Take my whole life too.

For I can't help falling in love . . .falling in love with you.