Stranded

Chapter Six: Blayr Levine

Blayr Levine clutched the doll to her chest. A fresh bruise started to appear on the three year-old's cheek. Her brother, seven-year-old Tony, sunk down beside her, and pulled Blayr onto his lap. He stroked her hair and ignored the blood that trickled down his own forehead.

Blayr shuddered as the screaming of their father grew louder. Tim Levine had come home drunk again, and had started to beat on the children. When their mother, Gail, arrived at the house, Tony pulled Blayr upstairs to the room they shared and locked the door.

Tony had saved up for, purchased, and installed the lock himself, young as he was.

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded, and Blayr jumped up, fumbling at the lock. Tony pulled her back, and told her to be quiet. The fighting had stopped, and they heard the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway. Tony stood on his toes to see out the window, and watched his father drive away.

After Blayr and Tony testified at their father's trial, he was given to a life-sentence in prison. Blayr and Tony were sent to a foster home.

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Blayr set down the copy of Ella Enchanted, a book that Katrina White had lent her, and stretched out her legs in front of her, trying to remove the pressure from her bladder. It had been just fifteen minutes since she had last asked Danietta to help her to her feet so that she could waddle into the jungle and relieve herself. She hated feeling like she was constantly bothering someone.

Finally Blayr tried to push herself up, but with her ever-growing tummy, she found it impossible.

"Need a hand?" Blayr felt strong hands grip her arms, and she soon found her footing.

"Thank you, Steve," she said over her shoulder as she shuffled towards the trees. The cop was gone when Blayr returned to the beach. She surveyed the land more carefully, and found a better spot to sit in. With a large rock behind her, Blayr could push herself to her feet when needed.

Soon after Blayr returned to her book, Joyce sank down beside her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, offering a water bottle. "You look dehydrated."

"I'm okay," Blayr said, placing a hand on her stomach. The baby felt the warmth of its mother's hand and kicked palm sharply. Blayr's eyes filled up with tears.

"Are you alright?" Joyce asked, alarmed. Blayr nodded and sniffled. "What is it?"

"I miss Rob."

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Robert Balocca leaned towards his wife and whispered something in the ear of the beautiful, slim Blayr. As she laughed quietly, Blayr was unaware that her husband only brought her to these balls and ceremonies because she attracted positive attention to him and his pharmaceutical company: Balocca-Connary. As the founder, CEO, and principle shareholder of the corporation, Robert attended many charity gigs. Having Blayr on his arm made donors want to give more to the cause.

Even if Blayr had known, she probably would not have minded. Rob's interest was the first positive male attention besides her brother's that she had ever received. Blayr was happy with the man of her dreams.

And then things changed: Blayr got pregnant. Rob became very distant, dodging plans and questions about the baby, and he started working long hours at the office. Blayr ignored this, thinking that he was just nervous.

"Hi, Sweetie," Blayr said as Robert came in the door. She was just over eight months pregnant now, and growing more anxious for the baby every day. She had turned the spare bedroom into a nursery, and sewed a bunch of cute outfits for the baby. "Did you have a good day?" As Rob grunted an answer, Blayr cut the lace that she was sewing onto a christening gown. She held up the little dress. "What do you think?"

"I can't do this Blayr. I can't," Rob said.

"What?" the woman asked, looking up from the sewing machine. Rob was standing in the doorway, a large manila envelope under one arm, a bottle of scotch in the other. His tie was undone, as were several buttons on his shirt, and his eyes were red and bloodshot. "You don't drink…" Blayr said, letting the words trail off. She knew what was in the envelope. When she was honest with herself, she had seen this coming.

Rob placed the divorce papers in front of her and quickly told her that she was getting half of his share of the proceeds of Balocca-Connery, the apartment in Tokyo, and their house in Malibu. Then he held out a pen. At first, Blayr didn't move. Tears were running down her cheeks. But then she glanced up at Rob.

The look in his eyes scared Blayr. She had seen it before, from her own father, drunken and enraged the night he killed her mother. Blayr took the pen from her husband, and neatly signed her name on the designated lines.

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Joyce told Blayr to get some rest.

"And don't worry. I know the baby is due. I will be right here to help you." Blayr smiled at the doctor as she walked away.

"How is my favorite nephew-or-niece today?" Tony asked, sinking down into the sand beside his sister.

"Fine," Blayr mumbled, shifting in the sand. She looked sadly out towards the horizon. Tony seemed to read her thoughts as he placed his arm around her shoulders.

"You're better off without him," he said quietly. Blayr turned at looked into her brother's eyes.

"What did you say?"

"If the man can't respect you, why would you want to be married to him?" Tony jumped up as Blayr pushed on the rock and tried to stand. He moved to help her, but she slapped his hand away. Thirty seconds later, Blayr was standing, straightening out her shirt, and ignoring the chuckles that her brother was trying in vain to hide.

"Go ahead and laugh. Poor pregnant Blayr. I don't care. But I love Rob," she said. "I thought you would respect that."

"Blayr," Tony said, grasping her arm. "He hurt you. He's a jerk."

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A week after the divorce, Blayr still felt empty. She had stayed in the apartment. Each morning she woke up, and in her groggy state, thought that it had been a bad dream. But the cold sheets beside her reminded her of the truth.

In the afternoon, she sat on the couch staring across the room, to a wedding photograph, framed in silver. She remembered all the good times, trying to forget what she had just gone through. Blayr knew that she'd have to face it soon, and was reminded of that fact with the baby's recurrent kicks. She put her hand on the place that had just been kicked, wondering for the thousandth time whether it could be a boy or a girl.

Blayr was startled from her thoughts by the telephone.

"Moshi-moshi," she said, using the customary Japanese telephone greeting.

"Blayr, it's Tony," the voice declared cheerfully.

"Hi, Tony," Blayr said.

"How is everything?" Tony called her every week to ask that question and Blayr had always told him that she was just fine. "How's the baby? You're due soon aren't you?"

"Yep," Blayr said, "Just two weeks left."

"Good, because Uncle Tony bought his little nephew-or-niece a whole lot of presents," he said. Silence overcame the telephone connection, but Tony soon broke it. "Blayr, I know."

"Know what?" she asked innocently.

"I know that Rob left you. Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I don't always need someone to look after me. I'm not three anymo-"

The doorbell interrupted Blayr before the words could turn into a tirade.

"Hold on, Tony. I've got to get the door," she said as she set down the phone in its cradle.

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Blayr glared at her brother. She turned as sharply as she could, and stomped away. She was left to herself after that, to cool off, she assumed. But sitting in one spot didn't feel like an option anymore. She felt restless and couldn't keep her mind off of the divorce. Blayr put the book and a water bottle into a backpack. Then she pushed herself to her feet, and wandered down the beach a way, until the camp was just a speck to her eyes.

She was looking for a place to sit down, when she heard trickling in the jungle. She looked back towards the camp. No one was coming to find her, or even looking her way. Blayr followed the sound behind the trees and saw a small stream. She tasted the water. Salty, though not as strong as the water in the sea.

But the stream was close to the ocean. Maybe further on the water was fresh.

Blayr continued walking along the little stream, crossing over it when she came to a bridge of rock. Blayr walked for a long time, and when she finally checked her watch, she realized that she had been gone for nearly three hours. Blayr turned to go back to camp, when she heard a low rumbling.

She had heard that sound before, when she had climbed a mountain in Japan with Rob. They had cooled their feet at the base of a waterfall. The noise had nearly been deafening.

She broke out of the leaves, and saw it. The water plummeted thirty or forty feet from the top of a cliff down to a lake-sized pool. Blayr sat on the edge of a large rock to untie her tennis shoes. Then she waded into the water up to her knees. It was fresh water, cool and clean. Even in the dusk, Blayr could see to the sandy bottom.

She let her eyes close as the sound of the tumbling water nearly put her to sleep on her feet. The baby kicked, and she looked up, to see a red parrot fly above the trees. Looking up into the leaves, Blayr could see coconuts, guavas, bananas, and papayas. There were also a few other fruits that she did not immediately recognize.

The baby kicked Blayr once again to remind her that it had been very stupid to wander so far away from the camp alone, when she was just a two days away from her due date.

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The doorbell interrupted Blayr before the words could turn into a tirade.

"Hold on, Tony. I've got to get the door," Blayr said as she set down the phone in its cradle. As the door swung inward, Blayr's eyes filled with tears. Her brother stood on her welcome mat, flipping his cell phone closed.

"Hi, Blayr," he said. "It's time to go home." Blayr moved into his open arms as her sobs overtook her. He held her tightly, stroking her hair and letting her cry as he had done so many times in their childhood.

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As Blayr turned to put her shoes back on, she felt something warm dribble down her legs. As a sharp pain ripped through her abdomen, she realized that her water had broken. The contraction left her breathless as she limped back to the shore. As she sank down with her back to the large rock, Blayr did not think of how she would deliver the baby alone, or how scared she was. One thought repeated in her mind, as if her brain had put her on hold and was playing a broken record while she waited.

"Tony, come rescue me."

A/N: So there's chapter six. I am sorry that it took so long to update, and I have the next two chapters in the works. And I'm doubly sorry about the cliffhanger.

But I can't make up my mind on one vital detail: so…

Audience Poll: Should Blayr's baby be a boy or a girl? Vote today!

Honestly I need the help deciding, so if you have an opinion, please share. My heart-felt thanks to all of you who are sticking with me. Thank you for reading.

Also, I purposely put kind of a blooper in this chapter. The book that Blayr was reading, Ella Enchanted, was written by a woman named Gail Carson Levine. I named Blayr and Tony's mother Gail.

Now, do you see that shiny little button? Kinda purplish? Says 'Submit Review'? If you click it, a magic box will appear on you screen in approximately five seconds!