Tropical Nightmare- Chapter 4: Salty waters (Kate´s POV)

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Tony and Kate are sent to Argentina for an undercover mission, but they have to take a detour.They are bound to find out that atropical island can be a real nightmare -at least if you´re on your own out there...

Additional note: I usually don´t write 1st-person narrator, but it seemed to fit rather well for this little story as the POV changes with each chapter.Also, the use of present-tense is wanted here, eventhough it may seem a bit odd. I hope it´s still readable.

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It´s cold. That´s the first thing I notice when my senses come back to me. I can smell something -not fish, but something similar. How can it be so hard to think? My head seems to explode when I try to open my eyes. I keep them shut, but now I know what that smell is. Salt. Water. Wind. Algae. I try to open my eyes again and this time I can see something. It´s more like shadows, but they are moving. I move my arms and legs -both work, but my right arm hurts. The shadows start to clear up. Everything is moving up and down somehow. Where am I? I remember getting on that plane with Tony, but... „Tony?" I doubt he can hear me, my voice doesn´t rise over the storm and I swallow a mouthful of salty water, it makes me cough.

Something warm touches my head. I want to pull away, but then, I see a face next to mine. „Lie still, Kate. That´s one freaking storm." He yells and is gone again. I look around and finally realize where I am. It´s a wooden raft, looks like piece of a large box or something similar. Lightning is blazing above me on the dark sky and I wonder if we would die when a lightning bolt hits the water. While I think about it, my eyes start to close again. It´s so cold and I´m so tired. I feel someone shaking me, but it´s so much easier to go to sleep.

„Kate? Kate! Come on, look at me." It´s a bit warmer now and something wet washes over my face. I try to get my arms up to protect me. „Good." The voice says and I feel how my head is lifted. Something very hot is in my mouth all the sudden. I want to spit it out, but swallow some. It tastes sweet, like tea, but it seems to burn my throat. I open my eyes and cough.

Two hands hold me down, I try to struggle against them, but I fail. „Kate, calm down. It´s me, Tony." The voice says and finally, I recognize him. My vision clears up and I look up into a starlit sky. I turn my head a bit and see Tony sitting next to me. He looks worried, but I don´t know why. I try to sit up again, but my right arm hurts when I put weight on it. He smiles and helps me. Just what happened?

„Where am I?" I finally ask and wonder why I can hardly speak. It must be night and I can hear waves breaking against the shore. I feel sand under my hands, maybe all was just a dream or something.

„The plane crash-landed -I don´t have a clue why. You were asleep, but the impact tossed you around. You hit your head on one of the containers. The plane sank and I had to get you out, there was a broken container, one of the sides was large enough to work as a raft. The current took us to this island, I don´t think there´s anyone living here. I haven´t seen any lights around at all." He looks out onto the sea.

I follow his gaze and realize that there´s just darkness out there. Not a single spark of light, nothing. „I remember being on that raft...it was so cold." I recall some bits and pieces of what happened, but it´s not nearly enough to explain the situation.

„I wasn´t sure if you would make it...you almost drowned. When we got here, you weren´t breathing... I got the water out of your lungs, thank god they still teach us CPR. I mean, are you feeling okay now? I found a package of tea, probably for one of the hotels and some gas stoves. There´s not much food though...at least none I could find with so little light." I listen to him and realize just what a close call it had been. I remember my instructor at the training camp. He used to tell us that falling asleep was deadly when a person was hypothermic. I had forgotten.

I finally sit up completely and probe my right arm. There is a bruise around the elbow, so I probably ripped something in there, but it won´t kill me. Something falls off my shoulders and I notice that it´s his jacket. A strong breeze is playing with my hair, it´s not really warm. I take the jacket and hand it back to him. „Thanks, Tony..." For a moment, there´s a smile playing on his lips. Just what is it that fascinates me so much about him? A part of me wants to curl up in his lap and go back to sleep with his arms around me, but the other part hesitates and pulls back.