A/N: There will be a little spanish in this chapter, but everything has been translated to english in a bracket next to the sentences. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter

Chapter 5: finding help and comfort

It felt like hours past, his arms felt heavy as rocks when he tried moving them, but he had to continue. He was tired, his eyes kept shutting and he had given up holding his head up a while ago, instead leaning his left cheek against the wooden surface no longer watching where he was moving, or if he was moving. Had his arms stopped moving or did he just no longer feel the movement? Chris thought to himself, but was interrupted in his thoughts when he started coughing violently again, his chest burning and it felt like he was in the water again, drowning. Chris started to panic slightly, maybe he had fallen overboard without realizing and he really was drowning? Maybe that hard wooden feeling under him wasn't real? He started hiccuping and coughing hard, trying desperately to collect himself and be brave so that Buck and his father would be proud of him. He turned around searching for the sky, then his mother could maybe recognise him. The driftwood was definitely still there, and it started to rock dangerously when he moved, but he had to get around so he could look up at the sky, he needed his mother to see him so that he could be brave.

Once on his back he was heaving in his breaths and coughing, but even though he couldn't see very clear, well barely at all without his glasses, he felt a little comfort in looking up at the sky to his mother, and he found that he would always be brave knowing that she was looking at him. Chris closed his eyes, a big smile on his face thinking of his mother.

He heard a woman cry: "El niño. Mira al niño que está muerto" (The child. Look at the child who is dead). He felt someone stop his float and a small gentle hand stroke his cheek; "Hermoso incluso en la muerte" (Beautiful even in death), he heard the woman cry now standing right above him. He started coughing lightly, he had just meant to take a breath to ask for Buck; Thinking that surely his mother must know where Buck was. The woman gave out a surprised and slightly fearful scream, before she quickly grabbed a hold of his shoulders and started shaking him softly;

"Pequeño" (little one), and a little more hesitant and unsure: "You hear me little one?". Christopher opened his eyes slowly, his breath still heaving and the burning feeling in his chest was still there, but he managed to still breathe out:

"Mamá I need to find Buck. ¿Dónde esta Buck? " (Mommy I need to find Buck. Where is Buck?). He didn't cry, he knew he was safe and that his mother would protect him, but Buck needed him.

"No te preocupes pequeño" (Worry not little one), she picked him up and held him tight; "Your safe now little one".

"Yeah, but I still need to find Buck" he whispered tiredly. As he rested his head on her shoulder and his eyes started to drift shut again he whispered: "Prométeme que lo encontraremos mami" (Promise me we will find him mommy).

"Prometo encantador. Te prometo que lo encontraremos" (I promise lovely. I promise we will find him) she told him, rubbing her hand calmly on his back while starting to sing to him: "Duérmete mi niño, duérmete mi amor, duérmete pedazo de mi corazón…" (Fall asleep my child, fall asleep my love, fall asleep piece of my heart). Christopher closed his eyes and fell asleep to the same lullaby his mother always sang to him when he was younger and woke up with nightmares, smiling as his body relaxed in the warm comforting hug, he was safe and now he had found help to search for his Buck.

He thought he heard Athena at one point, not sure if it really was her, she answered a man who was standing next to them; The man was frustrated because his wife was missing, accusing the woman that sounded like Athena of not doing enough of finding his wife;

"We are doing everything that we can", Athena answered him, continuing: "There's people at the shelter who can take your name and reconnect you with your wife or whoever is missing". Chris wanted to turn around to see if it was Athena, to ask if she had seen Buck, but he was already drifting back to sleep when he heard the woman carrying him: "Muchos gracias" (Thank you very much).

"No problem" Athena answered, and then his eyes drifted shut and he was sleeping again.