One great thing about the Navy was the visits of all those beautiful beaches. CO Flynn decided that we could have a mini-vacation and play some touch. It was a lot of fun. The crew was so great. It really felt like we were like a big family.

"Hey Chefo, you dropped this," I heard Jaffah say after Swain had called half time, "It's a ring." I looked at the little box Jaffah was holding. There really was a small, beautiful ring in it. "Are you getting married, Chefo?" Nav asked him. "Yea, maybe," Chefo replied, "She hasn't exactly said yes yet. I'm planning on asking her when we get back tonight." "Alright!" the guys exclaimed and tackled Chefo. I smiled.

While it was still half time I decided to take a walk alongside the beach. The sea air was really great.

"Red!" someone suddenly called. I turned around to see Spider running towards me. "We got a mayday call, we need to get back," he called. I nodded and ran back to the rhib with him. Back on Hammersley I quickly changed into my uniform and went to the bridge. We were following a radar contact. I observed the radar. There was not much else I could do but wait as the boarding party made their way to the fishing boat. They brought back a family. "Red, go help with the family," the CO instructed me so I went on deck to Swain and Buffer who were talking with the family. The older woman had a bad burn on her arm.

But suddenly I heard screams. I jumped up to see Chefo winding on the floor. "Chefo!" I exclaimed. I was paralyzed as Swain and the others ran over to him. They wanted to bring him down to the ward when Jaffah suddenly collapsed as well. I didn't know what to do. I felt like I couldn't move. I wanted to do something. I wanted to help Chefo and Jaffah, but I just couldn't. What was going on here? "Red, stay with the family!" the CO ordered as he and Spider brought Jaffah under deck. I could only watch, paralyzed. When they were out of sight I sunk to my knees. Just what was going on? What happened? Why were both Chefo and Jaffah in so much pain? I wanted to do something, anything. But there was nothing I could do. I took a deep breath and got back on my feet again. I walked over to the family, trying to muster up a smile. Luckily Buffer came back on deck and told me he would take over because there was no way I could contain my worry.

I took another deep breath before I went down to find out what was going on with Chefo and Jaffah. "They got stung by a jellyfish?" I asked Spider, who was at Jaffah's side. "Yea, the XO said it can be deadly." I didn't believe it. Chefo and Jaffah couldn't die. They just couldn't. "They'll be okay," Spider said, trying to reassure me, but it was obvious that he himself wasn't a hundred percent sure of that. I tried to make myself smile before I left. I couldn't bear seeing Jaffah like that. And I wouldn't go see Chefo. I didn't think I could handle it. So instead I went back to the bridge. At least there I could focus on the radar or something. There was nothing to do really, but focusing on the dot was better than nothing. ET was the only on the bridge. Nav and the CO were looking after Chefo and Jaffah and the XO was getting a brew.

"You okay?" ET asked me. "As long as I'm not reminded, yea," I answered, "You?" "There's nothing I could do even if I wanted to." We fell silent, each hanging after their own thoughts. The XO and another crew member came back shortly after. "You two can go take a break," the XO said. I wanted to protest but the look she gave me, made me change my mind. So I sighed and followed ET to the galley. "Do you take sugar or milk?" he asked, while I jumped on one of the counters. "Milk, thanks." Looking around the galley I thought of Chefo.

"He'll be alright." I looked at ET. He stood next to me and put a hand on my knee. "How can you be so sure?" I asked. "Chefo's a fighter," ET answered and smiled, "Besides, he still has a proposal to make, doesn't he?" Now I thought of Chefo's almost-fiancé. If he didn't make it… She might never know that he wanted to marry her.

"Red?" I looked up at ET again. This time he was standing right in front of me. "Hey, you have to believe." "I can't," I sobbed. "Hey, come on, what if Chefo saw you like this?" ET wiped my tears away and I actually had to laugh a little. He would probably make fun of me for being so overly worried. "That's the spirit!" ET smiled at me, "Now, let's make that brew." "Okay," I nodded.

Then I at least had something to do. I was grateful that ET could distract me like that. He was a really great friend.

But then Buffer suddenly came into the galley. "Have you seen the little refugee girl?" he asked hastily. "No. Why?" ET replied. "Do you want some help searching?" I offered. "It's okay. But tell me, if you see her," Buffer said, before he left again. ET and I looked at each other. Somehow today seemed to be a day of bad luck.

We poured us each a cup of steaming coffee and then went back to the bridge. The missing girl hadn't been found yet, but Buffer had found her shoe, so the most probable thing was, that she had gone overboard. "We're turning around," the CO said, "Nav, reverse our course." "Sir, Chefo needs proper medical attention. He needs to get to a hospital now," Swain appealed. "I know that, Swain, but we have a duty to this girl," the CO replied. "With all due respect, Sir, what about our duty to chef Toby Jones? What do we tell his family if he doesn't make it?" Swain objected. "Let me know if there's any change in his condition," was all the CO had to say, "Dismissed."

Even if he was the CO, I couldn't agree with him on this. The chances of finding that little girl, that could have already drowned, were so slim, while we still had the chance to save Chefo and Jaffah… I was on Swain's side on this. "Excuse me," I said and left the bridge to follow Swain to the ward. "Is there anything I can do?" "Red? Oh, could you get some water for Chefo?" Swain requested. "Sure, do you want anything? Coffee?" "A coffee would be great, thanks." I nodded and then went to the galley. Someone had started making dinner as it seemed. I got a coffee for Swain and a bottle of water for Chefo. I hurried on my way back to the ward when I suddenly heard Spider's voice. "Swain! Swain!" he yelled. I had a really bad feeling. Swain rushed past me and I followed.

I stumbled back. No. It couldn't be. Jaffah… "He's gone," I heard Swain say. "No…" Spider took a few steps back. "Spider, go get some fresh air," Swain said, "Red, bring that water to Chefo." It took me a few seconds to react. I scrambled to my feet and hurried to the ward, just to get out of there. I put the water on a table in the ward and left again. I couldn't stay there, with Chefo. What if… What if Chefo as well… I needed to get away from there. I curled up on my bed and tried to block out any thoughts, any sounds, just everything. But I couldn't. There was no way I could. Not after what had just happened. My mind raced. All I could think was that I wanted Chefo to survive. He had to fight. He couldn't… He just couldn't die. He had to get better! He just had to!

I jumped when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. "Relax, it's just me," I heard a familiar voice laugh. I looked up at ET. "They found the little girl," he told me, "And…" "And what?" I asked anxiously. "Chefo is doing better. Swain says he'll be alright." "Really?" "Yes." I couldn't help but throw my arms around ET. "That's great!" I exclaimed and let go of him again, "I gotta go see him." "Slow down there, little Red, you won't do Chefo any good if you break your legs on the way over," ET laughed as I stumbled out of my bed. "I don't care," was all I said. I just needed to see for myself that Chefo was alright. I ran to the ward as fast as I could without breaking my legs. When I got there, I found a smiling Swain and Charge with Chefo. He was awake. And he seemed better. "Have you been crying?" Chefo asked me. "No!" I denied and smiled, holding back tears of joy and relief, "Mate, you don't know how glad I am that you're okay." "Probably not as glad as I am," Chefo joked and I laughed. He really was doing better. I heaved a sigh of relief. "Because of you I'm gonna need counseling again," I playfully complained.

But I was really glad that Chefo was alright. At least one good thing today. Today was one of those days where I didn't know whether they were good or really bad. I mean, Jaffah died, but Chefo survived. Jaffah died. I couldn't really wrap my head around that. All I could do now was focus on Chefo and how great it was that he was doing better. That's all that should matter right now.