It was nearly an hour before he woke up again, and I was grateful when it happened. Every minute that went by in my head, I kept debating my decision to go back for his pack. Not only would it mean a dry sleeping bag to cover him with if he got cold, but I also didn't have any food or water. Plus, there was that flare.

"Hey Ace," I knelt down next to his head, touching my hand to his forehead. He felt warm, which seemed normal since we were out in the sun. "How are you feeling?"

His eyes looked more focused this time when he looked at me, and I hoped that meant he was feeling better. He still didn't answer me right away, which I found a little unnerving. "What happened?" His voice sounded clear this time (not perfect, but not muffled or mumbled at least) and he tried to sit up.

I put my hand on his chest and told him to stay down. "You fell off the cliff and hit your head. You've been out for over an hour." I watched his face as he processed the news, grateful that he didn't look confused this time.

"How did I fall off the cliff?" He looked back at me and I remembered then that memory loss was pretty common with concussions.

"Well, the map blew off and you climbed down to get it, but the root you were holding on to broke off," I stopped there to judge what his reaction would be, to see if the explanation would jog his memory at all.

"Map? What map?"

Now I was getting concerned. How much did he not remember? "Ace, what do you remember?"

He laid his head back and looked up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. I gave him a moment to think it over. "We're at camp," he said, pausing again. "Are we on our navigation exercise?"

I nodded, happy that he remembered something. "Yeah, we were about two hours away from our camp when we stopped to rest for a bit."

"Oh," he replied, and I couldn't judge the look on his face. "Can I have some water?"

My face fell at his request. How could I tell him that I'd lost everything? "I don't have my water, it got lost in the river. And your stuff is back up the river, about twenty or thirty minutes away," I guessed, since it would take longer to get back then it had to come down, given the water's currents helping us along.

He frowned but seemed to accept my answer. "Can you help me sit up?"

I looked down at him, unsure if I should move him. Weren't you supposed to leave them as they were? Or could you move them if there was no neck injury? "I'm not sure if you should, Ace. Can you move your legs?" I thought I'd better give him some kind of test to see if he was further injured, since all I'd checked had been his head.

As I looked down he moved his legs slightly, bending them slowly up. I figured that was good enough proof that his neck wasn't injured, so I sat behind him and put my arms under his and helped to pull him up into a sitting position. "Are you okay, or do you feel dizzy?" is what I asked as soon as he was upright.

"I'm okay," he said, though he did close his eyes. "Can you help me get out of the sun, I have a headache."

That was bad. Weren't headaches common too with concussions? Should I move him any more?

"I know what you're thinking, Lancer, but I feel good enough to move. Just over there near the trees, so I can lean back against one." I had the distinct feeling that if I didn't help him, he'd try to crawl over there himself.

"Can you stand up?" I asked, getting to my feet and offering my hands down to him. He nodded and grabbed my hands (at least his grip seemed to be strong as usual) and I pulled him to his feet. He was a little unsteady on them (to be expected) but with my help he managed to make it over to the tree line easily enough. I helped him sit back down.

"Thanks, that's better," was what he said in response, and I couldn't help but smile just a tiny bit. I can't recall the last time he'd ever thanked me for anything. Post-concussion Ace seemed to have a better grasp on his manners than usual.

"Will you be okay if I leave you for a bit? I want to go back to grab your pack. I need that flare gun so we can get you some help." He seemed to be completely coherent this time, so I wasn't too concerned with leaving him. He nodded and promised that he would be exactly where I was leaving him, which made me grin slightly. Though he still had some problems, the fact that he could understand what was going on and move around made me feel loads better about the situation. I'd have that flare in no time, and soon someone would be along to help.

My sleeping bag had dried enough in the sun so I brought it over to him and told him to use it as a blanket if he got cold. I told him that I should be back within an hour, with food and water. He smiled at me and thanked me again before I took off, figuring that it would be faster if I just ran along the riverbank on our side instead of trying to climb the much higher cliff wall of the other side. I'd know I was in the right spot when the two sides were of equal height.

I spotted his pack and suddenly it felt like the bottom had dropped out of my stomach – there was a racoon going through the contents! "Hey! Get out of there!" I shouted at it, which made it freeze, paws in midair. I looked around my feet for something to throw at it, a stone or something. In the time it took me to find one and I looked back up I saw the animal scurrying away, something clamped firmly in its mouth. I had a sinking feeling about this.

I watched it run off and saw where it disappeared into the trees, hoping that all it had taken was a sandwich. I dropped the stone I had picked up and looked down at my feet at the cliff face I had to scale down. This was so much scarier to do when someone's life wasn't directly at risk.

I got down on my knees and stretched down with one foot, trying to find somewhere to rest it. This side of the cliff wasn't as easy to climb down as the other had been. But I knew from earlier that the river wasn't deep enough here for me to simply jump into, so I had no choice but to try to find places to stick my feet.

Once I got a secure enough foot-hold I lowered myself onto the face of the cliff and immediately a wave of fear swept over me. It felt so much steeper than the other side had! I'd be lucky if I didn't fall and hit my head on the same branch! I struggled to calm myself, thinking that I had to get down and across the river to that pack. Ace's life may very well be depending on it. He seemed okay for now, but how long would that last?

Putting everything into perspective seemed to calm my nerves enough for me to reach out with my left foot, trying to find somewhere to place it. The second foot-hold was easier, but then it came time for me to find something to grab onto with my hands, and I couldn't find a thing good enough. Eventually my fingers found a tiny crack and I tried to stuff as much of my index finger into it as possible, hoping and praying I wouldn't slip as I reached out blindly with my right foot, trying to find another spot to put my weight on to. Shockingly I found one easily, but the moment I put pressure on it the rock gave way and I'm not sure how but I somehow managed to keep my hold to the wall and not fall along with it.

I stayed there, like that, for a few minutes, too scared to move. I'd come so close to falling. I had to be more careful. I reached out again with my foot, eventually finding another little niche to wedge my toe into. It wasn't comfortable, but it was the best I could find. The next one after that was easier, and then the next, and suddenly I was close enough to let go and jump into the water. When I did that though, my foot slipped on a rock and I flung my arms out, just barely catching on to the log Ace had fallen into. I stayed there holding it until I could catch my breath, then trudged across the water to get to the other side.

The map was gone, of course, flying away when Ace's fingers had grabbed it for a mere second. Not that it mattered much. As long as that flare was still there, we would be okay. I studied the cliff from below and found an easy looking path up. This side of the cliff was easier to climb, with more places to put your feet and fingers. It took me half the time to climb up that it had taken me to climb down the other side. I eyed the open pack as I pulled myself up, seeing a few scattered contents around it. The water was there, as were two sandwiches and two apples. It looked like there was an orange half hidden by the flap of the bag. At least we had some food and water.

I hurried over to the bag, sinking to my knees and pulling it open fully. I started pulling everything else out (there wasn't much else, just a sweater, a book, and a bag of granola mix). Which meant that damn raccoon had made off with the flare!

Of all the things for it to take! I couldn't understand why – it's not as though it had a pleasant smell to it that the raccoon could eat! Maybe it had been attracted to the shiny casing? I wasn't sure, but all that mattered was that it was gone, and now I had no way to contact anyone. I felt like crying again in frustration, not that it would really do any good.

So instead I packed everything into the bag and made my way towards the woods. Maybe the raccoon had dropped the flare and I could find it. I must have searched the area (at least I thought and hoped it was the right area) for fifteen minutes before giving up. I did not want to go back to Ace without a means of contacting anyone. It just wasn't fair!

But I didn't have a choice. At least I could get him some food and water.

When I'd made it back to where I'd left him, I saw that he had his eyes closed again, though I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not. I came up to where I'd left him and dropped down to my knees, reaching out to touch his forehead again. Still warm, so that was good. I'd been worried he might get the chills or something, but he seemed okay.

He was also awake, because he opened his eyes when he felt my hand. "Made it back in one piece?" He asked with a smile, and I nodded.

"Barely. Almost fell and hit my head on the same branch you did. Anyway, I have good news and bad news," I told him, deciding to tell the truth about the flare. On my way back I'd contemplated what to say to him about it, but decided the truth was the best option. I just hoped he wouldn't be mad. "I have water and food," I said as I opened the bag and took out the bottle of water for him, "but, well you're probably not going to believe this, but a raccoon took off with the flare."

He almost choked on the water, and seeing him laugh made me feel better. I was worried he'd blame it on me and get angry. "A raccoon? Are you serious?"

I nodded and couldn't help but grin as well. "Totally. I can't understand why! You'd think he'd have gone for the food."

"Raccoons are fairly stupid when it comes down to it," he replied, putting the cap back on the water. "So we have no way of letting anyone know where we are? Guess we'll have to walk back, then."

I immediately shook my head. "No way! I thought about this, and here's what's going to happen. You're going to stay here, with the food and sleeping bags, and I'll go back to get help."

He sneered at my comment and suddenly it seemed like the old Ace was back. "If I let you go back by yourself, I'll die of starvation before you ever make it back to camp. You know your sense of direction sucks; you'll never find the camp, especially not without the map."

While it was true that my sense of direction was kind of crappy, I was still bothered that he thought I was that useless. "I'll just follow our tracks back, it can't be that hard."

"Not a chance, we're going together. If I remember correctly, this river should flow down to the lake the camp is on. We can follow it down that way." His tone of voice was serious and commanding, but I didn't want to give in.

"Can you even walk, though? You seemed pretty shaky on your feet." I was grasping at straws here, because I had this sinking feeling that he was going to end up winning this discussion. Somehow he was manipulating me into doing what he wanted, and I couldn't even figure out how. Why was it so hard to put my foot down and say no to him?

"I feel a lot better now," he said, "I just needed time for my body to adjust to being awake again. So help me up and let's go. The sooner we're at camp, the better."

I swallowed my retort and with a frustrated expression I stood up, holding my hands out to him again. He did seem a little more stable on his feet this time, though, so maybe he would be okay. "Are you sure you'd don't want to eat something first? Might give you more strength," I offered.

"No, I'm not hungry," he replied, taking a few steps forward on his own. He stopped suddenly though, and I was at his side in an instant.

"What's wrong?" I noticed he had his eyes closed again, and I thought that maybe being out in the sun again was making his headache worse.

"My right leg hurts a little," he said, though the complaint had me confused, "I need your help walking. It's not that bad, though, but we'll just be able to move faster this way."

"Why would your leg hurt, though? You didn't hit your leg on anything," I asked, wondering if he was lying. Maybe he was feeling dizzy, or his headache was really bad? It would be like him to cover up his real problem and use something less serious as an excuse.

"I don't know why, it just does, so shut up and come here!"

I hesitated for a second, feeling in my gut that I should force him to sit back down and go for help on my own. But he'd planted a seed of doubt in my stomach about my abilities to navigate without a map (and the compass around his neck would be useless to me, because I had no idea which direction the camp was in without the map) so I gave in to him again.

I didn't bother saying anything a few minutes later though when he stopped limping. I knew the leg had been a cover story for something else, but what exactly? I knew better than to push my luck. We continued on for a while, and after almost an hour had passed I couldn't help but notice that his breathing seemed to be a bit heavy.

"I think we should rest for a bit, you sound winded and I'm hungry," I suggested, and even if he said no I was intent this time on making him sit. I was also of half a mind to wait until he fell asleep and then follow the river to the lake myself, but then I realized that I had no idea how far the lake was. What if he woke up and took off on his own again and got disoriented? What if I got a search party to go looking for him, but he wouldn't be where I'd left him?

Luckily he agreed to the rest, so I didn't have to worry about an argument for the time being. I helped him over to a tree so he could sit against it, and I sat down next to him. I opened the bag and offered him the water, which he drank, but again he refused to eat anything. I couldn't help but feel like that was a bad sign.

So I took out half of a sandwich and ate it myself, and when I finished that off I had a bit of the granola. I was starving, but I didn't want to eat everything, now that our chance of rescue was severely diminished. I took a sip of water before putting everything back in the bag and then looking at Ace.

I noticed with alarm that his skin looked kind of pale, and I reached out without warning and put my hand to his forehead again. He felt clammy. I knew I'd been right in suggesting that he not try walking! "Ace, how do you feel?"

He knew that I knew something was up. "I'm okay, just a little tired. I guess walking took more out of me than I thought." His voice still sounded strong, at least.

"I think we should rest longer before starting off again," I said, deciding not to bring up my going alone again just yet. I'd wait and see if he got better or worse with a little rest.

"Okay," was all he said in reply before closing his eyes.

I wasn't sure if he'd fallen asleep or not, because all I'd done was sit there and think. What was our best option? I knew he'd want to continue on with me, but I really didn't think it was a good idea. Not given his current condition. But how could I get him to agree with me? Ace was the type of guy who would keep going through an injury without complaining until he collapsed, and if I let him do that he'd probably kill himself.

Maybe if I spoke to him logically, and explained that even though he wanted to go on, he couldn't, maybe I'd make him see sense. Even though he was bull-headed at times, he was a pretty logical kind of guy, so maybe if he'd actually listen to me, he'd agree. I hoped so.

It was nearing six o'clock when I decided to check on him again, so I touched his arm lightly. "Ace? You ready to get going again?"

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes open and alert. I guess he hadn't been sleeping after all. "Sure, I feel better."

I studied his face and noticed that he was still kind of pale, though not as bad as before. I touched his forehead, and his skin was kind of warm again, though still a little clammy. I wasn't sure what to do. Maybe we just needed to rest more frequently. "All right then, give me your hands and let's go." I decided to help him up and see how he looked standing. Maybe, if I was lucky, he wouldn't be able to stand and he'd fall over, which would help my argument for his staying here and my going alone.

Unfortunately though he stood up without a problem, but he was leaning on me. So we started off again, more slowly than last time, following the river downstream for about twenty minutes before he caused us to stop again.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" He asked suddenly, and I looked at him with surprise.

"Yes I'm sure."

"I'm not," he said, pausing to look at the river. I did the same, confused and wondering for a moment if maybe we were going the wrong way.

"No we're going to right way," I said, suddenly pointing at the river. "See, the river is flowing down from the mountain to the lake, so if we follow the river downstream, we'll get to the lake." I felt proud of myself for remembering that.

"It's not going downstream," he said, and he sounded kind of confused again. This was it. I had to leave him behind.

"Listen Ace, you're confused. I think you should stay here and let me go for help," I was determined to make him see reason this time.

"No, no you're wrong. You're always wrong," he looked around suddenly, before bringing his hands up to his head and mumbling about the sun in his eyes and his headache.

"Ace, we're stopping again and you're sitting down and resting. You're not well at all," I said with the most authoritative tone I could muster. I led him over to the trees again, almost having to push him down to get him to sit. He wanted to keep walking.

What could I do? It seemed to me like he was getting a little delirious. I had a very bad feeling that if I left him, he'd wander off. Maybe rest would clear his head again and I could get him back to a state of coherency. Maybe. But if not?

I stood up then and started taking the sleeping bag out of its pouch, deciding that maybe if I got him to lie down and sleep, it would help even more. I don't think he'd been sleeping before, something about the way he'd responded so quickly to me touching his forehead made me think he'd been awake the whole time.

As I was unrolling it I suddenly heard a retching sound from behind me and turned in time to see Ace leaning over to his left, throwing up. Oh this was definitely not good at all!

I dropped the sleeping bag and rushed back to him, crouching down though I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do. When at least he seemed to be finished he rolled back over upright and I could see that his face was practically white as a sheet. Damn it! This was horrible! If only I'd stuck to my intuition and left him by himself to go back, he'd be okay! Every decision I'd made so far was the wrong one!

"That's it; you're lying down and sleeping. You can't go any further!" I left him by the tree to go and get the pack and sleeping bag. I got him to drink a bit of water as I laid the sleeping bag out beside him.

"Not tired," he said, though I couldn't see how that was possible. But he was in no position to really argue, so he did as I told him to and lay down on the sleeping bag. I spread the other one over him like a blanket, covering his head so the light wouldn't bother him. It was also so he wouldn't see me sitting next to him, shaking like a leaf.

He was sick. Badly sick; and I didn't know what to do! What were these signs of? Just the concussion, or had he picked up some kind of bug? How were you supposed to tell? All I could do now was wait. There was no way I could leave him to go and get help, not like this. What good would it be if I went off to find help and brought help back only to find that he'd rolled over and then choked on his own vomit if he got sick again? I had to wait and see if sleeping would make him feel better. There was no other way.