A/N – I thought I would try and get one more chapter in before leaving and so; here you go!
And to LA Woman and marsupial1974; I really, really hope they get a little time to themselves soon too! But we shall see…
Chapter 12
Emily's POV
It's not that I hadn't noticed the pain burning my back, it's just that when it happened, I couldn't care less as I was busy having my way with the gorgeous blonde currently sitting next to me. Once we had surfaced and Gina saw the cuts on my back, she had fussed and given Naomi a reprimand for being careless again, jumping off the rocks. Apparently, it wasn't the first time someone had ended up leaving the island bleeding and I couldn't help but wonder who Naomi could have taken to that very same spot. The though actually made me a little jealous but while we walked back to the campsite, Naomi explained how she had hit her head diving off the wrong rock with Cook last year. It was nothing serious, she had split her chin open but there was barely a scar now. I nearly gasped out loud when she leaned in to show me the scar. The sheer proximity of her exposed neck sent shivers down my spine and caused a particular spot to throb again. Picking up on my reaction, she gave me a scorching glare that I am thankful no one was around to see. I thought my sister the queen of sexual innuendo but Naomi was giving her a run for her money at the moment.
Gina had brought out the first aid kit and started sanitizing the marks on my back, Naomi sitting in front of me with a pained, empathetic expression.
"I'm so sorry", she said as I winced at Gina cleaning a particularly sensitive bruise. I shot her a smile but it quickly turned into a grimace as Naomi's mother dug some algae out of a cut. Naomi grabbed my hand and squeezed it in support and I momentarily forgot all about my scraped-up back, losing myself in Naomi's worried, ocean-colored eyes.
"I really don't understand how you could be so careless, Naomi", Gina scorned, shaking her head. "Some of these cuts are deep and absolutely filthy."
Naomi didn't bother answering, she felt guilty enough as it was, even if she hadn't been aware that I was hurt until after our little make-out session. I, for one, had no regrets about what had happened and told her as much with a quick squeeze of her hand and a forgiving look. "Really Gina, it wasn't her fault. I am a trained swimmer, I should have known better."
I could hear Gina mutter something under her breath but Naomi sent an appreciative smile my way. Behind her, I saw Cook and my sister walking up the beach, Cook towing the inflatable behind him. It didn't take more than one look at them to realize why it had taken them the better part of an hour getting beverages from the anchored ship. Katie noticed me sitting on the blanket with Naomi and Gina, the latter scrubbing my back with what felt like sandpaper, and came running. Naomi started to let go of my hand and I realized she was trying to avoid another confrontation with my sister. Still on a Naomi-induced high, I took firm hold of her hand and looked up at Katie with a defiant stare as she ran to my side. Katie's reaction however, was completely different from what I expected.
"Emsy, fuck, what happened?" She exclaimed with obvious and genuine concern in her voice. She reached out to touch the cuts on my back but thought better of it as Gina slapped her hand away.
"I got a little carried away, that's all", I shrugged and smirked at Naomi. Katie was standing behind me and therefore couldn't read the expression on my face that clearly stated exactly what I had gotten carried away with when I got the bruises.
Cook whistled. "Wow, Red, that looks painful." I looked up at him, still smiling slyly and shrugged. He glanced at Naomi who looked away to hide her reddening cheeks, and he winked at me in understanding. He turned around and opened the cooler, getting out a deliciously looking cold beer and offered it to me. "I think you are entitled to the first of these."
I happily accepted it and he pulled out a couple more, handing them to Naomi and Katie. To my surprise, Katie sat down next to Naomi, making it impossible for her not to notice us holding hands. She kept quiet though and simply gave me a sympathetic look as she took a sip from her beer. Cook must have really made her happy back on that ship…
Naomi seemed as perplexed at Katie's lack of bitchiness as I was and risked evoking her wrath as she commented on it. "Aren't you going to be bitchy to me, Katie?", she asked with a challenging, sideways glance.
Katie took another sip of her beer before facing Naomi, a menacing expression on her face. "Oh, I'll deal with you later."
Not picking up on the reason behind Katie's dislike of Naomi, Gina shushed the both of them. "Naomi has already apologized for being careless so there is no need for that, Katie."
Katie gave Gina the most genuine of her insincere smiles and ignored Naomi for the time being, her full attention back on me and my damaged back. Gina told Naomi and Cook to go set up lunch while she finished cleaning my cuts and I felt Naomi give my hand a final squeeze before getting to her feet.
I winced again, the pain somehow worse now that Naomi's soft hand was no longer clasped in mine and soothing the pain. "Does it hurt a lot, Emsy?", Katie asked and I honestly believed she was worried about me. I was starting to worry a bit myself since everyone seemed to be fussing a great deal about what I thought were just a few scrapes on my back. She turned to Gina, concerned, "do you think she'll need stitches?" Stitches? What the fuck did I do?
Naomi's POV
"I take it you and Katie had a good talk back on ship, then?" I wasn't too happy about it but I had seen the way Cook had been eyeing Katie ever since he met her and had realized it was only his strong loyalty towards me that had deterred him from sleeping with her again. That, of course, didn't mean I wasn't allowed to give him a hard time about it.
My best mate tensed up, the guilt on his face shining through and I have to admit I enjoyed watching him squirm a little for once. Not a whole lot of things could make James Cook uncomfortable and this was a rare sight indeed. He cleared his throat, "Yeah, about that…" He scratched his hair and turned to look at me, presumably to apologize for screwing the bitch that had kicked me around last night. I failed to keep a straight face and started to laugh at his awkwardness and obvious distress. Cook's guilty expression immediately transformed into a wide grin and he gave me a little push, making me spill some of my beer.
"You don't see me trying to make you feel guilty about scarring your girlfriend over there for life, do you?" He emphasized the word girlfriend and glanced in Katie and Emily's direction before turning back to me. "It really looks bad, what the fuck were you doing?"
"Swimming…", I answered, shrugging indifferently.
"Yeah right, swimming… Well, Katie and I were 'swimming' a couple of times back on the ship but you don't see any bruises on her back, now do you?" He actually sounded a bit accusing and I couldn't quite understand where this was coming from but it was pissing me off, not needing additional guilt added to my plate.
I took a few steps towards him, invading his personal space to let him know that he was getting on my nerves. "Maybe you weren't doing it right", I said coldly. "Why are you so quick to judge, Cook? Is Katie's fanny that magical, that you turn on me?"
Anger was flaring in his eyes but it faded as quickly as it had appeared. He diverted his gaze, defeated. "Sorry, Blondie, this doesn't really have anything to do with Katie at all." I frowned at him, not following. He sighed, "Look, I like Emily, alright? She's cool and she makes you all giddy and complacent, which honestly, is a first for you. But her back looks terrible and you weren't taking it seriously."
I noticed Effy and JJ had joined Mum and the twins, JJ examining the wounds thoroughly as I remember him doing with mine last night. Frowning, I turned to Cook. "I am taking it seriously, Cook. I feel horrible for not realizing it sooner but honestly, we were a little caught up back there. I didn't even know she was bleeding until Mum caught us."
"Hang on, hang on", he interrupted, waving a hand in front of my face. "Gina caught you?" He tipped his head back and laughed loudly and enthusiastically. I rolled my eyes at him, allowing him time to have his fun in picturing Emily and me in some compromising positions as well as the look on our faces when Mum caught us.
"No, she didn't see anything, fortunately, sorry to burst your bubble." He stopped laughing and pouted exaggeratedly. "She did intervene right as I was… Well, you can guess." I winked at him and he shot me a sympathetic look.
"Missed out again, did you? I think you're the one not doing it right, Blondie!"
I punched him on the shoulder, glad our little exchange was back to its normal mood and flow. We had finished preparing the food and called everyone over. Throughout the meal, Mum kept an eye on Emily's cuts, every once in a while noticing something filthy and wiping it away, making Emily grimace. I didn't take my eyes off her for the entire meal, making sure that she understood that I intended on making everything up to her as soon as I got the chance.
Needless to say, Emily didn't get back into the water for the rest of the afternoon and Katie decided she needed to take care of her sister and thus never left her side. Despite Katie not giving me any obvious shit, I still got the clear message that I shouldn't push my luck with her being in a protective and defensive mood. Effy decided on drawing Emily's portrait, so Cook and I took JJ for another walk around the island, discussing what we had been doing here and there in great detail. By the time we got back it was late afternoon and Mum, Kieran and Effy were packing everything up but Emily and Katie were nowhere to be seen. I instantly worried and ran to Mum, my hands held out in question.
"Where's Emily?" Realizing I was being a bit obvious, I followed it with "and Katie?"
"They are on the ship already. Kieran took them in the inflatable a while ago. Emily wasn't feeling well.", Effy answered, her eyes revealing her worry. I fought a strong urge to jump into the water and swim to the boat to check on her but instead, I helped Mum pack up the last of the stuff and joined her, Kieran and Effy in the inflatable. JJ and Cook had decided to swim and were about halfway when we pulled the little boat back onto the side of the ship and secured it. Knowing I had about five minutes before Cook and JJ made it back, I went out in search of Emily.
Emily's POV
"Katie, stop fussing, would you!" I sighed as she forced me to drink yet another bottle of water. "For fucks sake, I'm just a little dehydrated."
"This is why I'm forcing water down your throat, so shut up and do as I say."
We were below deck, sitting on the benches in the small kitchenette. Katie had made a crude remark about what and where not to touch and unfortunately, I had a pretty good idea as to why. She was running around, doing her best to annoy me with incessant questions about how much water I had consumed and how many hours I had spent in the sun today. Even by her calculations, I shouldn't be feeling this badly but then again, little did she know that I basically got no sleep last night and that I had been feeding off of Naomi-induced adrenaline all day. The emotional rollercoaster the past 24 hours had been was finally taking its toll on me and I was exhausted. It had hit me hard and felt a lot like heatstroke and unfortunately, the alcohol Cook had provided earlier hadn't done much to improve my situation. I started shivering and Katie went out in search of a blanket or at least some warmer clothes for me.
"Emily?" Naomi's sweet voice was full of worry but all I could do was smile as I saw her stunning frame in the door. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, my teeth clattering from the shivers and she rushed to my side placing a hand on my warm forehead. It felt cool against my skin and I instantly felt better and more relaxed. I looked into her concerned eyes as she gently shook her head at me, making my heart flutter despite my pathetic state. Somehow it felt a whole lot better being fussed over by Naomi than my sister. Realizing Katie would be back soon, I needed to make the best of the situation at hand. I reached up and took hold of Naomi's neck and pulled her down for a divine kiss. The mere touch of her soft lips against mine still made my stomach flutter and if the shivers hadn't returned, I would have completely forgotten I was feeling a bit under the weather.
Naomi broke away, a worried frown on her face. "Are you sure it's only heatstroke?" I nodded and went for her lips, not knowing when I would have the chance to marvel in them again. She shook her head lovingly and sat down next to me before placing another sweet kiss on my lips.
Naomi's POV
I left Emily in the kitchenette when we heard Katie's voice in the stairwell. I gave her a final kiss and slithered past Katie before she could comment, the look on her face was however unmistakable. It took us more than twice as long sailing home. The wind wasn't working in our favor and Cook and I were glad that JJ was such a quick study as his help made the whole thing less exhausting. The drive home was uneventful but Katie kept a close eye on her sister and made it impossible for me to get close to Emily. She spent most of the trip asleep anyway, covered by a blanket, her head resting against the window. Kieran decided on buying everyone pizza and by the time we finally arrived at the B'n'B, it was well past nine and everyone went straight to bed. Mum was still worried about Emily and decided to spend the night in her room in order to keep tabs on her. I tried to volunteer for the job but she would hear none of it, from either me or Katie.
Emily kept insisting that we were exaggerating and refused to let Mum stay up all night just to keep tabs on her but her resistance subsided as her shivering intensified and she allowed Katie and Mum to help her to bed. I went to my room exhausted, sulking and worried sick about my favorite redhead. I lay twisting and turning for an hour or so before my own exhaustion got the better of my worry and I drifted off to sleep.
Kieran came tumbling into my room around 4 a.m. and told me to get dressed and meet him by the car. Startled and understanding that this was about Emily, I practically flew down the stairs while pulling a jumper over my head and buttoning my shorts, my phone secured in my teeth. I ran to the car as fast as I could and found Emily lying in the back with her head in Mum's lap. She looked awful, absolutely awful; pale and sweating, shivering violently despite being covered by a blanket. Mum was trying to soothe her by caressing her forehead and hair but when she looked up at me, I saw the horror in her eyes.
"Take her to the hospital in Bristol as quick as you can", Kieran told me, the horror in Mum's eyes mirrored in his. "I'll take care of the group tomorrow but make sure you keep in touch so we know what's going on." He sighed. "This is all my fault."
I shook my head as I took the car keys from his hand. "It's not, if anything, it's mine." I opened the door and got in, one final thing occurring to me, "Why didn't you wake Katie?"
"Emily didn't want me to and it would only have taken longer", Mum answered behind me and I closed the door and started the engine. "She only asked for you."
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and will stick with me, even if it might take me a while to update again.
I am loving writing both this story and other one and knowing that you are reading it and enjoying it, whether it is in reviews, favs of follows, is making the sleep deprivation worthwhile! Now I'm off to Down-Under!