Chapter 6. T for Swearing
Leda woke up in patches.
Each time a new scene greeted her. First was the cream cabin floor, hidden by lapping dark water and the sound of feet splashing through it. Then actual water, stinging her eyes and flooding her mouth and the sharp smell of brine. Later, Astrid from an awkward angle, an orange sun backing her. Her face was red from exertion and her waterlogged hair hung in heavy sheets over her shoulders. She was dragging Leda by the arm across something wet and rough.
The final time she opened her eyes, consciousness seemed to stick. She was sitting up, propped against something lumpy that dug into her skin. Her clothes were wet and twisted awkwardly, weighing down on her. Her body ached in places she wasn't sure it could ache and there was a pressure behind her eyes, like her eyeballs were going to roll out of her head and into her sopping lap. She worked her mouth, trying to pop an ear that was blocked, and one thought tumbled around her mushy head.
What the fuck was going on?
Hands wobbled into her line of sight, doubling and tripling before she squinted and focused and they steadied into two. She flinched away but they touched her cheek, ear, neck and a place on her head that made her hiss in pain. Howard's face emerged from her peripheral vision and she realised it was his hands that cupped her neck and steadied her head.
"Leda!" Howard's voice was strung out and high pitched, making her eye twitch at the sound. Ugh. Why was he so close? "Thank God you're awake."
His eyes were wide with relief and a cautious smile greeted her. She wanted to say 'get the hell off me', but her mouth was all heavy and filled with teeth that felt too big and all she could really mumble was a string of nonsense.
"Wha- whe- Astrid-" The words tumbled out, sluggish and malformed. Her hands flexed on the ground and she looked down to watch her fingers sink into damp sand.
Sand? How was she sitting on sand? Where was the plane? When did they land?
Howard's relief morphed into worry and he bit his bottom lip, hands falling away from her face.
"Are you-" He licked his lip and rubbed a hand over his chin. "Are you ok?"
She looked a little more closely at him. His dark hair was damp, sticking up in places as though he'd run his hands through it without care. There was a crusting gash on his forehead that didn't look worrying. His skin was pale beneath his tan but two spots of red circled high on his cheeks giving him a lost, boyish look. Despite all that and the growing panic that was slowly morphing his face, he looked a hell of a lot better than Leda felt.
Howard gave her one last worried look before he turned his head and called over his shoulder.
"Professor!"
Her sight had been consumed by him but she followed his vision and saw the rest of the group in various stages of confusing action.
Astrid was standing to the side of the group, beside a pile of bags and a large boulder. Behind her, a line of trees extended to the edges of her vision in either direction. Leda could see her mouth moving but was too far to hear the rapid words. Whatever that phone was, Leda hoped it was waterproof.
To the left, Julian was comforting a crying Sarah and beside them two people she had never seen before were lying on two piles of what looked like jumpers and shirts.
They must have been the pilot and the co-pilot. They weren't moving and no matter how hard she squinted she couldn't make out the rise and fall of their chests. Jesus. God, were they dead? How were they dead? Why weren't they in the plane anymore?
And where was her bag? She had- she had… Her mind tripped over the terms for the medical instruments she had packed, unable to settle on the correct words. She just- she had…stuff. She had packed things. She could- she had- she could help-
The smell of burning caught her attention and she looked away from the maybe dead pilots to where the smell was emanating from. Black, acrid fumes were rising from a steaming hulk of warped metal that lay half on sand and in sea. Behind it the waves were a dark blue under the setting sun. She watched the metal sizzle every time the tide pushed against its still burning carcass. Which was weird, of course. Because they were flying above the sea. Not- not in the- Why was it- where was the plane? Was that the plane?
The pressure built in her head and pushed on her eyes. They were definitely going to fall out.
She tried to speak again but couldn't tear her eyes from the burning plane. "Ho-Howard where-"
"Dr Morgan!" He called, cutting her off.
His chest had begun to heave, she noted. If he wasn't careful, he'd hyperventilate himself into a panic attack. She knew she was supposed to tell him to calm down or- or something, but her eyeballs were literally about to fall out of her head so she should focus on that, right? Losing her eyes would be- well not good.
The last thing she remembered was being on the plane. Howard doing some weird mental gymnastics and then-
"Jesus- fuck." She whispered, forcing the words out. Black spots appeared on the edges of her vision. "We- Did we crash? The plane- crashed. We cra-"
She sucked in a lungful of bitter air and Howard's body began to dance in her flickering vision. God, she had to calm down. She had to breathe normally. She shouldn't panic. That was rule number one. Everything was fine. Nothing would be good if she panicked. But knowing that they were stranded-
Were they stranded? How were they even- Where were they? How did they-
"Ms Gauling." Dr Morgan was suddenly in front of her, blocking her view of the burning plane and effectively cutting off the source of her existential panic. Probably a good thing. Better that she didn't have visual representation of their utterly abysmal situation.
Howard looked relieved as Dr Morgan took over. He gave Leda a tight smile before he rose and walked back to the group, leaving her alone with the Professor.
"How do you feel?" Dr Morgan asked.
"How do I-" Leda hiccupped, hands rhythmically clutching and unclutching sand. "How do I feel? What- where are we?"
Dr Morgan's face was strangely devoid of panic and he even managed an encouraging smile.
He produced a cup from somewhere and held it up to her lips. "Perhaps it's best if you have some water first."
"No." Leda shook her head, the black spots in her vision bleeding away. She found it a bit easier to talk now and ran her dry tongue over her salty lips. Salt from the sea. Because they crashed into the sea. "I don't want- water. I want- where are we?"
"You'll feel better." He said, refusing to answer.
Leda scowled and snatched the cup from his hand, flinging sand from her fingers over them both.
He had to re-fill the cup three times from a cannister she hadn't noticed before she felt anywhere close to normal.
"Thanks." She muttered when she was done, handing the empty cup back to him with a shaking hand.
"Ms Gauling-"
"No." She broke him off, holding up a sand covered hand. "No more stalling. Where the hell are we, Dr Morgan?"
His hair had dried in places and curled haphazardly against the strands that were still wet. She watched his smile waver at the edges. "The plane ran into difficulties. The pilots were great they managed to-"
"Where are we Dr Morgan?" Leda interrupted again, voice hard.
"Well." The cup dangled limply from his lax fingers, and a strange, excited light creeped into the corner of his eyes. "You came with me to prove your father was right."
She frowned, eyes swivelling from him, to the plane, to Julian and Sarah and then to Astrid and the wall of trees that swayed gently in a hot breeze behind her.
"He was right, Leda." He said, pulling her gaze back to his. Passion thickened his voice and he gathered her hands between his own, squeezing them tightly. "He was right."
Emotion bubbled in her chest. Fear, panic, excitement, relief; all warring with one another and making her head spin.
"This- this is the island?" She managed to choke out.
"Yes, Ms Gauling." His smile stretched into a slightly manic grin. "This is most definitely The Island."
Hello!
This is only a small update. This chapter and the next were originally one but it was becoming too long and tedious, so I've broken it up! Sorry for that. Expect the next chapter within the week as its already written and just needs editing. For once I am happy with this aha I think I like my writing better when it's brief and short like this. When it gets much longer, I feel like I lose everything. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I'm so happy to see you all liking this story so much! Your continued support helps me to keep writing and I thank you all for being so supportive. Have a lovely week!
-Aobh (: x