SINCE THE DAY THE RAIN tested every ounce of our strength, there’s been a change between us. It’s in every weighted stare, all the lingering touches, the gentle kisses and the frantic ones. The day our hope became redefined from getting ourselves rescued to making sure the other gets off this fucking island.
It makes it easier to be here. When someone else depends on you, you can’t give up. And knowing he’s doing things for me makes me try harder. We motivate each other, keeping busy during the day so that we don’t just survive—we thrive.
At night we are selfish, taking pleasure from each other. I’m greedy with East. I want everything he can give me and he never fails to give it. Neither of us has said anything about what we are to each other. I don’t know if we can even put a name to what we are.
We also don’t talk about what happens if…I mean when…we get off this goddamn island.
I look over at him, watching as he throws more brush on the large fire to create more smoke. It’s gotten so big now, much larger than the one before. The smoke seems to fill the sky above us. There’s no way anyone is flying over us without noticing. Assuming someone does.
I wiggle my toes in the sand before standing up and grabbing our pot. “East!”
He turns towards me, shading his eyes, and I hold up the pot, waving behind me towards our trail to the stream. It’s been almost a week since I’ve last done this. East’s taken over for me.
Slipping my shoes on, I walk down the beach.
The burn in my muscles distracts me from my thoughts and I take a second to look at my legs. They look like brown matchsticks. My hair, I can tell, has gone white blonde under the sun, but it’s brittle and my scalp feels burned from sun exposure. I feel sucked dry of moisture, my skin stretching thinly over my skinny, starved body.
At least East still finds me attractive, no matter how ugly I feel.
It’s not like he has other options or can judge. We’re both rocking the castaway look. All we’re missing is a Wilson, though I guess we’re each other’s.
It takes me almost an hour to reach the stream. The sound relaxes me instantly and I dip my toes in the water, smiling at how cool it feels. Dipping the pot, I fill it to the brim and set it up in the grass before removing my clothes. I sit down on a rock and grab some sand to scrub the dirt, sweat, and Lord knows what else off my threadbare shorts. My top is a ripped up, bloodstained mess. I do my best, but there’s no getting perfectly clean here. Regardless, I do my best to take care of the only things I own from my life.
Once they are somewhat clean, I lay them out on a large flat rock to dry and decide to cool off. Lying in the shallows, I shade my eyes and stare up at the bright blue sky. There isn’t a cloud to be seen for miles, well, except the cloud of smoke as it reaches all the way out here.
Closing my eyes, I drift into a semi-consciousness listening to the sounds of nature around me. They remind me of home. Not Seattle, but home home. Dad’s cabin, where I grew up. Where I spent every summer going on guided hikes with him. I press my lips into a firm line, stalling the tears that want to fall. I’m constantly crying, it seems; no wonder I feel so dehydrated.
The sun caresses my skin and I bask in this new home of mine, one that redefines the idea of Paradise Lost. It’s truly like we’re Adam and Eve, though there’s no Satan here, unless you count the hell that is being alone with your thoughts and memories.
I’ve learned more about myself in the last few weeks then ever before. I wanted a change and I got one. Not what I had in mind, but—
I jerk upright and close my eyes, focusing on….
There!
Jumping to my feet, I throw my clothes on and grab our pot before heading back onto the trail. My eyes are on the sky because I know…I know I heard a helicopter. It’s not likely I’ll ever forget what one sounds like, not after it was so close to ending our hell here.
Suddenly I see the helicopter again and I sink to my knees, trying desperately to catch my breath as panic and hope war within me. It has to see the smoke, please, God, it has to. This is not some fucked-up déjà vu, I think, sinking to my knees. We cannot lose twice, we won’t survive it. But we won’t have to worry about that, I think as hysterical laughter erupts from me. I watch in exultant joy as the helicopter makes a sharp right turn towards our camp and I know…I know it’s over.
I watch it sink lower before disappearing from my sight.
That’s it. It’s over. They found us.
Digging my hands into the earth, I slam my fists against the surface and let out a scream of joy. Throwing the pot to the ground, I slip on my shoes and run all the way back. It’s hard on my body, but that doesn’t matter anymore.
Oh my God, I’m going to have a cheeseburger! And fries! And a shower, toothpaste—oh my God, a brush!
“Easton!” I scream happily, hoping he can hear me, hoping he knows I know we’re saved and it’s because of that big, dumbass fire that took days to build. Days of building ourselves back up. It fucking worked!
Oh my God…
It’s over.
This walk along the beach seems harder than the others; the stitch in my side causes my breath to wheeze, but I don’t stop. I can see the helicopter in the distance; it landed right on our beach.
I study the helicopter as I get closer and notice there isn’t any discernable sign as to who we should call hero. No signs of the Coast Guard or whatever the equivalent is to whatever country we’re near.
God, where even are we?!
The man who hops out makes a mad dash for East, tackling him to the ground, and even from a couple hundred feet away I can hear the hysterical laughter that borders disbelief.
East and our savior roll around and I wonder if this is his brother? The one East was so convinced would never give up. Jesus, he was right. About everything.
How much money do they have that he’s able to fly around in a helicopter looking for us for God knows how long? Clearly the search was called off, otherwise someone else would be here, right? Not just East’s brother?
Whoever he is, he spots me first. Gaining his feet, he takes off his helmet and I’m nearly bowled over when I see an exact replica of East staring at me, a healthy, strong version; the East from the beginning, not the skinny, starved one now. I blink in confusion and look over to my East, who is already running at me.
I squeal as he tackles me, turning so I land on him, and I find that smile I was looking for earlier comes much easier with his exuberance.
“We’re saved!” he yells and hugs me to him. I lean up and look down at him as tears fall carelessly from his eyes.
Smiling, I wipe his eyes and press a soft kiss to his forehead. “You didn’t tell me you were a twin.”
East’s eyebrows shoot up and he smiles wickedly. “Why, thinking of trading up?”
My heart stutters, but I hide behind a smirk and get off East. Standing, I turn towards his brother and hold my hand out. “Thank you so much!”
He laughs and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so happy I found you two!”
“I can’t believe you did. I had almost given up,” I tell him shakily, patting his arm to let me go. “Did the others—?”
“Carter, let her go,” East says quietly from behind me and his twin lets me go instantly.
I cock my head slightly. “East? Carter? Henry? Could you sound more fancy?”
Carter ducks his head as his cheeks color. “Mother believes in hereditary names. We’re named after her brother and father.”
“Oh God, you call your mom ‘mother’?” I wince; they really were from a different universe. “So where does the name Henry come from?” I muse and raise an eyebrow.
“That would be from a distant relative who may or may not have started the car industry. I have always been fascinated by his ingenuity.” East smiles, tugging on a piece of my hair.
“You’re freaking related to Henry freaking Ford?!” I screech, batting his hand away.
They both nod in unison. Carter stands a little taller, obviously proud of his family’s pedigree.
“So this helicopter…?” I point behind me.
“Is one of ours.” Carter grins.
“One of…” I trail off faintly. I knew they were rich, but this wealthy? Jesus. I swallow with difficulty and square my shoulders. “You never answered me.”
“The others are fine. They made it to St. Croix and alerted the authorities.”
“St. Croix?” I gasp. That was thirty miles from where the yacht was last. The captain sent out GPS to all our phones so we could stay in contact with our loved ones, especially when we were alerted to the storm.
“You’re another forty miles from there, on one of the protected islands,” Carter continues.
“Protected?” East asks.
“Sacred would be a better term.”
“That’s crazy. I can’t believe we were blown so far off course.” I tug the ends of my hair anxiously. “No wonder you all had such a hard time finding us.”
“The storm was a problem and partly why they had to call off the search so soon. There was so much damage to the islands they couldn’t spare the resources. And this being protected land, no one really comes out this way.”
“Carter, where’s Henry?” East interjects.
Carter brightens. “He’s back at home. He’s going nuts. We’ll have to call him the second we’re back.”
East’s face drops when he hears he still has a way to go before he has his son in his arms, but he straightens his shoulders. “Well, let’s go. Let’s go now!”
I look from one brother to the other, still surprised by how identical they are, and take a few steps back. “I’m just going to go grab some stuff.”
I take off quickly to our camp, my chest tight, and duck under the tarp. I cover my mouth with my hand and squeeze my eyes shut tightly, blowing out a breath. Looking around, I take in our temporary home.
“Hurry!” East yells from somewhere close, and I quickly wipe my cheeks.
Looking around, I spot the knife that basically saved our lives. I kick some sand onto the fire and feel an instant panic as my reflexes lock, but I remind myself that we don’t need to keep it going.
With a quick glance at the leaves East and I slept on, made love on, I murmur a quiet goodbye and tuck the knife into the pocket of my cotton shorts. “Coming!”