Mayday (completed)

Chapter Four

The gentle sound of waves crashed in the background, and I grumbled, tossing and turning. The sunlight bore into my skin, and the sand formed imprints deep into my flesh.

Wait, sand? Waves?

My eyes snapped open, and I shot up. I couldn't believe it! We were alive! And we were on land! 

I let out an excited holler to see Aisline and Eithne laying near me. I ran towards them, still wobbly on my feet, but too excited to be stopped.

However, my excitement soon faded to fear as I saw both of them, only feet apart, lying down. They were pale, and when I felt their skin, they were cool to the touch. I was at least warmed from the sun. I proceeded to place my hand on Aisline's neck first, feeling around for a pulse. Yet, there was nothing.

"Aisline? You, dunce, wakeup! I know you are alive!" I continued to feel around her body looking for a pulse. Her neck, wrists, I even checked her ankles, but there was nothing. She was... dead.

"No!" I screamed into the air. I wiped a stray piece of hair off of her face and opened her eyes, looking for any dilation from her pupils, but they remained lifeless, faded. I slammed my fists into the ground.

I sprinted over a meter to Eithne, praying that she was still alive. I proceeded to look for a pulse, starting with her neck, her wrists, and her ankles. Yet, I couldn't find anything. Panic kicked in and I rushed to open her eyes, attempting to see some sort of pupil dilation.

When I flipped, open her eye lids; I could see her pupils widen. Was she still alive? I placed my head to her heart and could hear shallow heartbeats and water-filled lungs. I then pushed my hand back to her neck and could feel a weak heartbeat.

"Bloody ell'." I whispered as I went into cpr. I pressed my lips on hers and continued to push on her chest, attempting to get any water out of her system and air circulating into her limbs. It felt like hours when I heard a long gasp taken in by Eithne, and she slowly opened her eyes on her own.

I let out a cry of joy as I wrapped her in my arms, savoring the sound of her heart beating stronger.

She seemed shocked and still very weak, but she reacted and hugged me back.

"I thought I lost you manky gowl." I let out a sob, and she said nothing, just taking a moment to enjoy the breaths of the warm air.

"What happened to Aisline?"

"She --- " I couldn't finish the sentence as tears started to roll down my face. I had to stop myself from crying because I knew I would only become more dehydrated. Eithne hushed me, and we just embraced in a long hug, savoring the tiny bit of life we still had together.

"We need to get a shelter prepared and find a freshwater source." I looked around, and the island had a small forest section. Surely there was a water source within there, but animals too remained hidden in the crevices. I had to weigh out the risks, which didn't take very long.

The tall trees loomed over us, laughing with their leaves and scowling with their deep roots. We walked cautiously, our soaking shoes being on the constant lookout for stray plants and roots. The animals either were dead or hiding because we only saw a few of, what I would hope is, harmless insects.

Only when the sunlight started to fade did we realize we had to turn back. We had found a few items to build a shelter with, but there was no clear water source to drink out of. With heavy hearts, we followed the trail we left and grabbed sticks, rocks, and leaves to build a small tent out of. It wouldn't last long, but it should help a little bit against the cold that was bound to hit.

Somehow, we managed to build a shelter that would, barely, contain the two of us. We took off our wet pants and placed them outside to dry; I would rather have dry clothes than wet ones. We curled up inside our shelter and both of us talked. There wasn't one specific topic; it was more of a reflection on our lives.

We talked about the goods and the bad. There were mentions of our stupid mistakes, celebrations, and childhood memories. We both kept away from the negative realization that we would probably die in a few days.

At the end of the night, and after hours of talking, we both drifted to sleep and allowed our bodies to rest.