Finally

Part 22: Sure, Shore

Drifting.

Too and fro.

Weightless.

Then heavy.

Then weightless.

Then heavy.

Cool.

Wet.

Warm.

Scratchy.

When the world stops moving and the breeze blows softly over my face, I feel that warm sun kissing my cheeks. It feels like an old friend. A friend I haven't seen in a while- their hugs pulling my body into theirs and making it feel like it caught a slight flame.

Opening my eyes, white burns them instantly- they close and the black is now a burnt brown under my eyelids. Specks of white dashing around like pong.

The smell of salt likes the inside of my nostril like the wet scratchy tongue of a cat.

Finding what little strength I have, I roll onto my right side and my face meets steeped dense sand. Opening my eyes once more, my vision is blurry and as I scan the bright world around me- I notice a dark figure laying on the shore a couple of yards before me. Pushing up off the wet ground, I scramble slowly down the beach and find Cassian laying there paler than normal. From the looks of it, he must've hit his head rather hard on a rock or something because he's bleeding fairly bad.

"Cassian...Cassian wake up." My throat is parched and crackly sounding as I shake him slightly. "Come on, Cassian. Wake up."

After a few minutes of shaking, he finally opens his eyes. He begins to panic- flailing and thrashing against the incoming sea.

"IT'S OKAY! Cassian! It's okay!" I say and his wife eyes slowly take everything in and then focus on me. "It's okay."

"Where the Hell are we?!" He hysterically asks as he get on his feet-staggeringly.

"Some island. I don't know. I just woke up myself."

"Where's the crew?!" He asks panicked and looks around at the small spit of island that is barely populated by a few palm trees and massive rocks. It's no bigger than the the emergency room and yet it feels enormous against the blue backdrop of Hell.

"I don't know. I went under the wave too. I wasn't anywhere near them."

"We we're trying to get the lifeboat up. We had all we needed. The supplies. The space. What the Hell happened?!"

"Okay- take a deep breath. We can't panic. It uses too much energy."

"Energy?! Energy?! We're gonna die out here Max Goodwin! I'm gonna die out here because you drug me along!!"

"And this could have been Helen instead!" I scream in his face and he staggers back a bit and pales even more. "She wanted to come with me. Brantley almost made her come with me. But I fought for her to stay back and be safe."

"And you just drug me along!! She's having my son!"

"I FUCKING KNOW!!!" I yell and it echoes out over the ocean. "I'm fucking reminded of it every time I turn around!"

"Then why are you with her? Can't you just leave her be and let the person she's supposed to be with be happy with his family?! Why do you have to ruin everything Max? You're always doing what you think is best for everyone- but it's actually always what's best for you! You throw a fit when Helen leaves to get better! You take her for granted because she naively dotes on you! You make stupid fucking decisions that always end up putting you and her at risk! Going out into a snow storm. Dragging her to a fucking prison! Allowing her to step in front of a gun for you! Rushing into spilling chemicals to carrying you to safety!! YOU ARE A FUCKING USER!! And you don't even seem to understand any of it. You know why I don't like you Max? Why I've never liked you and never will?"