Currents

Chapter Seven

Jonathan never felt more at peace asleep; he's always gone to bed late and got up early, so it was the most sleep he's ever gotten. He didn't feel like waking up, the sleep felt too good, but he kept hearing someone shouting.
"Jonathan!"
His eyes snapped open, and he coughed out excess sea water. The sun's bright light shined harshly in his eyes, and his head spun as he looked around his surroundings. He was on an island, that was the first thing, but which island? There weren't any islands for miles in the ocean according to maps of any kind. When he attempted to stand, he let out a cry of pain and grasped his ankle; it was broken.
"Jonathan!"
"Evan!?," Jonathan called back to the voice.
Evan came rushing over to Jonathan and sliding on his knees. Jonathan was still clutching his ankle and foot, but he was relieved to see that he wasn't alone.
"What's broken?," he asked.
"My ankle," Jonathan answered.
"Yeah, it might be a sprain; hold on."
Evan found some sticks, then used his pocket knife to tear off some cloth from Jonathan's lab coat and tie everything together. He then helped Jonathan to his feet, and when Jonathan applied pressure onto his injured foot, he let out another hiss of pain.
"We're gonna have to find you a walking stick," Evan said.
"No, we have to find a way home," Jonathan pushed him away, "We shouldn't even be here! We're in the middle of nowhere!"
"At least you're including me for once," Evan mumbled as a joke.
Jonathan heard it, and his face was boiling red with rage; letting out a scream of frustration, he stormed off to the other side of the small island. Evan realized that this was the moment that he had to give Jonathan some space. He began to go around and see if any supplies had washed up with them, and to his surprising luck, his satchel washed up with his journal and emergency supplies. He spent the whole day gathering up stuff, taking quick peaks over at Jonathan who remained in a balled up form on the edge of the island. After gathering supplies he set them up at this large dome shape formation.
He'll admit, it was quite odd how it was perfectly formed that way, but he couldn't afford to care as much as starting a campfire. The sun was starting to set over the horizon in a beautiful display of oranges, yellows, and blues. Evan was finishing up a walking stick for Jonathan, cautiously approaching the researcher.
"Ya know, it's not safe to be out in the sun without sunscreen," he tried to joke, "I think you got a burn."
Jonathan didn't move, nor speak. Evan sat down next to him, looking over at his face; it was tear stained, with redness around Jonathan's eyes as he clearly was crying. He wasn't sure how to approach this. An idea popped into his mind, and he pulled out his journal and folded back the cover to pull out a picture. He offered it to Jonathan, and finally he moved his muscles so that he could hold the picture.
"That's me and my dad," Evan explained, "We were in Egypt on our first exploration together. He already explored the pyramid so that the traps were disabled so I wouldn't get hurt, but other than that he didn't touch anything else."
Jonathan looked at the eight-year old Evan in the picture crouched down by a sarcophagus with his father; like father like son.
"He was a good guy, up until that heart attack," Evan cleared his throat after a moment of silence, "He too really believed Atlantis was out there, so that's mostly the reason why I'm doing this...Never really cared about the money, as I said."
Jonathan handed the photo back, allowing Evan to put it away. Unlike Evan, he supposed, he wasn't as close to his father as he wished to be. His father wanted him to study in the path of a wealthy career, so he was always focused on his studies, but he was always well bonded with his mother. He looked over to see Evan staring out at the ocean, the wind lightly breathing in his hair and making it move slightly.
"...Hey."
Evan looked over at him, and he almost lost what he was going to say.
"I...I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling awkward, "I know I am...Not the most open at first...But I'd rather be stuck with you on an island than be alone."
Jonathan then felt an arm around his shoulders, and he blushed when Evan pulled him into his chest in a sort of hug.
"Apology accepted," he hummed, "Now, I've made you a rather fine walking stick, and I suggest we go rest up and come up with a plan for tomorrow."
Jonathan gave a small smile, allowing Evan to help him to his feet. Evan handed him the cane, and he took a test leaning on it.
"Wow, rather handy, are you?," Jonathan said.
"Yeah, but wait 'till you see what I'm really handy with~," Evan flirted, sending Jonathan a wink.
"Really?"
"What? Not good enough sweetcheeks?"
"First off, yes. Second off, don't ever call me that again if you wish to live."
"Alright, alright."
Jonathan began to walk over to the dome structure, but noticed that Evan wasn't following. When he turned around, he saw that the explorer was smirking at his behind; he only rolled his eyes at the behavior.
"What?~," Evan grinned.
"Nothing," Jonathan turned around, secretly blushing.