Stranded Belief

Chapter 5 Jet

Chapter 5: Jet.
Song: One call away.

Jet double checked his backpack to make sure everything was there. Blanket. Check. Bible. Check. He looked in the front pocket of his bag and noticed the book Hazel had given him was in a different position then when he'd first put it in there. Mikki had said something to him earlier about noticing that the front of his bag was opened slightly but he didn't think much of it then. Looking back on it, he realized it was kind of strange. The only person that would just take something out of his bag like that would be Jack, the rest knew to ask before grabbing something out of another person's bag. What he didn't get is why his twin would want to read a teenage girl novel. Actually he did know. His brother was always doing something to learn more about girls. He'd ask him about it later.

He pulled an old slightly tattered photo out of the front pocket. He was grateful that Jack didn't see it. If he had, Jet knew that he would've heard it, even if he was on the other side of the island. It was an old photograph of their parents. They had died in a car accident when Jet and Jack were 7 leaving them to the foster system. Luckily they hadn't been separated, but the photo was actually Jack's. Jet had grabbed it out of his bag on the drive to the airport. He was glad he had, but even more grateful that Jack hadn't seen it when he grabbed the book.

He heard footsteps and quickly put the photo away. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Hazel. What he didn't notice was the tears welling up in his eyes. Hazel did notice. She'd had enough experience with being sad that she didn't even ask what was wrong. She just lowered herself onto the ground and put her arms around him. For once in her life she wasn't worried about the germs that could be passed between her and another person, all she knew was that a friend was hurting and needed comfort.
Jet noticed too but chose not to say anything. He finally let himself relax and let go of the pain he'd been holding since they'd arrived on the island.

Jack had been climbing in a nearby tree and looked down. It hurt his heart to see his brother in pain, but he was glad he had someone to comfort him. Jack hadn't been able to comfort him since their high school graduation, when Jet found out the news that Jack had been withholding from him for 11 years. He pushed those thoughts aside, knowing it would be dangerous to think on those things so high off the ground. Too late. His foot slipped from the branch and he went hurling toward the ground. He stood up as Jet walked over with a mix of horror and worry etched onto his face. Nothing seemed to be broken but as he moved his left arm a searing pain went through his shoulder. He let out a cry of pain. "I'm going to go get Destiny. Don't move." Jet told his brother. "Why Destiny?" Jack wondered aloud. "Because she and I talked last night and she told me she's studying to become a pediatrician, maybe she'll know what to do." Jet said before sprinting to the other side of their campground to find Destiny. The worried look on Jet's face was all she needed to know something was wrong. She'd heard a crash but didn't worry too much about what it was.

Bella held Jack's hand while Destiny examined his shoulder. Jet sat in front of Jack, he'd challenged him to a staring contest to distract him during the examination. Jet lasted three minutes before his eyes were watering so much he had to blink. Jack smiled in victory. Destiny stepped back. She looked at the girls and motioned for Hazel to come over. She pulled them to the side to talk to them. "I'm telling you girls this first because I know Jack won't like it and I'm not sure what Jet will do. Out of the three of you, I need the person that is closest to him to break the news to him that he dislocated his shoulder and can't use it. I need the other two to go find pain meds in one of our bags and a scarf to use as a sling." "I have a scarf in my bag, but I think I should be the one to break the news to him." Bella said looking up at them. "Mikki can you get the blue polka dotted infinity scarf." Mikki laughed as she went to go get it, knowing that Jack wasn't going to be happy that he'd have to wear a girl's scarf. Hazel ran to go get her Alieve out of her bag.
Once the supplies were gathered, Bella approached Jet to tell him first. "I'm not sure how to tell him that he has a dislocated shoulder." She whispered. Jet looked surprisingly calm as he replied, "Just tell him exactly what happened. He's had enough injuries from football to be able to handle it."

While the rest of them broke the news to Jack, Jet split away from the group. Grabbing one of Hazel's whistles, he walked into the trees for some time to think. Mikki's way of thinking was seeping into his brain, he started thinking Disney about why they could possibly be stuck on the island together. Maybe they were supposed to all learn a lesson and randomly burst into song before someone rescued them.
He wished they had service out here on this island. Then they'd at least be able to call someone to rescue them. A disturbing thought creeped into his brain: What if they never got off this island?
He licked his lips and tasted salt. Tears. He found a nearby rock and broke down crying. Let everything out that had been bothering him since his parents died, this was the only time he'd ever been able to. He prayed, giving it all to God.

He heard angry shouts through the trees. Sounds like they finally told Jack. He dried his tears and ran to find his upset twin. A dodgeball flew past Jet's head. He'd forgotten that Jack kept one in his bag just in case "an impromptu dodgeball tournament ever broke out on campus" or he found "any nerds that need to be pegged". Neither had happened, Jack's campus kept their tournaments in the gym, and he was too kindhearted inside that rough exterior to ever actually randomly throw the ball at anyone unless he was really mad. And knowing that Jack would never hurt one of the girls, he decided to throw it at the first moving target he saw that wasn't them. Which happened to be Jet's head.
Jet laughed when he finally saw his twin. He didn't think there'd ever be a day when he would see Jack wearing polka dots. "Hey bro, I see you're rocking the dots there." Jet managed to say through his laughter. Jack socked him in the shoulder with his good arm. "If we ever get off this island, no one will breathe a word of this." Jack glared at all of them before added, "I don't want anyone to find that I wore a girl's dotted scarf. Especially not my girlfriend." Jack tried to continue glaring at them but broke out into laughter, and after a few seconds everyone joined in. Everyone but Bella that is. She took one look at Jack with hurt in her eyes and ran into the trees, Destiny not far behind her, knowing from experience exactly what the poor girl was feeling.