Academy Island

Stranded

Kota's head rocked back as if I'd slapped him with the question. Guilt and fear stained my soul, squeezing my heart into a painful lump. If I had been indirectly responsible for Max getting hurt, or even killed, when I already had so much weighing on my heart, it would break me. Every part of me shook as I moved to get up and search but he shook his head, putting the bare touch of his fingertips on the back of my hand to stay me.

"Nothing is wrong with Max. He's still out with one of our men. Stay off your feet."

I eased back down onto the blanket at his command, watching his eyes carefully for any deceit. He removed his glasses and rubbed at his eye, then the rest of his face until his frustration seemed sated. He replaced his eyewear and looked me over, settling his gaze on my hands. I stopped wringing them and clasped them together instead. He still hadn't told me where the blood had come from.

"You seem fairly well acquainted with my dog."

I stiffened and nodded, but gave no more than that. The less he knew about my bottomless condition in that palm while he shot and searched below that day the better. I played with the collar of the doctor's coat, trying to come up with some kind of excuse for knowing about them without admitting to spying, but nothing was coming readily to my mind. There was no excuse, other than I'd purposely kept my presence undisclosed. I still thought it was unfortunate that I'd been discovered, but telling them that right to their faces seemed a little harsh. I gestured towards his face where the blood of unknown origin still lay, avoiding the explanation he was after by asking for one of my own.

"Whose is it then?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "We have a lot of traps set up around the island. One of them had caught something and I had to carry it on the way back, that's all."

My eyes widened at the smear. He'd trapped something? I wondered what it was and what he was going to do with it, and if he'd teach me how to catch one of my own. I crinkled my nose, wondering how to go about turning a trapped animal into a meal, and if it might be hard, taking an animal's life. I looked back at him, having spaced out at the thought of trapping and what it might entail. He looked like he was holding his breath, but I wasn't sure why. Had I reacted badly? Was he embarrassed about it? I fiddled with the brush, running my thumb over the bristles, trying to figure out his body language, wishing I had more experience in reading people. I pulled the brush through my hair again to keep my hands from fidgeting. He blew out, talking fast and watching my brush strokes.

"Of course, we never take more than what we need, especially since we're stranded here and we don't want to over hunt and put ourselves in a starvation scenario. We try to keep the ecosystem balanced, what with the acreage of the island and it's re-population rate. I can show you our charts if you'd like."

I looked up to his face, but he wasn't looking at me, his attention focused on how his hands were helping him explain their situation. So they were stranded, just like I was. He went on about responsible management of natural resources, earning furrowed eyebrows from Luke. I let the brush drop, listening to his lecture. With the way he was trying to convince me that they were being careful of species preservation, it made me wonder if he was worried I disapproved of them taking what the island provided. If they were just vacationing here, I would have probably balked. This was different. I tapped at his knee with the brush, getting him to pause and look back at me. I gave him half a smile, trying to show I wasn't upset. "Can you teach me how to set a trap?"

"Oh." He looked unsure of my reaction. "Sure."

He chuckled, then held out his hand toward me. I stared at it, wondering what he wanted.

"I'm Kota. Sorry for the late introduction."

I shook his hand after foolishly waiting a beat and cursed myself when he smiled tolerantly at my blunder. All my life there hadn't been enough interaction with others, and I knew it showed. I mumbled my name, more focused on the strength of his grip than I was on pleasantries. Luke held his hand out too right after Kota released me, a crooked smile on his face, and shook my hand more robustly than Kota had.