The Bucket List

emergency

Two weeks later and Kevin and I are in the heart of Australia, sitting at the beach, looking out on the clear, crisp blue water. The second last destination before the end of the trip. These past three weeks have been nothing short of amazing, but I do have to admit that I miss my friends and my brother, as well as my volleyball team and my ever so comfortable bed. 

"You going to fall asleep?" He says with a crooked smile. 

"Maybe." I say, yawning. 

"Oh, come on." He says, poking my nose. 

"What? I'm tired." I barely slept last night in the boat.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

"Shut up, I can't help it that I'm exhausted." I say, pushing his shoulder, but he's quick to react, because he grabs my wrist and yanks my arm towards him, and I fall forward, and my other arm ends up slung around his shoulder as I feel his chiselled arm on my fingertips. I giggle slightly as I try to get away, but in my heart I know he's a lot stronger than I am, so when he takes me in his arms, I know there's no way to break free. I'm now awkwardly leaned up against him my head rests on his other shoulder. I scoot closer to him as I shut my eyes, pretending to sleep on his shoulder. 

"Oh, I get it." He says, "now you're going to sleep on me?"

"Obviously."

"Why now? We don't we do anything fun?"

"We do!"

"Really? Name one fun thing we've done in the last twenty four hours."

"We made out." I say with a smirk. He thinks about this for a moment as he stares at me. 

"Dammit, you win."

"I always do." I say, leaning in for a quick kiss. His soft lips touch mine, and I feel the fire ignite in my chest. I pull away and smile up at him. He smiles back at me and then I shut my eyes again, pretending to fall asleep on his shoulder. 

"Oh, for God sakes, Morgan!" He says, pulling me closer as I lay limp against him. His phone starts to ring so I ultimately decide to sit up so that he can answer it. 

"What?" He says, before answering the call. 

"Hey, dude, you know you're not supposed to call me because it's expensive... what?" I try to listen in on what he's saying but the sound is too muffled to understand anything. "Are you serious?... Oh my God, okay. We'll figure something out... Okay, bye."

"What?" I ask, "What happened?"

"It was Julian." Kevin says, running his fingers through his hair.

"What? Was it Liam?"

"No." He says, "Rachel."

"Oh my God, what happened to Rachel?"

"I don't know, he just said that she was... in the hospital."

"Well, what do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Do we go?"

"Do you want to?"

"I don't know."

"It's a long trip, Morgan. What if she's fine by then?"

"What if she's not?" I say. "I need to see her."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes." I say, "She's one of my best friends, I've known her since I was three... I need to see her as soon as possible. Kevin, we need to leave." I say, standing up and putting my clothes on over my bathing suit. I grab my towel and sandals and rush away from the beach, him following close behind me.