Safe Harbor

| 9 |

"Keda, what happened? Where does it hurt?" Damien asks hurriedly, his eyes frantic with worry and panic.

Keda inhales and exhales sharply, her breathing ragged and frenzied. "My--my shoulder," she answers, in between gasps. "It bloody hurts--" She inhales quickly, her eyes shut tight with pain. "Agh," she finished, unable to go on.

"She's been shot," I tell him. Damien's eyes widen like saucers, and he looks at me in disbelief, so I go on. "We were grabbing those bundles from the plane and running, and then one of them hit her square in the shoulder-- her left one," I continue, nodding to the arm Damien himself is supporting.

His first reaction is to examine it, but as he goes to do so, he jerks her arm a little too roughly.

Keda lets out a shriek of pain and Damien drops her arm as if it were on fire. She winces from pain, and her breathing becomes even more ragged.

"I'm sorry-- I'm so sorry, Keda!" He says, utter horror and remorse in his tone.

"It's--" She staggers a little no doubt blinded by the pain, but I manage to steady her. I wrap her good arm around my shoulders and immediately, she transfers most of her weight onto me. She's getting weaker by the second, I notice. "It's alright," she manages to say out of gritted teeth. "Not--your--fault."

Damien watches her, his eyes filled with agony and pain at seeing her this way. "What can I do? Tell me," he begs.

Keda shakes her head adamantly. "You need to steer the ship, Damien," she heaves out in a single breath. "We're--sailing blind!"

"Keda, I'm not leaving you here like this," he retorts, his voice stern and determined. "You need medical attention, now!"

"I'm going to have to wait until we get back to the island-- Jack will know what to do," she answers, just as quickly as before, in between gasps of breath. "Besides, you're no doctor, Dame," she says.

"Keda, we won't arrive for at least another three days! You know that!" He yells, his cheeks flushed red. I look at him and I see tears budding in his eyes. "You'll bloody bleed out by then, and I won't let that happen!"

Keda shakes her head once more, less vigorously this time. Her movements are much more slow, and that worries me. Still, I can't help but admire her perseverance and stubbornness. "Damien, we have no other opt--" She gasps once, then twice, and then three times, each one getting more and more pronounced. My eyes widen as I notice her knees begin to buckle, and I brace myself as all her weight is transferred to me. I grunt, and manage to slowly lay her down on the wooden deck floor, where she lays silently, unmoving and still.

"KEDA!" Damien yells, his voice filled with nothing but raw pain. The pure, untainted agony in his voice makes my stomach churn uncomfortably, but I’m too numb from the day’s events to say or do anything. I simply fall back into a sitting position next to her absently; present in body but not in mind. I watch as he fruitlessly tries to wake her, his actions frantic and wild. I don't believe what I'm seeing; I refuse to. She's not dead... She--she can't be.

“No, Keda, wake up, c’mon, wake up, please, wake up,” he begs her still, motionless body--to no avail. All around us, the other kids gather, their eyes fixated on Damien. Everyone is silent, and it’s as if no one is daring to breathe.

Never in my life have I seen someone this distraught. Seeing him like this, so unlike his normally happy, composed self, jars me. Only then do I realize the overwhelming sincerity behind their friendship. I stare at Keda’s face for moment, and all of a sudden, it morphs into Marco’s. A flood of panic, fear, and pain sweeps through me, paralyzing me from head to toe. But then I blink, and the image is gone; a cruel trick of my mind. I look up at Damien, and now I understand how he must feel, except, this was no illusion for him.