Too Stubborn To Be Broken

Chapter 6

When Dawson woke me up, I was on the bed, still on the boat. "Hey, you should eat something. I don't think you've eaten since you ran off that last time."

I was disoriented and groggy. "How long ago was that?" My voice sounded hoarse, and I had to keep blinking to clear my eyes.

"Almost 3 days." He stood up and asked "You want help up?"

"Sure."

He put his hands out for me to hold onto. When I put my hands in his, he asked "Ready?" I did my usual routine for moving and nodded. Once on my feet, I started to sway, and he gently wrapped his arms around me. When I opened my eyes again, he asked "Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Follow me then." He let go and walked out of the room. I slowly followed him to a small dining area at the bow of the boat. It had windows all around, and everyone else was there eating, too. "Have a seat, and I'll grab you something."

Dawson and Mark looked concerned and thoughtful, but the others looked either guilty or mournful. I couldn't tell for sure which. Mark motioned for me sit next him, so I did. Dawson came back with bacon, eggs and toast. If it wasn't Dawson and I wasn't with my present company, I might have kissed the cook. As he set the plate down, my mouth started watering, and I breathed "Oh my God. That's smells so good."

As he sat next to me, Dawson laughed once and said "Thanks. Dig in."

I didn't need any encouragement. I was starving. After I started to eat, everyone else dug in, too. After we were done eating, I said "I forgot you 'know' how cook. That was really good."

He smiled and said "Thanks."

Everyone took care of there own plates, and Cory, James and Isaiah left the room. As I took care of my plate, Dawson asked Mark "They still pretty bent?"

I stayed at the sink and leaned against it facing them, and Mark glanced at me and back to Dawson. He hesitantly said "Ya. They still feel like shit."

"What'd they say when you told them?"

Mark looked at me and said "Cory said he's glad she kicked his instead of the other way around. Isaiah couldn't believe John did it, and James didn't say anything. He just walked away, but he looked like he was gonna puke."

Dawson nodded and said "I think James went in to take a look last night. I saw him standing outside the door like he'd just came out. He was as white as a sheet."

"Did he say anything?"

"He said 'Holy shit.' and walked off."

"So what do we do now?"

"For now, we let them work it out for themselves."

As I started to walk to table, I quietly asked "What do you want me to do?"

They looked at me for a long minute, but I kept my head down. Dawson said "You don't have to do anything."

Mark added "Except get healed up." He paused and asked Dawson "You tell her about the doc.?"

"Ya." Dawson stood up and said "You keep an eye on her. I'll go talk to then."

I slowly said "I could talk to them, if you want." They both just stared at me, so I said "I think I got the jist of your conversation." They looked at each other and back to me. They looked like there were mentally debating, so I added "They feel shitty for this." I pointed to my ribs.

Dawson said "Ya, and you don't have to talk to them. It was my fuck up. I'll take care it."

I stood up and made myself smile convincingly. "I knew you went soft." They both laughed lightly, and I added "I'll talk to them."