Chapter Twenty-Seven
Such a weird dream.Something cold drips on my face, and that scratchy feeling is there again, along with a throbbing in my head. I can’t open my eyes. I have tried, and I will keep trying, but it’s a battle I can’t win at the moment. My ears come into focus first. The howling noise is like a freight train racing down the tracks, and it makes the pounding in my head even louder, making it hard to find a cohesive thought.
Focus, Molly.I try to focus on what makes sense. Coop’s face pops into my head, and all at once, everything comes rushing at me. The plane was going down. Coop moved me to the back of the plane. We crashed. I try to move my hands, but they are trapped inside of something–something that feels like plastic. I move my legs and can feel the cool, wet sand underneath my body the more I wiggle them free. But I don’t feel another body with me. Coop. Where’s Coop?
I finally get my hands free and rub at my eyes, trying to get them to open. I get them to open a crack, but all I see are shadows thrashing around above me. I push my hands into the sand behind me and try to sit up, almost throwing up with the movement. I try to make out where I am as the wind reaches my now exposed, wet skin, causing me to shiver. I can barely make out anything through the rain and wind, but I can see the outline of the plane in the distance, but no Coop. Am I all alone? Did Coop not make it? But how did I get here, then?
All sorts of scenarios are running through my aching head about what could have happened to him as I see a small figure moving toward me. It’s Coop. I ignore the throbbing in my head as I clamber to my feet, and tell them to move. He sees me running toward him, drops whatever he is carrying, and reaches me in seconds, gathering me in his arms.
We collapse into the sand, both of us on our knees as we hold one another, the rain pelting the both of us. He pulls back, and his eyes are watery as he takes my face in his hands. “You’re awake.” He chokes out. I don’t have a chance to respond as he gently brings my lips to his. He kisses my cheeks as he whispers sweet nothings into my skin, the taste of saltwater, tears, and rain mixing together in my mouth from him, before he notices my shaking body.
Grumbling under his breath, he says, “You’re freezing, woman,” and helps me stand, forgetting the things he was carrying and directing me back to the spot where I had been before. “Stay here while I go grab the last of the things.” It is only then that I notice the pile of stuff from the plane lying on the ground near where I was lying before. Now that my eyes have adjusted, I can see that Coop has been busy trying to save not only me, but all of my equipment as well. I watch as he retreats from me, picking up the things he had been carrying, and makes his way back to where I am.
“I need to build a better shelter now that the plane is secure and we have supplies.” He brushes his hair out of his face and moves closer to me, draping the blanket over my body. “You need to stay warm, Molly. Go sit down and let me take care of you.” I shiver as I crouch down, taking a seat in the wet sand, my teeth chattering in my mouth as I try to keep the wind out of the plastic blanket.
I watch as Coop takes the shovel out of my backpack and digs a small round pit out of the sand. Once the pit is deep and wide enough, he grabs a few more emergency blankets and bends down some of the shorter palm branches, draping them over and securing them with some of the flagging tape from my bag, creating a little tarp-like structure over the pit he dug out.
Next, he grabs some wooden stakes from my bag and makes a small teepee with them, adding some emergency firestarter from his backpack underneath. “This fire won’t last very long, but it should help a little bit.” He hits the flint, and sparks fly onto the kindling as a small flame appears. He shields it from the wind with his hands and blows on it lightly until the fire catches on the stakes. “I’m going to go grab some of the driftwood from the dock and put it nearby to dry.” Before he leaves to collect wood, he lays down another blanket near the small fire and tells me to sit there and wait for him to come back. I watch the small flames and huddle inside of my emergency blanket while I wait for him to return, my eyes feeling heavy and my body exhausted as I sit there and think about the events of the day.
It doesn’t take longfor him to return, his arms full of small pieces of driftwood. He places it on the outskirts of the pit and takes a seat on the blanket, sidling up next to me. He is soaking wet, and I watch as the water from his hair drips down his eyelashes and onto his mouth, my eyes tracking the movement as his tongue darts out to lick the moisture from his lips. Our eyes are locked onto one another, and I move in closer, re-adjusting the blanket so it covers the both of us.
He reaches up and brushes the hair from my cheek, tucking the tangly mess behind my ear, his icy fingers trailing over my skin. “Your hands are so cold.” I take his hand in mine and blow into it, concentrating on warming his skin.
“Molly… I…,” I look up to find his eyes–a look of concern, but also one I’m not familiar with–a vulnerability of some sort in their depths. A tear escapes his eye, tracking down his face, and I catch it with my thumb. Placing my palm on his face, he grasps it in his hand, moving it to his mouth, and kisses my fingers with a quiet reverence that brings more warmth to my body than any blanket could. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up and that you were going to leave me here all alone.” His voice breaks as he continues to kiss my hand, and my lips feel lonely and jealous of the attention.
“But I didn’t, Coop. I’m here.” He pulls me to him and kisses my lips, and this time, it’s not the hungry, attraction-filled, lip-locking action that leaves your mouth swollen and your lungs breathless. This kiss is the one to remember. It”s passionate, yet sweet. One that says I don’t want to let you go. One that says I will treasure you for as long as I can. We snuggle under the blanket and hold onto one another, staring into one another”s eyes as the storm rages on around us, until we both fall asleep.
I awaketo little puffs of hot air moving across my skin and open my eyes to find Coop’s face in front of mine. It’s still dark, but I can see some rays of light struggling to make their way through the clouds, and the deafening roar of wind has died down, along with the sound of hammering rain. I’m so warm, but nature is calling, and I’m not sure how to untangle myself from Coop’s embrace without waking him up.
“Coop,” I whisper, waiting for him to stir. He doesn’t budge, so I try again.
“Coop…?” I say a little louder, and I feel his body shift, his movements jostling my sore head. But he doesn’t wake up.
“Hey, Cooper,” I tap his forehead with my finger, and he flinches as his eyelashes start to flutter open. Why do guys always have the prettiest, longest eyelashes? It’s not fair. His eyes open, and he takes me in, a smile stretching across his face as he hugs me closer.
“Morning, sunshine.” He kisses me on the nose, and I catch his lips with my own before he retreats.
“I don’t think it’s morning, Coop. But that sure is a nice way to wake up.” My face is growing warmer as his eyes take on a smoldering heat.
“I would like to wake up to your pretty face every morning,” he admits, without a hint of hesitation in his voice as he burrows his face into my neck.
“I would love to continue this, Coop, but I… uh…” He pulls away, and his eyebrows pull down in confusion as he retreats further from me.
“I understand, Molly. The plane crash and all. Probably just made us both act weird.” He rolls away from me, and I stop him with my hand.
“No, Coop. It didn’t make us act weird. I like you. I really do. But… I have to pee.” I raise my eyebrows at him, and a look of relief washes over him.
“Oh.. Right. Yeah. Me too. I like you too, Molly. I just… er thought th–,” I pull him to my body, cutting his words off with a kiss that hopefully relays how much I like him, before letting him go.
“Now, where’s that bathroom? Cause I have a really small bladder, and if I don’t go soon, I am going to pee myself.” Coop laughs as he grabs the flashlight. Guiding me by the hand, he helps me find a safe place before leaving me by myself to do my thing.
My dad never took me on vacation, but he did take me camping a lot as a kid. So I am pretty much a pro at this outdoor stuff. I find two rocks, one for each butt cheek, and make my own little port-a-potty. The only other thing I wish I had was toilet paper, but I’ll make do.
The sun has finally broken through the clouds and provides me with some light, so I can switch the flashlight off and conserve the battery. I shimmy my damp shorts up and turn to leave when I see something move out of the corner of my eye. I turn slowly, and let out a small shriek as I see two large lizards sitting on a log a few feet away. Coop yells my name, and I hear leaves rustle as he moves closer. I am frozen in place as I keep my eyes on the prehistoric dinosaurs that might eat me if I move. That’s what they say in Jurassic Park, right? ‘Don’t move.’
“Molly, where are you?” I hear Coop shout from nearby.
“I’m over here.” I half-yell through my clenched teeth, making sure to watch the lizards for any sudden movements, as my head replays the scene where the guy is eaten right out of his toilet stall.
Nope… Not today, lizards.