Page 65 of Stranded

“Eep!”

“Eep, eep!” The other three chirp, bobbing their bodies up and down in excitement from the desk.

“Awe, thanks, guys, and gal. Don’t worry though, I’m gonna be okay.”

“She sure is. We’re gonna take good care of her. We appreciate the food drive though,” Bower says, holding out his fist towards Sam.

We all watch in silence as Sam clenches his hand then reaches out and bumps his little fist against Bower’s, making us all laugh in delight.

“Is this Sam or Dean?” he asks me with a grin.

“That’s Sam, he has more white on his face.”

“Well, Sam, my man, you’re my favorite now,” he says, aiming a finger gun at him. Sam jumps in excitement, like he understands exactly what he said, then leaps onto his shoulder and wraps his tail around Bower’s neck.

“Wow, he’s never sat on my shoulder before, he must really like you,” I tell him. He gives me a huge smile and reaches up for another fist bump, which Sam gives him enthusiastically.

Kingsley grabs a mango and my knife, and sits down beside me as he starts cutting pieces. For once, Mo-Mo actually lets me take the first piece.

He must really be worried about me.

Weston starts cutting pieces, too, and the two of them hand them around as we all have a feast of fruit.

My eyes catch on my foot, only now noticing that there are two bags sandwiching it. The coolness of them tells me it’s the cold water the guys had gone to grab before I fell asleep. I hadn’t meant to sleep, but the second I closed my eyes, Weston’s warm presence and the sense of safety enveloped me and before I could stop myself, I was out. Thank goodness I didn’t have a nightmare.

After the lemurs are full, they take their leave and the guys take seats around the room. Bower sits on the other mattress, Kingsley sits on the floor beside me, and Weston sits in the chair.

Almost in sync, they all turn their eyes to me, making me swallow heavily from their attention. When I say nothing Kingsley grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze.

“How’s your ankle feeling?” I try to move my foot but wince from the pain. “No, don’t move it yet, it’s swollen and we need to get that down before we can assess it any further.”

“It’s not so bad when I don’t move it.”

“It’s settled then,” Weston states, making my brows furrow.

“What’s settled?”

“You’re staying here now.”

I take a second to consider, licking my lips as my eyes bounce between them. I can’t fight them on this any longer, there’s no way I’ll be able to climb anyway while my ankle is still hurting like this.

“Just until I’m better.”

But he shakes his head.

“Sweetheart,” Kingsley says, averting my attention back to him. “I think it’s time you tell us what happened. And maybe, a little more about yourself. We don't want to push you, but I think by not telling us it’s doing you more harm than good, don’t you think?”

“After all,” Bower adds. “You know so much about us, and we don’t know anything about you besides how you’ve been surviving on this island.”

Knowing it’s inevitable, I chew at my lower lip nervously. “I don’t know where to start.”

“How about we each take turns asking you a question? You can be as vague or detailed as you like?” Kingsley suggests and I nod feeling relieved at not having to give my entire life history to them.

“What happened today, did you fall?” Weston asks, wasting no time with the first question.

“Yeah,” I answer, cringing at how vague I’m already being. It’s not that I don't want to explain, it’s that I've gone so long keeping things to myself that I‘m not even sure how to explain personal details anymore.

“How?” Bower prods.

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