I lay next to her after drinking another half cup. The rain was still coming down steadily, and at this rate, we’d have another week’s worth of water before morning. I refused to lie back down at this point because I was afraid I would fall asleep and I needed to get more water into Raine. I started counting her breaths, and after one hundred and eighty I sat her up and gave her more. Raine’s eyes opened for a moment, and her hand reached up, like she was trying to touch the cup, but it dropped back to her lap instead. At least I didn’t have to tilt her chin up to get her to swallow this time.
We went back and forth like this for a couple of hours. Raine had consumed four cups at that point, and I had drunk five. It was enough for now, and I finally allowed myself to lie back down beside her, immediately pulling her against my chest and holding her head to my shoulder. She sighed and her warm breath tickled my skin.
“I knew you would,” she mumbled against my shoulder.
“Would what?” I asked, but she was already out. I took some more deep breaths, trying to keep my mind from thinking anything before I hugged her to me again, closed my eyes, and let myself drift off as well.
…there is darkness all around and cloth touching me on my shoulders, tickling my skin like spider webs strewn across a forest path. I shudder and try to close my eyes, but then I can’t see the darkness, and I have to watch it. If I don’t watch it, I’ll never know when something comes at me. I hear footsteps and hold my breath, as if that would help. Bright lights fill the tiny room, and a strong arm hauls me out and into the room. Screaming…yelling…fists against my back...I try to curl up into a ball, but he holds me up higher so he can reach more of me…
…blood everywhere – all over me, all over the knife in my hand. I am pretty sure I have been shot near my shoulder – not bad, but it burns like a bitch. I took a good blow to the head, too. How many are left – two or three? There is movement off to my right, and I jump up, ready to face the next one…
…the ring sparkles in the light when I place the little satin black box, lid open, on the dash and drive out of the parking lot. The prisms go off in every direction, flicking into my eyes through my sunglasses. I can’t stop myself from smiling. I’ll wait until the weekend and give it to her then. I can’t wait to see it on her finger…
My eyes flew open, and I had to stop the scream trying to come out of my mouth. There was sweat on my forehead, which I’m sure I should have seen as a good sign. Before the rain, there wouldn’t have been any moisture on my skin at all. I stared at the ceiling for a while, drank more water, gave Raine a little more water, and then stared at the ceiling some more.
*
The rain stopped, and the sun came out. It was steamy and hot for a while, then clouded up again and sprinkled some more. Even with the quart and a half we had each consumed, there was still another week’s worth of water in the containers now.
An unlucky seagull bobbed up and down on the waves near the raft. I turned Raine’s swimsuit into a net while she was sleeping, which she did not appreciate in the slightest, and managed to catch it. Raine did seem to appreciate being able to eat something, though. I told her catching birds was all about knowing which direction they were going to fly, along with a little bit of speed. Sea birds weren’t that quick getting out of the water. I liked watching her eyes light up in wonder or awe – if that’s what it was – when I did something that impressed her.
“I never thought something like this would taste good,” Raine said, popping a thin piece of raw, stripped meat into her mouth.
“Starvation does that to you,” I said with a shrug.
“Still, I would have thought it would only be palatable at best, but this actually tastes good.”
“It doesn’t,” I assured her. “It’s just your mind making it taste like chocolate pie.”
“You remembered,” Raine said with a smile.
“Of course I remembered,” I said. “I’m not stupid.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Raine said. I looked over to her sharply. “I mean, you’re very well spoken for a high school dropout.”
“I still got my GED. Actually, Landon insisted on it.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“You went to college too, didn’t you?”
“Correspondence schools, but yes,” I said. “I have a master’s degree, actually.”
“Really?” Raine’s shocked expression amused me. I decided to take it a step further.
“In English Literature.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not,” I said. “Do you want me to quote you something?”
“Yes, I do.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I hadn’t really wanted to be called out on my bluff, but leave it to Raine to want some Shakespeare or whatever recited to her. A couple of sonnets went through my head, but I decided on something a little more fitting to our situation.
“When the waves are round me breaking,
As I pace the deck alone,
And my eye in vain is seeking
Some green leaf to rest upon;
What would not I give to wander
Where my old companions dwell?
Absence makes the heart grow fonder,
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!”
“Paradise lost?” Raine said, not sounding completely sure of herself.
“Very good.”
“Another one, please?” She looked at me, and her teeth bit into her bottom lip. I took a slow, deep breath and told my cock to cut that shit out.
“I am as a weed