In my heart, I knew it hadn’t healed. If I rushed it...it would only backfire.
Conner swiped his long, sun-turned hair from his eyes as he jogged to collect the spear and return to his starting spot. He frowned as I patted him on the shoulder and kept hopping toward the water’s edge. “Come on. I have an idea.”
He immediately ran after me. Shirtless, his chest had filled out, straining to become a man even on limited food. “Hunting?”
“Yep.”
“But the fish aren’t around at this time. They’ll be back to feed in an hour or two.”
I smirked. “Been staring at them so long you know their dates and appointments, huh?”
He scowled. “If only that knowledge came in handy and let me catch the bastards.”
“Language.”
He snickered.
I let him swear. After all, if we couldn’t curse here...where could we? Estelle and her need for verbal purity be damned. “Well, let’s try for something else.” The thought of a cheeseburger with all the trimmings once again tormented me. I missed flavour. I missed lemon zest and mayonnaise. I missed garlic and barbecue sauce. Everything that made boring food awesome was missing in our bare essential pantry.
My crutch sank into the wet sand as I traded dry land for lapping waves. Wriggling my toes in the water, I glared at the turquoise sea. Our turquoise prison. “Let’s see what else we can find.”
“Like what?” Conner splashed beside me. He’d become part water nymph with how much time he spent in the salty realm.
I shrugged. “Not sure.”
His eyes fell on my splint. “Can you swim with that?”
He knew the answer already. We’d been on this island for two months, and I’d yet to wade out of the shallows because I couldn’t kick with the cumbersome weight.
His voice lowered. “Do you think you should rest it more? I mean, you’ve never just lay down and let us do the work. What if it’s not fixed—”
I cut him off. I couldn’t stomach that conversation. “I can rest when I’m dead, and I have no intention of dying on this island. Broken bones won’t stop me from doing what I need to do.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway.” Conner stabbed his spear into the crystal water. “The reef isn’t that far. It only comes up to my chin, so you’ll be okay. You won’t have to swim.” He squinted in the sun, assessing my height. “You can be on spot duty. If you see something, yell and I'll catch it.”
I cracked a grin. “All right, Aqua Boy.”
He rolled his eyes. “I want a cooler nickname.”
“Can’t get a nickname unless you earn it.”
“I’ve earned it.”
I waded deeper. The density of the water fought the floatable properties of my walking stick.
Don’t need it in the water anyway.
Twisting, I tossed the support up the beach and out of the wave’s grip.
“Ready?”
Conner smiled. “Ready.”
“Let’s see if we can get you a cooler nickname than Aqua Boy.” The sun bounced off the surface, blinding me. Every day, I mourned the loss of my glasses. I was sick to bloody death of straining to see and living with a permanent haze. Would I ever see Estelle in high definition again? Would I ever be able to look into her eyes and see hazel swirls and not a mist of muddy colour?
That’s besides the point.
She’d never let me get close enough. She wanted me but for some reason turned me away. I wasn’t going to keep begging.
Limping through the warm water, I said, “Keep your eyes open for anything on the bottom. That’ll be easier to catch than fish at this point.”
“Good because I suck at catching fish.”
“You don’t suck.”
“Do too.” His jaw clenched. “But I’m gonna become great. Every day, I want to catch a fish for each of us. Four fish a day. Watch me. It will happen.”
I sucked in a breath as the water crossed my waistline, reaching for my chest. “I have no doubt.”
“Strange that I want them so bad when I don’t even like fish.”
My eyes widened. “You don’t?”
He pulled a face. “Hell, no. They’re gross.”
I chuckled. “Believe me, if you never get off this island, you’ll start to like fish.”
Conner froze at the reference of never being free but stuck out his tongue and played along. “No, I won’t.”
“Believe me, you will when there’s nothing else to eat.”
“You found clams, and they aren’t too bad.”
“Yes, but we have to vary our diet; otherwise, things like scurvy happen.”
Conner ducked under the water to wet his hair. “Scurvy? Is that like the bleeding gum thing pirates used to get?”
I laughed. “Where did you learn that?”
“Playing Assassin’s Creed.”
“Of course, you did.” I kept moving. “And to answer your question, you get scurvy from lack of vitamin C.”
“Well, sorry to say I don’t see any oranges growing around here.”
“Vitamin C comes from many places, but you’re right, that’s one source.” Out the corner of my eye, I spotted a flash below the surface. Lunging forward, I snatched Conner’s spear and stabbed it into the sand.
An awful squelch and crunch of something living ricocheted up my arm. “Got dinner.”