Chapter 33

Gary's POV

I've been rowing for the past two and a half hours. The sky seems to have gotten lighter, so i'm guessing that it's quickly approaching the early hours of the morning, not that this mist is doing me any favours. Running my tongue along my dry, sore lips i rest against the side of the boat, massaging my aching temples. I could be hours away from people, i'm starting to think that maybe it was a good idea to stay on the island and pray that a boat would of stopped by at some point. Feeling incredibly light headed i close my eyes for a brief moment. It's cold and there's barely enough energy left in me to even open my eyes now. The thought of being reunited with Chloe and our baby is slowly fading away in my mind, i might not be much help with her and i know she can do a lot better than being tied down to me, but at least when i'm with her i can protect and support her giving my mind ease. The amount of stress i must be putting her through from the second of my disappearance sickens me, what if something's happened to our baby? What if... no... please god no... stress is a common cause of miscarriage... this is all my fault... my own child. Faintly the boat starts to rock, disturbing me from my grieving, little by little the waves start to increase in size. "Eh?" Snapping open my eyes i look around the abandoned sea, until my eyes catch something from the foggy air. Can it be? All of a sudden i get a rush of hope runs through my entire body. It's a boat, but not just a boat, by the size of it it looks like a cruise. Breathing a sigh of relief i see it slowly move closer in the distance. "HELP! HELP ME!" Cupping my hands around my mouth, i begin to yell at the top of my lungs. Surly someone has to hear or at least see me, but then again i probably look like an ant to them. Waving my arms i begin to jump a little trying to get some sort of human contact, this could be my final chance of getting home again, and i'll do everything i can to try and get some help. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

A loud horn sounds when the boat stops suddenly in the distance. I've been trying to get their attention for over quarter of an hour now. The niggling pain in my head turns into a more icy feeling soon followed by a stabbing in the side of my temples. "Fuck!" Taking my head in my hands i curse loudly from the horrific pain i'm witnessing. I need to get myself checked out.
"Hello?" A voice echoes in the distance, which travels to my ear drums from a megaphone. "Is anyone out there?"
Chewing the inside of my check, trying to soothe the striking pain travelling now through my weakened body, i feel as if i'm on some sort of fairground, as my head begins to spin rapidly. "H...H...HEL...HELP ME! HELP ME NOW!" My body trembles and my knees start to give way. "HELP ME!" Shouting several times, the pain takes over my body. Uncontrollable i fall to against the back of the boat, giving the back of my head a hard whack enough for me to see stars, stars which are soon replaced by darkness. This is the end... isn't it?

Mark's POV

"Gave me quite a fear again, Miss Matthews..." Taking her hand in mine, i gently run my thumb across each one of Chloe's fingers. "...But i promise you... once you're well enough... and that little fighter inside of you, too... we're going back home... just the three of us...stress free..." Moving my free hand towards her ageless face, i gently stroke the back of my hand against her cheek. It's been a stressful few hours once again, but thankfully mother and baby are slowly pulling through. "You're a beautiful girl... you know that? How did he ever end up with someone like you in his life?" Sighing softly, i move away a strand of hair from her closed eyes. "...He's abandoned you... both of you.. god knows where he is now... putting you through all this... you could of lost your child today... and if you did... it would of been all his fault... right now i can't even speak his name..." Shaking my head in anger i squeeze Chloe's hand a little tighter than expected, noticing the reddened imprints of my finger nails on the top of her hand. Instantly i loosen my grip, luckily the painkillers have knocked her out for a few hours, so she's in a deep sleep at the moment, if she wasn't i'd probably be thrown out of the window by now, because of the things i've been saying for the past hour or so. "Just going to get a coffee, sweetie..." Laying my coat on the back of my chair, i quickly peck Chloe on the lips, before skipping out of the door. No matter what will happen in the future, i'm going to keep my promise of being there to support Chloe and ou-... her baby.

Rubbing my face whilst releasing a yawn, i flex my left arm at the same time. I could really do with a good kip myself. Placing my cup into the coffee machine i watch as it begins to fill with the brown sloppy liquid. Great. I can't even have a decent coffee to wake me. "Out the way! Out of the way!" Doctors run past me, which almost cause me to spill my coffee.
"Watch it." I snap, rolling my eyes over to their direction, where a crowd of doctors and nurses have formed.
"Male. Identity unknown. Possible brain damage."
Sipping from my coffee, i stand aside allowing them access through the corridor. "Ouch." I mumble under my breath. Poor sod. Continuing to watch feeling slightly intrigued, a stretcher is pushed into my direction. A fair haired man with an oxygen mask is pushed by me, only a thin paper sheeting is covering his naked body.
"He needs a brain scan right now!" They move towards the lift, where they will take him to have his brain scanned upstairs. Holding tighter to my cup i have a quick nose again. The slightly bearded man lays lifeless with his eyes firmly closed. Squinting my eyes a few times at him, whilst they wait for the lift to arrive, something snaps inside my brain. That man. I've seen him before, maybe around on the beach since being here... for some reason i can't place it. His bony looking figure, hardly breathes seeing the pain it's giving him to do so. Stirring in his sleep a quiet groan leaves his lips, which is muffled by the plastic oxygen mask.
"Stay calm sir." The lift door automatically opens, where they quickly push him inside. "Sorry sir, but you'll have to catch the next one." A doctor looks at me, before pressing the top floor.
"It's ok i'm-" My sentence comes to a sudden stop, as a pair of familiar looking eyes lock onto mine. Dropping my cup in shock, my body feels as if it's glued to the floor. No. No it can't be. The doors close, breaking our eye contact. "Gary..." I whisper to the closed metal doors.