Chapter Three


    He pulled on the side handle and moved it towards the edge. "Hey Angie?"
    "Yeah?"
    "I'm gonna need your help with this," he said as he peeked out.
    "Okay."
    "Grab the end of this cooler when it reaches you, okay?"
    "Sure," she said and then slowy but surely they eventually got it down on the ground and over with the other stuff. "Damn that's heavy. What's in it?"
    "Our life basically," he said as he sat on top of it to catch his breath.
    "Move over," she said tiredly as she nudged him and sat next to him.
    "Oh, your cut," he said suddenly as lifted her chin with his fingers to look at it. "I forgot about it."
    "It's stopped bleeding," she as she moved her chin out of his grasp.
    He gave her a hard look. "Will you for once forget that you despise me so I can help you?" When she didn't say anything he stood up and stalked over to the guy's hiking bags and started looking through them.
    "What are you doing?" she asked.
    "Looking for a damn emergency kit," he snapped as he kept looking through all the hidden pockets. He finally found one and then walked back and sat next to her. He set it on his lap and opened it up. He got a piece of cloth and soaked it in some hydrogen peroxide and when he turned towards her she leaned her head back. "What?" he asked annoyed.
    "I'm capable of doing it myself," she said as she put out her hand.
    "Well, I'm sure you could, Angie," he said as calmly as possible. "But tell me something? What would you be doing right now if I didn't make it?"
    Her eyes widened. "What??"
    "What would you be doing if I died."
    "I...I..."
    "You'd be scared shitless," he finished for her. "Now quit your bitching and let me fix you up!"
    Since she was too shock to speak, she didn't move or object when JC leaned toward her. Also, she didn't object because she knew he was right. If JC had died in the crash, she'd still be crying in his arms right now begging him not to leave her. The thought of it made her want to throw her arms around him.
    She watched him warily as he pulled back a strand of her hair and casualy tucked it behind her ear. She looked into his deep blue eyes, while he worked on her. She could still see anger in them.
    His eyes shifted from her cut to her own eyes, and the anger slipped away and then filled with concerned. "Does it sting?" he asked her softly. When she just shook her head, he tore his eyes away and continued to patch her up.
    When he put the small thin bandaid over the cut, he shut the kit and stood up. "There your done," he said and then walked back and knelt down next to the backpack. When he got up and turned around he stopped short, almost running into her. "Angie, watch where your...." He stopped talking when he saw her looking up at her.
    She surprised him by leaning up and wraping her arms around him. "Despite our differences," she said while still huging him. "I want you to know that I'm glad you're all right and I'm glad that your here with me."
    JC smiled as he gently gave her a squeeze before she pulled her away. "You know I think that's the nicest thing you've said to me after all these years."
    She laughed. "Well, don't get use to it," she teased and gave him a soft punch in his tummy before she walked off.
    He grunted a laugh as he bent over and watched her walk over to her bag. "Hey Angie?"
    "Yeah?" she asked as she started going through her bag.
    He walked over to her and knelt beside her. "We're gonna get out of here."
    She stopped to look at him. "I know. If you can survive a million screaming girls, this should be a piece of cake."
    He threw his head back with a life. "Angie," he said surprised and nudged her. "You made a joke! And it wasn't to dis me either....you're just full of surprises."
    She rolled her eyes. "Ha....ha," she said sarcastically.
    He just laughed. "Okay, here's the deal. Only pack what you need. And that pretty much just means a toothbrush and underwear. We got to take all their clothes out of these bags and stuff the food and water in them, because I'm not dragging that cooler everywhere."
    "Oh, come on JC," she said as she stood up. "I can't bring my clothes?"
    He shook his head. "No, just toothbrush and underwear."
    "But...."
    "Angie," he said softly but forcefully. "Right now there are 3 people dead in that plane. So please, stop worrying about your clothes and be grateful."
    She huffed out her breath. "Dammit JC, I am grateful. Quit making me feel like crap."
    "Then do as I say. Start packing."
    "Fine, I will. But just stop twisting my words to make me feel bad, okay?"
    "Fine," he said angrily and then opened up the cooler a little too hard and took a deep breath. Well, he thought to himself. They got along for about a minute. That's a world record.

    They spent the next ten minutes stuffing all the supplies in the two packs. They even brought a tent with them, god bless them, plus sleeping bags. They had eight large bottles of water, and plenty of food. All the way up to turkey down to a can of salted penuts.
    "Here, let me carry that one," he said as she tried to lift it. "That ones heavier because of the tent."
    "Oh," she said as she stopped trying. "No wonder." She walked over the other one and grunted as she yanked it behind her back. It was just as heavy as the first one, but she wasn't going to complain. The pack was so high, it went past her head. "So, what next?"
    "Find a place to camp," he said as he circled around the surroundings. "Somewhere near water and an open space so it'll be easy to spot us from above."
    "Sounds like a plan," she said. "Let's get out of here."
    "Hey, one second," JC said as he walked over and picked a maroon flower. He had no idea what kind it was, he didn't know anything about flowers.
    Puzzled, Angie watched him stroll to the plane and her heart sank when he placed the flower on the wing. He placed a hand on the side of the plane as he took of his hat and bowed his head in prayer. Angie's eyes filled with tears; touched by his thoughtfulness. When he was done he wiped the one single tear that fell from his cheek and then put his hat back on. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."



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