Chapter 3

It's so damn cold.

Jessica is shivering in her wet clothes. Hugging herself for that tiny bit of extra warmness but fails miserably. Wind is gushing from the ocean, hitting her body with no mercy along with the droplets of rain.

“A little more.” Yuri is kneeling inside the crevice, trying to light a fire using the lighter and cotton balls he has obtained from the survival kit. The man is even wetter than Jessica after going into the woods in search for dry branches to feed the fire. “Yes! Fire.”

Jessica hovers behind him, happy to see the little flame grows bigger in Yuri's care.

“Get in.” He orders, shifting sideways to give way. Their noses are almost bumping. The fabric of their clothes rubs together. Jessica can feel the brush of his chest against hers as well as the accidental contact between her fingers with his.

“Take off your clothes.”

“What?”

“Take off your wet clothes.”

“But... I-”

“Wet clothes will only get you colder and colder as they dry up.” He sighs. His warmth breath hits Jessica's face and it oddly smells like the wine they had on the plane along with a hint of minty toothpaste. “If they manage to dry up.”

“And since you insist on staying in this narrow hole with me instead of in that warmer raft, your only option is to take off your clothes.”

His eyes. Jessica can only freeze on her spot, gazing into those eyes. Taking her clothes off means baring herself to his eyes. Should she move to the raft instead?

“What? Do you need help?” His fingers move to the first button of her wet denim shirt.

Jessica gulps.

“Aish.” He suddenly stops, hitting the rocky wall of the crevice with his fist. “Why are you so clueless?”

“What?”

“Were you really going to let me strip you just like that?”

“I don't know. It's cold. You said it will only get colder.” Confused as hell, Jessica stares at the man in front of her.

“That was why I told you to stay in the raft.” Messing his hair, Yuri looks at Jessica in frustration. “You can take your clothes off under the cover. There's a poncho you can share with the doctor in the survival kit. The three of you can stay warm in there while I stay here on the lookout.”

“But... but you're my boyfriend. I don't want you to be alone in the cold.”

“Oh God.” Yuri rubs his face before leaning closer. His lips are barely an inch away from her ear now. His breath tickles her senses. “I'm not your boyfriend.”

“You're not my boyfriend?!”

“Sssssh.” His palm is over now. “Don't be too loud.”

“But... I... what.... who are you?” Gripping the collar of her shirt, Jessica tries to inch away from Yuri. Just a few seconds ago she was considering to strip herself before him. Now he suddenly said he's not her boyfriend. Who is he?

“No. No. Don't try to get away from me.” He effectively traps Jessica's body between his arms when she tries to run away. “Not now.”

“You're not my boyfriend! What do you want from me”

“Ssssh. Jessica, listen.” He grabs her shoulders now. “There's this stalker, harassed you on the plane and you pretended to be my girlfriend to drive him away.”

“Stalker?”

“Robert. That purple-haired guy.” Yuri throws a look over his shoulder as if trying to make sure no one hear the words he just said. “You don't remember him either, do you?”

Jessica shakes her head, absentmindedly rubs the top of her head.

“Don't touch your wound.” He brings her hand away from her head. With his face so close like this, the concern in his eyes even more palpable. His touch, Jessica doubts she ever feels anything as gentle before.

“It's probably hard to trust me because you don't remember me at all. But stay away from that man, okay?.” He lets go of her hand. Eyes now piercing into hers.

Jessica does feel uncomfortable around the purple-haired man but this guy in front of her, what if he also is a bad guy. What if Yuri is lying?

Thing suddenly gets more complicated. She's stranded here, on an island in the middle of a sea. No one she really knows. No relatives. No friends. A stalker comes into the equation, then this man who pretends to be her boyfriend. What should she do? Who should she trust?

“In the middle of chaos, when I was helping Doctor Sooyoung load her grandma to the raft, I caught him trying to touch you again.” Yuri adds, trying to convince her.

“What?”

“You were on the floor, unconscious, yet his hands went up your thigh. That sick bastard.” There, that scary flame shows up in his eyes again. “Stay away from him, Jess. You understand?”

Jessica nods, a sense of disgust creeps in as Robert's face shows up in her mind. She makes a quick decision, staying close to Yuri and the good doctor is herthe best option at the moment.

“See. Now that you know I'm not your boyfriend you can stop worrying about me.” He sighs, shifting away from her. “Go take shelter in the raft.”

“But-”

“Jessica, you need to learn to listen. It will be safer for you, as it will be easier for me if you stay in that-”

“Help!” Sooyoung's scream breaks from inside the raft, effectively stopping the two from arguing any further. “Yuri! Jessica! Help!”

Yuri dashes first, jumping into the raft as Jessica follows closely behind. There, under the cover, Sooyoung's grandma is having a seizure in her granddaughter's arms.

“What's happening?” Yuri tries to hold the old woman still but Sooyoung swats his hands away.

“Let her seizure finish.” The doctor rummages through her bag, throwing a syringe, a box of gloves and rolls of bandage to the surface of the raft. “Her head injury is much worse than I thought. Severe epidural bleed. Jessica go fetch the survival kit!”

Jessica nods, doesn't really understand what's happening but feeling scared for the old woman. She runs for the nook, grabs the orange bag of survival kit then runs back to the raft.

The seizure stops as Sooyoung drops various items from the orange bag into her lap. She puts a few bottles and a knife aside, followed by some kind of red inflatable bag which Jessica knows nothing of.

Despite the curiosity, Jessica can only kneel in the raft, watching Sooyoung moves.

“Sooyoung, how can we help you?” It's Yuri who asks first.

Gulping then rubbing her hands together, Sooyoung throws another look at Yuri then at Jessica.

“You make me nervous.” Yuri gulps too.

“You should be. You're about to help me drilling my grandma's skull.”

“What?”

“She's got a brain bleed. Pressure is building in her brain and we need to relieve that pressure.”

“We?” Jessica wipes her brows with the back of her hand. What the hell is going on?

“Yes. We'll drain blood from her brain.” Sighing, Sooyoung caresses her grandma's cheek. “ I'll use the swiss knife to puncture her skull then put this syringe in to pump the blood out.”

“Please tell me you are kidding.” Yuri rubs his face while Jessica just stares at the young doctor in disbelief.

“I really wish I am.” Sooyoung pours the content of one bottle all over the knife and the syringe. “Please put the gloves on, both of you.”

“Is... is this place even sterile?” Jessica finally finds her way to reason. “Is it even safe?”

“Shouldn't we wait for the rescue team instead?” Yuri adds.

“It's either doing it now or let her brain be damaged for good. She's on medication that will make the bleeding worse with time. No stopping it.” Sooyoung starts gloving her hands. “I'm taking my chance here. Waiting for rescue team will only make me lose my grandma for good.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter