Nick and Jamie were both getting worried. Jamie thought it was all her fault for dragging Billie along with her. Nick was scared that they'd miss their flight. It was already dark. It was seven, their flight was scheduled for 9. He had already called Kevin and told him what had happened. Nick and Jamie were in an awkward silence. Jamie refused to talk to Nick because she was wallowing in guilt, while Nick was slightly intimidated by her presence although he refused to admit so to himself. He simply reassured himself of the false excuse of her being weird.
Billie awoke from her black out first. She was soaked, she noticed and so was Brian. She had a splitting headache but still, she tried to wake Brian up.
"Brian, Brian, get up." She shook him lightly, then slightly harder. She put her ear against his chest to see if he was breathing. He had told her earlier about his heart condition. She was relieved, he was still breathing. Suddenly Brian woke up.
"What?!? What happened?" asked a confused Brian. He tried to get up but his head hurt too much.
"Are you ok?" asked Billie. She noticed he was bleeding. "Oh my god, you're hurt." She reached into her pocket for her handkerchief and pulled it out even though it was damp since she was drenched.
"No, no, I can get up," insisted Brian.
"Just sit down and hold still for a sec," said Billie as she wiped the blood of his head.
"Ouch," winced Brian. Billie helped Brian up in the rain. They were both cold and soaked. Brian grabbed her hand. "I know where we are. There's a cave somewhere around here." said Brian as he led her around by the hand. His hand was warm and soft. Billie felt a tingle go up her spine. She wanted to hug him since he was so warm or was it because she was attracted to him?
It was already 9. Suddenly, a yellow figure appeared at the glass door. As the lightning flashed, he opened the door. Nick jumped in fear. He was startled. There was a drenched guy in a yellow raincoat.
"I bet he knows what you did last summer," teased Jamie. She laughed, she couldn't resist herself. Nick blushed and remained silent. He was busy thinking of the perfect come back remark. The guy in the raincoat pushed back the hood and took the raincoat off.
"Mark," said the lady at reception. "Did you find them?"
"No, I found their horses together, so the 2 of them probably found each other," answered Mark as he tried to wring his T-shirt dry.
"That's good news. Brian is totally capable of handling this," reassured the receptionist. It was already 10. Mark walked into a room, which said Staff only on the door.
"You 2 might as well go home and get something to eat, and maybe even some sleep if possible. There's nothing more you can do here. They can only be missing 24 hours, before we can get the police to come in. Give me your phone number, so I can contact you when they're found." The positive and firm tone in this lady's voice made them feel better.
"I think I'll just wait here for a while more," said Nick, he didn't want to abandon his friend like this.
"Same here," agreed Jamie.
Brian finally found the cave he was looking for and he led Billie into it. It was very dark, almost pitch black but there was still the moon shining through the rain. Billie sat herself down on the ground. The cave was shallow, only about 8 feet wide and 12 feet deep. It could only be barely called a cave. Billie rubbed her shoulders for heat. Brian stood in the corner and unbuttoned his denim shirt. He took it off and wrung most of the water off it. Billie looked in the corner of her eye and saw his bare chest. She was interested but didn't want him to think she was a pervert or something. Brian could feel her eyes looking at him but he just put the shirt back on and sat himself down next to her.
"Are you ok?" asked Brian asked in concern.
"Yeah, how's your head?" asked Billie
"Ok, I guess. Cold?"
"Yup, and this is supposed to be Florida." Joked Billie.
"We should huddle together for warmth," suggested Brian. He hoped that she'd agree., although he had other motives for wanting to huddle with her.
"Yeah, we should," agreed Billie trying to hide the eagerness in her voice.
Brian's heart leaped for joy, as he edged closer and put his arm around her. She clung on to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. They were both tired, it had been a long day so they fell asleep.