Unlikley Heroes
Author's Note- another off the wall, edumacational plot for ya!
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"Guys, don’t rock the boat when I'm trying to take a picture."
"Haha, Joey's rocking the boat!" Chris laughed.
The guys were crammed into a lifeboat for a special Out At Sea photo shoot. Hopefully, it would be the next big break of the photographer's career. They had been out at sea all day, and the photographer already had three good rolls of film. They were out in the middle of nowhere, and their only human contact was the small radio that linked them to shore.
The photographer was in a well-built rowboat, while the guys were in an inflatable lifeboat. The sea was fairly calm, but the slightest movement moved the boat and caused the photographer to refocus.
"I am not rocking the boat!" Joey replied, getting crabby from being out in the sun all day.
"Okay, look, why don't you guys take a break while I reload?" Marty, the photographer asked.
"Finally," Lance sighed, rubbing his throbbing temples.
"My stomach hurts," Chris complained, but no one paid any attention to him.
Justin took off his sandals and put his feet in the cool saltwater as it lapped against the side of the raft. They were all grateful the photographer made them take their shirts off, or it would be even hotter.
"Ow! Son of a-" the photographer yelled, dropping his camera.
"What happened?" Lance asked, watching the other man inspect his bleeding finger.
"I cut myself loading the film," he replied, putting his hand in the water.
"You okay?" Justin asked.
"I'm fine, let's just finish this shoot," the photographer replied, grabbing his camera.
The guys sighed and resumed their positions and frozen smiles. As Marty got ready to take the picture, something hit his boat.
"Justin, knock it off. We gotta get this done."
"I didn't do anything," Justin said, looking surprised.
"Whoever did it, knock it off," Marty said.
"Marty, we're way over here. How could we have touched you?" J.C. asked.
"I don't know, I-"
Suddenly there was a loud thump as something turned over Marty's rowboat. He went sailing into the water head first, letting out a startled yell. He came back up, trying to get to the boat.
The guys watched on horror as a large dorsal fin appeared and cut through the water with graceful speed, then Marty disappeared. Bubbles began to break the soft rhythm of the sea, and soon the water turned red.
"Marty!" Chris yelled, looking over the edge of their raft.
Then everything became still. The bubbles stopped mixing the blood filled water, and the waves gently slapped the side of the overturned boat.
"Oh my God," Joey whispered. "Our photographer was just eaten by a-"
A powerful force knocked the small raft over, flinging the guys into the sea like popcorn thrown at a movie. Their clothes were immediately stained red by the cool saltwater, but they concentrated only on getting to the rowboat.
Joey reached it first, and flipped the boat over. He and J.C. scrambled to get in, then turned back to the others. Lance and Justin were steadily swimming for the boat, but they stopped when they heard Chris scream.
They turned back, seeing Chris frozen and staring at half of Marty's body as it bobbed next to him in the water.
Chris turned white and tried to get away from the top half of the photographer. Then suddenly, a huge, razor toothed jaw rose out of the water, closing on the raft and popping it instantly.
Justin and Lance plowed through the water to Chris then started pulling him back to Joey and J.C. The shark struggled with the floppy rubber raft, and then with unblinking eyes noticed its prey was getting away.
It turned it's seven and a half foot body in the direction of the three struggling figures and swam for them using it's powerful tail.
"Oh shit we're gonna die!" Justin yelled, seeing the huge shark head for them with remarkable speed.
The three braced themselves for the feeling of a hundred jagged teeth cutting through their flesh and bones, but nothing happened.
Right in front of them, a dolphin sprang from the water, while another rammed the shark from the side. The guys looked around, finding themselves in the middle of a large, defensive dolphin pod.
Dolphins were powerfully springing up from the blue saltwater all around Lance, Justin and Chris, throwing themselves at the lone shark. The dolphins squeaked and clicked as they hammered the shark with their beak-like mouths. Their bodies sparkled in the mid-day sun, and their muscular bodies splashed in the water. One bold dolphin swam up to Chris, pushing gently on Chris's stomach exactly where there was a slight ache.
Seeing their chance to escape, Justin, Lance, and Chris swan for the boat. They had just climbed in when a painful, shrill scream interrupted all the splashing. The guys turned to see the shark rip off a big piece of a dolphin's flesh, killing it.
This sent the other dolphins into a fit of fury and they hammered the shark from all sides. Almost immediately, the shark retreated, knowing it was beat. The dolphins chased it off, punishing it for killing one of their family.
The guys were left in silence, floating in blood-red water. They were shivering with testosterone, remaining quiet except for their hard breathing. Their eyes darted from the deflated raft, to Marty's mangled body, then to the dead dolphin.
"They didn't have to do that," Lance said softly.
"They saved our lives," J.C. added.
They sat in silence a little while longer, drenched in the bloody water and stunned. A helicopter broke the silence as it appeared overhead. Two men jumped into the water, not noticing how red it was. They swam over to the stunned group.
"You guys want a lift?" one of them yelled jokingly over the helicopter.
The guys simply nodded their eyes distant and sad.
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When the guys got back to the hotel, they each took a half-hour shower, trying to wash away the blood they knew they were covered. They barley spoke to each other the whole night, because the awful memories kept flooding back. They were all dead tired and irritable, often snapping at each other with out meaning it. The doctor told them that they had been extremely lucky that none of them had been hurt. When Marty stuck his bleeding finger in the water, it attracted the nearby shark, which can smell blood up to a mile away. Not far away from the shark were the dolphins, who simply felt threatened enough to attack.
They owed their lives to the dolphins, but the trauma of the incident left them ungrateful. Now they tried to take their minds off it by watching TV, purposely skipping over the Learning Channel and Animal Planet.
Chris sat on his bed, holding Busta close to his chest. "I'm sorry I didn't move faster out there," he said quietly.
"Why?" Justin asked. "I wasn't your fault."
"But maybe if something were different, that dolphin wouldn't have died," Chris mumbled, talking into Busta's ear.
J.C. threw down the remote and got up. "Can we please just forget this? What happened out there shouldn't have been seen by anyone, and it's not something I would care to live through again!" Then he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Chris had been expecting that kind of reaction, but the others were beat upside the head with it, and it scared them.
"Should we talk to him?" Lance asked, looking at Chris.
"No, not yet," Chris replied. "I think we all need to try and get some rest tonight. My stomach hurts."
"It's been hurting for three days now," Lance said, turning off the TV.
"I think he's got his period," Joey teased, showing the first smile they had seen all night.
"I do not," Chris mumbled, lying on his back. He remembered how the sleek dolphin had swum up to him earlier, almost like it knew Chris was hurting there. Right before-
He stopped himself from finishing that thought. He didn't think he could handle a gruesome scene like that again.
"Well, I'm going to turn in too," Lance said, getting up. He was sharing a room with J.C., and was looking forward to finding out what was bothering his friend. They had enough money for separate rooms, but they had grown used to each other's company and didn't see the point in wasting money if they wanted to be together anyway. Plus, on occasions like this, it gave them an excuse to talk to someone.
"Goodnight," Joey called after Lance. Then he turned the TV back on, but intended on falling asleep anyway.
Justin went into the bathroom, carrying his boxers and a Nsync T-shirt. They had so much of their own merchandise it wasn't funny. People just kept sending it to them for free so, as Chris once teased, in case they forgot what each other looked like, all they had to do was pull out a shirt.
Minutes later, he emerged wearing the items he took in with him and throwing his other clothes on the floor. They all had thrown away the clothes they were wearing earlier, feeling they could never get the blood out. Justin then lay down on his bed, and mumbled, "Goodnight."
"You okay?" Chris asked, seeing Joey had nodded off already.
"I guess," Justin replied. "For seeing a live person being bit in half." His last few words were mangled, like he had to force them out.
"I know, it's hard," Chris sighed, rubbing Busta as he stretched out on Chris's stomach. "But it'll get better."
Their beds were right beside each other, but neither man looked at the other. They kept their eyes to the ceiling, where emotions could not be interpreted. "I guess it goes to show how unpredictable life can be," Justin said, closing his crystal blue eyes.
"It's kinda like you better be happy with who you are, because any minute it could be over and you're screwed," Chris replied. He turned to Justin, expecting a response, but found the blonde teen sleeping peacefully. "Goodnight," Chris whispered, then let his own eyes drift shut.
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Chris woke up in the middle of the night, and his stomach was killing him. 'God, this must be what labor feels like,' he thought, running to the bathroom. Busta jumped to the floor with a thud, jingling his dog tags. Together they found their way to the bathroom in the dark, just before Chris threw up. He was getting hot, but he was shaking at the same time. He splashed his pale face with cold water, trying to cool himself off.
He turned to Busta, who was sitting on the floor looking up at Chris with big, dark eyes. "What?" Chris asked, stepping around him. "It's just something I ate, I'll be fine," he said, trying to convince himself more then Busta.
Chris lay back down on his bed, hoping to calm the knots in his stomach. Busta jumped on the bed, then climbed on Chris's stomach. "Ow, Busta get-" Chris stopped himself as Busta circled once, then laid down on Chris's stomach, letting the heat from his belly warm Chris's stomach and easing the pain.
"You okay?" Justin asked, startling Chris.
Chris turned to Justin, only seeing Justin's eyes sparkle in the moonlight. "I'm fine, it's nothing important," he replied.
"You sure?" Justin pressed.
"Nothing that's gonna kill me in my sleep," Chris teased, relaxing a little with Busta's warmth on his stomach.
"Whatever man," Justin mumbled, going back to sleep.
Chris soon nodded off also, listening to the blurred sounds coming from the room next to them.
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"J.C., we know how hard this is, but you can't take your anger out on everyone else," Lance said, growing tired of this conversation.
"Than how can everyone just move on after we saw a shark bite a human in half?" J.C. said, his voice rising. "That's pretty hard for me to just forget about."
"Look, if you're that bothered, maybe you should see a psychiatrist. I don't think I can help you anymore. I'm not even asking for you to forget, just try to move on. We can't change anything, and you should be happy it wasn't one of us."
"That's just selfish," J.C. mumbled.
"No it's not!" Lance forced. "It's letting Marty's soul rest. He wouldn't want this to affect you like it is!"
J.C. just sighed. He was finally starting to give in; realizing just telling someone how he felt helped a lot. "Okay, I'll try. I'm just really tired now, okay?"
Lance sighed too. "That sounds really great," Lance smiled.
The lights went out, and a moment of silence passed before J.C. said, "Lance?"
"What?"
"Thanks for listening to me."
"No problem man."
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Justin hit the alarm one second after it went off. He had been awake ever since Chris had gotten up last night. Justin had listened to his friend toss and turn all night, both him and Busta whimpering softly with every movement. Justin figured the whole ordeal with the dolphins had got to Chris more than he let on, and his friend was just having nightmares.
Finally, Chris fell into a peaceful sleep with Busta curled up by his stomach. Justin took a deep breath, then stretched his whole body as he lay in bed. After adding a yawn, Justin forced himself out of his warm bed. He shuffled his feet as he made to the bathroom, where he splashed some icy water on his face. He quickly brushed his teeth to get rid of his morning breath, then headed back out to watch TV.
Justin sat on top of Joey as he turned on the TV. Joey groaned and rolled over, then woke up. "Justin? What- get off me!"
"Morning sunshine!" Justin smiled, sliding off Joey and down on the couch.
"What are you doing up? The alarm didn't even go off!" Joey asked, sitting up.
Justin laughed at the way Joey's hair stuck straight up. "Because I turned it off," he laughed, going through the channels.
"Oh," Joey said, scratching himself in various places. "Move." He pushed Justin on the floor and got up, adjusting his sweat pants.
Justin pushed him back as he got up, forcing Joey to take a step towards the bathroom. "Get out of here. You stink," Justin teased.
"I know," Joey sighed, going into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he returned and decided to wake up Chris.
Joey kneeled on the floor as the head of Chris's bed. He leaned close, so that he was only about two inches away from Chris's face. Being this close, Joey could see the light scar above Chris's eye from when he chased his sister and ran into a wall. Joey smiled, thinking how none of their carefree personalities were altered by their popularity.
Chris felt a presence right in front of him and figured it was Joey. He could always tell who it was with out opening his eyes, and the others hated him for it because they could never scare him. He couldn't explain it; he could just sense it. "Go away Joey," he mumbled, rolling over.
The small movement sent a flare of pain through his stomach, and he cringed. Luckily, Joey didn't notice it and Chris took a deep breath to get him together.
"How do you do it?" Joey asked, sighing.
"It's a gift," Chris whispered, preparing himself to get up.
"I suppose it is," Joey replied, standing up. "No one will ever creep up on you."
Chris took a deep breath, then found Busta licking his face. Chris smiled, then pushed the dog away. Busta went down to Chris’s stomach and sat down, looking at Chris. “What?” he whispered, petting Busta.
Busta gently placed his foot on Chris’s stomach and whined. Chris placed his hand over the Pug’s paw; not sure what Busta wanted. What he felt made him sit up quickly.
“Oh my God,” he said, feeling his stomach.
“What?” Joey asked from across the room.
“Feel this,” Chris said, pushing Busta away.
“Um, no, that’s okay,” Joey said. “I don’t want to touch you unless I have to.”
“I’m serious,” Chris replied. The pain was returning now, stronger then ever.
“What?” Joey sighed, going over to Chris. He rolled his eyes and felt Chris’s stomach. “Oh my God, you’re pregnant!”
Justin, who had been silent until now, cracked up. “What are you guys talking about?”
“There’s a hard spot on Chris’s stomach,” Joey exclaimed, feeling the spot above Chris’s right hip.
“Don’t touch it,” Chris whispered, almost doubling over in pain.
“Are you okay?” Justin asked, joining his friends.
Busta barked and jumped to the floor then ran to the door. Chris shook his head in response and tried to get up. Busta continued to bark, adding to the confusion and waking the people in neighboring rooms.
"Chris, what's wrong?" Joey asked, helping Chris to the door.
"Gonna die," Chris replied, walking to the door.
"Justin, you get J.C. and Lance. I'll take him to the hospital," Joey said, yelling over Busta.
Justin went out in the hall after them and said, "Okay. We'll follow you in the second car."
Joey nodded and helped steer Chris through the halls and to the elevator.
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Chris had come close to losing consciousness during the short trip to the hospital, and Joey got there just in time. Busta had insisted on coming along, and no one could stop the determined dog.
Once the guys got in the hospital, Chris was taken away by a nurse and a doctor. Joey was left in the dust as doctors flew into action. But he wasn't alone for long before Justin pushed a recently awoken J.C. and Lance in the waiting room.
"What happened?" J.C. asked, his hair still messed up and his shirt unbuttoned.
"I don't know, they just took him back," Joey replied, running his hand through his own hair for J.C.
They each sat down and waited for something to happen. After numbly thumbing through magazines, staring into space, and filling out insurance paperwork, a doctor finally approached them. He went up to Joey and asked, "You brought Mr. Kirkpatrick here, right?"
Joey nodded. "Yeah. We're all with him, actually."
The doctor nodded and introduced himself. "I'm doctor Uoltaf, (mirror time, two words) and I'll be Chris's doctor."
"So you can tell use what's wrong with him?" Justin asked.
"Well, it's very simple actually," Dr. Uoltaf replied, pushing up his glasses. "Your friend has an extremely advanced case of Appendicitis." He judged the blank looks he was getting from the four and continued, "It's an infection in the appendix, which will get worse until the appendix ruptures, infecting the whole bloodstream. It can be fatal, but usually causes so much discomfort it is caught in time to remove the appendix."
"Oh," they sighed in unison. "Well did you get it out in time?" J.C. asked.
"It had just begun to rupture, but we gave him a good dose of antibiotics, and he should be fine. He looks strong enough to come out of this with no problems."
The guys looked at each other with relief on their faces.
"I don't mean to rush, but are you done with filling out those papers?" Dr. Uoltaf said, nodding towards the small pile of insurance paperwork on the waiting room magazine table.
"Oh, uh I think so," Joey said, handing them to the doctor.
"Why?" J.C. asked.
"Why what?" Dr. Uoltaf asked, going over the papers.
"Why do you need them now?"
"Oh, just to get him in the system and billed. Stuff like that."
"You have to do that now?" J.C. questioned.
"We like to as soon as-"
"Does the insurance coverage affect how people are treated?" J.C. asked, treating the doctor like a criminal.
"No, it's just-"
"He's only been here for an hour and we haven't even seen him, but you want to start billing him?" J.C. asked, fully awake now.
"J.C., calm down man," Lance said, putting his hand on J.C.
"I think you're taking this the wrong way," Dr. Uoltaf said, backing up slightly.
"Yeah, J.C., just relax. It's procedure," Joey added.
J.C. took a deep breath, centering himself again. He didn't know what just happened, but he didn't mean to go off like that. The emotions of the past day had just caught up to him, and he took got it out the first chance he got. He voiced his feelings, feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's just been a rough couple of days…"
"I understand," the doctor replied, not convincingly enough. He headed in the other direction, papers in hand.
"You okay?" Lance asked, looking at J.C.
"I'm fine, I just needed to get that out of my system," J.C. said, giving a little smile.
"What's so funny?" Joey asked.
"I think that's the first time I scared someone," J.C. smiled.
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Chris was floating in the water again, surrounded by dolphins. He tried to get away, but they were everywhere. One swam up to him, squeaking and clicking. It circled him, and Chris watched it's powerful tail go up and down, splashing the water. More dolphins jumped around him, sending water flying everywhere. The biggest was swimming around him, and then it stopped vertically, bobbing in water in front of Chris.
The salt water scented the air and the sun was beating down again. The dolphin looked at him with dark, knowing eyes. Then it sank down in the water again, and pressed its nose to Chris's stomach.
Suddenly, Chris was back in the hotel room, with Busta curled up on his lap. Chris looked around the empty room, then watched as Busta put his paw on Chris's stomach and whined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The heart monitor increased slightly, announcing Chris's return to the real world. The other's sat at attention, waiting. Then slowly, Chris opened his eyes and squinted into the bright hospital lights.
"Welcome back," Joey smiled. "Watch your step as you step off the plane."
"What? What plane?" Chris asked, looking around.
"He's kidding," Justin smiled. "How ya feeling?"
"What happened? Then I'll tell you how I feel," Chris asked.
"You just had an organ removed," Joey teased.
"I what? Why?" Chris asked.
"It was just your appendix. Nothing you needed," J.C. said.
"I need everything I was born with," Chris replied, looking at himself under the thin hospital sheet, "Or else God wouldn't have given it to me. Isn't' that like Indian giving or something?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Justin said, rolling his eyes.
"I had the weirdest dream," Chris mumbled, running his fingers over his new stitches and making a face.
"Really? It wasn't about beach balls again, was it?" Lance asked.
"No," Chris said sarcastically. "It was about the dolphins and Busta, and how they knew something was wrong."
"What do you mean?" Lance asked.
"When we were in the water, that one dolphin came up to me and touched me where it was hurting. Then last night, Busta did the same thing." The dog heard his name and jumped on Chris's bed.
"Really? There are animals that can tell something's wrong," J.C. said.
"I saw it on National Geographic," Joey said.
"I told you guys he was special," Chris smiled, patting Busta's head.
"Being trained to get you things from the refrigerator doesn't make him special," Justin said, rolling his eyes.
"You can't make him, can you?"
"No, but-"
"Okay, there you go," Chris smiled.
"Whatever," J.C. sighed. This was going to be a long recovery.
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Finnis!
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Email: jaysmyrascal@cs.com