On the Island Read Free Page B

surrounding an island.
    I’d never felt such massive relief in my whole life, not even when the doctor told us that the treatment had finally worked and my cancer was gone.
    The current pulled us closer to the island, but we weren’t heading straight at it. If I didn’t do something, we’d pass it by.
    I couldn’t use my arms because they were still under the straps of Anna’s life jacket, so I stayed on my back and kicked my feet. My shoes fell off, but I didn’t care; I should have taken them off hours before.
    Land was still fifty yards away. Farther off course than before, I had no choice but to use one of my arms, and I sidestroked, dragging Anna’s face through the water.
    I lifted my head. We were close. Kicking frantically, my lungs on fire, I swam as hard I could.
    We reached the calm water of the lagoon inside the reef, but I didn’t stop swimming until my feet touched the sandy bottom. I had only enough energy to drag Anna out of the water and onto the shore before I collapsed next to her and passed out.

    The blazing sun woke me. Stiff and sore, I could only see out of one of my eyes. I sat up and took off my life jacket, then looked over at Anna. Her face was swollen and bruised, and cuts crisscrossed her cheeks and forehead. She lay still.
    My heart hammered in my chest, but I made myself reach over and touch her neck. Her skin felt warm, and relief washed over me a second time when I felt her pulse beating under my fingers. She was alive, but the only thing I knew about head injuries was that she probably had one. What if she never woke up?
    I shook her carefully. “Anna, can you hear me?” She didn’t respond, so I shook her again.
    I waited for her to open her eyes. They were amazing, big and dark grayish blue. They were the first thing I noticed when I met her. She had come to our apartment to interview with my parents, and I was embarrassed because she was beautiful and I was skinny and bald and looked like shit.
    Come on, Anna, let me see your eyes.
    I shook her harder, and it was only when she finally opened them that I slowly let out the breath I’d been holding.

Chapter 3
    —
    Anna
    Two blurry images of T.J. hovered above me, and I blinked until they merged into one. He had cuts on his face and his left eye was swollen shut.
    “Where are we?” I asked. My voice sounded scratchy and my mouth tasted like salt.
    “I don’t know. Some island.”
    “What about Mick?” I asked.
    T.J. shook his head. “What was left of the plane sank fast.”
    “I can’t remember anything.”
    “You passed out in the water, and when I couldn’t wake you up I thought you were dead.”
    My head throbbed. I touched my forehead and winced when my fingers grazed a large bump. Something sticky coated the side of my face. “Am I bleeding?”
    T.J. leaned toward me and combed through my hair with his fingers, looking for the source of the blood. I cried out when he found it.
    “Sorry,” he said. “It’s a deep cut. It’s not bleeding as much now. It bled a lot more when we were in the water.”
    Fear gripped me, traveling through my body like a wave. “Were there sharks?”
    “I don’t know. I didn’t see any, but I was worried about it.”
    I took a deep breath and sat up. The beach spun. Placing my hands flat on the sand, I braced myself until the worst of the dizziness passed. “How did we get here?” I asked.
    “I looped my arms through the straps of your life jacket, and we drifted with the current until we hit the shore. Then I dragged you up on the sand.”
    The realization of what he’d done sank in. I looked out at the water and didn’t say anything for a minute. I thought about what might have happened if he’d let go of me or if the sharks had come or if there hadn’t been an island. “Thank you, T.J.”
    “Sure,” he said, only meeting my gaze for a few seconds before looking away.
    “Are you hurt?” I asked.
    “I’m okay. I think I hit my face on the seat in front of