Beyond the Sea (20 page)

His brain muzzy, Troy pondered it. “Little better. Not so cold, and the burning isn’t as bad. Had weird dreams.”

“
I bet.” Brian eyed Troy’s foot and winced. “I can only imagine how awful it is.”

He echoed back Brian’s words from after the crash. “Doesn’t tickle.” Stretching his arms over his head, Troy brushed the mosquito net. “So stiff.”

“
I know. Do you have to go to the bathroom?”

Amid all the pain, he realized there was indeed pressure on his bladder. “Yeah. Just piss.”

“
I could get a bottle?”

“
No. Need to move.”

Of course it was sheer torture, and poor Brian had to bear his weight as Troy hopped outside. It took some doing to stoop through the door. Troy pissed at the edge of the jungle, leaning into Brian with Brian’s arm secure around his bare back.

It was a little weird, whipping out his dick and pissing with another guy right there, but it was Brian.
Last men on earth.
Although Troy knew the rest of the world was still out there beyond the sea, it was unreachable. He swelled with another pang of gratitude for Brian’s steady presence.

Part of Troy wanted to stay outside, but with the sun coming up, he knew the last thing he needed was to burn his swollen foot. He had more pills and settled back down. If Brian hadn’t been there, he’d have had to crawl everywhere.

While Brian got fresh wood and started the fire when the sun topped the trees, Troy dozed. His mind still whirled, images and memories vibrating through him. When fear overwhelmed, he concentrated on the sounds of Brian puttering around outside.

He wasn’t sure what time it was when Brian’s hand rested on his arm. Troy shook off a dream about being on stage and falling down, not able to get back up. The faint whiff of fruit and fish reached his nose. “Hmm?” The day was hot, and sweat dampened his skin, but not as badly as the night before.

Brian peered down at him, a half coconut shell in his hand. “You need to eat protein. I caught a couple fish.” Propping Troy up again, Brian knelt behind and awkwardly fed him with the curved shell. “Come on. You need to eat.”

Troy tried his best, but a few bites of chewing the fish felt like a trial. “Enough.”

“
Nope. Choo-choo’s coming, open up the tunnel.” Brian pressed the shell to Troy’s lips.

The little ripple of laughter felt so
good.
Every pore still ached, and the burning throb of his foot overwhelmed, but at least he could still laugh, even just a bit. Troy opened his mouth and chewed.

When he was resting again, Troy reached out and caught Brian’s hand. “Did I say thank you?”

Brian smiled, the worried creases in his face smoothing out for a moment. “Yes. Don’t worry about anything.”

Doing his best, Troy drifted off again.

“
Are you sure that’s okay?” Brian frowned and adjusted the pack under Troy’s foot. Was it high enough now that Troy was sitting up? Brian wasn’t sure. But at least the swelling had gone down. Not to normal yet and the skin was still red, but hopefully that would fade. “Comfortable?”

Teeth flashing, Troy smiled, gazing up at the stars. “It’s perfect. Feels amazing to be outside.” He inhaled deeply. “It gets so hot in there. Although the past couple days have been damp as hell.” He shifted his butt a little, leaning against the rock pile Brian had created for a seat back and padded with his own blanket. “At least the clouds are gone. That was weird, huh? All that rain?”

“
Yeah. Guess that’s what it’s like in the rainy season. Unrelenting.” The thought made Brian’s belly tighten. They hadn’t had any fire the past couple days, and he’d had to weave another few layers of leaves to cover up their wood store. Wet fronds burned okay, but the wood had to be at least partially dry.

But in rainy season, they might barely have enough breaks in the downpour to get the fires lit. How were they going to cook their fish? The fruit would be fine, but raw fish was asking for bacteria. Their supply of medicine was almost depleted. One little silly infection and…

“
Brian?”

“
Hmm?”

“
I asked what you’re thinking about. You’re all frowny.”

“
Sorry. I was just thinking that the lean-to is taking longer than I thought,” he lied. There was no sense in worrying Troy when he was just getting his health back. Brian glanced at the half-built structure made of logs duct taped together. Three main supporting beams would hold up a roof slanted down to the ground diagonally. “At least the frame’s done. I’ll start weaving the roof tomorrow.”

“
Great. I can help.”

Brian sat next to Troy on the blanket, crossing his legs and giving the fire a prod with a long stick. The usual mixture of fish, coconut, papaya, and breadfruit smoked on their cooking stone. “No, you rest.”

“
Dude.” Troy leveled a stare at Brian. “I have been resting in that teepee for days. I cannot rest anymore or I’m going to lose my mind. Besides, it hurts way less. I haven’t cried once today.” He grinned. “Huge improvement.”

A smile ghosted over Brian’s lips. “Fair enough. I just don’t want you to do too much too quickly.”

“
I think I can weave. Hell, we should start right now.”

“
After dinner. We’ve got to fatten up.”

Troy rubbed his face, yawning. “Okay. Can you shave me tomorrow too?” He wrinkled his nose. “Jesus, I stink. I don’t know how you’re sleeping in there with me.”

Brian shrugged. “It’s fine.” Truth was, Troy was rather ripe, but Brian needed to stay close by. Troy seemed to be recovering, but what if he suddenly took a turn? What if he called for Brian, and Brian didn’t hear him? What if he wasn’t there?

As they ate dinner, they pointed out the constellations they knew and made up names for the ones they didn’t. Brian pointed. “That’s the humpback of Notre Dame.”

“
Is he related to the hunchback?”

Brian laughed. “Humpback, hunchback. You know what I mean. And yes, they’re cousins. See?” He pointed. “There’s another one just to the left.”

“
Oh yeah! I see it. We need a beauty to go with the beasts.” Troy scanned the heavens. “Hmm.”

While Troy searched, Brian found himself watching him in the campfire’s orange glow. He’d been frighteningly pale the day after the bite, his tan somehow diminished, especially in contrast to the terrifying red of his lower leg. But now Troy looked much more himself again, and Brian could breathe more easily, the awful weight of fear and regret lighter.

Still, the guilt lingered. He swallowed a bite of fish and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I took off that day.”

Troy tore his gaze from the sky with a frown. “It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have been a baby about it.”

“
But I shouldn’t have gone.”

“
Why not?”

Brian raised his eyebrows and nodded at Troy’s foot. “Because
that
happened.”

“
I’m the one who chose to go exploring on my own. This could have happened to either of us anytime. It was bad luck.”

“
But if I’d been with you, you wouldn’t have…”
Been so scared.
“Been alone.”

Troy sighed and poked at his dinner with his shell spoon. “Look, it sucked sitting there in the jungle, thinking I was going to die and not being able to do anything about it. But I knew you’d come. I just hoped you’d hurry the hell up, and you did. So stop blaming yourself, okay? And if you want to be alone, you can. I shouldn’t have taken it as an insult.”

“
I didn’t explain the way I should have.”

“
Okay. Explain now.”

Brian ate another mouthful and toyed with his makeshift spoon. When he swallowed, he said, “I’ve always been a bit of an introvert.”

“
Really? You don’t seem shy.”

“
I’m not. It’s like, when you’re tired and need to get energy, how do you do it? Some people get it from being around others and engaging with them. But I recharge by being alone. Reading, thinking, just…being.”

“
Right.” Troy nodded, seeming to contemplate it. “That makes sense. I don’t mind being alone sometimes, but usually someone’s always around. That’s one of the great things about being in the band. Always someone to hang with. The guys, or the staff. I guess I do prefer it. But you wouldn’t want to be alone all the time, would you?”

“
No. I think… In Australia, I was alone too much.”

Troy watched him. “Is it a different system down there and you had to train again or whatever? Is that why you were the copilot on my flight?”

The tension was immediate, as always. Brian thought he might snap his spoon in two, so he dropped it in his bowl and put it aside. He wasn’t hungry anymore. “No, it was… I liked it better as first officer. I didn’t want to be in charge.” He could feel the weight of Troy’s gaze. “I wanted a change. It could be competitive at the big airlines.” It was
a
truth, if not
the
truth.

“
Hmm. Yeah, I can see that. You wanted a slower pace.”

I didn’t want to be responsible when people died.
“Right.”

“
I think about that sometimes. We’ve done four albums and five world tours. It never stops. And I know I really shouldn’t complain.”

Brian smiled. “You’re allowed to complain to me. My tell-all’s going to focus on much more salacious details. I won’t tell the world how ungrateful you are.”

Laughing, Troy slapped carelessly at Brian’s arm. “Thanks for that.”

“
But seriously, I can imagine that must be damn tiring after a while.”

“
Yeah.” Troy’s smile faded. “I wonder if they kept going without me.” He shook his head. “God, I hope Ty’s okay. I hate that I’m not there. That I can’t find out.” He scrubbed at his face. “It was drugs.”

“
That’s why you and your brother fought?”

“
Yeah. Why I left. He’s been drinking and doing drugs. It started out as a bit of partying, and I told myself it was normal. He’s older now, rebelling. Beer and pot were one thing. Coke and heroin… I just can’t. I…” He shook his head, nostrils flaring.

“
Hell, I don’t blame you.” Brian shook his head. “That’s scary stuff.”

“
He promised he’d stop, and I told him if he did that shit again, I was out. So when he did, I had to leave. Or else…”

“
Or else it would be an empty threat. Seems like drugs and alcohol are hard to avoid in the music industry. Or Hollywood. Addiction’s a powerful thing.”

Troy regarded him for a moment. “You sound like you know something about it.”

Picking at his coconut husk, Brian shrugged. “Only a little. My mother died when I was seven, and I never knew my father. So it was just me and my grandparents. Gran had an accident when I was about nine. Fell off a step ladder trying to change a lightbulb. Nine times out of ten, you’d be bruised and laugh it off. But she broke her back. It was rough.”

Troy winced. “God, that would be awful.”

“It was. She was laid up for months. But the real problem came after she was supposed to be recovered. She hid it well, but she’d gotten hooked on painkillers. There were some days when I’d come home from school and she’d be on the couch, out cold. I’d eat peanut butter and crackers for dinner, waiting for her to wake up. Grandpa worked late at the barber shop. Of course I should have told him, but I was scared.”

“
I’m sorry,” Troy murmured.

“
It’s okay. Wow, I haven’t thought about this in a long time. Grandpa did figure it out, of course, and Gran knew she had a problem, and she kicked it. She was a determined woman.” He picked up his coconut and fiddled with the spoon, scraping the shell around the edges. “I think you did the right thing. Taking a stand.”

Brian’s approval was comforting. “Even though it brought us here?”

The idea that he might never have met Troy otherwise was suddenly a rock lodged in Brian’s esophagus, and he could only nod.

“
I just wish I could talk to them. Send a message in a freaking bottle. Go online and find out how they’re doing even if I can’t talk to them.”

“
While you’re at it, I have a list of all the things on this island I want to google. Starting with whatever bit you. If it was a snake, it must have been a python or constrictor. They can still bite, but it won’t kill you.”