Aquaertus

Chapter Eighteen - Beach Day

Another week has passed us, marking a month and a half since the USS Pertempto crashed. This is also the halfway mark to rescue - if it comes - since a ship takes roughly 3 months to travel to Aquaertus. I hope one is on its way.

Derik hasn't gotten any better. He's still weak, and I don't think his health will improve much. I hope with everything that I have he'll make it to 3 months. When we have access to proper medical supplies, he'll get better. He has to.

For now, I have a plan. I'm going to lift our moods up with an activity that never fails - a beach day.

While Derik was asleep, I set up our own miniature lounge area on the other side of the island. It mostly consists of giant leaves for beach towels and umbrellas and fans, but I did my best. There weren't many beachy materials to work with.

I sit next to Derik as he sleeps away, waiting for him to wake up. I can barely wait to show him what I've created.

After a few minutes, I'm ready to explode. I literally can't wait any longer!

I lightly touch Derik's shoulder, and when that doesn't work, I shake him a bit more violently.

"Ahh!" Derik wakes with a startle.

"Derik, get up! I have something to show you!"

"Can't you let me sleep a little longer," he groggily begs.

"Nope, so get up!" I cheer.

He groans as I help push him up into a sitting position, then lift him to his feet. I drag him all the way to the other side of the island, leaving us both as panting messes.

"Ta-da!" I exclaim as I present my masterpiece.

"What is this?" Derik asks.

"We're going to have a beach day today! We both need some cheering up, so I thought this would be a nice solution."

Derik pauses as he studies my set-up. "This is lovely, Errin. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now, let's relax!"

Once we sit down on our leafy seats, Zippy dashes over to Derik, tilting her head in confusion at the change of location. Derik brushes off her confusion and proceeds to pat her head.

"Oh, I forgot!" I jump up to retrieve our forgotten breakfast, which is simply some fruit. I still find it essential to our relaxation, because hunger is not comfortable.

I run to the nearest fruity bush and pick as much as I can hold, walking back to Derik to avoid dropping our food. He takes one of the fruits with a nod of appreciation and bites into it. I sit back onto my designated leaf, dropping all of the fruits in the process. Derik laughs as I hurriedly collect the fruits I dropped, keeping the last one in my hand to eat.

Derik and I wait in comfortable silence as the sun slowly rises into the sky. I sigh aloud in bliss.

"I know this will sound strange, but I'm glad I'm here," Derik conveys.

"Uh, why?"

"I made a new friend. I got away from my stressful life. I don't know, it feels like if this is how I go, it's one hell of an exit. I'm not too upset about it."

"Don't talk like that. You're going to make it. We're going to make it, together."

"Ok, Errin."

"Please, please don't give up on me Derik. You're all I have."

"I'm not giving up, I'm just making peace with our situation. I'm happy no matter what happens to us."

Our conversation stops after Derik's statement. I can't understand how Derik can be so calm. Maybe I need to try and make peace with our situation too.

We gaze on at the final moments of the sunrise and munch on our meal. When the sun is fully in the sky, I decide that I've had enough of our silent sitting. "Derik, let's go swimming!"

"Alright," he grunts as he hoists himself up.

I skip off to the ocean and plop myself down in the knee-high water. Derik follows me at a much slower pace then joins me by sitting down in the water. When he is finally at my level, I splash him right in the face.

"Oh, I know you did not just do that," he goofily threatens.

"I did. What are you going to do about it," I challenge.

Quicker than I expected, Derik shoves me and dunks me under the water. I push to the surface and gasp in surprise at his sudden attack. "You little-" I pounce at him in a counter attack, also putting him under the water. I get off of him, and he bursts up, wiping the water off of his face.

"Always the trouble maker, Hassard."

"You know me well, Valle."

We snicker together in remembrance of our mischievous time on the USS PERTEMPTO.

For the remainder of the day, we splash around in the cool ocean and relax on the beach, momentarily forgetting the constant fight for our lives. I thank the heavens for whatever forces allowed our day to be so peaceful, because I'm not sure if we'll ever have a chance to loosen up ever again.