PULAU MATI by John L. Evans Read Free Book Online Page B

breath.  He pulled himself once more toward the opening and everything became soft and blurry.
     
    When Gray awoke, Anna, clad only in a bra and panties, was on her knees leaning over him.  He was lying on the sand of the beach.  When he smiled up at her she let out a little cry and bowed her forehead to his chest like she was praying.
    When he sat up and tried to breathe deeply he went into a coughing fit.  His throat was raw.  When the coughing subsided he made to stand but Anna said, “No, you idiot.  You’ve done enough.”
    He stood despite her admonition and counted the people and bodies on the beach.  “Twelve! Where is everybody?”
    Anna held onto his arm like he was going to make a run for the water but he had no will to go back in.  She said, “The count is fourteen.  The airline man, Malik, is down the beach a ways, along with a young man with a bad head injury.  We will have to carry Malik.  The other man can probably walk but he is resting.  Four of the fourteen are dead.  We think the others were thrown out.  The old Japanese man swam in from over there, pulling his dead wife.”  Anna pointed out past where Gray guessed the front section lay.  Then she nodded up the beach where an old man wearing black trousers and a white shirt sat in the shade of a palm tree.  He was gazing across the beach at the bodies.  The Latin looking man was lying back in the sand nearby.
    “How long was I out?” Gray asked.
    Lex came across the beach before Anna could answer.  “You were out for a long time, dude.  Anna had to drag you in.  She saved your ass.”
    Gray reached for the young woman’s shoulder.  “Anna, thank you… twice if my memory is intact.”
    Lex was grinning.  “Thank you , man!  The flight attendant told us you got her and Melanie out!  What was your name?”
    “Grayden , call me Gray.”
    “Okay, Gray .  Thanks again.”
    “How is Lleyton?” Gray asked.
    Anna shook her head.  “He is very bad.  A big cut across his side and one across his thigh to the bone.” Anna traced a finger in foot long arcs on her side and thigh to indicate the length and location of the cuts.  She turned to where Melanie and the flight attendant who had been in the air pocket were kneeling by the young tennis player.  On unsteady legs, Gray trudged across the sand to them.
    Someone had made bandages from the veils and other clothing and bound up the young man’s left leg and his torso but blood was already seeping through the fabric.  The tan face Gray had seen on the plane was now grey in color but he was awake and when Gray knelt beside him the young man grinned and said, “Crikey, mate, that second bump was a nasty one, eh what?”
    Gray had to smile at the young man’s spirit.  He re called that Lleyton had played tennis with the same indefatigable spirit.  “It was all of that, Lleyton. I think it’s going to be awhile before we can get you professional help.  The best thing for you is to rest as hard as you play tennis.  We’ll get you up in the shade in a bit and something to drink and maybe eat later.”
    “Aww , Mate, all I need is this lovely sheila and I be oiright,” he said and lifted a hand to Melanie’s cheek.  His smile suddenly faded and he gasped from a surge of pain that showed in his face.  He recovered but was left panting. “Roland, he about?” he asked.
    Gray looked at the others.  Anna shrugged and shook her head.  Lex nodded over to the beach where the four bodies were laid out side by side and said, “He’s not one of them.”
    “He is unaccounted for, Lleyton,” Melanie said.  “ We think some were thrown out of the plane.  One of those swam back, so maybe there is hope.”
    “Yah, hope,” he said as his eyes closed.
    The flight attendant reached to Gray’s arm.  “Thank you, Mister …”
    “Gray, my name is Gray.”
    “Thank you Mister Gray.”
    “You are very welcome, but you do not need the mister.  What is your