"This is all your fault!" Jenette yelled angrily.
Chloe sighed, it was the sixth time that day Jenette had blown up at her. "What's all my fault?" She asked patiently, in the same tone of voice she used with Lily.
"This!" Jenette gestured around at the boat and the wide spread of the bay it drifted on. "Us getting stuck in this stupid sailboat together all day! It was your idea, I know it was!"
"Jenette, you know perfectly well that it was our parents idea that we spend some 'quality time' together. They're the ones that rented the sailboat, packed the cooler, and then told us to go. I had nothing to do with it. And besides, why are you so upset about it? I think a picnic on a sailboat sounds like fun!"
"I'll tell you why I'm mad! Because I hate boats, I hate picnics, and most of all I hate you!"
"Why?"
Chloe's simple response suprised Jenette. She'd expected her to burst into tears like all her other victims did. She didn't say anything.
"Why?" Chloe persisted, "Why do you act like this is all my and my family's fault? We didn't do anything Jenette! It's not our fault! Some careless nurse at the hospital is the only one to blame! Stop acting like this is only happening to you, because it's upsetting to all of us! So get off your high horse and accept that it happened and it's not my fault and it hurts me too but there's nothing we can do about it!" Chloe's lower lip quivered with rage and tears welled up in her eyes.
Jenette was shocked. She had never heard Chloe yell before, and her harsh words stung because Jenette knew they were true. And worst of all, for the first time in her life, Jenette had nothing to say. No harsh comments or cruel words came to mind. All she could think of were Chloe's words. Why? Why is it Chloe's fault? Why does it only affect me? Why,why, why? And then Jenette did the only thing she could think of, she burst into tears.
Chloe stared aghast at the shaking and gulping and sobbing form that was Jenette. She had never made anyone cry before. Not even when she scolded Lily or John for being bad was she harsh enough to cause tears. She felt awful. Even if the person she ahd made cry was only Jenette, the blame was still Chloe's. She didn't know what to do, so she started crying too.
Both of them just sat there sobbing, completely oblivious to the darkening skies and increasingly choppy water around them
Then the storm warning went off.
Chloe jumped into action. She grabbed the tiller and grappled for the sheetline. Unfortunately, the sheetline had fallen over and was now trailing in the water behind the boat, way out of either of their reach. Jenette was frantic too. She slipped into a lifejacket, and wordlessly threw another one to Chloe. Chloe put it on gratefully and silently. Realizing that without the sheetline there wasn't much they could do the lashed all the supplies and the tiller in place. By the time that was done the sky was completely engulfed in black storm clouds, the water was forming waves, and the rain was coming down in sheets. Then the storm started. The thunder was deafening and the lightning was the only source of light in the inky blackness. Nothing was dry. Whatever was shaded from the rain was drenched by the waves that rolled over the sides of the small craft.
Forgetting themselves, Chloe and Jenette huddled close together in the center of the boat. They clutched eachother with one hand and with the other the held on to whatever looked solid. Their eyes were wide with terror, but neither dared open her mouth for fear that it would fill with rain. That touching scene was quickly put to an end when the boat flipped over, crushing Jenette's leg and knocking both of them unconscious.
Chloe was the first one to wake up. Her head was throbbing. Despite her soaked surroundings her lips and throat were parched. All her limbs ached. Her stomach growled, snapping her back to reality. She tried to stand up, but her knees buckled under her and she fell back down with a moan. She lay panting on the beach for awhile before attempting to stand again. This time her legs, though very wobbly, held. She scanned the beach, looking for Jenette. A little farther up the beach was the cooler, and a large hulking shape that could have only been the boat. Anxious to see if Jenette was over there, Chloe ran as fast as she could (which wasn't very fast) towards the boat. But a groan from down by the water distracted her. She stumbled down to where the sound had come from. There lay Jenette, just waking up.
Jenette groaned again, and tried to sit up, unsuccesfuly. Everything seemed fuzzy. Though all of her body hurt, her leg hurt the worst. She started shivering, even though she was burning hot, she had a terrible fever. Then she passed out again.
Chloe almost panicked. Almost. Then she remembered all the first aid training she had. Carefully she dragged Jenette further up the shore to the boat. She lay Jenette down on the soft sand, then set to work. Using all the strength she could muster she turned the boat the rest of the way on it's side and pulled out the mast. Then using some driftwood, the mast, and the sail she constructed a lean-to against the dugout part of the boat. She then organized the boats contents in a neat row inside the lean-to in a little trench she had dug out of the sand. The only thing of real value to them the boat had was an emergency survival kit. It contained two blankets, a small pillow, some matches, a flashlight, batteries, band-aids, an ace bandage, some disenfectant, water, and some powdered food, like the kind campers and astronauts use. Using the blankets and the pillow she made a bed inside the hollow part of the boat and under the shelter of the lean-to. Then she dragged in Jenette and made her comfortable in the bed. Using the disenfectant and the band-aids, she patched up both her and Jenette's many cuts, scratches, and bruises. Then she examined Jenette's leg. It was either badly sprained or broken. Chloe knew that in all her first aid classes the instructions for serious injuries such as that one had been the same: don't touch, wait for a real doctor's help. But Chloe knew there was no real doctor for her to wait for, and she didn't know how long it would be 'till there was. So she decided to splint the leg herself.
When she first touched the leg Jenette yelped in pain, causing Chloe to pull back. Then, gritting her teeth, she tried again. Once more Jenette cried out, but this time Chloe didn't stop. Using the straightest driftwood she could find and the ace bandage she splinted it the best she could, reassuring Jenette in soothing tones the whole time. Then she propped the leg up on the life jackets, and put the luke-warm ice oackets from the cooler on it to keep it from swelling. Then she left Jenette to rest.
Leaving their temporary house Chloe checked the cooler for supplies. There was some smashed but still edible food, and some drinks. That and the contents of the emergency survival kit was all they had. Chloe realized that it was almost night time, and with the night would also come extreme cold. She sighed, and started gathering driftwood for a fire. She knew that Jenette needed immediate medical attention, not only for her leg but for her fever. She sighed again, hoping feverently that a boat would appear on the horizon. But not one came, not one the whole night. Not one boat at all.