Chapter 11

I woke up in the dark.

I tried to move, and immediately bumped into someone. I tried to sit up and found that I hit my head on some wood.

I was in a box. And had an immediate panic attack.

I started screaming, and flailing around. Someone pounded on the box. "Shut up in there."

I started hyperventilating, and before long had passed out.

When I finally woke up, I found myself laying on the sand.

Danny was sprawled out not far away.

I tried to move, but could barely bring myself to.

My entire body was cramped and aching.

I started coughing, and the next thing I knew I was throwing up sea water.

Danny didn't move.

I managed to crawl over, the wrist that was already broken screaming in pain as the lower half of my arm looking oddly wrong.

With the arm that was somewhat okay, I shook him. He moaned.

"Danny?"

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.

I looked around, and immediately started crying.

I had absolutely no idea where I was. The coast looked oddly unfamiliar. And oddly cold.

We must have been north, but the question was ... how the hell did we get here?

My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn't eaten in a couple of days.

I shook Danny, and this time he rolled over.

My tears increased just by looking at him. His head was covered in blood, coming from any of the various cuts that covered his body. His arm was obviously bent the wrong way, and I had to look away.

"April?" he whispered barely audible.

I lay down next to him.

"Danny ... what happened? Where are we?"

I moved as close as I could to him, and lay his good arm over me.

"April, I'm so scared..." he whispered.

"Me too..."

We lay there, breathing softly. I heard the waves crashing on the beach, and seagulls of some sort overhead.

"When you feel like you have the strength, we should find help..."

"Where's help?"

"I don't know."

He closed his eyes again.

Eventually, I got to my feet, and looked around us. There was a box nearby, water soaked. It appeared to be on its side, and the top was busted out.

It suddenly started to click. Did they try to pull a "Misunderstood" by Bon Jovi music video thing or what? Stick us in the box in the ocean and let us float to wherever? It appeared that we had floated up the coast, with the temperature and all.

I walked for a few minutes (or more like hobbled), and eventually a small community came into sight.

I went back to Danny and shook him.

He moaned in pain.

"Danny, I found people."

He couldn't move, and could barely respond.

"I'm going to get help..." I finally decided.

"I'll be right back, I promise."

He didn't respond, so I hurried as best I could back in the direction of the little ocean-side village.

The first place I came too looked like a diner of some sort.

When I walked in, it was movie-esque. Every person in the place turned around to look at me. A man sitting at the counter flipped back to the front page of his paper, and flicked his eyes between me and the page.

"Is this you?" he asked, pointing to the page as he turned it too me.

There were two pictures, one of me, one of Danny.

I nodded, and then collapsed.

After it had taken all of fifteen minutes to get me stable on my feet again, I led a small group of people back to Danny. Someone had called the little local town emergency people. Two carried a stretcher.

One woman who was with us turned her head away when she saw Danny, and I realized how terrible we must have looked.

The two men placed their stretcher down next to him, and then with the combined efforts of four of them, moved Danny from the beach to the stretcher with only a couple of yelps and moans of pain.

"What happened?" one guy asked.

"I have no idea..." I said. I looked at Danny," I had an anxiety attack, and passed out. I must have been out for the whole time ... I think we'll have to ask him."

They nodded, and soon we were put into an ambulance, and taken to a larger hospital, after many thanks to the people of the little community of Hurpett.

We were taken into the emergency room, people were called, and the next thing I knew, my parents were bursting through the door.

"Dad ... what about Danny's parents? What's going on?"

"We found them. And the kidnappers. Apparently they're a group, and are wanted in seven states."

I just groaned. My body still ached.

Danny was still half unconscious on the bed next to me.

Mom motioned over to him, "How is he?"

I shrugged, "They haven't told me anything ... why did Danny's parents not come?"

"They're in the hospital themselves."

I nodded.

My mother was crying. She looked exhausted, like she had been on an emotional roller coaster for the past few days ... which she probably had been.

Dad looked like he hadn't slept for days ... when he's working on any extremely important case (not even when his daughter is one of the main victims!) he never sleeps.

"Question..."

"Yes?"

"Where am I?"

"You're between Gold Beach and Coos Bay, in Oregon."

I had to close my eyes, "Wow."

"Do you remember anything honey?"

"As in how I got here?"

Dad nodded.

"A bunch of stuff happened before ... but I was washed into darkness, probably a drug or something, and woke up in a box."

Mom winced.

"Exactly. I had a panic attack, and passed out ... And woke up washed onto the beach of this little village called Hurpett."

My family knew of my phobia. There was something about being closed in like that. It was more than claustrophobic, I could handle being in places with a lot of people, or even in elevators and stuff like that. But it was something like a box ... it made me have a serious panic attack. No one knew where it came from, and there was no technical definition for it ... it was just there...

They nodded, and then one of the nurses came in to run some tests.

"All right honey, we're going to go outside and get something to eat ... do you want anything?"

"No thanks ... I'm so happy to see you guys again..."

I hugged and kissed each of them.

And the nurse shut the door behind them.

"How ya feelin' today sweetheart?"

This was by far my favorite of the nurses. She was originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and had a huge Southern accent. Even the way she said "accent" was cute.

"Same as usual I guess..."

She had an adorable smile that made you laugh. "Not too great?"

"I guess he's not doing any better?" I asked, nodding towards Danny.

She nodded. "The doctors are still working on it."

I nodded.

"Just another blood test ... finger prick..."

I nodded, and held out my hand for her. I had already had three of them. Still, it made me queasy just to see the little tiny pricker and the little thing that my blood drained into.

"How long have I been here?"

"It's your second day, hun."

"Oh."

I then realized there was nothing from Maddie, or Scott, or Brad. They hadn't even tried to call my cell phone. My cell phone...

"Question, do you know if I had a cell phone in my pocket?"

"I think so ... but it looked like it had died ... water or something like that."

I nodded.

After a couple more tests, she gave me a big smile, a kiss on the forehead, and then she was gone.

A few hours later, I woke up to hear someone whispering.

"Is she awake?"

I stirred slightly.

"Now she is ... hey darlin!"

It was the southern nurse, talking to Danny.

I looked over, and immediately had to shut my eyes. He looked half dead. His skin was pale, there were bandages, cuts, and bruises all over the part of his body that was visible to me.

"April..."

"Are you okay?" I choked out. The tears were already flooding into my eyes.

"I think I will be. What about you?"

I half nodded.

We were quite for a few minutes, just looking at each other. The southern nurse had left when she noticed my tears.

"Danny ... what happened to us?" I whispered.

"April..." he groaned.

"Please ... I don't know."

"I know..."

We were silent for a moment.

Finally, I heard Danny breathe, and he took in a deep, shaky breath. When I looked over again, his eyes were wet.

"There's not much to tell..."

I nodded.

"We were put in a box. You had a panic attack, and then passed out..." he paused.

I looked over at him, and he was staring straight ahead.

"I thought something had happened to you ... I thought you were dead ... You never moved, and barely breathed..." his voice was getting shaky like his breath.

"We were just in that box. I felt it when we were put in the water. Somehow, it bobbed along, and eventually we hit land. It was bad, the box was still half submerged in water, and some of the water was starting to leak inside ... When high tide came, the box got turned over a bunch, and then I think we were on the beach..."