Yasmina wasn't a team player, she never had been. That was part of what made track so appealing. Sure you could train as a group, and you could even compete against others "as a group," but when it really came down to it they ran their race, and you ran yours. That was the way she'd liked it, the way she'd always liked it. Walls high and impenetrable she kept a world that scorned and betrayed her at arms length so that she couldn't be hurt again. Because people sucked. She hated people. And she definitely wasn't a team player.

Or so she told herself.

Everything changed somehow, on the island. She found that her walls had windows, and even doors. It wasn't easy, and it hurt, but she'd started letting people in. It had begun with Dave, Dopey Dave. He was the annoying camp counselor who was really just a big kid at heart who, frustratingly insisted on trailing her every morning. Then it was Sammy, the beautiful girl who had this glow, and natural way with people, and even animals that emanated from within her. Finally it was Kenji, he was a pain in the ass. Yasmina didn't even why she liked him, or how they got along, but she knew he cared in a way she wasn't sure the others could see.

Yeah, it was true, hard as it was to believe, but Yaz had friends. Good friends. Then, just as she'd expected those very same friends betrayed her. Dave, though she tried not to blame him had abandoned her here to die. Kenji quit. And Sammy, Sammy had lied. When Yaz had borne to her, her soul, she'd lied. Yasmina had never been more vulnerable than that night, the night before Indominus Rex, and what had it gotten her? A burnt bridge. Yeah, now Yaz had friends alright, and an enemy.

Typical.

More than that though, she had people, people who really needed her, depended on her.

Darius had been an absolute wreck since that first night without the supply party, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. He'd quickly lost himself somewhere after that, poured everything he had into that notebook he'd found. Observing the monsters that kept them bound to this place, bound to their doomed fates, he'd become a fanatic. So, Yaz gave him time. Made sure he ate. Made sure he drank. Made sure he wasn't burying himself too deep, and remembered to come up for air.

There was Kenji. He seemed alright, on the outside, but Yasmina knew better. She'd seen the fragile little boy hiding behind his egotistical bravado out on that balcony. More than that however, she'd seen his self-destructive side, and had the growing suspicion that Darius had been onto something when he'd watched the other boy drink himself into a stupor. Yaz now had the distinct impression that she needed to keep him from doing something stupid, something permanent. So, she talked to him. Joked with him. Insulted him, in that weird way they had about their friendship. And above all, she let him know that he would be missed.

Chase, or, the boy they called Chase, had come to rely on her as well. Lost, afraid, and sporting fresh bruises Yasmina tried her best to be the friendly nurturing presence he deserved. Kenji was better at the friend part anyways. So, she'd rocked him, and sung to him. It felt strange. Yaz had been so self-conscious about what she'd sounded like that she'd even forgotten what she was singing halfway through. The kid hadn't seemed to notice, or care, so, Yaz kept it up. Eventually he'd fallen asleep, to her off key caterwaul.

Then there was Ben. Oh how she selfishly wished there wasn't Ben, but there was. It was difficult, impossible even, to imagine that this was the reality of life and death faced by so many people every single day all around the world. But it was. Death, she'd realized didn't always come quick, and quiet for someone in their sleep. Nor did it come gruesome, bloody, and instantaneous on some remote jungle island. Sometimes, sometimes death took its time. Sometimes death played games.

And death had been playing one hell of a game with Ben.

He'd been asleep for days, and that was if she looked at things optimistically. Yaz was fairly certain it was a coma at this point. The girl tried to be dutiful in remembering to roll and flip him to prevent bed sores. She was sure to circle his arms, and cycle his legs to keep the blood flowing. She dabbed his dry and crusted lips with a damp cloth. She'd been doing anything she could think of to keep him comfortable.

Even if that meant making herself so, very, uncomfortable.

Ben had gotten, what was for lack of a better word, a diaper rash, from his incontinence. It had been bad and bled in spots, at the start, and Yaz didn't imagine it felt any better than it looked. So, after much internal deliberation, turmoil, and doubt, whenever she was sure no one else was watching Yasmina would use a washcloth to apply the diaper cream Brooklynn had been hording to... the area.

It was hard. It was embarrassing. It was gross. And almost every time Yasmina nearly backed out, too squeamish, and humiliated to do it again. But, then, she realized, if that was how she felt about it, how much more humiliating and embarrassing must it have been for Ben?

Besides, she was just paying it forward for the time she'd pissed on Brooklynn and Sammy when they couldn't get her to the toilet in time. With that in mind she always found the strength, and always managed to keep his modesty intact. If anyone had to see him like that, it was better that it was someone he knew, someone who had been looking after him, and someone cared about things like that, like modesty, and privacy.

He hadn't gone for days, though, the dehydration setting in, there wasn't anything anyone could do but watch. At least now his skin was almost entirely healed, she thought, and when he did die, at least he'd die comfortably.

Yaz let out a heartbroken sob of tears as she lay, thinking of all these things, watching the dying boy breathe in shallow, fluttering breaths. It was a hollow comfort, but here that was the only kind of comfort there was. At least, he'd die comfortably, she reaffirmed to herself, reaching to take his hand so he knew he wasn't alone.

She was spent, and needed sleep, but she just couldn't let herself, not after Darius' episode, not after learning what she had.

He'd been screaming, crying so hard he couldn't breathe. Snot and tears poured down his face. He'd trembled so violently that the boy had bit his tongue, bad, as he tried to articulate what was wrong. Horrified Kenji and Yasmina had done their best to calm him, but he seemed unreachable. It was as if after holding on to anything he could, just to keep his footing, Darius had, at last, fallen through the ice.

Kenji fell in next. After trying to get Darius to collect himself for several minutes Kenji had started crying too.

"I'm sorry!" Kenji had wailed, hand reflexively guarding his ribs and doing no good. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me. I just want to help- but I can't- I can't help anyone. I'm useless! I can't help! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll stop, I promise." he'd gone on, glancing at Yasmina as though he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

Yasmina hadn't known what to do, so she hugged them both close while whatever happened beyond their room happened. A part of her genuinely didn't care anymore as long as her little, cobbled together family was safe. That was when she'd heard Bumpy and Chase howling from the bedroom as they watched the boys crumble, igniting anxiety of their own.

Removing them from the situation had shifted to the girl's first priority then. Guiding Chase as she walked heavily on her bad leg Yasmina practically shoved the child and ankylosaurus into the bunk room, promised that they would be ok, and turned the TV up, loud, shutting the door behind her. From there, there was nothing else to do, but try, try to get them through it until they could sober up from the fear, from the loss, from the... everything, they'd been through.

It had taken a long, difficult while.

At last, in a hollow, shaky whisper Darius shared with them the grim news that had set all of this in motion. "Purdy killed Lawrence."

The words tumbled into the air without definition, hanging in empty space as Yasmina and Kenji tried to derive meaning from a phrase that just... didn't make sense. Purdy had brought Lawrence all this way, carried him here even knowing the risks. Purdy was the guy who'd tried to smooth things over after their first encounter. He was the one who "didn't leave a man behind." More than that, he was Lawrence's friend.

"He killed him." Darius had repeated, when the others continued to stare in dumbfounded shock. "Smothered him with a pillow."

"What the actual fuck?" had been all Kenji could get out.

Yasmina felt herself bristle, goosebumps covering her body, she started to quake. "That explains all the shouting." she had observed.

This, she felt, had confirmed her long held suspicions. They weren't safe with these people. She'd been sure of that fact since coming face to face with the business end of a gun, commands shouted at them in clumsy, but no less threatening in tone, Arabic.

"We need a gun." Darius had muttered then, staring hard at something in the far distance that only he was aware of.

"What?" Yaz had gasped. The idea had sent electricity through the young woman's spine. Kenji, turned with knit brows and wide eyes, as if appraising what the other boy had said.

"We need a gun. It's the only way." Darius had reiterated. "We can't trust these people, and there's no telling if they'll come for any of us next. Ben's pretty much dead weight."

There was a brief outburst of emotion. What Darius was saying, though far from untrue, had set fire to the combative natures of the other two.

"Don't say that!" Kenji had shouted. "Don't you ever say that! Its-" the young man had stopped himself here, choking hard on his words as he tried not to blame Ben's condition on Darius, again.

"We'll find a way, we always do." Yaz had said, reaching to put a hand of each of their shoulders. "There's no fucking way we're letting anything happen to Ben, or anyone else."

"Yeah?" Darius had laughed. "You and what army?"

There it was, spelled out for them clear as day. No matter how hard they tried, how deeply they dug their heels, or how much they cared, they were outnumbered, and quite literally, outgunned. The cold breath of dread had caused the hairs on the back of Yasmina's neck to stand on end as the reality of their situation sunk in.

Killer dinosaurs, outside. Killer humans, inside. No way off the island. What was the lesser of the two evils? Yaz had wondered. What promised them the best chance at survival? And how were any of them supposed to get out of this alive?

"I can do it." Darius announced. "Next time I'm on mess detail."

The others had tried to fight him, but he just smiled sadly and shook his head. "It's ok. I've got this... Is that SpongeBob?" he had added, gaze shifting to the bunk room door. "I love SpongeBob."

He'd gotten up then, and headed in to watch TV with Chase leaving Yasmina to stare helplessly at Kenji.

"What do we do?" he'd asked.

"I don't know." the girl had confessed, wondering how the mantle of leadership had passed to her shoulders. "But that switch was scary. Do you think he's ok?"

"Fuck no." Kenji had shaken his head. "I'll go, sit with him."

"Good idea." Yasmina had murmured, though she was already distanced from him by thought.

Even now, even after throwing a blanket over Darius and Chase who'd fallen asleep on the floor, even after Kenji had gotten up from the bottom bunk to check on Ben, only to stumble back to his own bed where he cried himself to sleep with defeat, she was still, lost in thought. Listening to the rain she ruminated on everything. She couldn't help but dwell on how they'd gotten there, on what might have happened on that "day trip" to the hospital, on Ben's condition, on everything Darius had told them, on an escape plan.

They needed a way to get away.

They needed to get themselves out of this hotel, and away from the crazy, fucked up ACU team that was keeping them prisoner. They needed to do it soon, no matter how hard leaving without- without resolution would be, no matter how difficult it would be to carry Ben, it had to be done. It just had to.

Misty eyed Yasmina contended with herself. She needed to formulate a plan, she needed a concrete foundation to stand on, but she also needed sleep. She was exhausted, her head hurt, and everything inside was such a volatile concoction under immense external pressures that she was sure that sooner or later something was going to pop.

It would be just her luck too, to die of an aneurysm on Killer Dinosaur Island.

Laying there, wrestling in her mind, holding Ben's hand, was when she'd heard it. The slow grating sound of 608's main door struggling to open against its broken frame, wood scraping wood. In an instant adrenaline flooded the young woman's veins. Acting on instinct she shot out of bed, ignoring the way her knee protested, resisting the sudden, and explosive movement.

"Kenji!" she barked in as low and commanding a tone as she could manage. "Kenji, wake up!"

Heart racing, head swimming, fists clenched Yasmina wasn't sure how, or with what, but she intended to defend her friends. The knob of the bedroom door turned next, the wooden panel swinging open. There, on the side, covered in scratches, bruises, blood, and soaking wet was

S

A

M

M

Y

The fight immediately drained out of Yasmina as in relief she felt herself sagging towards the floor. Rocked backwards, dizzy with elation, her fists fell alongside the tears which now flooded her eyes. She couldn't move, couldn't beathe, couldn't let herself believe that this was real. It was a dream, it had to be. She'd finally fallen asleep, and in place of the now familiar nightmares stood a dream, a dream with short black hair, and deep brown eyes that emanated inner light, a dream built on love, a dream named: Sammy.

Yasmina threw herself into the other girl's arms, holding her as tightly, and as closely as she could. Shaking violently she screamed and sobbed for all the pent up grief now finally given voice as it mingled with celebration and sheer joy. That's when her gaze lit upon the unmistakable pink hair of Brooklynn, as the girl huddled behind Sammy. She felt her heart explode for happiness and relief, in ways she hadn't thought physically possible.

"la ilaha illa Allah Muhammadun Rasul Allah!" Yasmina exclaimed tearfully into the embrace.

The air sucked in through her teeth then. Startled by her own reaction, Yaz went rigid. Why would she say that? Why would say those words? What did those words even mean? She'd said them for so long as a child before she knew they had meaning. How long after that had she said them with a full heart, a troubled heart, a broken heart, and now not at all?

"la ilaha illa Allah Muhammadun Rasul Allah."

These words were a declaration of faith. They meant belonging. They meant identity. They meant an unblemished, and undoubting sense of belief.

But why would she say them if she didn't believe?

She didn't believe.

And yet-

She couldn't believe.

Islam had no place for people like her.

And yet-

Even after all this, even after all the death, and carnage and hopelessness. How could she believe?

And yet-

After true miracles and after answered, unspoken prayers written in the dust that covered the mirror of her heart, how could she not believe?

...she did believe.

Deep down, she'd always believed.

Pop.

Everything inside burst.

Only, it wasn't an aneurysm, it was all the levees that guarded her walls as everything came tumbling down around her.

Yaz squeezed Sammy even tighter, for fear of falling as much as a need to be near her. Her nails bit into Sammy's back as Yasmina's heart broke for herself, for all those years spent in hatred and anger, while in that very same moment as her soul found healing in faith, and comfort in love, slowly beginning to mend from all its hurts.

How had Mr Blavin put it when she'd first stopped wearing her hijab at school? "Though the ship is divine, the crew is merely human. Keep your chin up kid."

For too long she'd put too much weight behind the opinions of others, and not enough faith in the hands to whom it belonged. No one could tell her what to believe, or how to live. She could be gay, and Muslim, and any wrong doing in that seemingly contradictory statement was between her and Allah, and no one else.

Still clinging desperately to Sammy, Yaz shook with bodily wracking sobs as she breathily whispered, "la ilaha illa Allah Muhammadun Rasul Allah!" for a second, and third time.

She was ok, Yasmina thought joyfully, Sammy was ok, alive, alright, here, in her arms. Sammy was here. She was here. She was safe. They rocked backwards, Sammy braced them, and they pivoted forward, Yaz's bad leg dragging them to the side.

"We're dancing again." Sammy whispered.

"At least this time it's not in the bathroom!" Yasmina replied, heart aflutter, but stomach knotting from the deep, nauseating reek that rolled off of Sammy.

Nose wrinkled with disgust, they separated for only an instant. Yaz looked up to see Sammy crying just as hard as she was. Pulling her in close, in spite of the smell, Yasmina cherished the press of Sammy's dry, cracked lips that trembled with cold as they fit so nicely, against her own. Only vaguely aware of anyone else in the room Yaz heard Kenji whooping loudly at this.

The girl's came apart, laughing.

"Shut up, Kenji." Yaz said.

Sammy took a half-step into the room then, as a groggy Darius thrust himself through the side door, nearly colliding into Yasmina as he did. With a suddenly waning smile Sammy turned back towards Brooklynn, while, grinning so broadly that her cheeks hurt Yasmina mentally scolded herself for having neglected her friend, and reached to embrace the pink haired influencer.

"I'm so happy you're-" Yaz stopped, brows knitting as the Super Star grimaced, and stepped just out of reach.

Eyes narrowing with reproach Yasmina watched the haggard pair of young women stagger into the room together, remembering why she'd built her walls up in the first place, and just how much she hated popular types like Brooklynn. They always thought they were better than everyone else. People sucked.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you." Yaz snapped, remembering herself and her wounded pride in the face of such a rejection. "I'm just happy you're not dead. Both of you, but I guess that doesn't matter to Brooklynn the bit-"

"Don't, don't you fucking dare Yasmina Fadoula!" Sammy roared then, fire, true fire blazing behind her eyes.

Yaz was shocked, and so taken aback that she was speechless. The atmosphere in the room changed then as Kenji's celebratory shouts and hurried attempts to get out of bed halted. Sammy glared at Yasmina, hard and hateful. The moment, whatever it was, was over. On the verge of tears, again, the athlete turned and walked away as quickly as her mending leg could carry her.

"Brooklynn!" Darius laughed through his crying as he rushed open armed to hug his friends. "Sammy! You're alright!"

Yaz watched from her side of the room as Brooklynn wormed her way out of Sammy's guiding hand, as retreated hastily from the boy.

"No!" Brooklynn shrieked. "Don't. Just- Just fuck off Darius ok?"

The silence that filled the room next was so heavy it as if a black hole had just swallowed the campers.

"I just- I need a shower, ok?" the vain, pink haired girl elaborated darting past everyone and directly into the bathroom.

Hurt, and confused Darius still stood, arms open and beginning to shake. With a deep look that was a blend of concern, and pity Sammy stepped into his arms and hugged him back. Darius buckled into the affectionate display and started to weep.

"I'm sorry!" he said. "What did I do? I've been so worried! I'm sorry- I just-"

"Shh..." Sammy soothed, though something about her seemed off, and antsy, she never once took her eyes off the bathroom door. "It's ok Darius, I promise. We've just been through a lot, especially Brooklynn. She needs time, and space."

"What did happen out there?" Kenji blurted, leaning forward with interest as a new bout of commotion broke out in the hall.

"A lot." Sammy summarized.

"Like, what?" Kenji persisted. "Why didn't you come back? Did you get the medicine?"

Sammy's uncharacteristic anger sparked to life once more, burning red-hot against the ignorant young man.

"A lot!" she screamed, ripping herself away from Darius and stalking towards him. "People fucking died, Kenji! We almost died, Kenji!" she motioned to the blood that Yasmina had been too deliriously excited to notice, that covered almost her entire frame. "When I say 'a lot' happened, I mean a lot happened. So, keep your fucking questions to yourself!"

No one dared breathe as they stared frightened and alarmed at the only one among them who had, until now, been a calm and collected presence.

"I'm sorry." Kenji croaked.

Taking a wavering breath the Texan gathered her composure. "It's ok." she said. "I'm sorry too, just please, don't ask us what happened. It was bad. It was really, really bad, and that's all any of you need to know."

No one knew what to say. Yaz sat on the end of the bed and watched as Sammy went to the bathroom, knocked on the door, declared herself and said she was going to find fresh clothes. Then, without looking at, or talking to any of them, Sammy left. A cold numbness settled over the room as it became clear that although Sammy and Brooklynn had both made it safely back to them, that something in them had changed.

Maybe, they weren't the only ones either, Yasmina mused to herself as she took in the once so confident and sure Darius as he sat weepy eyed on the floor picking at his nails. Kenji too, he was quiet, and stared vacantly at the ceiling, deeply wounded by Sammy's attack. He hardly cracked jokes anymore, and fluctuated between one of two modes stoic and beside himself with fear.

Yaz herself had changed too, though it was hard for her to see how, but she was sure it was there, the singing was definitely new...

Silence ate up the next several minutes as the children who had remained behind waited for the children who had left to gather themselves. Yasmina wanted to break the tension for the boys, assure them that everything was going to be alright, but she didn't know that, not for sure, besides she couldn't think of what to say. So they waited.

Sammy came back knocked on the bathroom door again, then tried the handle the but found it locked.

"Brooke, it's me, Sammy. I brought you clothes." the cowgirl explained, juggling an armful of shirts, undergarments, and bottoms.

"You don't gotta let me in, you just gotta get the clothes." Sammy called again, loudly, when nothing productive happened.

"Do you want me to try?" Darius asked, from where he sulked in the bunk room doorway.

"Nah, I got it." Sammy shook her head.

"I'm putting them outside the door for you. Whenever you're ready." Sammy shouted out to be heard over the running water.

Sammy hesitated, as though she was unsure of what to do next. She was spent and appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"A lot." Sammy had said, they'd been through a lot. Yaz hadn't seen it when they'd first walked in, she'd been too happy, too excited, too relieved, but she saw it now. Sammy had worn herself thin out there, like that band tee you couldn't bring yourself to throw away. She looked scared, she looked exhausted, and she looked utterly and completely lost.

"Sammy," Yasmina called to her from where she sat at Ben's feet. "You ok?"

"No." the other girl whimpered making fleeting, helpless eye contact.

Katie strode into room the then, just as dirty, just as tired, but much more gathered, and confident. In fact her face was so hard set with such clear determination that Yasmina, who had been getting up to hug Sammy, was afraid to get in her way.

"Shower." Katie spat in command to Sammy.

"But-" Sammy began gesturing over she shoulder.

"Brooklynn?" the woman asked, Sammy nodded. "I've got her, gonna be working on Ben. It's ok. Go shower."

Sammy stood with her back pressed against the door, watching the medic, but didn't move.

"Cadaver blood, viscera, and feces," the woman motioned with a hand. "Means real bad news. Get it off of you, now."

Looking down at herself with wide, horrified eyes as if remembering something terrible the young woman in question, was still slow to respond to orders. Inevitably she shook herself out of it and made her way to the other bathroom. Yaz and Darius looked down at themselves, up at each other in terror and disgust, and then to the medic.

Katie took one look at them, and the way they were suddenly holding their arms away from their bodies, like a pair of penguins, and said, "Go change."

Fighting horror and revulsion Yasmina walked fast to the living room pulling her shirt off as she went, modesty be damned, she needed it off. Throwing the tee to the floor she fell upon the luggage bag that resided in the corner, digging through it like a wild animal. She was gonna hurl, she thought, tasting breakfast, and lunch as she dug, a tremor running through her fingers.

At last both Yasmina and Darius had pulled on fresh shirts. They exchanged brief, nauseated, and bashful glaces before the boy dispelled the tension with one simple word, "Dibs." he said touching his nose at the same time.

"Oh, no buddy, I hugged her first, I'm next." Yaz elbowed him, trying to remember how to be friends, instead of just fellow survivors.

Heading back towards the charge who needed her most Yasmina saw Katie concentrating hard, eyes closed as she checked Ben's pulse. Kenji was sitting in bed, scooting closer, his breath held. Next the woman opened Ben's eyes and tested his pupil reflex. Yaz, a flare of protective vigilance igniting in her chest, started hurrying over. That was when Katie lifted the blanket to look his frame over.

"Don't!" Yasmina shouted rushing the last steps more than she should have.

Cheeks burning and ears ringing with shame, embarrassment, and anger Yasmina snatched the fabric from the medic's hands. Heart racing and knee throbbing she hurriedly covered Ben's nudity, and began tucking the blankets, his blankets, in all around him, making him a little Ben-rrito.

As she worked Yasmina could feel the judgment the woman surely felt. She could even hear what her parents would say, it was filthy, disgusting, najis, wrong, haram, and a sin for her to be lying in bed with a half naked boy. Pridefully Yaz set her jaw against all the commentary she heard in her head. He was hurt, sick, unconscious, and her friend. He needed someone to take care of him. Besides, they'd all, without talking about it, come to the decision that it was easier than wrestling him in and out of underwear and shorts every time.

More than that he had his own set of blankets, and she had hers. It was fine. And even though it might not have been "right," it was the best they could do.

Katie cleared her throat then, and Yasmina prepared to defend herself and justify her actions.

"I need an arm." Katie said evenly. "For the I.V.."

Yaz's stomach did a back-flip, how could she have forgotten? Everything had been happening too quickly for her to even think, to process what was going on. It had been just one thing after another, after another. Yasmina yanked Ben's left arm out from beneath the covers at the same time she sat on the edge of the bed. This was it, what they'd been waiting for, what her friends had risked their lives for... The medicine.

"I can hold him." she offered maneuvering his outstretched limb across her lap.

Katie, who was producing the necessary equipment from the backpack she had brought with her nodded.

Yasmina was flooded with hope, and fear, and uncertainty. What if this didn't work? What if they hadn't been in time? What if this wasn't enough and he still died anyways? Looking up she locked eyes with Kenji who sat opposite her. His gaze swimming, and lips pressed together, she could see all these fears and many more written across his face.

"It's going to be ok." she smiled weakly reaching out to squeeze his hand. "So quit acting like a pussy." she added, earning a nervous chuckle and then a little sigh of relief. That's right, she told herself, if she was still name-calling that meant things weren't too serious. She had to project that, for him.

"Oh God," Darius who Yasmina realized had come to stand at the end of the bed muttered, a hand pressed hard into his stomach. "Sorry, I-I can't do needles." he apologized turning to leave when he realized everyone was now looking at him.

"It's cool, we got this." Yaz assured, letting go of Kenji's hand and returning her attention back to securing Ben's arm.

She watched as Katie meticulously scrubbed and sanitized the area with alcohol wipes. From there the woman produced a thick, blue rubber band like tourniquet, securing it above Ben's elbow. Probing around with her gloved finger for several minutes Katie swore just under her breath.

"He's really dehydrated." Yasmina commented grimly.

"Yes he is." Katie agreed leveling out the needle and diving straight into the bend of his arm. "But this should take care of that. You'll need to get more towels. If his kidneys are still in good shape you'll want them for the bed."

Katie fished, turning the instrument this way and that within his flesh as she tried to find a thin river of life. Ben didn't even flinch. At last there was a flash of blood, the needle was retracted, and the tubing was secured with medical tape.

"That's it?" Kenji asked, watching as, sans pole, Katie attached two bags of fluids to the sconces on the wall between the beds.

"That's it." Katie sighed. "This one's the antibiotics, and this is saline." she motioned to the smaller and larger of the two bags respectively.

"How fast will it work?" Kenji asked in a rush, panic setting in his tone.

"It's not a miracle cure Kenji." Katie smiled softly. "It'll take time, but we're here now, and Ben's getting the help he needs. That's the important part."

"When will we know it's working?" Kenji pressed sliding off his bed and moving to take Yasmina's position, the girl relented without argument.

Katie watched the boy lacing his fingers through Ben's. "When he wakes up."

Kenji looked like he'd taken a deep blow to the chest.

"She said 'when.'" Yasmina smiled trying to appear optimistic.

"Yeah," Darius agreed, Chase in arms as he came to inspect the woman's work. "Ben'll be ok now, for sure."

Katie tapped Yaz on the shoulder then, and made a motion for her to follow. Anxiously the girl complied, as Katie led the way into the living room.

"You've been taking care of Ben?" she asked weariness coming to her voice at last.

Yasmina nodded, "Yeah, he just... needed help."

Katie smiled approvingly, "Well, you've been doing a fantastic job, and a very kind thing."

"It wasn't anything." Yaz shrugged, uncomfortable with the compliment. She had literally done what anyone would do, the bare minimum even, it was nothing, and hearing praise for that left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Did you see how I connected the fluids to the I.V.?" the woman inquired looking the teen over with appraisal.

"Yeah." she nodded, recalling how the ports had twisted together.

"And how I set the flow-rate?" Katie continued.

"With the wheel." Yaz said, trying to figure out where this was going.

"Top of the class." Katie smiled. Swinging the backpack forward the woman pulled two more bags of fluid out, each identical to the ones now hanging from the lights in the bedroom.

"The antibiotics are going to run for two hours, then you're going to put a second bag on." she said firmly. "The saline will run for three. We'll need to give him a few hours, and hang the second bag. Do you think you can do that?"

The hairs on the back of Yasmina's neck rose, she wasn't sure she could or even should handle that level of responsibility. She looked Katie over then, the medic needed a shower and sleep just as badly as the other two had, and there was something else, something about her demeanor that seemed off from before the supply run. That was when Yaz realized she wasn't giving orders, or passing the buck, she was asking for help. Yasmina felt a pang for the only one among the ACU team who seemed to actually give a damn.

"Yeah." the girl agreed. "I think I can."

"Good." Katie said handing over the supplies. "You'd make a good nurse, you know." she went on then.

"What?" Yasmina scoffed. "I'm an athlete, a runner, I run."

"You can't run forever." the woman observed. "I'm just saying. Sorry. I'm tired."

"It's... ok." the girl shrugged.

"I'm going to grab a few things and I'll be back. Anyone using the couch?" Katie wanted to know as she removed her wrist watch.

"No?" Yasmina said.

"Good. I'll be here to help if you need it, but you've got this." with that Katie handed Yaz the watch and left their hotel room, calling, "Two hours." over her shoulder as she went.

Yaz stood there, long after Katie had left staring at the bags in her hand. She hadn't ever really thought about an after the Olympics before. Sure she'd always had this rough concept of where she was headed: gold metal, out of the closet, off to college and to start her own life. She'd never really thought about what she wanted to study though. Yaz had just always assumed that she'd figure it out when she got to that point.

A nurse?

Yasmina had never even imagined doing anything close to medicine, not even as a kid. And now after dabbling in it out of necessity the concept seemed even more farfetched. It was a constant struggle to care for the injured boy, one that tore at her soul. She couldn't imagine doing something like this for a living, it was too hard. Besides Yaz knew she wouldn't survive it if something bad happened to someone she was trying to help. Even now, she wasn't sure what she'd do if the worst did occur, she thought squeezing the saline bag as her pulse began to thunder in her veins.

Nursing? No, she'd probably go into accounting like her mom, she was pretty decent at math. Or, maybe if she was lucky she could do something artistic, and share her hidden passion with the world. Or maybe teach? Sad as it sounded some of her closest friends before all this were teachers, she thought reflecting on Mr Blavin, and Dave. Yeah, all of those seemed like much more stable, feasible options. When she got home, if she got home, after the Olympics, she would aim for one of those.

It was as Yasmina stood there contemplating her probably nonexistent future that Sammy emerged from the smaller of the two bathrooms. Freshly dressed, and mopping her hair with a towel Sammy's eyes were red and slightly puffy as though she'd been crying in there. She gave a start when she nearly ran into the contemplative Yaz.

"I coulda lived in there." Sammy laughed, sounding a bit more like herself.

"I bet." Yaz nodded, still transfixed by the objects in her hands.

"What're those?" the cowgirl asked coming to stand beside her, and get a look at what she was holding.

Yasmina glanced up, "I.V. bags, for Ben."

Her expression one of shock and sorrow Sammy let out a little gasp. "Ben!" she said, stumbling forward and snatching Yasmina by both wrists. "Ben, I didn't check on him, I-I didn't even think to ask! Is he- is he alright?"

Anger sparked in the athlete's chest, Sammy was right, she hadn't asked, caring only for Brooklynn and herself. She felt her teeth squeak together as she cast the other girl a look. Then, remembering the lost, haggard Sammy of a few minutes earlier she took a deep breath, and tried her best to let that anger go.

"It's ok." Yaz said. "You just got back. You've been through it, and we all attacked you when we probably should have just given you some space."

Sammy looked at Yasmina with gratitude, "Thanks for, understanding. Is he ok?"

Yaz shrugged it off. "I think he will be. Wanna go check on him?"

Sammy nodded eagerly.

"K, then I really need to put my leg up." Yasmina added, turning with a painful wobble back towards the bedrooms. Sammy followed her into the room where Darius watched as Kenji was propping Ben's left arm with a pillow.

"Like that?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah," Darius rasped. "Dad always said it hurt less when his I.V. arm was raised a bit."

"Thanks." the other boy replied while looking forlornly at Ben.

Yasmina led the way, waving a bit to Chase who must have felt very lost, and afraid with how everyone had been hustling and bustling around him, especially after being locked in the room with Bumpy for the better part of the day.

"Hey kiddo." she said.

Chase looked at her with a worried, imploring gaze.

"It's ok, we'll all be alright." the teenager promised him.

Yasmina waited at the foot of the two queen beds while Sammy squeezed between them, and the boys who sat facing each other. Sammy stopped when she'd reached Ben, misty-eyed she swept the hair off his forehead.

"Hi Ben, its Sammy." she said to the sleeping boy. "We're back, and I'm glad to see you're hanging in there. Looks like Katie's got you all hooked up, and everyone's been taking real good care of you, so... you just rest up now and let those meds do their job, ya hear?"

Yaz watched as Sammy pressed a little kiss onto the top of Ben tawny hair, and then sat back heavily beside Darius. She was quiet and lost deep in thought for a long minute, fighting not to cry. Then she looked up at Kenji and the tears started falling.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I shouldn't have gone after you like that. It's just- its just-"

"A lot?" Kenji smiled faintly.

"Yeah."

"It's been a lot for us too." Darius confessed. "We're just glad that you're both alright, and we forgive you."

"You don't speak for everyone." Kenji intoned catching everyone off guard. "I mean Yaz and Darius get hugs, Ben gets a princess kiss, and I get my ass chewed out? How's that fair?"

Sammy grinned before stretching forward and planting a kiss on Kenji's forehead, "Better?" she asked.

"It's a start." Kenji grumbled, then, cautiously, he added. "I'm not asking what happened. I'm just saying, whatever it was, thank you, and I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah, thanks." Darius jumped in. "Ben really couldn't do it without those meds."

"It was nothing y'all." Sammy murmured, looking all the more troubled for it.

As the tenuous reunion went on Yasmina and Darius took the time the decontaminate, and Katie, sporting a rifle and a mountain of bedding had returned. The woman took position sleeping on the couch, just as she had said she would. It was at once very strange, but oddly comforting to have the armed woman bunking with them now, intending to protect them, but from what she wouldn't say.

Yasmina, who kept an eagle's eye on the time with the watch she now wore, fearful of missing Ben's next dose of antibiotics was about to raise concern for Brooklynn who'd been in the shower for an hour when at last the water shut off. The bathroom door opened, the clothes disappeared within, and then nothing happened for a long time. When finally she did come out Brooklynn darted straight for the bunks, stopping short when she saw Darius still in the room.

"H-hey Brooklynn!" he smiled awkwardly. "Sorry about earlier. Shoulda given you some breathing room, I was just-"

Brooklynn turned and walked away as though she hadn't heard a word he was saying, earning her only ire from Yasmina who could tell how deeply this had cut the boy. Brooklynn looked almost like a wild animal then, pacing about the little space between Kenji's bed, the bunks, and the door. Sammy got up to help when Brooklynn spotted the camcorder. Rushing to the nightstand where it lay she snagged the device and ran to the bunks where she climbed to the top and flopped onto her back.

"What up, Brooklanders?" the pink haired girl called to the camera in a light, chipper tone after a few minutes. "It's your girl, Brooklynn here, and have I got an exclusive for you! Unboxing the secret Jurassic World hospital!"

"Fucking bitch." Yaz muttered, glaring over Darius' shoulder as he fled, and into the room. Sammy shot her a look.

"Hey," Kenji called, stopping Darius short as he went to collect his notebook, undoubtedly head for the balcony again. "Where are you going?"

"I'm 'fucking off.'" the other boy mumbled bitterly.

"Well," Kenji said patting the bed where he and Chase sat watching television, and doodling on the backs of the spare park maps. "Come fuck off over here. Man club, no girls allowed, and if we get really creative, maybe we can make a fort!"

Darius softened when he saw a flicker of excitement cross the little boy's face. Chase was rarely happy, but Kenji seemed keyed in to how to make it happen, every time. Yaz watched as Darius weighed his options before heading into the living room and snagging some of the extra bed sets Katie had brought for the kids, but most especially Ben.

"All we really need are a couple flat sheets and some well placed knots!" Darius smiles lightly as he set to work, much to Yasmina's relief.

That night, after dinner, after switching out Ben's saline, and after everyone else had fallen asleep Yasmina and Sammy found themselves sitting outside. Quietly they watched the island as it teamed with night life beneath a thin veneer of clouds. The rains, it seemed had finally moved on after tormenting them all afternoon and early evening.

"I'm sorry, again, about before." Sammy, her head on Yasmina's shoulder, yawned. "I shouldn't have- It shouldn't have all come out like that. I just needed some time, I still might. And Brooklynn needs a lot of time, and some space. She's been through a lot."

Yaz scoffed, "She seems fine to me. 'Guess what Brooklanders, I did this, and I did that. Me. Me. Me.'"

"She's not, though." Sammy maintained. "And if y'all could give her a little bit of grace, I'd appreciate it."

Yaz bit her tongue to keep from saying anything nasty, "giving grace," was something the hothead wasn't particularly skilled in. They sat in a comfortable silence for a long time, just enjoying one another's company. It was nice, and the most relaxed Yasmina had been in a real long time.

"What you said earlier, when we first got here, sounded real, real pretty." Sammy murmured almost dreamily after a while. "What does it mean?"

"Nothing." Yasmina said as a knee jerk reaction.

"Come on shellmate, please?" Sammy pestered, nudging her.

Yasmina sighed, but nervously gave in, "la ilaha illa Allah Muhammadun Rasul Allah." she said. "It roughly means that 'there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, and that the Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is Allah's messenger."

The quiet became just a little less comfortable then, as, guarded Yaz waited for Sammy to say something.

"What made you say that?" Sammy questioned gently.

Yaz shrugged. "I dunno."

"Yasmina?"

Letting out a little groan as she tried to figure out how to explain it the Muslim girl struggled to elaborate further. "I don't know. I guess I could have said, alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, or subhanallah, glory be to Allah or something to express my gratitude, but I didn't..."

Yaz couldn't think of what to say for a long while, but Sammy seemed more than willing to give her the time to think. "What I said is an affirmation of faith. It means you believe, with all your heart. I guess... I guess seeing you there, alive, made me realize that we've only made it this far because of God, and that, deep down, I really did have faith, even if I kept telling myself otherwise."

"Hmm..." Sammy mused then, making Yaz anxious. "That's kinda funny, when you think about it."

"What?" Yasmina snapped angrily, her barbs showing.

"It's just, way back when, in the gyrosphere you didn't say you used to be Muslim, or that you were raised Muslim. You said you were Muslim." Sammy explained. "It's almost like you were more honest with me than you were with yourself."

"At lease one of us is honest." Yaz grumbled.

Sammy went stiff, then sat up. "Sorry." she apologized, standing to leave.

Yasmina grabbed her hand and pulled her back into her seat. "You know what else I realized?" Yaz asked rhetorically. "I realized that life is short. That life is painful. That life isn't fair. And that you can be mad at someone and still love them with all your heart. I'm mad Sammy, and I'm hurt, but I still love you."

"I love you too." Sammy sobbed.

They cried then, long and hard. Eventually, however responsibility got in the way of their heart-to-heart.

"I need to go roll Ben." Yaz yawned.

"And I should probably check on Brooklynn." Sammy said.

Getting up stiffly they made their way back inside.

Inside, Bumpy had knocked the drawers of the nightstand loose, but had also successful made her way up to Ben's side and was snoring loudly. The three boys were all sprawled out inside their makeshift tent, leaving Yaz to wonder how long it would last before someone kicked Kenji in the side and all of their fun ended in a flurry of screaming and swearing. Brooklynn was on the top bunk, and Katie was on the sofa.

It was all peaceful, and right, at last. Yasmina felt a weight lift off her shoulders with this contented knowledge.

"Night." Sammy waved heading off to bed.

"Goodnight." Yaz replied.

"Love you."

"I love you too, now go to sleep." Yasmina rolled her eyes as she tugged up on the extra flat sheet beneath Ben, using it to turn him, mindful of his I.V..

Insuring he was all covered up, and tucked in tight, the young woman took stock of everything and everyone she was blessed to still have.

She climbed onto her side of the bed, propped her leg and laid back. Trickling out of her like a river all of the fear and grief ebbed out of her bones as she lay there and closed her eyes.

"Alhamdulillah." Yasmina whispered contently and was, almost immediately, fast asleep.