Page 107 of Adrift

“It’s better than the barely washed ones.” Easton hands them to Haley, who delicately unwraps them.

I screw off the cap of the bottle. And give it a gentle whiff. It’s hooch of some sort. I take a second whiff.

“Don’t drink it. You don’t know what it is.” Haley’s holding the bandage loosely in her palm.

“I’m no spirits sommelier, but I’ve tried a lot. This is some sort of rice whiskey. The box has Thai writing on it. So it might be Mekhong Whiskey.”

“No fucking way you could know that.” Easton scowls.

I hold the side of the box. “Yeah, it says right here, ‘Easton Rockwell is an asswipe, who is the only person who doesn’t know that Thai writing has more fucking curves than a lot of other Asian scripts.’” I take a small swig from the bottle. “It’s rice whiskey. It will work for his foot.” I hold in a cough; the shit is strong.

Golden Boy has his face twisted up, but he takes the bottle. “Ready?”

I move to the other side of Zane and hold his hand.

“Yeah.”

“It’s going to sting.”

“No bloody shit.” Zane squeezes my hand hard enough I’m wondering if he’s planning on giving birth. My sister didn’t even cut off the blood vessels in my hand when she gave birth to twins. With ten hours of labor and then a C-section.

Fuck, I’ve done a really good job of thinking only of myself and not my sister. She’s got to be flipping out. She always thought something like this could happen. How many times did I tell her that I was more likely to die in a car accident? I’m betting that the entire crew has told their families the same thing. Damn, the whiskey better kill every last germ in that wound.

Easton holds it over the top of the gaping hole. “You’re sure that’s what it is?”

“Haaaa.” I breathe on him.

He coughs. “Right. Smells like my grandfather.” Easton raises his eyebrows at Zane.

“Do it,” Zane says through gritted teeth.

Easton pours like a spendthrift barkeep. It drips out of the bottle. Zane’s nose twitches. The amber liquid pools in the wound, and Zane’s grip on my hand turns my fingers white. “You good, man?”

He wordlessly nods.

Easton caps the bottle and covers the wound with one of the last gauze pads we have left; then he wraps it with the bandage from the derelict ship.

“It’s not great, but it’s clean.” Easton nods. The bandage’s stretched-out edges make Zane’s foot appear like it’s wearing an odd paper flower.

“Let’s get you comfortable.” Haley moves a cushion over for his head. “Maybe you should move to the other side of the raft. It’s drier over there.” Haley glances at me and Easton for support.

“Sure. Let’s get you to the other side, big man,” I say, and Zane mercifully lets go of my hand. I can’t help but shake it out. Easton tries to help, but Zane pushes him away.

“I’ve got it. I’m not unconscious.” He shimmies over to the other side of the raft, holding his bandaged leg up. Haley takes a long time over there, doing I don’t know what. Fluffing his nonexistent pillows. But I don’t care. What I care about is turning my attention to Easton and Calvin. I could just leave it alone. I could just let things alone. Only not this time. This isn’t a passenger who says they’re allergic to onions because they think they don’t like them. No. They’re going to take us all down. These two asses need to get it together. Or we could just let them beat the shit out of each other. Take a Darwinian approach: let the stupid show itself out.

“Let me get you the bowl of dinner Dante made. It’s really good. He made, well, found salt!” Haley’s deference tactics might not work, but I can tell he appreciates them.

He takes a bite. “It’s good, Dante. But blimey, I’m really feeling it today.”

A nod, a “You’re welcome,” and I turn back to Easton.

His eyes flare. “I’m going to go help Calvin with the fire. See if we can get some of the other bandages sanitary.”

I nod. I don’t need him to give me a play-by-play. But that happens with narcissists who didn’t get enough attention as a child. I should know—I am one.

He slides out of the raft, leaving a trail of sand behind him. Zane, even with an injury, managed to bring less in.

I lie by the door flap, using my arm as a pillow. I fully expect that my solo Haley time is over. But a few minutes later, Zanegives her his empty bowl. Then she’s lying next to me, snuggled into my side.

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