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“Alan!”
“Ouch…” Alan’s voice floated up from about fifteen feet below him.
“Don’t move!”
Billy executed a rather more controlled descent, slipping somewhat on the loose scree of the escarpment, but more or less managing to remain upright until he arrived at where Alan was lying in a heap at the bottom of the slope.
“Ouch,” said Alan again pointedly, as Billy tried, and failed, to waft away the dust that had been kicked up by both their passages.
“What hurts,” Billy asked.
“Left ankle.”
“Nothing else?”
“Various bumps and scrapes, but it’s the ankle that’s going to be the problem.”
“How bad do you think it is?”
“Bad enough to hurt a lot,” muttered Alan balefully.
Billy cringed. “Right, of course.” He wracked his brains, trying to remember anything from the first aid course he’d done more than two years earlier.
“I don’t think we should take the boot off,” he said. “If your ankle’s broken, then it might be acting as a natural splint, and if there’s any swelling, we’d probably struggle to get it back on.” He thought for another minute. “Can you wiggle your toes?”
There was a brief pause, and then Alan’s face blanched in pain. Billy was gratified to see that it didn’t, however, turn white under Alan’s tan, and Alan didn’t appear to be in danger of fainting away.
“Yes,” Alan gasped. “Although please don’t ask me to do that again.”
“If we’re lucky, you’ve only sprained it,” Billy told him. He glanced back up the escarpment. “Although I’m still not sure how we’re going to get you back up there.”
Alan shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait for someone to find us.”
“Alan, I’m not sure…”
“Look,” Alan interrupted. “The rest of the team know which direction we went in, and when we don’t reappear in time for that satellite call with the university, they’ll come looking.”
“I guess…”
“We’ve got plenty of water in our packs, so we’ll be all right. We might end up a bit sunburned, but that’ll be the worst of it.”
“Apart from your ankle.”
“Apart from my ankle.”
Billy sighed. He didn’t like it, but given that the only other option seemed to be for him to leave Alan here alone while he fetched help – something that definitely wasn’t happening – it appeared Alan’s plan was all they had.
“Okay, fine. We wait.”
Alan nodded, and then held out a hand. It took Billy a second to realise he was asking for water, but then he dug one of the bottles out of his pack and handed it over. They both drank, and once the bottle was safely stowed away gain, fell into a slightly awkward silence.
Taking Alan off on a short trek to scout out possible new dig sites had seemed like a great idea this morning, boasting the dual benefits of getting Alan away from some of this season’s new, and still somewhat clumsy, interns before their inexperience got the better of his temper, and giving Billy an excuse to spend some time with Alan alone.
Ever since their ill-fated trip to Isla Sorna, several months earlier, they had been trying, slowly but successfully, to rebuild their friendship. Billy knew he had made some incredibly stupid mistakes, and counted himself lucky every day that Alan had forgiven him, and was still willing to let Billy be part of his team.
But underneath the relief that their friendship appeared be back on track, there was a lingering disappointment over an opportunity missed – one that Billy now felt was lost forever.
He’d wondered a few times, both before Isla Sorna, and even once or twice since, whether there might not be the possibility of something more between them than just friendship. But once Billy had recovered from his injuries, and returned to the dig site, Alan had shown no signs of wanting anything other than to be friends and colleagues, and Billy had reluctantly let the idea drop.
“Penny for them?”
Alan was regarding him thoughtfully, and Billy shrugged. “Just thinking about what a stupid situation we’ve landed ourselves in. Again.”
“If anyone’s stupid, it’s me, for not looking where I was going.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
Alan chuckled, and then grimaced faintly as his ankle obviously twinged. “These things happen,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t avoid them.”
“And sometimes you can.”
“One day you’re going to have to forgive yourself for that, you know,” Alan commented mildly. “You were only trying to help.”
“I nearly got everyone killed!”
“But you didn’t.” Suddenly, Alan reached out and took his hand. “I’m not sure I’ve ever said just how glad I was that you didn’t get yourself killed.”
Billy blinked. “Well, I guess I’m just happy you still want me around.”
“I definitely do.”
The hand grasping his tightened, and Billy suddenly realised that Alan’s thumb was stroking across the back of his knuckles.
“I definitely want you around, Billy.”
“Oh. You mean…?”
“I do.”
Billy knew he was staring, and floundered for something to do or say until Alan jerked his head in impatient invitation.
“Well, come on then. I obviously can’t come to you.”
Hesitating for a moment longer, Billy finally leaned forward, bringing their lips together.
The kiss was short, but sweet. Alan’s lips were chapped, and not a little dusty, and mindful of the pain Alan must be in, Billy didn’t prolong things. Still, he knew he was grinning widely as he sat back.
Alan smiled back at him. “Sure you don’t want to speed things up by going and fetching help?”
“How did you…? Never mind – no, I’m not leaving you.”
“Fair enough.” Alan’s thumb stroked Billy’s hand again. “I wouldn’t want you to, anyway.”