Date: 9/26/2000
From: SouthernSlider

Thanks to all who have commented on the story so far. I really appreciate the feedback, and the nice things you have said.

LS - glad to hear you are mending okay. I know it has been frustrating to deal with that cast.

DMD - I see those Gators are just rolling along. The Dawgs won Saturday, but they're not the team we were led to believe they were before the season started. At least, Dooley would always poor-mouth instead of brag. That way we were pleasantly surprised when they were better than he said, instead of being disappointed that they were worse than we were told. Oh, well, at least we aren't in Alabama's or PENN STATE'S shoes yet. Oops. I really shouldn't knock someone when they're down. It could be us in a week or two. I'm not confident about winning any other game on our schedule.

Anyway, sorry to bore you non-football folks. Feel free to skip any FB talk in the future. On with the story.
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United We Slide, Divided . . . We Disappear

Chapter Twelve

Colin sat on the beach, staring out at the diamond-like glitter on the ocean as the moon shown down from above. He and Kelly had talked at length about their travels
from one world to another and compared notes. Some of their travels had been similar and some completely different. From what she had said, he surmised they had been on at least two of the same worlds. And it was entirely possible she and Conie had been to some of the same worlds as Quinn and Wade, just not at the same time.

When she started to talk about Wade, he tried to avoid the subject all together. He did have a somewhat good excuse. He had never been around when Wade was, but he wasn’t good at lying, and Kelly could tell he was holding something back. He was sure of it, although she didn’t press. It was as if she knew something bad had happened and
she wasn’t ready to hear about it.

After eating another meal of bananas, nuts and coconut milk, they lapsed into silence until she had excused herself for personal business. Colin warned her not to go
far even if the full moon made it almost like day. She assured him she wasn’t about to venture off, then walked down the beach and around the bend.

Colin contemplated his next move. Should he bring up the subject of Wade, or wait until she mentioned it again? It had to come out sooner or later, and right now, he was opting for sooner. He hated this cloud hanging over them. He had to start a new life on this world, and he didn’t want to do it with a lie.

It had felt so good to be able to tell Kelly his true identity and background. The loneliness that had crept into his soul as soon as he left the hotel -- and his brother -- that night, dissipated just a bit when he and Kelly exchanged life stories. And he felt Kelly
needed to talk as much as he did. In fact, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew there was more to her story just as there was to his. If he talked, maybe she would too.

He made the decision then to tell Kelly everything when she returned. It was best to get it all out in the open now. Waiting until later only prolonged the agony. It
wouldn’t solve anything. And she couldn’t get away from him. She would have to hear him out.

“Colin!!!”

He faintly heard her calling out his name over the waves rushing to shore. He jumped and turned toward the direction she had gone. When he saw her silhouette
limping in his direction, then fall to the sand, he jumped up and ran to her.

“Kelly! Kelly, what is wrong? What happened?” he yelled as he ran down the beach. When he reached her, he could see dark spots on the sand. Blood. “Kelly?”

“I stepped on something back there and cut my foot. I didn’t think it was so bad, but now it’s really hurting and I can’t seem to stop the bleeding.”

Colin pulled his t-shirt over his head,wrapped it around her foot, and secured it. He then picked her up and headed back to the camp. Upon examination, he knew he had
to get it cleaned up before he tried to administer any medicine or bandage it.

“I have to get some fresh water from the pool. Take off your blouse.”

“What?”

“This is no time for modesty. I have to have something to soak with water so I can wash the wound. I would use my shirt, but it is soaked with blood now, and it needs
to stay around your foot until I can bandage it. And I can not do that until I wash it.”

Kelly hesitated for a moment, but knew Colin was right. She slowly unbutton her blouse, and pulled it off. As soon as she handed it to him, she crossed her arms over her
chest, but not before Colin caught a glimpse of the lacy black bra that barely covered her. He knew his cheeks were glowing as bright as the campfire.

“Lay back and keep it elevated until I return.” He propped her foot up on the survival kit and headed for the waterfall. She grimaced in pain, but shook her head yes,
refusing to let him see how much she was hurting.

As Colin ran down the beach he cursed himself for letting her go off alone. He should have been the one to wander away from the camp, and let her stay close by to take
care of business. It was stupid of him to let her go so far away at night. The moonlight was nice, but it wasn’t bright enough to let one see everything -- just bright enough to let him see something he should not have seen. His cheeks reddened all over again as the image of Kelly in her bra materialized in front of him.

When he returned with her blouse dripping from a dip in the fresh water, he could see Kelly breathing heavily, with beads of sweat on her forehead.

“Kelly? Are you still with me?” he asked as he unwrapped her foot. It was warm to the touch, and even in the moonlight, he could tell it didn’t look too good.

She whispered a ‘yes’ but that was all she could manage in answer. He started a conversation as he cleaned the blood off, but it was one-sided. Kelly said nothing. He
knew it was babble anyway, but he had to keep talking to keep from panicking himself.

When the blood and sand were gone, he could see a good-sized cut right in the middle of her instep. He wished he knew exactly what she had stepped on. Bandages and tape were soon wrapped around her foot after applying the antiseptic ointment, then he turned his attention to her face. It was burning with fever.

“Kelly,” he whispered. “Listen to me, Kelly.” She managed to open her eyes with a flutter. “I have cleaned and bandaged the wound, but I need for you to take these
pills. You have some fever, and this will help to bring it down.” He lay the pills on her tongue and squeezed the edge of her shirt that hadn’t been dirtied to get a swallow of water into her. When he had her settled, he would return to the waterfall for more.

“Kelly, just lay back and try to sleep. Everything will be all right.” He pushed a strand of damp hair away from her face as she looked up into his eyes. When she drifted
off seconds later, he kissed her forehead, then sat back and buried his face in his hands.

He had seen something like this on his world, with very unfavorable results. She needed more help than he could give her. But sitting here moaning would accomplish
nothing. He grabbed the make-shift bowl they had carved from coconuts and returned to the waterfall. It was going to be a long night.
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SS

Oh my!

Date: 9/26/2000
From: Foxtrottin

Poor Kelly! Well, at least she has a Mallory brother to the rescue ;O)

Fox

hormones rage!

Date: 9/26/2000
From: weeeezr

the natives a gettin restless!

woot woo...

weez

Klutz

Date: 9/27/2000
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

The girl managed to fillet her foot whilst takin' care of business. Not a good thing.

I wish I could be as positive as you about UF's team. Our defense is horrendous. We gave up over 500 yards of offense and allowed UK to make six out of seven fourth down attempts. A performance like that against a team with a defense (like MSU) will end in defeat.

Good luck with them Hoggs.

DMD

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Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz