His Choice - Rafe Cameron

29. Pulled To Safety

JJ dives into the water with the safety ring and swims over to the mattress. He speaks to me, but I am too delusional to make out what he is saying. I am delusional because I have inhaled a lot of smoke, but mostly because I cannot believe that this is really happening. 

Despite trying to remain positive, I really did believe I was going to die out here in the middle of the ocean. JJ places the ring over my body and somebody pulls me towards the boat. When I look up, I see long legs, shorts, and and unbuttoned shirt. The hands that are pulling me towards the boat are accessorised with bracelets. 

"Hold on Scarlett." I hear him say as I am pulled out of the water. He holds me close to him and I look up into his dark brown eyes. 

"Thanks John B." I place my head against his chest as he holds me. My body shivers as Kiara places a grey blanket over my body. John B lets go of me as Sarah and Kiara cover my body with the 

"I am so glad that you're safe." Kiara says to me, hugging me from one side. Sarah kneels down and cuddles me on the other side. 

"Me too."

"Alright now, move aside." JJ says as he takes Kiara's space beside me. He wraps his arms around me and places his chin on top of my head. "Don't you ever disappear on me like that again, you got it Bambi? You gave me a real fright."

I look past JJ and try to look down into the water. "Wait, where's-" I stop mid-sentence when I see Rafe sitting on the other end of the boat. Someone must have helped him out of the water, but I don't know who. It was either JJ or Pope because the other three were helping me. 

"I'm just glad that you're safe." JJ says, snapping my attention away from Rafe and back to him. 

"How did you know where we were?" I ask JJ, holding onto him even tighter because I can't believe he is really in front of me right now. I didn't know if I was ever going to see him again.

"Ward." Sarah speaks up, mentioning her father's name.

"Sarah got a call from Ward, telling her that you and Rafe had been taken. He sent the coordinates of your location that he got from tracking Rafe's phone." John B says.

"We didn't know whether or not to trust him because he could have been luring us into another trap just to try and get Sarah back." JJ tells me. "But it was a risk I was willing to take. I needed to get you back, Bambi." He kisses the top of my head. "I would risk anything to have you back."

"I love you so much JJ."

He places his hand on my head and I enjoy the embrace between my cousin and I. Then I glance back over at Rafe who is sitting all alone. He is looking out towards the water. Nobody is paying any attention to him.

I feel sad for Rafe. Here I am with my cousin and my friends who are showing me so much love and appreciation for having me back. He was taken too, yet nobody has shown him any sympathy or asked if he is okay. I noticed Sarah glance at him a few times, but she didn't even ask if he was alright. I know that he did questionable things to her, but surely everything between them isn't gone completely? They are brother and sister. I couldn't ever imagine not caring a single bit about JJ.

"Excuse me for a second." I say to JJ as I stand up and walk over to where Rafe is sitting. I give him my blanket and wrap it around his shoulders. He doesn't look at me, he just moves his eyes down towards the blanket which is now covering some of his body.

"Thanks." He says to me.

"Are you okay?" I whisper.

"I was seconds away from being cremated. My father is potentially doing a deal with some scumbags as we speak. And, I'm on a boat full of Pogues. What do you think?"