Eroda Sunshine

Scorpion Fish

"Alright. I'll . . . I'll get up," Louis stammered, and knew his voice shook as he thrust himself up and off Harry, staying bent at the waist as he did so, holding an arm across his waist to awkwardly try to hide his unfortunate condition. He didn't dare look at Harry right now.

As he turned his back awkwardly to Harry, despair filled him. Didn't he have any more control than that? He'd always prided himself on his exacting discipline over himself.

And why would he have thoughts like that about Harry? He felt ashamed to even entertain lustful thoughts when Harry was such a nice person. Nicer than anyone he'd known. Always willing to help, to be a cheerleader, to just be there for him, no matter what. He couldn't see Harry ever letting him down. Harry was rare and unselfish. It made Louis feel like an ass in comparison.

When Louis finally had enough courage to look at Harry, he didn't see any judgment. Harry didn't stare, and didn't treat him any differently. Odds were Harry had noticed, and so, he was being incredibly gracious.

Realizing he was standing up, Louis lowered himself to sit in the sand. He couldn't take the chance of people seeing them. It was then that Harry pointed to something in the water. Snapper fish. They were delicious, and whenever they saw one, they always caught it.

Enthusiastic, Louis gave Harry a thumbs-up, and went straight for the snapper without any hesitation. The next thing he knew, he had dropped to the sand, and was writhing in pain. He'd been stung or bitten by something, and the pain was the worst he'd ever experienced. He couldn't quell it – he'd cried out.

Harry was at his side in an instant, breathing heavily, the pupils of his eyes blown with worry.

"I saw it, Louis! I saw it! It was a scorpion fish!" he cried. Louis was glad he had taught Harry what fish here were venomous. The scorpion fish had been getting ready to nab the snapper at the same time Louis had grabbed at it. When Louis had made a grab, the scorpion fish had stung him so quickly that he hadn't even had a chance to see what it was. It was a good thing Harry had seen and identified the fish, because the scorpion fish had disappeared with the snapper in its jaws a mere second after stinging Louis.

Louis was pale, and he was holding his left hand, his face a grimace.

"Oh God. It hurts bad . . . but I probably won't die," Louis said through gritted teeth. He didn't want to scare Harry unnecessarily.

"Probably? You mean there's a chance you will die?"

"Not much of one, but it'll hurt for a while. It hurts bad, Harry. And it's gonna get worse before it gets better."

"Is there anythin' I can do?" asked Harry, his voice quivering.

"The only thing that would help with the pain is hot water," said Louis. "But we have no access to that."

"I can run back to the hut – " Harry began. He was thinking of heating water with the fire, Louis realized.

"No, Harry. It's two or three miles, and then you'd have to run back, and that would take too long."

Harry could see the fear shining brightly in Louis' eyes. He'd never seen fear in those captivating blues before. Was there something Louis wasn't telling him?

"Me only fear," Louis explained as if he'd read Harry's mind, "is havin' an allergic reaction. If that happens it could be bad." Harry could tell how much pain Louis was in by the tone of his voice and how he ground his teeth to the point that it sounded as if they were cemented together, and then dragged.

"Bad enough to kill you?" Harry's eyes were growing wider by the second.

"Yeah, but if I don't start havin' symptoms within half an hour, it's unlikely I'm allergic."