The Prince and his Harem

Chapter 22

"What did you do?" She demanded, and Rickie stood still as his Meaghan reached out and touched the stain; she pulled her hand away and saw the smear of fresh blood. "Sit here, and don't move," Meaghan ordered Rickie before going back outside and looking around the area for useful items.

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Rickie leaned up against the side of the cave, holding his hand over his wound. The flow of blood had appeared to stop, but he was afraid it would start again with the slightest provocation. Instead he was forced to watch Meaghan as she prepared for their stay tonight.

Meaghan first brought back several armfuls of palm leaves, which she arranged on the cave floor before folding over a part of the tarp that had come with them from the boat to form a pallet. Next, she gathered together several stones into a circle and filled it with dried leaves and small branches, with another fuel pile placed against the cave wall. The supplies from the Bayliner included waterproof matches and several bottles of water, but no rations.

As time passed, it became totally dark, and Rickie carefully stood up, intending to go look for her. Once past the artificial light of the fire, his eyes adjusted, and he was able to see with the help from the starlight. Meaghan was just returning, her face flushed and triumphant.

She carried an armload of bright pink globes, and Rickie winced when he realised what they were.

"I found some ripe engkala, so we won't starve tonight!"

Meaghan's bright face shone in the faint light, and Rickie decided to grin and bear it. "Did you manage to find a rice cooking tree as well? Or at least a durian or two?"

She playfully bumped his hip as she carried her cargo back to the cave and laid them on a palm leaf. She began to prepare the fruits, popping off their caps and stems. Rickie ate his share with good grace, even though he normally didn't like the avocado-like taste. They shared a bottle of water, sitting across the fire in perfect camaraderie.

Rickie loved watching the colors from the fire play across her face, as she finished the meal and turned her eyes to his wound.

Meaghan carefully unbuttoned and pulled back the shirt. The sight of his hard abs momentarily distracted her before she zeroed in on the wound. The bandage was completely soaked through, but she didn't want to remove it in case it was slowing the blood loss. Using the arms of the bloodied shirt around his torso, she fashioned a sling around his waist.

Rickie lifted his arms over his head as Meaghan came in close under his arm to wrap the shirt around his torso. He couldn't resist dropping his arm across her shoulders and kissing the top of her head.

"Rickie!" she admonished, smiling a moment before applying herself to her task. Once done, she pulled back and looked at her handiwork. The majority of the shirt was folded into a crude bandage; the sleeves tied around him to put pressure on the bandage. She hoped it would be enough. She assisted him down until he was supine on this pallet.

The light from the mouth of cave had gradually faded as the sun went down, and the temperature began dropping. Rickie began shivering, and Meaghan curled up next to him and pulled the edge of the tarp over both of them, in an attempt to give him her body heat. He turned into her and wrapping his arms around her, effectively trapping them together.

She looked with marvel at his face, tracing the lines of fatigue with her eyes. Her poor prince. She traced the arched wings of his eyebrows with her finger, and then lightly kissed his lips. He stirred slightly and tightened his arms around her, but never woke up.

She laid her head upon his arm and also fell into a deep sleep, done in by their ordeal.

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Hours later, Meaghan woke up from her slumber, and startled, looked around. Rickie was curled on his side, away from her. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but thought better of it. Unable to go back to sleep, she stood up and walked out of the cave until she reached the stand of palm trees at the edge of the beach. Daybreak was only a short time away.

Meaghan placed her elbows on a fallen palm tree and looked out unseeingly as the muted colors of the sky gradually brightened.

Rickie eyes opened in the darkened cave, his back feeling cold now that his Meaghan had left. Sitting up, he tested the bandages and found that no new blood had seeped through. He carefully stretched, stood up, and padded towards the cave entrance, where he stopped at the sight of her silhouette against the fiery tones of the sky. After a moment, he walked up next to her and leaned against the same tree.

Meaghan sighed. "I hope Tina is okay at your father's estate. I normally know everything she's doing, and I'm worried about her."

"I spoke to her when I was looking for you," Rickie replied, "and she was fine. She's a good kid."

"Thank you. I feel a little bit better."

"You've been taking care of her for a while," Rickie said admiringly. "Your parents used to talk about you two. Your mother said you were the caretaker and your sister was the free spirit. I know they were very proud of both of you." He didn't add that her father had called her the 'mousy' one, when the reality was so far from that.

Meaghan felt a pang thinking about her parents, but this was an opportunity to get more information.

"Can you tell me anything about what happened to them?" Rickie heard the plaintive note in the question, and hesitated about replying. This was not what he expected this morning, but it was important to clear the air regarding her parents. He dragged a hand across the stubble on his face.

"I can't talk a lot about what they did at the division. At that time, a year ago, they were going to Shanghai to meet with one of our operatives, in order to check up on some rumors of Chinese nationals attempting some type of sabotage. There was nothing in the radio chatter to indicate any problems with the plane. It just...disappeared." Rickie took a deep breath and continued. "We performed an extensive search and located the wreckage of the plane, but it was in the deepest section of the sea. We were unable to retrieve anything from the seafloor that could indicate it was a terrorist act, but our experts believe, based on the debris field, that it broke up midair possibly due to some type of explosion. There was no indication that anyone survived the impact, so we filed our investigation as presumed dead."

Silence. Then a single sob.

His heart broke a little, knowing the pain Meaghan was feeling had to be overwhelming. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her right ear before he tucked his head on her shoulder and gently rocked back and forth. She leaned back and savored the feel of his warm strength around her. Her muscles slowly unknotted until he was almost holding her up. He turned her around until he back was against the trunk and his arms bracketed her.

Rickie realised that was the pose they had in her kitchen, so long ago. He searched her face, and saw the lines of weariness that weren't there before. Without another thought, he scooped her up and strode back to the cave, gently placing her on the pallet she had made for them, before stretching out beside her. He gently pulled her head until it was resting against his heart.

Meaghan tried to pull away. "We have to somehow find something to contact help..."

"Shhhh", he said as he tucked back her hair and kissed her nose. "Just rest for now."

She sighed and snuggled against him, her arm curled trustingly across his bare abs right above his makeshift bandage. He could feel her lips curve against his chest.

"Thank you, my Pillow Prince."