There were four of us, including David and myself on our search team. Team Indigo. The officer in charge of our team, who introduced himself as Lieutenant Dalhouse, but said to call him Pat, was an older man, no bull shit kind of guy. He was kind of intimidating and seemed less than impressed to have me with them. The other officer, introduced as Luke, was quite young, I'd estimate mid-twenties. He was friendly, more supportive and very knowledgeable on the area.
We made our way into the forest in single file. Pat lead, followed by David, then me and Luke at the back. The search had been carefully planned out to cover the tracks the team took to their camp ground in case Martin and Joey had doubled back, but also ground below it, because it was suspected that they had taken a fall and ended up lost.
It was warmer than expected and I was beginning to sweat profusely in the protective gear we were made to wear. David was constantly turning to check on me, his blue eyes the same as Joey's not hiding any of the concern. I was determined though, I would keep up with the men and I would do anything and everything in my power to find Joey.
Every now and then the radio that Pat was carrying would spring to life, giving updates from other teams. He would reply with similar updates. But still, no one had seen any sign of them.
"It's pretty brave of you to want to be part of the ground search. I noticed all the other women stayed back," Luke tried to initiate conversation.
"I would do anything for Joey. Not saying the others won't too, but I'd rather be out here searching," I defended my actions.
"That's admirable. You must really love him."
"I do, very much," David turned around as I said that, appreciation in his eyes and gave me a soft smile, which I returned.
"When my dad was missing in the ocean I was too young to be of any use, it was an awful feeling just sitting around and waiting. I couldn't do it again," I explained further.
"Sorry to hear that. Did they find your dad?" He asked, genuine concern in his tone.
"No, well not till his body washed up. He drowned, boating accident in a storm."
"I'm sorry."
The conversation ended then, now that my motive behind joining the search was clear nothing more needed to be said.
We reached a small clearing and took a break. Again the radio went off and again Pat updated our location and status. We each took our water bottle from our bag and had a drink. Luke passed out some granola bars to help keep up our energy levels. I didn't particularly feel like eating, but did anyway as I knew I needed all the energy I could get.
It was then as I was standing and munching mindlessly on the granola bar that I noticed it.
Tied to a tree branch was a piece of material. It looked new, like it had only recently been placed there and it was bright red, the same colour as the college basketball team t-shirts the boys all wore and would have been wearing this trip.
I rushed over to the branch, gaining the attention of the rest of the team as I moved quickly. Grabbing the tied piece of material from the branch I tore it off to get a closer look. There was no doubt in my mind.
"This is Joey's!" I exclaimed.
"How can you be so sure?" Pat asked me.
"It's from his basketball t-shirt. It has a faint smell of him too. Trust me, I know it's his. He would have left it here to help find him! He is smart, it's exactly something he would do!"
"She's right. He would know we are out looking and he would try to be smart about it. My son isn't stupid," David said.
"Ok, I'll update base with the information. We will change our route slightly and head north, hopefully he has left more clues or better yet, stayed put somewhere," Pat said, pulling out the radio.
My insides were a mess, I was excited to finally have some sort of a sign. I felt hopeful, positive, but I was also still anxious. I didn't know what state he would be in when we found him.
I put my water away and stood back up to continue on our search when David approached me. Aside from looks of appreciation and a few words here and there, he hadn't said much to me at all. I could tell how worried he had been the whole time.
"Good job Morgan," he said wrapping his arm around my shoulders and squeezing. "Let's go find our boy."
It didn't take long for us to know we were on the right track. Less than a mile after the first torn piece of t-shirt, we found another. Happy that we were going in the right direction we hurried along, all of us moving faster now with renewed energy. I could feel it within me that we were close.
Again, less than a mile and another one. I couldn't help but wonder how many more there would be before they had surely stopped in a safe place to just wait for help. It felt like we were following a trail of breadcrumbs.
There weren't any more markers. Instead, ahead of us there was a rock face with a small clearing and what looked like a shallow cave area. Laying in that cave were two bodies, one older man and the other was Joey.
The instant I saw them, I broke out into a sob. Neither of them moved at the sound of us. David and I both broke out into a run, crouching on either side of Joey. Luke hurriedly pulled water bottles and blankets from his backpack while Pat got on the radio.
"This is Team Indigo, over."
"Go ahead, Indigo."
"We have found them. Over."
I didn't listen to more of the radio conversation after that, Pat gave directions to our location and requested that stretchers be brought, neither man would be fit to walk out. Many more messages of relief flooded over the radio as the search was called off, but all I could care about was Joey lying in front of me.
"Joey, hey, it's us. Your dad and me. We found you," I cried as I sat at his side trying to wake him.
He stirred slightly, but was clearly dehydrated. Luke handed me a bottle of water and explained to just wet his lips at first because we don't want him to choke. Luke and Pat went to Martin to help him too. When I glanced over I noticed his ankle was swollen and bruised.
I poured water over Joey's lips, trying to coerce him awake. Slowly he stirred.
"Hey there. We're here," I said stroking his head as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Morgan?" He muttered.
"Yes, it's me. We got you. We're going to get you out of here."
"Drink some water son, slowly," David took the bottle from me to help him take a small mouthful.
"Dad? You're both here..." he trailed off before closing his eyes again.
"Babe, we're here. Wake up for us," I pleaded, but he didn't wake up again. Instead we watched as he took deep, laboured breaths. I looked to Martin, who also was lying unconscious.
We had no choice but to wait for the stretchers to arrive so we could carry them out.
From the moment more help arrived, everything felt like a blur. There were search and rescue guys all around us, they loaded both men onto stretchers and hurried them out of the forest with us close behind.
I remember meeting the ambulance by the cars, they said only David or I could ride with them. I told David to go, he would be able to fill out the papers and give a medical history once at the hospital. Pat and Luke quickly loaded everything into our car and took off behind the ambulance. I was grateful to them for knowing how important it was for me to get to the hospital too.
They dropped me at emergency, where I ran inside, finding the Cameron's and Ali, Ryan and Ethan already there. Looks of relief were evident on everyone's faces.
"Any news?" I asked as I ran up to the group.
"Oh Morgan! You did it, you found my boy!" Sophia wrapped me up in her arms, her face wet with fresh tears.
"We did. Any news? Is he awake?" I asked again.
"He woke up in the ambulance after they got a drip in him with some fluids. All we know right now is they were both severely dehydrated, they are doing more tests. David said he asked for you in the ambulance," Gabby answered my questions.
"Oh thank god," I breathed a sigh of relief before collapsing onto a chair beside Harper.
"Thank you Morgan, thanks for finding him," Harper said as she hugged me too.
"It was thanks to Joey that we found him,"
I explained, everyone looking at me puzzled. "He tore bits of his shirt up and tied them on branches, it led us to where they were. I don't know anything more yet, but that's how we found them."
"Good job roomie," Ryan smiled gratefully, finally looking like a weight was lifted from him.
"Cameron family?" A voice called from behind us and Sophia stepped forward.
I looked up, seeing an older male doctor standing with a clipboard.
"I'm Sophia Cameron, Jonathon's mom."
"Your son is awake, we have completed tests and there seems to be no injuries. He is still dehydrated and needs to remain overnight on a drip and for observation. We are moving him up to a ward now, you will be able to see him there. Head to the elevators and go to level 3. The nurses will be able to help you from there."
"Thank you so much doctor," Sophia said as we all gathered our belongings and followed his directions.
As we head towards the lift, Jayda and Jessica gravitated towards me, each taking one of my hands. Squeezing their hands, I asked, "Are you girls ok?"
"We are now. We were so scared," Jessica replied.
"Your brother is a fighter. He wouldn't want to leave you two ever," I insisted.
We walked together just behind Sophia to the nurses station on level 3. They must have been warned that there was a big group coming because when they saw us they directed us straight down the ward to the room Joey had just been admitted to.
I let Sophia and the girls go to him first, standing back with Ryan and Ethan. As much as I wanted to run to him and wrap him up in my arms never to let go, I know that family is super important to him.
Sophia ran over to him, still blubbering as she checked him over, making sure the doctors didn't miss any injuries.
"Mom, I'm ok. Just exhausted and dehydrated," he told her.
"You scared me Joey! Don't do that again!" She scolded.
The girls took turns hugging him, then Aunt Gabby and Harper joined in on the hugging too.
"Alight, enough! Where's Morgan?" Joey asked, pushing everyone off him.
I didn't even realise until the drops fell onto my hands that I was crying as I stood there. Everyone in the room parted till he could see me, he looked tired and sunburnt, but most of all his eyes were apologetic.
"Come here," he beckoned.
I started sobbing as I walked towards his outstretched arms and sat on the side of the bed. He sat forward and pulled me towards him, kissing me on the head as I lay on his bare chest.
"Hey, I'm ok. I'm ok because of you, you found me," he whispered as I nodded.
"I was so scared," I admitted.
"I was too. But I knew I had to be strong so I could come back to you. I told you I would never leave you."
I sat up so I could look at him, his eyes still bright blue even if the rest of him looked worn. He brought his hand up to my face, wiping away my tears, then neither of us caring that his whole family was in the room he pulled me towards him and kissed me.
He kissed me like it was our first kiss all over again, only with more urgency, making sure that I knew he was ok. It was short, but powerful. Our lips parted, but we sat with our foreheads still touching, his left hand still on my face, my hands gripping his right.
"I told you that you should have pretended to be sick!"
"I'll make sure I listen to you more often," he laughed. "I love you Morgan."
"I love you too."