Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

would recognize even if they were a hundred times more battered. The men moving Jacob set him down on his side, with an extra life-jacket tucked under his head. Daniel moved up beside him, and braced himself between Jacob and the side, cushioning Jacob against the rock and plunge of the boat. He fisted one hand in the waistband of Jacob's skivvies, not caring any more what it might look like, and let himself go under.

CHAPTER 8
    Four days later
    Jacob thought he remembered something important. Something about Daniel shouting in his ear. He tried to open his eyes, but they were crusted and dry. A damp cloth wiped over them and a man's soft voice said, "Try again now."
    He blinked repeatedly, until the blur of dark and light above him resolved into a man peering down. He tried to speak and only croaked. He licked at his lips, feeling cracked and peeling skin under a tongue that did little to moisten them. The soft voice said, "Here. Let me." And the damp cloth swept over his mouth with blessed coolness. He tried to catch a corner of it in his lips and suck on it, but the man took it away. A moment later, though, a small trickle of fluid seeped into his mouth. He swallowed eagerly and was ashamed of the pitiful whimper he made when the water was withdrawn.
    "You can have more in a minute." The man standing over him bent closer. "You look a lot better this morning."
    "Morning?" It came out hoarse and garbled, but the man nodded.
    "I don't remember." And then he did. The Gageway , shaking and tilting as explosions wracked her. Fire in the passageway and equipment breaking loose as the gallant ship began to roll. Then water and pain. Somewhere in there he thought he'd seen Daniel. He remembered a long dark time with nothing but the taste of oil in his mouth and the sound of Daniel's voice in his ear. Unless he'd been dreaming that. He coughed, trying to clear his throat.
    "Daniel. Acardi. He was in the water with me. I think."
    "Lie still."
    Jacob didn't realize he had been trying to sit up until the pain whipped white lightning through his lower back. He gasped at the intensity of it. For a moment there was no possibility of thought or even breath, just waves of pain.
    When he could stop panting and breathe again the man said, "You have to hold still. Doc thinks you have a couple of cracked vertebrae, in addition to the hip. I've given you more morphine. It should hit you pretty fast."
    "Hip?"
    "The Doc will be along to talk to you later. He'll be glad you're finally awake."
    Jacob's head felt heavy and swollen, like his brain was two sizes too big for his skull. But the pain was slowly ebbing. He managed to repeat, "Daniel?" through gritted teeth.
    "Almost half the crew survived. Hopefully your friend was among them. I don't have the names here." The man's hand pressed gently on his shoulder. "Anyway you should rest, get better. The Doc will stop by later."
    Jacob wanted to say he would get better much faster if he could just find out about Daniel. But his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and his lips felt numb. He let himself drift. He thought he could remember an echo of Daniel's voice. "Where you are is home." He closed his eyes to hear it better.
    The doc did stop by some undefined time later. Despite the cushioning blanket of the morphine that examination hurt worse than anything Jacob could ever remember. At the end of it the doctor looked down at him soberly. "Well, you're a lucky young man. With time and care, you should heal. That hip may never be quite the same, but barring infection you won't lose the leg."
    Jacob must have looked shocked because the doctor frowned. "We talked about that two days ago. You don't remember?"
    "Two days?" He struggled to work spit into his dry mouth and ask more clearly, "How long have I been here?"
    "Three days. You came in on the Incentry with a lot of the other men from the Gageway ."
    Jacob coughed again, a dry hack that hurt his throat and his back and his chest in equal measure. When he could, he asked, "Is there a list? Of survivors?"
    The doctor's eyes softened. "Sure. I'll get someone to find it for you."
    Jacob clenched his teeth together to avoid asking for it immediately. It wouldn't change anything to know about Daniel sooner rather than later. Except for maybe loosening his chest so he could breathe. Instead he asked, "What happens now?"
    "You're headed home, son. That broken hip is going to be slow to heal, and you lost some muscle with the cuts on your