Destination Truth: Whatever's Left

Destination Truth:
"Whatever's Left"

Chapter 1
How he got to the bottom of the riverbed was a blur. All Josh knew was that he was awake and barely able to feel his body. He wiggled his toes and breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew better. He laughed to himself, knowing that if the now dried up river was flowing this could have been a lot worse.
"Don't move. Don't Move." his mind said.
He laid there listening. Josh could hear the wind through the brush next to him, the birds in the sky above him, and the rumble of the ever shifting earth beneath him. But there was one sound that broke the somewhat peace in his rattled head.
A small pebble hit is forehead and a few more rolled passed him. Josh tried to look up, but was afraid he might do more damage to his already throbbing body. Thank goodness his eyes didn't hurt or else he wouldn't have been able see Rex and Richie making their way down the rock wall.
"Josh!"
As much sense as the fall took out of him Josh could still make out the shapes and call of his friends. All he could do was close his eyes and wait.


Rex and Richie had almost reached the mid point of the wall; it was too unstable to make it down any faster. No matter how hard the trek down was, it was harder to see their friend and leader lying on his back at the bottom of the riverbed.
Richie always prided himself on being a very experienced rock climber, but right now he could barely hold onto the rope. Richie was fighting every urge to plummet to the bottom, but the urge to fight the tears was even greater.
"We'll get to him Richie, don't worry." Rex could see Richie struggling.
Richie just bowed his head and nodded in agreement. Rex was just as shaken by the fall as he was. Although Josh was the one who had fallen a good nine and a half feet, Rex was certain that if it wasn't for Josh's quick action Ryder would be the one at the bottom of this treacherous rock wall.
After Richie steadied himself; he readjusted his footing and took a deep breath. Just as he was ready to make his next step; he heard the sickening 'Zip' of a loose rope.

"No! RYDER!!!!"

Rex shouted as though his voice alone was going to slow her down, but she was already half way down the wall. Ryder flew past Rex and Richie as if they weren't there; but that didn't stop her from connecting eyes with Richie. He could see the drying tears as the sun bounced off her cheeks, as well as the swollen veins in her eyes. She was on a mission to get to Josh and her eyes told him that no one was going to stop her from getting there.


Chapter 2
Josh looked up just in time to see someone or something falling from the sky. He tried to yell, but the pain in his body wasn't about to let him. All he knew was that he heard Ryder's name. Had he failed to pull her to safety? Was she laying on the ground next to him? Josh would never forgive himself if she had fallen. He might as well die now and forget being saved.

Ryder hit the riverbed with an almost bone shattering thud, but she didn't care. The shock vibrated through her legs and straight into her chest.

She couldn't unhook herself from the rope fast enough; she might as well have left it on. Every minute she fought with the clips was time lost.
Finally she got loose, Ryder almost tripped on every rock and root that was in her path. She could barely hold herself up right; when she couldn't fight the ground beneath her anymore, Ryder let herself fall and she crawled the rest of the way.

"Josh.", she sobbed. "Josh, open your eyes. Open them damn it!"

Josh could hear her fear in her quivering voice. He could feel her hand on his chest as the other stroked his forehead. It was here that he realized she hadn't fallen with him. He smiled and he could almost feel his heart jump back from the abyss. She was alright and that's how it was suppose to be.

"I guess I'm not as light on my feet as I thought, eh Ryder." he coughed.

Ryder collapsed on top of his chest, Thankful that he was awake. Josh could feel her hot tears soak through his shirt, if he could move he would have tried to comfort her.

"You idiot! Why did you do that?", her voice cracked.

"What? And let you have all the fun? Not a chance." Josh could barely finish his sentences. But it beat being alone at the bottom of the riverbed and he was more than happy that it was Ryder who was there.

Ryder couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry Josh we're going to get you up and to a hospital, don't worry okay."

"Ryder, if I don't mak-"
"Shut up. Rex is on his way down."
"Ryder..."
"You are not saying 'goodbye' do you hear me! You are not saying that today. REX!!!" Ryder wished she could just pull Rex from the wall, why was he taking so long?

"Ryder, I thought the riverbed was dry."
"It is, Josh."
"My neck's wet." Josh didn't want to move to much but he could feel a little tickle of water making its way down his back.

Ryder tried to squeeze her fingers underneath his head without hurting him. Her eyes widened when she realized that the 'water' was hot. Ryder slowly brought her hand back into view and saw that her palm was covered in blood, his blood.

"That bad hu?" Josh smirked. Ryder didn't realize that Josh was watching her and tried to hide her terror.

"No, you'll be fine. Rex can fix that. That's why you hired him."
"Hmm, and I thought it was because he could play a mean sitar." Josh couldn't help but cough.

Ryder and Josh simply looked at each other, wishing to say things that they were to proud or too scared to say. It hurt them both to see each other this way.

"Ryder, listen I.......I..." Josh couldn't finish. Why did he feel so tired all of a sudden. He just wanted to close his eyes. Maybe it would be okay to close them for a bit, why not? Ryder was here. He just wanted to close them. Just for a little while.

"Josh? Josh. Josh! JOSH!!!"



Chapter 3
Josh awoke to the sound of propellers and the abusive blows of wind on his brow. The noise was so deafening that it was no wonder he woke up from what ever blackened abyss he was laying in. The wind made it difficult to open his eyes, but he could see just a sliver of the world outside through his eyelashes. Everything was grey and meshed together, he could hardly make out anything.

Where was he? How did he get in the air? What happened? All these little thoughts formed in his mind without even becoming aware of them. But it didn't matter, the darkness was returning to his eyes and anything would be better then those damn propellers. He welcomed this unknown bliss without knowing if he'd be able to come back from it. He didn't care. He just wanted to let the rest take him away from what ever world he was re-entering.



Chapter 4
Ryder had hardly slept since they arrived at the hospital and for good reason. Walking up the hallway with her one hundredth cup of coffee she could help but revisit that day. She also knew that it could have been much worse. If they had been investigating in any other country they wouldn't have been so fortunate. It was good to be back home California, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Josh had yet to wake up and Ryder hadn't left the hospital since.
She probably reeked to high heaven, but she didn't care. Ryder was use to not having a shower everyday considering the various places they've visited. Not every hut in the middle of nowhere is blessed with a shower head.
Ryder managed to make it back to Josh's room without looking up from her coffee. She had become eerily accustom to the hospital hallways, it chilled her to the core. Had she really been here for that long? Come to think of it, she found it difficult to recall what day it was. She looked around for some kind of confirmation. Nothing.
Josh looked so peaceful. The color began to return to his face; the pink in his lips made them look fuller and less sickly. The doctors had removed the oxygen from his nose a day earlier since he had shown signs of recovery.
She did nothing but sit by his bedside; she felt so helpless. Every once in a while Ryder could see his eyes twitch beneath his eyelids as if he was having a bad dream. She wanted so badly to wake him; to just shake him and plead for him to open his eyes. But she had to wait. Ryder had to wait until he was ready.
Now that she thought about it, she always waited for him. With all they've been through she was willing to wait a little longer.
Moments later the nurse walked in. Ryder sat up straight and tried not to look tired, but the nurse noticed anyway.
"You look like hell." The nurse giggled. Ryder smiled back and nodded with a sign. "Can I get you anything while I'm here?"
"No, but you could tell me when he might wake up.", Ryder had to hold back her tears.
The nurse gave her a solemn smile, than checked the machines for any new changes. She gave Ryder a bunch of medical jargon that sounded like the adults in the peanuts cartoons. No matter how many times they tried to explain things to her, she was never going to understand them. Eventually she just automatically tuned everything out.
" ……it looks like he could wake up any day now." Ryder's eyes shot up.
"What?" Ryder almost fell out of her chair.
"Yea, his brain activity has risen considerably and now that he's breathing on his own as of yesterday; I'd have to say he's in pretty good shape. Maybe you can coax him out of his stupor." The nurse gave Ryder a sweet smile and left her to it.
"Thank you." Ryder choked back tears.
"It's what I do, good luck." With that the nurse left the room



Chapter 5
"I don't know if you can hear me," Ryder clasped Josh's hand in her own. "But you have to wake up. We need you. Josh, please wake up. Just wake up."

Tears flooded her face; they fell into her mouth as she spilled her heart to him. She didn't know how else to wake him. She grasped his hand tighter.

"I should have been me. It should have been me." Ryder spoke to him for almost five minutes and still he didn't wake. She felt drained and weak, throwing every iota of life in herself to move him, but still nothing.

She laid her head on his right hand, her tears still running down her cheeks and through his fingers. She kissed his fingers, then his knuckles, and finally the back of his hand.
"Don't leave me Josh. I need you. I've always needed you. I love you." Ryder closed her eyes; probably for the first time since they arrived, but she couldn't fight the sleep that so longed to take her.


"Ryder, I'm starting to lose feeling in my hand."



Josh was giving her that old "Josh Gates" smile like nothing had ever happened. She couldn't believe it, she could finally see those beautiful eyes of his. Those eyes that she believed she would never see again, those eyes that felt like home and adventure all at the same time.

Scare to lose him again, Ryder threw herself on top of him. Her arms collected around his neck like the pythons of the amazon that they had walked. And the heat of his renewed body was just as hot as those sweltering jungles. She just couldn't hold him tight enough.

"Easy, Ryder." he laughed. " Let me wake up before you squeeze me to bits."

As she pulled away, he saw her swollen eyes. As she wipe away the tears he could see that they were raw and puffy; he had rarely seen her like this. Their eyes locked for moments, but as Josh was about brush the tears from her eyes, Ryder delivered a fierce punch to his left shoulder.

"Don't you EVER do that again! You scared the shit out of me you Ass!" Josh couldn't help but smile as she shouted at him. No matter what the situation, Ryder always found a way to make herself look tough and on top; and that's what Josh loved about her. He couldn't believe that it took 'falling off a cliff' to help him see that. He put her through hell and hated himself for that.

"Is everything alright? I heard shouting and...." The nurse peeked in through the door. She gasped at first, then smiled. The nurse found Ryder straggling Josh's legs, Ryder stopped shouting, and both stared back at the nurse. "Well Mr. Gates, Welcome back. I'll fetch the Doctor right away."

"Ryder." She turned back to see him, but bowed her head; she was afraid she'd burst out into more tears is she were to look into his eyes.

Josh lifted her chin. "I heard everything."

Ryder's heart dropped. Part of her wasn't ready to say the things she said, but the other half was more then relieved that she did. Josh tried to lock onto her shifting eyes, he could feel that she had no idea what to do.

"Look at me."Her water soaked eyes sent a sting into his very being. "I'm sorry, for everything. I'm so sorry, Ryder." He took her into his chest and held her.

Folded against him, she clutched his hospital gown in her tear drenched fingers.

"You're so lucky you came back in one piece." Ryder gave him another little nudge in the ribs.
"In one piece or not, from now on, whatever's left is all yours."Josh, ever so gently, kissed her forehead and rested his cheek in her hair. Though it laid there for only a moment, as Ryder shifted her head.

He kissed her before their eyes had a chance to meet.

Gentle and soft, but full of passion and want. Abundant with evolved emotion that could do nothing but stew and simmer in the blood of longing for years. Tasting of fulfillment that had finally met it's climax in this one little connection.


Ryder laughed and Josh couldn't help it either. All these years of looking for the unknown and here they where; jumping into an all together different unknown. One without jungles, or mountains; without monsters or ghosts, but still coupled with fear and adventure all the same. It was the rush of a new Truth that drove them to find it together regardless of the Destination.