"JAKE

"JAKE!!" Josh's scream seemingly echoed to the far corners of Alaska as he lunged to catch his brother's fallen form.

"Jake? Jake c'mon, talk to me," Josh frantically prodded his brother's lifeless body.

"Oh my god," Dave gasped as he kneeled at Jake's other side, "What the fuck happened?"

"He's sick! He's been sick, I should have done something…" Josh muttered incoherently as he shook Jake's bloodied face between his hands. "He's barely breathing…."

"What's going on down there, someone tell me what's happening!" came Phil's frantic order over the intercom.

"I'll go relieve your Dad and call the coast guard," relayed a stunned Murray to the rest of the crew as he turned to sprint towards the wheelhouse.

Josh had barely heard any of the commotion. All he could hear was the pounding blood in his ears that gave the effect of standing in a giant seashell. All he could see was his brother's white face in stark contrast with the splashes of deep-red blood that now also covered his own hands. He knew that this was all his fault, that he could have prevented this and now his little brother was lying in his arms, only half-alive.

The arrival of his father jolted him out of his self-deprecating trance.

"Oh shit… Jacob! What's wrong with him? Did he get hit by the pot?" Phil cried as he shook his son in a vain attempt to wake him.

"Dad… Jake's sick, really sick. I should have told you. I'm sorry… I'm really sorry," Josh felt a tear slip down his cheek as he pleaded to his father's stony face for forgiveness.

But there was no response. Instead Phil took Jake from where he rested in Josh's lap and cradled him as he had twenty years before, rocking back and forth, silent tears sliding down his face, as he felt his youngest son's fading heartbeat.

This was not the way it was supposed to happen. Fathers were not meant to bury their own sons. The entire crew lived each day on the Bering Sea with the haunting realization that any day could be their last. Accidents were plentiful and catastrophic, but to have his son taken from him by a freak illness while at sea seemed cruelly ironic.

"The coast guard's on their way!" Murray's voice came from above, "But the weather's picking-up, they said it might take them a while."

"Jake doesn't have a while…" Freddie sadly murmured as he sat with his head in his hands.

Josh got up suddenly and walked a short distance away before turning to kick a bin while letting out an agonized howl. "Fuck!" he screamed angrily running his hands through his hair, before falling once again to the deck.

"Oh God, please…" Josh whispered. "Please."

The rest of the crew stared forlornly, completely at a loss on the deck of the Cornelia Marie for the first time in their lives.

Sorry, it's perdy short this time… it just felt right to leave it there. I was sad when writing this… but it might have something to do with the music I was listening to lol. If you want to be depressed listen to "Cold Water" by Damien Rice while reading this…. Hah. Fun stuff.

Anyway please Review!!