Protection

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 10: Rescue

"Where is she?" Nani muttered under her breath. The truck puttered up and down on the uneven road as she drove through the rain and mud. It was getting darker by the minute, and as she had to rely more and more on the headlights, she felt more and more agitated.

"You know, little girl is smart. Could be possible she has returned home with 626." Jumba suggested, trying to keep his eyes steady as he scanned around on the off chance that he would find them wandering beside the road—or worse. "In fact, am betting you." Nani glanced at him, and said nothing. She leaned over and turned on the radio with one hand. It crackled and hissed with static as she adjusted the knobs to find the local weather.

"Well a...you may have not...ced we are...ently in the middle of a large and dangerous storm," the anchor blazed in as the station cleared. Her voice was oddly charismatic despite the mood of the car. "Starting at approximately seven-thirty this evening near North Shores, the storm has covered the island remarkably quick, despite our radar. Flash floods have already been seen in unoccupied territories, and are expected to continue and grow more severe. All citizens should stay in their homes or find higher land—if any. Steve," Nani dulled the volume on the radio.

"I don't know about you Jumba, but I can tell when something's not right. Intuition tells me both of them are still out there, I just hope that its wrong." She sighed. "We'll go back, but only after one more pass." She said after a pause.

"Agreed." Jumba nodded, keeping his eyes stuck to the road. A flash of lightning and thunder rumbled across the earth.

"Save Stitch." Lilo's thoughts demanded, arousing her to consciousness with a heavy heartbeat that echoed in her ears. "Save Stitch." It repeated calmly, but a bit more urgent this time. Lilo didn't know how long she was out. A few seconds, a minute; it felt like both simultaneously. She let go of the little bit of air in her lungs and raced her bubbles up a few feet to the surface, fighting the current that bashed against her.

After breaking through the tension, she cleared her eyes and quickly looked around. Lightning flared with the roar of lions following its presence. A rumble reverberated through the water as Lilo tried to tread it. She took a deep breath, listening to the command her subconscious was giving her, and dove back down.

The current was strong to fight, but she was stronger. It was deeper than she had expected, almost seven feet down. She pushed through the waters harder and harder, skimming the bottom to find her friend. She had to act fast, or else...

"Concentrate." She banished the thought from her mind, and straightened her eyes, now agitated from the water. Dirt, twigs, and other debris rocketed past her. She was careful to dodge the large objects, and took no mind to the small, puny pellets. She latched on to the submerged ground, digging her fingers deep into the earth, where she paused to look around.

"I'm not going to find him..." She told herself, looking into the dark distance. "He could be anywhere." She blinked her eyes, and let go of the earth, floating up, but still searching. She scrutinized the water, looking for anything that remotely resembled Stitch. However, as she looked ahead again, a small stone caught her face. She let a flurry of bubbles out in reaction, and her head whipped with recoil, but she quickly regained composure.

Because she lost a good deal of air, she sank to the bottom very quickly. She decided to use the ground as leverage to help thrust her up faster, but as she touched the ground, she grabbed on to something bulky and fleshy, rather than dirt. Her whipped down to spot onto what her hand had latched, and was met with the sight of a blue arm, lazily relaxed and floating in the current.

She reacted without hesitation, using the most of her strength to find the bulk of Stitch's body and lift it into a comfortable position for her to swim out. She crouched, and shot up to the surface, kicking and flailing her legs and right arm to go up instead of forward, as she swam with the current. Her lungs burned and commanded air with a forceful sting, and she felt like she was about to pass out, until at the last second she broke through the tension and heaved in a quick, but necessary, gasp.

But the rescue was half complete; she had to get him to safety somewhere. She looked around again, kicking hard to keep her head above the surface. She spotted a small rise as lightning flashed again onto the ground, and wasted no time in wading toward it. Again, she was lucky, the current ended up helping her reach her destination.

With her only hand she latched onto the ground and resisted the pull of the river. Thunder crackled overhead as she strenuously dragged herself to land. Picking Stitch up once she had room for her feet, she ran for a few second up the hill, and once she thought it was safe enough; she laid Stitch on his back.

"Stitch," she spoke quickly, trying to shake him awake, "Stitch wake up." He didn't respond. She leaned her head over and listened for breath, but didn't feel or hear any, and didn't see his chest rising. "C'mon Stitch." She said to keep herself from panicking. She recalled the lesson David had given her on how to rescue someone who wasn't breathing, but she didn't remember all of it. But, she had to do what she could.

Placing both hands on his stomach, she pushed down lightly. She a bit of water leak out the sides of his mouth, and repeated the compression, this time a little harder. She heard the water sloshing around inside of him, and kept a steady pace of compressions, trying desperately not to panic, but getting more on the verge. She felt she was forgetting something, but continued on with what she knew, until a relieving sputter came from Stitch's throat, that ended the tears running from her eyes.

He coughed. His head leaned to the side and his tongue flattened out on the ground as his body convulsed and pulsed as he hacked up water. After half a minute of constantly draining the fluids, Stitch finally rested to a soft, steady breathing. Lilo lifted her palm from his chest, and moved to his shoulder.

"Stitch," he heard her voice through his clogged ears, "can you hear me?" Slowly, he opened his eyes, his vision obscured. He turned his head to look up, and saw Lilo's head, out of focus in his eyes. The sky, he could tell, was illuminated with the constant flicker of lightning that seemed omnipresent in what he saw.

"Li-"He tried to speak, but water kicked in his throat, causing him to cough again. He sat up, placed his hands on his thighs, and tried to breath in deep to get the rest of it out. Lilo patted his back to help him, but wasn't sure if it did any good. Finally, Stitch stopped, and took in a deep sigh. "Three times, now." He said softly, his voice cool. He looked over and smiled at Lilo, though his gaze was a bit past her in his still-clearing vision.

"Thr-three times?" Lilo repeated, her voice catching as a knot tied in her throat.

"Naga cry." He said, turning around and wiping her cheek with his hand.

"I...I'm not." She said, sniffing and rubbing her cheeks, brushing Stitch away meekly. "But, what do you mean, 'three times'?" She asked.

"How many times Lilo save Stitch." He replied, straightening his gaze.

"That's too many." She commented, followed by a loud boom of thunder that shook the ground, but they didn't seem to notice. She stood as Stitch chuckled, and offered a hand to help him up. He gripped it tightly, and stood, but lost his balance immediately as his mind spun around. "Watch it," Lilo said, holding him steady by the shoulders, "need help?" He nodded silently, lifting his arm across her back as she stepped to his side.

"Sorry Stitch worried Lilo." He apologized, as he followed her steps

"Don't be," she said, "it's not your fault. I'm just glad your safe...I really thought I was going to-"

"Naga shibi-ishka." He interrupted. "Stitch fine, Lilo fine; all that maters."

"You're right." She agreed. "Now all we have to do is get home." Stitch blinked twice. The area was close to where the house was, from what he could recognize, anyway. He pointed in a direction, and Lilo turned to walk them that way. "Huh?" She said aloud as she saw two lights come into view in front of her. The sound of a motor soon followed, and she realized that it was a truck before her.

"Lilo!" Nani shouted, as the car turned off and the doors opened up. "Lilo, are you alright?"

"We're fine, Nani." Lilo said loudly over the thunder. "And you're hugging us to death!" Nani let go abruptly, causing Stitch to fall over as he lost his balance again.

"Did you find experiment 599?" Jumba called, stepping up to them with an umbrella.

"Now's not the time," Nani said, leading Lilo, "you can tell us on the way home." She opened the door and let them climb in, and then shut it tightly. "And I'm glad you're coming home..." She thought, as she took her place in the driver's seat and started the engine.

Isa Coa Maketaba

(To be continued)