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something.
    Max stirred then, moaning and rolling over. A nasty gash ran from the outer edge of one eyebrow up his forehead.
    I winced.
    “Are you okay?” I waited a moment. “Max?”
    He didn’t answer.
    I couldn’t stand looking at that wound any longer and reached for the first aid kit. I pulled out a bandage and dabbed gently at his injury, wishing I had something to clean it with. “Thanks for getting me in the raft.” I stopped what I was doing. “I thought I was going to die.”
    He didn’t answer.
    “But I didn’t. Drown, I mean. We’re in the raft. We’re safe.”
    Swallowing the for now at the end of the sentence, I continued cleaning his forehead. I stuck on the adhesive bandage, and although it ended up slightly crooked, it seemed secure. “Not perfect, but it’ll work.”
    I slid down and crossed my arms, leaning back on the side of the raft. My wet clothes were almost unbearable, and my teeth started to chatter.
    I also had to pee. Bad.

 
    sixteen
    I kept hoping for the sun to come out and warm things up. Warm me up. “Otherwise we’ll have to add hypothermia to the list.”
    Why was I talking to Max? He couldn’t hear me.
    So I turned to the left and answered myself. “What list?”
    Turning back to the right I answered, “Our list of issues.”
    “Like wet clothes?”
    “And no food.”
    “No water,” I added, looking around where there was nothing but water. “Well, no fresh water.” Hearing the list out loud made it all real and made me worry.
    I looked at his feet. “And one shoe. You only have one shoe.”
    Then I pointed at my bare feet. “One shoe is better than none.”
    I sighed.
    Part of me didn’t want him to wake up. He’d been so upset about Larry when the plane went down. I didn’t know Max at all. I had no idea what he was going to do when he woke up. He was the adult in the situation. Whatever kind of person he turned out to be, I hoped he would have a plan.
    We drifted for a while, and I didn’t say anything else out loud. The joyless gray of the sky blended with the bleak darkness of the water. But I didn’t feel as alone as I had in the dark.
    And there was hope inside me. Hope that we would be found soon. Being cold and tired and hungry wasn’t going to erase the big picture. The big obstacle was getting rescued and I harbored hope that help was on the way.
    Although I tried to think about other things, good things, things to keep me distracted, it became impossible to ignore my bladder.
    For the first time, I was glad Max wasn’t awake.
    I did not want to put my legs—or any part of me—back in the sea. On my belly, I slid my bottom half over the edge. My legs were straight out, not in the water, and I managed to get my shorts and undies down far enough so they wouldn’t get wet. Well, they were damp from the rain and seawater already. I didn’t want to add pee to the list.
    Emptying my bladder felt so good, I nearly cried with relief.
    When I finished, I kind of splashed myself clean, let myself dry a bit in the breeze.
    I had to smile, thinking of what a view some plane overhead would have had. I pulled my bottoms back up.
    Later, the rain tapered off and the wind became a light breeze as the clouds finally broke. The sudden burst of warm sunshine spread over my exposed skin. My smile was automatic and genuine.
    There were a few inches of water in the raft, which I was sick of sitting in. I wondered whether I should bail. Then I remembered the yellow cup and unzipped the Coastal Commander. Was it a bailer?
    I stuck the cup into the water around me and scooped some up. Seemed like a bailer to me. After working for a while, I managed to reduce the water in the raft by quite a bit, so that the sun could actually dry most of it.
    The Coastal Commander had redeemed itself slightly.
    I wondered if Max would get sick, sitting in wet clothes with the head wound. I knew I couldn’t sit in my wet clothes all day. Somehow I needed to try to dry them. Max’s