Rye

I lost sight of the boys some time ago.

I'd been slowed down by some of the equipment we had to manoeuvre between locations, and hadn't realised that the gap between me and the boys had got too big as we had been heading back to the minivan.
So when I looked up minutes later they were gone. I turned in all directions, but couldn't see anyone.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. My hands were completely full, and so every time I dropped something it took ages to pick it all back up again.
Perhaps that's why I was walking slower, so as to decrease the risk of me dropping anything.

It would've been nice of the boys to wait for me though. But I knew that they were all desperate to get home, a long day of filming completed.
At least I knew where the minivan was, otherwise this would've all gone a lot worse.

And of course I spoke too soon.

It was getting dark; with each passing second it was getting harder and harder to make out what was in front of me, so much so that I walked even slower.

Looking back on it, there was no way in hell that I would have ever seen the dip in the earth in front of me.

In my surprise at there being nothing beneath my feet I let out a shout, and felt myself pitch forwards.
An intense agony shot up my right leg, the point of impact being my knee.
I dropped everything, and heard a loud crack, my eyes shooting open as the pain in my knee increased tenfold.

Dammit. What had I got myself into now?

I'd landed hard on my side, so I groaned as I tried to sit up, already feeling bruises forming all over my skin.
And then I shifted my knee, causing a guttural groan to escape from between my lips. I gasped, feeling the pain keep increasing.
Where was my phone? At least it had a torch on it... And I could see if I had any signal.

With trembling hands I reached into my pockets, brushing aside everything I had dropped. I couldn't care less about that right now.
The second my fingertips brushed the screen I sighed in relief. At least I'd have light, if nothing else.
I removed it and unlocked it, closing my eyes as the brightness blinded me. With tears in my eyes I lowered the brightness, and then put the torch on.

I shone it directly at my knee, and felt my whole body freeze in shock. There was no way I was going to be able to get myself back the minivan, seeing as my knee was in the complete wrong place. Of course I'd only gone and dislocated it.
What the hell was I supposed to do now? Wait for boys to notice I wasn't with them? And how long would that take? I could be stuck out here for hours.

Not wanting to look at my knee anymore I decided to go on my phone, leaving the flash on so that I had some light.
No signal.
Brilliant.
Perfect.

Something rustled in the distance, and I wipped my head around, craning my neck, pricking my ears with bated breath.
I dropped my phone onto my lap, running my fingers along the ground until they curled tightly around a fallen stick.

Who knows what was out in the woods at night.

***

I've been stuck here for just over an hour now. No sign of any of the boys. I didn't even know how close to the minivan I was, or if the darkness had disorientated me at all.
I was helpless, and I couldn't hate my life more than I did now.
Why did they leave me behind anyway? Were they playing a joke? Or did they genuinely forget that I was with them?
They better not leave without me. That's for sure.

***

My knee was absolute agony. If I moved an inch waves of pain coursed through my body. I decided to stay still, but it was getting cold now, even in the middle of summer. It was pitch dark too, and all I had to see by was the torch on my phone.
Surely the boys must've noticed that I was missing by now? And surely they must've been looking for me?
Hell, I didn't even know where I was in relation to the minivan.

I wish they'd hurry up. There was something about being helpless in the dark that frightened me. My hands shook, so I clasped them together, making sure that the stick was by my side if I needed it.

And then I heard it. A voice, faintly, calling in the distance. I listened intently, waiting to hear it again.
Nothing.
Had I imagined it?
I felt myself shiver. I was sure that someone was close by.

"Rye!" I heard faintly in the distance, but they were still too far away for me to get a location off of them. I almost burst into tears... They'd actually came to find me!

Twigs snapped, but they seemed to be coming from all directions. In my instant panic I gripped the stick tightly in both of my hands, and my heart began to pound wildly.

"Rye! Where are you?"

Yeah, it was definately closer now. But I still couldn't make out which of the boys it was, or if it was Chris. I lowered the stick, but my heart still throbbed painfully.

"Over here!" I yelled, praying that my voice would travel. But after an hour or so of not speaking my voice was tired, so it came out as more of a strangled shout.

Silence.
Did they hear me?
Then I began to panic again. What if they didn't find me? What if they kept going and walked right passed, missing me completely? They couldn't, could they?

"Rye!"

Definitely Mikey. He sounded panicked, and on edge. I picked up my phone, waving it around, hoping that he would see my torch flashing.

"I'm here!" My voice cracked, but it didn't matter. Footsteps crashed like thunder on their way towards me.

"Keep that light up!" He shouted.

I did exactly that, praying that as he made his way over he wouldn't trip and hurt himself too. I sighed in relief anyway. I wasn't going to die out here alone, or spend the night in the freezing cold. I heard his laboured breathing before I saw him, which made me smile. Mikey was never one for running anywhere. It touched me that he ran for me though.

"Rye?" Mikey spoke as he approached, and I looked up, flashing the light at him.

"Watch out! There's a dip there!" I warned frantically, watching as his feet kept on moving closer.

"It's fine Rye. Why are you on the floor? We've been looking for you for hours." He panted, but I could hear the underlying panic to his voice.

I made to answer but my knee twitched suddenly, making me groan in pain.

"Rye? What happened? Are you alright?" Mikey moved to come closer.

"Watch where you step Mikey, I dropped everything when I tripped over." I warned him again before continuing. "And anyway, I fell, and I think I dislocated my knee. I can't move it. And it doesn't look right." I groaned again, pointing the torch to my knee as Mikey sat on the floor in front of me.

"Mate that looks painful... how did you fall anyway?" He asked as he gently pressed his hands to my knee, and I hissed.

"Carrying all this stuff." I waved around my hands to point at all the equipment I'd dropped. " It slowed me down to start with, but then it got dark and I couldn't see anything, so I didn't see the dip and I fell." I took a deep breath as Mikey ran his hands over my knee again.

"Sorry mate... yeah, we would've come sooner, but we were carrying everything. Everyone agreed to dump everything at the minivan before coming back out, because we didn't know if you'd be hurt or not." Mikey said, and I nodded. It was sensible really, which was a shocker.
We were Roadtrip afterall.

"How much does it hurt?" Mikey asked, clearly trying to assess the damage. "And are you hurt anywhere else?" He checked me over briefly, laughing softly when I brushed him away.

"It's my knee I'm concerned about... I think just bruises to be honest. And yes Mikey, it's agony." I groaned.

"Can you walk? Actually that's a stupid question." Mikey berated himself and I laughed.

"I think I'm gonna need some help... and what about all the stuff I dropped?" I asked, closing my eyes to breathe slowly through the pain.

"Forget about all the stuff for now mate, we can always pick them up another time. They're not necessities right now." Mikey started, before he began looking around in the darkness.

"Now where are the boys? They were right behind me." He muttered.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon Mikey. Anyway, thanks for looking for me, and not leaving me here." My voice cracked and I cursed. I hated it when I got emotional.

"Rye... I'd never dream of leaving you behind. None of us would." Mikey reached over and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

"Thanks." I said softly, before pulling my hand away.

"Boys!" Mikey yelled, and we waited on tender hooks. Nothing. We sat in a tense silence.

"Brook!" He yelled again, sitting up when we both heard shouting in the distance.

"Rye!" Another voice shouted in the distance. This time there seemed to be more than one person.

"Boys! He's over here!" Mikey screamed, and I held up my phone again to wave the torch around.
Voices conversed in the distance; they weren't too far away.

"Mikey? Rye?" Andy shouted, and they came closer.

"We're over here Andy!" I said loudly, shifting as my arse became numb. I groaned in pain again, feeling tears form in my eyes.

"What's happened?" Brook was the first to appear, but I spoke franticly again.

"There's a dip Brook... watch out."

He slowed down a bit then, and I saw the shilouettes of the others emerge from the darkness.

"He's dislocated his knee. So he's going to need help getting back." Mikey answered for me, and I internally sighed.

"I'll do it." Jack moved to sit on my other side.

"And I'll help too." Mikey spoke, and through the light if my torch I saw everyone nod.

"And then Andy, Brook and I can carry the stuff that's on the floor." Chris volunteered.

"Alright then. Pick everything up, and then we'll get you up Rye." Mikey spoke, and I nodded, letting out a deep breath. I knew the walk back was going to be painful... and it was a long walk that would take at least and hour and a half now.

They did so relatively quick, and then the three of them stepped back carefully, Andy holidng my phone out so that everyone could see. Brook then turned the torch on his phone on, so that there was even more light.

"Are you ready Rye?" Mikey asked as both he Jack firmly gripped my arms and shoulders.

"Yep." I breathed, closing my eyes.

"Right, in the count of three... one... two... three!"

They heaved me to my feet, and I bit back a scream of agony. Tears flooded my vision, but they didn't fall. Mikey and Jack held me upright as I regained my breath, gasping heavily.

"You good Rye?" Jack asked, and I wrapped my arms around their shoulders. We looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Yep. Let's go." I grunted, hopping forward on one foot.

Progress was slow, and it actually took near an hour to get back to the minivan because apparently I'd been closer than I'd thought. I'd burst into tears five minutes into the walk, but had kept going anyway. Jack and Mikey had wrapped an arm around my waist, while the other gripped my arms tightly.

It was pure agony. The boys and Chris walked ahead of us, Andy and Brooklyn lighting up the path in front of me with our phones.
My breathing was ragged, and it was getting chilly, the coldness seeping into my skin as I'd been still for so long.

"Nearly there mate." Mikey said stiffly. I guess because he'd been supporting me the whole way back.

"Yep." I'd grunted back, sighing when the minivan headlights flashed as Chris unlocked it.

They dumped the equipment in first, before Mikey climbed in. He turned to pull me in gently, Jack supporting me from behind as I felt my good knee buckle beneath my weight. I cried out, but they didn't drop me; and for that I was grateful. Once I was seated, I stretched my leg out, head in my hands as I struggled to catch my breath, and to fight off the tears that still continued to fall.

"Rye?" Chris called from the front. I looked up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands.

"Yeah?" I sniffed, closing my eyes as my knee let out a painful throb.

"We're going straight to the hospital so we can get your knee sorted." He pulled away then, and I let out a shaky breath, clenching my teeth as the minivan shook us about.

My knee was absolute agony.
"Thanks."

It was quiet then, until I spoke up.

"Hey guys... thank you for coming back for me... I didn't know if..." I burried my face in my hands again, not believing that I had doubted the boys before. Why would I do such a thing? They were loyal.

"We would never leave you Rye, like I said before. I'm sorry it took us so long to find you... we had no idea where you were. We turned around and you just weren't there." Mikey spoke softly, and the boys all nodded in agreement.

"You came back... and that's what matters." I laughed through my tears, and sang along when Chris turned the radio on.

I could always rely on the boys for anything. They'd aways be there, and I couldn't have asked for better friends. Band mates. Brothers.

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