Stranded

Chapter Three -- The Decision

Day Two 

When Sonny realized he was underwater, he immediately swam for the surface. As his head broke through and he felt the air again he said a silent thanks to God for all those times was unable to sleep and had to swim until he was exhausted. It took him a moment to get his bearings and remember what had just happened. He remembered he wasn't on the boat alone. Treading water, he looked around for the boat…and Taggart. The storm had seemingly passed, and the skies were clearing enough to see for several yards. He couldn't see the boat, so he concentrated on listening for any sound that would indicate Taggart was out there. Then, he heard the splashing behind him. He turned and caught a glimpse of Taggart's head and arms above the surface, right before he went under. "Damn it to hell!" Sonny yelled, and started swimming towards the drowning cop. If he had stopped to think, he might have let him drown, but he just reacted instead. Reaching the spot where he saw Taggart, Sonny took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface. He found Taggart struggling to get back up, and grabbed his arm. He swam to the surface again, pulling Taggart with him. They both swallowed the air in large gulps, Taggart coughed up water as well. It was no small task holding Taggart and staying afloat himself. "Can you swim?" he asked. Taggart was in a daze. He realized someone was talking to him, and responded, "my leg." Sonny rolled his eyes, "crap! What's wrong with your leg? Is it broken?" Taggart coughed up some more water, and said, "broken." "Fuck Taggart, useless as always!" Sonny looked around some more, trying to spot some debris or anything they could hold onto. He saw nothing. The boat was gone from sight, and there was nothing in the water but the two men. Straining his eyes, he scanned the horizon. "All right, either I've finally gone insane, or that's land over there." His eyes had landed on something dark in the distance. He maneuvered himself behind Taggart, and looped his arm under Marcus' and across his chest. Sonny slowly started to swim with his free arm, pulling Taggart with him. Taggart had passed out from the pain of his broken leg, and from the water still in his lungs. Sonny felt him go limp. "Yeah that's right, die on me you bastard. Why am I even bothering?" But as he swam he knew why; if Taggart died, the cops would find a way to bring Sonny down for it. And there was no way Sonny Corinthos was going to let Marcus Taggart bring him down…no way in hell.

It seemed like hours, but Sonny finally made it to land, and dragged himself and Taggart's limp body onto the shore. Taggart had been in and out of lucidity during the long trip, but had basically been no help. Sonny's muscles screamed from the exertion, and he collapsed onto the sand in total exhaustion. He woke sometime later, and realized the sun was setting. Taggart was lying nearby, groaning and clutching his leg. Sonny got up and walked over to him. "We need to get further inland. And we need to start a fire. Can you walk?" Taggart looked at him through pain-filled eyes, "I...I don't think so." "Well can you crawl?" Sonny yelled. "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction Corinthos," Taggart whispered. "You're a total bastard, you know that?" Sonny replied, hooking his arms under Taggart's and dragging him up the shore. Once they were safely away from the water, Sonny looked around at the trees that were a short distance behind them. "I'm going to look for wood, and food." Taggart nodded his head, and watched as Sonny headed off. To say he was confused would be an understatement. Why did Sonny Corinthos save his life? If the tables were turned, would he have done the same? He'd like to think he would have, but he also knew he wished Corinthos dead on many occasions. But then again, he was certain Sonny had wished the same about him.

Sonny pushed his way into the rain forest. The foliage was extremely dense, but there was a lot of debris on the ground. He found quite a lot of dead wood, which would work well for a fire. Food was going to be more difficult. It was getting too dark in there to see what was growing on the trees. That, coupled with the fact that Sonny was no boy scout and didn't know what was safe to eat, convinced him to wait until morning. He turned and walked back the way he had come, and returned to Taggart's side. "I found wood. We'll have to wait till morning for food." Taggart nodded his head. "Oh wait!" He remembered that he usually carried a lighter in his pants pocket. He felt around, and found it. "Yes!" He pulled it out and handed it to Sonny. "I didn't know you smoked," Sonny stated. "I like the occasional cigar," Taggart replied. "Really? You wouldn't happen to have one of those in your pocket too?" Taggart couldn't help but smile, "unfortunately no. You're a cigar man?" Sonny shrugged, "I've been known to partake." "Yeah? Some nice Havana's, smuggled in on your transport network?" Sonny glared at him, "fuck you." He started building the fire, hoping Taggart's lighter actually would work. Once the wood was all in place, he flicked it, and was heartened when it lit. "Well, you're good for something," he muttered. "What?" Taggart asked. "Nothing," Sonny replied.

Sonny took a seat near the fire and tried to dry off. Then, he looked at Taggart. "So, what else you got on you?" Taggart wondered why he was asking, then it hit him. "Fuck, my piece!" He remembered it had been in his hand when they went overboard. His holster was still strapped on, but it was empty. He looked at Sonny, who folded his arms...and smiled.

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