Isaura Reese Eldars and Theodore Colbeck
Location:Flight BAW229; Los Angeles to London.
Theodore was growing more frantic by the second, unable to find either Isaura or Emily. Had he..? He hadn’t kill her, when he pushed her into the water? As that thought sunk in, Theodore began to panic, thrashing in the water. He knew he couldn’t live with himself if he had… he knew that Isaura wouldn’t be able to live with that knowledge, not live with him. He’d lose everything, in the space of moments.
He didn’t think he could survive that. Didn’t think his body would be able to keep going.
”Emily!” he screamed, frantically swimming through the water, looking for his little sister, looking for Isaura- if he found one, he had to find the other.
”Emily, where are you! EMILY” Fear, panic and worry lent his voice strength, as he bellowed his sister's name out, again and again, throwing in Isuara’s name as well, needing to find both of them.
He could hear other survivors calling out, but he didn’t care about them, right now, he needed to find the only two people he had left in the world. He needed to know they were alright, with every fiber of his being. It wasn’t a question of want, it was a question of need. Where would either of them have fallen? Isaura could be further away than Emily…
”Isuara?”He looked around, trying to use the fire from the wreckage to see if he could find either of them, squinting his eyes, as if that would make it easier to see, as if it would make him see further. Finally, he thought he saw someone, swimming towards them, by the flames… His heart leapt, was it Isaura? He started towards the figure, calling out
”Isaura, Isaura” Over and over again.
Her limbs were burning… with each and every stroke that she took through the water, she grew slower, her body growing heavier with the exhaustion that was slowly trying to overcome her. It was so cold… she could barely feel anymore where her skin ended, and the water began.
The flash of warmth coming from the flames as she grew close had her stopping dead within the water, her (now rather blue) lips parting slightly as she lifted her tired gaze to look around- there was fire everywhere… the debris, and fuel having leaked out from the sinking plane causing the fire to rage on even when it seemed impossible. Instinctively pushing herself away from the fire as the heat intensified, Isaura turned away, panic and fear filling her features as she looked out over the water around the crash; searching for any sign of the two people she loved most in the world,
“..T-Theodore… Emily…”Theodore had lost sight of the figure for a moment, falling under the water once more, appearing in a few seconds, scanning the water once more, searching, his heart in his throat, beating hard, making him feel sick to the stomach, and then he saw them again. Theodore tried to make his body go faster, tried to push himself further, needing to know it was her.
If he could find Isaura, they could find Emily together.
As he drew nearer to the figure, Theodore still couldn’t make out who it was, blinded by the flames, and he crashed into them. It became immediately clear to Theodore that it was not Isaura, and he muttered something close to
”Not it… Sorry…” before he continued to swim, as if nothing was amiss. He hurriedly searched the water again, fear once more rising in him- had he ever known anything other than fear? It seemed like it had been going on forever.
Suddenly his gaze was drawn to another figure, very close to the flames, and his motions became almost frantic, before he began to swim smoothly again, his own aches, pains and freezing body forgotten as he closed the distance. His heart leaped as he drew closer and closer, soon hearing her calling out.
”Isaura!” With a few strokes, he was near enough that he could reach out, and touch her.
At the sound of her name being called out, Isaura turned, her eyes opening just that little bit wider as she caught sight of a figure hurrying to get to where she was treading in the freezing water,
“..T-Theo…”Relief washed over her, and within moments she had reached out towards him, her arm shakily wrapping around the back of his neck as she worked to pulled herself closer, holding herself weakly against his body- he was here… he was alive. That was all she could ever ask for. Her breath shallow, she shut her eyes tightly, her lower lip quivering with the chill as she dropped her head, not caring about the water splashing up into her face as she took the time to just revel in the fact that he was okay,
“..I-... I was so scared…”Theodore pulled Isaura into his arms, treading water, a little harder now, but nothing would make him let go of Isaura, not at that moment as he hugged her to him. It took a moment for him to find the will to speak, his voice soft and relieved when he did,
”I was… god, it was frightening… “ He didn’t seem capable of making a full sentence, instead he shifted, making sure she wasn’t sinking into the water.
Fear was still heavy in his heart, no matter the relief he felt at finding Isaura, it wasn’t enough. He clutched her tighter to him, not wanting to utter the words that he had to.
”I haven’t found Emily yet… “ his words were almost a whisper, feeling like he had failed them both.
”I… I told her to get to the surface, but I can’t find her”Fear clenched at her heart once more. He-... He hadn’t found her yet… he hadn’t managed to find Emily yet. Attempting to pull herself closer against him, though unsure whether or not she had managed to achieve it or not, Isaura shook her head gently from side to side, her voice soft… shaky as she spoke,
“..we’ll find her… I-I know we will…”Theodore closed his eyes, unsure if he could believe that they would, still terrified that he had sent Emily to her death. “I can’t lose her, too” He said softly, opening his eyes again, clutching Isaura tightly, not wanting to let her go, but knowing that he had to, if they were to find Emily. While the ocean was big, the plane falling should have been contained over a manageable area… but Emily was a child… if it was hard for them, then… He let out a slow breath.
“We were close to the water when she went in” He said, looking away from Isaura, to search for the no doubt sinking cabin they had been in.
She closed her eyes, her breath coming slowly… strained as she continued to stay close to him, Isaura listened, her body shaking lightly against his as she lifted her head, her eyes eventually opening so that she could follow his line of sight, her gaze sliding over the waters in an attempt to see if she could find the young girl,
“..we’ll find her, Theo… I promise… we’ll find her…”Theodore brought his gaze back to Isaura, knowing that they all needed to get to land soon, and although he wanted to get Isaura to safety, he knew she wouldn’t go until they had found Emily.
”We will” He echoed, looking back over the water, his heart heavy. He could see that Isaura was tiring, and probably couldn't continue for long, if at all. He wasn’t going to let her swim, if she couldn’t, and he held her for a moment or two longer, as he tried to figure out what to do.
When he’d been learning to swim, and when he’d help Emily learn to swim, they’d learned several different ways of helping if someone couldn’t swim. There were a few ways, but Theodore chose one of the easier ones to do, that wouldn't involve diving under the water, which he never really felt like doing, ever again. He faced Isausa, saying
”I’m going to do a carry, okay?” he gently guided her hands to his shoulders, making sure that she kept her arms extended, before he gently lifted her, kicking hard, until her legs were around his waist, letting her lean on him.
”Heads up breaststroke” he muttered to himself, making sure that Isaura was secure.
”Are you okay?”“..c-cold…” Her voice shaking lightly as though to reflect her answer, Isaura closed her eyes, her blue tinged lips parting ever so slightly from one another as she let her head come to a rest over his back, her body shivering consistently as they swam through the waters together,
“..I-...I can’t f-feel my legs…”Theodore knew that that was bad, and for a moment, he wished there were two of him, so he could get Isaura to safety, and find Emliy.
“It’s the water” He said softly, knowing that wasn’t much help. Feeling useless, he started to swim, looking for any sign of Emily, not knowing how much longer he himself could go on. Periodically he began to call out his sister’s name, desperately hoping to hear her calling back.