Episode 7 (Serena Season 1)

EVeryone is alrady in the dining hall by the time Serena and I heard down there,

putting together a makeshift buffet of our different canned goods,

but after a second, I realize Arthur is missing.

Cylde has a seat left open for him, but there's no sign of the man himself.

Clyde: "Good morning! Sleep well?"

MC: "The best."

MC: "I'm never taking a bed for granted again."

Serena: "You say that like it wasn't my bed."

Serena: "Considering some bird attacked you in the middle of te night."

Logan looks between the two of us for a moment before smiling to himself,

and I clear my throat, unable to escape the implications.

Serena ignores him, but that's par for the course.

(It's not like I planned to sleep in her room!)

TK: "Wait, what bird?"

MC: "I woke up in the middle of the night to a huge bird clawing at my window."

MC: "It looked like it was trying to break in."

MC: "And it only got angrier when it saw me."

MC: "Like it was frenzied."

Logan: "Did it have rabies or something?"

Serena: "That's not possible for birds outside of a laboratory."

Logan: "Didn't realize you were a vet too, doc."

Serena: "I'm not, but I can tell you that most humans get exposed to rabies from cats."

Serena: "Certainly not birds."

MC: "It looked freaked out like the capybara was."

MC: "Which it shouldn't be, right? These aren't big scary predators we're talking about."

Clyde: "It's true."

Clyde: "Most animals would rather run unless they're cornered."

Clyde: "Going out of their way to attack people is strange."

MC: "Do you think they're related?"

Clyde: "Can't rule it out."

Clyde: "I'm not sure what might be driving the beasts to it, but we should be careful regardless."

A door slams in the distance, startling all of us,

and I see Clyde about to get up from his seat when Arthur stumbles into the dining hall,

clutching one arm to his chest.

He's out of breath, eyes wide,

and a dribble of blood escapes past the pressure of his fingers.

Logan: "Whoa! Are you okay?"

Clyde: "Does he look okay? Arthur, what happened?"

Arthur sinks down into the empty seat, wincing a bit,

and when his hand pulls away from his arm, there's dozens of little scratches all over his skin.

Arthur: "I decided to get some fresh air with a morning walk and ended up ambushed."

Arthur: "Which would have been far less of a surprise if it wasn't by flying squirrels."

MC: "...A pack of flying squirrels attacked you?"

Arthur: "It's called a scurry of squirrels, actually."

Serena: "Is this really the time to be arguing about semantics? I'm getting the first aid kit."

Serena vanishes from the dining room, shoes sharply clicking against the floor,

and returns after a moment with the kit, cracking it open on the table.

Serena: "Hold your arm out."

Serena: "Everything needs to be disinfected."

Serena: "Were you scratched anywhere else?"

Arthur: "Thankfully not."

Arthur: "When the first one swooped down, I put up my arm to defend myself,"

Arthur: "but that just seemed to aggravate them."

Arthur: "So I ran."

Clyde: "Seems like we're all running from animals lately, aye? I don't like it."

Logan: "I don't either."

Logan: "First that capybara, now we've got raging birds and angry squirrels?"

Logan: "What's next? Piranhas?"

TK: "Lucky for us, I don't think the lake has any fish."

TK: "But this is creepy."

TK: "Three times isn't a coincidence."

Arthur winces while Serena cleans up all of his scrapes,

but she applies a thick bandage after everything is disinfected,

taping it tightly around his arm so it doesn't budge.

Serena: "Thankfully most of that didn't break the skin."

Serena: "But I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Arthur: "Your expertise is appreciated, doctor."

Serena: "...Thank you."

(This is getting scary.)

(Does every animal on the island want to attack us?)

(Is that why we haven't found anyone else here?)

Arthur goes upstairs to rest after Serena checks on him for any other symptoms,

but the general mood is grim.

I'm not really sure what to do after helping clean up breakfast,

especially when I think about what that bird might have done to my room.

(I really don't want to find out if it's still in there.)

Serena: "I'm going to the lake."

MC: "Wait, what?"

Serena: "I've been dealing with blood and fluids for days without a shower."

Serena: "That is ending today."

Clyde: "You can't go out there alone, Serena."

Clyde: "Not after what just happened to Arthur."

Serena: " hasn't gotten a chance to wash up yet either."

Serena: "I assume she'd want to go."

MC: "I-- uh--"

(The two of us bathing alone together.)

(This is fine.)

A. Of course!

B. I hadn't really thought about it.

C. You're not worried?

---

A. Of course!

MC: "Of course! Sounds like a plan."

(Better than sitting in the middle of the resort doing nothing but twiddling my thumbs.)

---

Clyde looks between the two of us and sighs.

Clyde: "Just keep close, alright? I don't want to have to send out a search party."

(...I probably won't have any trouble keeping close.)

(I mean.)

Serena: "We'll be fine."

Serena: "Just make sure Arthur doesn't go on any more walks."

Clyde: "Will do."

Clyde: "Enjoy the water, Serena."

I can feel tension building between my shoulder blades as we leave the resort and head into the jungle,

but Serena moves without hesitation, trusting in Clyde's directions.

Even the faint chittering of insects around us has me on edge,

especially when a branch snaps loudly under my feet.

MC: "Ah!"

Serena: "What is it?"

MC: "Sorry, I'm a little on edge."

MC: "Just waiting to be attacked by a flying squirrel."

MC: "Or bird."

MC: "Or capybara."

MC: "All three."

Serena stops short, sending me scrambling to stop and not bump into her,

but when our eyes meet, I find a powerful calm there instead of the irritaiton I expect.

Serena: ", I'm not going to let you be eaten alive by some animal."

Serena: "We're together for a reason."

(It's nice to know that she has my back.)

MC: "You're right."

MC: "I'm just kind of freaked out right now."

Serena: "Arthur's injury looked worse than it was."

Serena: "We're not in danger of being devoured by flying squirrels."

Serena: "They're small."

Serena: "That would take ages."

I giggle, glad that Serena's sense of humor has stayed intact,

and my shoulders start to relax a bit.

Serena: "Come on."

Serena: "It's not much further."

(Just think of the nice cool water, .)

(You can scrub all of your problems away.)

Despite all my worries,

we reach the lake without being attacked by anything more than a thick vine that tries to trip me.

I recover with most of my dignity,

only to lose it all over again when Serena starts to strip.

She doesn't even glance at me,

totally unconscoius of the effect she's having as her dress slips down her hips and to the ground.

With hesitant hands, I take off my blouse and reach down to my skirt,

heat slowly creeping up the back of my neck.

(It's not like she's going to notice.)

(All Serena wants right now is to wash up--)

The thought screeches to a halt in my head when dark eyes sweep over me from head to toe,

Serena's mouth quirked curiously.

When her gaze lingers below my hips, I feel my heartbeak spike.

(Is she-- um--)

Serena: "That scrape is healing better than I expected."

Serena: "In a week, you might not even be able to see it."

(Oh god, why did I get my hopes up?)

Before she can comment on anything else,

I take a hop over the edge over the lake and plunge right into the water.

It's pleasantly cool, enough to clear my head and the insistent blush trying to take over my face.

I hear an echoing splash a moment before my head breaks above the surface,

and Serena sinks like a stone, staying down long enough that I'm starting to worry.

When she comes back up, floating on the surface, Serena lets out a deep sigh.

A. Play in the water.

B. Wash up.

---

B. Wash up

MC: "Having fun?"

---

Serena: "This is the best part of this damn island, no question."

MC: "You really wanted to get clean, huh?"

Serena: "Did you not?"

Serena: "I never thought I'd miss sterile hand scrubs."

She ducks back under the water, darting across the lake with the grace of a fish.

I leave her to exploring while washing my hair,

watching dark purple strands slip through my fingers.

(I wonder how long my dye will last in a place like this.)

Once we're clean, Serena and I dunk our clothes too,

doing our best to scrub out the stains from sleeping on the ground.

I set mine out next to hers on a flat rock,

letting everything dry while we lounge at the edge of the lake.

MC: "So where did you work before all this? Another ship?"

Serena: "Nothing like that."

Serena: "I had privileges at a hospital in Seattle."

MC: "Wow. That's supposed to be super busy, isn't it?"

MC: "I can't imagine how many people you took care of."

Serena: "..."

Serena: "Do you want to know a secret? They don't teach it in medical school."

(Way to get a girl curious.)

MC: "Hit me."

Serena: "You can't save everyone."

Serena: "No matter how much you want to."

Her tone is even, but there's no trace of Serena's dry humor,

only her eyes locked directly with mine.

Honest, open.

A. That's dark.

B. I hadn't thought about that.

C. Doesn't change anything.

---

B. I hadn't thought about that.

MC: "I hadn't thought about that."

MC: "I guess it's true."

<p style="text-align:center;">---

Serena: "But who wants to go to a doctor if they think they won't get saved?"

Serena lets her gaze fall away from mine, staring off up into the sky.

Serena: "There's so much bureaucracy behind the scenes."

Serena: "Drama, petty bullshit."

Serena: "People who think that because they have 'doctor' in front of their name,"

Serena: "no one else's opinion matters."

Serena: "Even their patients, their patients' families."

Serena: "Stroking our own egos isn't very heroic."

Serena: "Definitely not a medical miracle."

A soft chuckle escapes Serena's lips before she shakes her head,

giving the words an extra edge of dismissal.

Se doesn't sound angry so much as resigned, exhausted.

MC: "But you still try, don't you?"

Serena: "What?"

MC: "You always tried your best to save people despite all the bullshit, right?"

Serena: "Of course."

Serena: "I wouldn't..."

MC: "That's the heroic part, Serena."

MC: "That's what matters."

MC: "Some jerks at the hospital doesn't mean you don't save lives."

Surprise flutters across her brow before Serena smiles, small but genuine.

Serena: "You like to see the best in people, don't you?"

MC: "I mean..."

MC: "It's a little grim if you do it the other way around."

MC: "I'd rather give everyone a chance."

Serena: "You're young."

MC: "Is that a bad thing?"

I'm ready for the cutting remark or some sort of joke,

but Serena leans closer to me instead.

I swallow past a sudden knot in my throat,

trying not to focus on the scant inches between us, or stare right at her mouth.

(Ohhh my god.)

(Is she... going to kiss me?)