Episode 3 (Serena Season 1)

It's a miracle anyone gets any sleep.

I wake up groggy with too many knots in my back to count,

and the shoulder I disclocated has a dull ache pulsing through it.

(This is awful.)

(Everything was already going badly enough without being so exhausted.)

TK: "For breakfast we have tomatoes, tomatoes and... tomatoes."

TK: "Maybe someone can make ketchup."

Clyde: "You need salt and spices for that, lad."

Clyde: "And we're fresh out."

TK: "Excuse me for trying to be creative."

MC: "Just hand them over, TK."

A pair of tomatoes doesn't count as breakfast anywhere I know of, but it's all we have.

Unfortunately, neither one I bite into seems to taste as good as the one yesterday.

(Probably because I'm not totally starving anymore.)

Arthur: "I thought I could eat my weight in these last night, but I'm starting to regret that decision."

Clyde: "Wearing your taste buds out, Arthur?"

Arthur: "Something like that."

Logan: "Come on, guys."

Logan: "It's not so bad."

Logan: "These are picked fresh and full of nutrients."

Logan: "Everything a healthy body needs."

Serena: "Not unless you share genetics with a squirrel."

Serena: "As a fruit, it's passable at best."

Logan clears his throat and turns red, looking away from Serena,

but I fail to stifle a laugh.

(Her delivery was so deadpan that he didn't see it coming.)

Her eyes flicker to me, widening in surprise,

and I cover up my laughter by stuffing my face with another tomato.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to crack up, but she's pretty witty.

Clyde: "With breakfast packed away, we should look to how we're going to spend the rest of the day."

Arthur: "Finding actual shelter should be our priority, I believe."

TK: "A roof over our head isn't going to do much if we keel over from thirst."

Serena: "He's not wrong there."

TK: "We should go to the ship."

TK: "Even if we can't sail away on it, there's got to be supplies in it somewhere."

Logan: "And there's probably plenty of parts I could strip off the wreck."

Logan: "Put them together into something useful again."

Clyde: "We did have a first aid kit onboard for Serena to use, but it'll be a matter of finding it."

Serena: "And hoping that everything's stayed sealed."

Serena: "If it's been full of seawater for a day, most of what's in there would be ruined."

Clyde: "Here's hoping for the best, then."

Clyde: "Our luck's got to turn somewhere."

I didn't go overboard packing for this trip,

but there are a lot of things I'd like to try and salvage if my room is more than driftwood.

Just the thought of losing all my stuff makes me sigh,

and Serena's attention falls back on me.

Serena: "How's your shoulder?"

MC: "It hurts a little, but everything's still in place."

Serena: "Good."

Serena: "That means you didn't break anything."

MC: "...Does that mean you'll let me carry stuff today?"

Her mouth pursues into a tight, contemplative line.

Serena: "As long as it's not heavy."

Serena: "The last thing you want is permanent muscular damage."

(Getting to pick stuff up and move around isn't that interesting,)

(but it's still a lot more interesting than sitting still and staring up at the sky.)

(And honestly, I need a break from how the piles of tomatoes smell.)

MC: "I'll be careful, I promise."

Clyde: "We can all head out together, then."

Clyde: "I know where the ship was washed up."

Clyde: "TK and I woke up pretty close to her wreck."

TK: "We shoul dhave looked for supplies then."

Clyde: "It's not a long walk, you'll stretch your legs."

I can feel everything stretch and tense as I get to my feet,

ignoring the faint protest from my shoulder.

Once Clyde is sure the fire's snuffed out,

he leads us away from the ruins and back into the jungle.

Arthur and Clyde end up at the front of the pack,

with the captain calling out any hazards to make sure that we don't trip.

TK and Logan are chatting about something too low for me to hear.

I quicken my steps to catch up with Serena, not wanting to be left alone in the back.

(And maybe it'll be a chance to get to know her better.)

MC: "Hey, Serena."

I smile her way, hoping to catch her attention,

but Serena doesn't even glance my way.

(So much for getting a 'hello.')

(I have to say something to start the conversation.)

A. How did you sleep?

B. Anything you want off this ship?

C. This walk's better in the daytime, huh?

---

A. How did you sleep?

MC: "How did you sleep?"

Serena: "I didn't, really, but I'm used to it."

MC: "Insomnia?"

Serena: "Being on-call twenty-four seven."

---

After that, Serena goes silent again, and I awkwardly rub at the back of my neck.

MC: "You know, I almost picked another assignment over the cruise job."

MC: "But this one got me out of the office, so I thought it would be a lot more exciting."

Serena: "Having regrets?"

(I don't know about that.)

(There's definitely worse fates than being stranded on an island with a really hot doctor.)

MC: "Uh--"

MC: "Not really."

MC: "I mean, if we get out of here, the story I write will be outrageous."

Serena: "That's an understatement."

Serena: "...So, is that what you do? Travel journalism?"

MC: "No."

MC: "This was my first time getting a travel budget."

MC: "I would have been playing with puppies if I did the other one."

MC: "Recording them doing cute stuff for clicks."

MC: "Have you seen any of our videos? They're online on--"

Serena: "I read the newspaper and medical journals online."

Serena: "That's about it."

(I guess she wouldn't have a lot of free time to watch funny videos at work.)

MC: "We probably have some stuff you'd like."

MC: "There's too many sections for me to count."

MC: "And every day something different is popular, so it never gets boring."

Something about that makes Serena frown, but she doesn't comment.

MC: "I don't know if that means it'll be my career, though."

MC: "Everything changes so fast."

(...Like going from a nice cruise ship to being stranded on an island.)

(Definitely not in the five year plan.)

MC: "Why did you decide to become a doctor?"

Serena: "..."

MC: "I mean, it's really impressive."

MC: "Everything that's happened to me, you knew how to fix right away."

For a moment Serena's so quiet I think she's not going to answer me at all,

but finally she shrugs.

Serena: "It seemed like a simple choice to make at the time."

Serena: "But maybe I was just unimaginative."

(That's... not what I expected her to say at all.)

MC: "Well, what's your specialty?"

Serena: "I don't have one."

Serena: "I'm a general practitioner."

MC: "Oh."

(Think, Elsa.)

(There has to be something you can say to get her to open up.)

MC: "Where did you go to school?"

Serena: "In Seattle."

MC: "Awesome."

MC: "So you're West Coast like me."

Serena arches a brow at that, but I can't tell if she's surprised or irritated.

Serena: "Where are you from?"

MC: "San Francisco, originally."

I get a soft 'hmph' in exchange for that answer,

and she goes back to walking in silence again.

It's hard not to grumble as I hear TK and Logan chatting along in front of us.

(Why doesn't Serena want to open up?)

(We've got to get to know each other at some point.)

Clyde: "Look alive, everyone."

Clyde: "There she is."

(Finally!)

My jaw drops when I see the ship.

Not only is it tilted over on its side into the sand,

but the entire front end has cracked off into a separate piece,

smaller parts of the deck splintered across the beach.

(There's no way we can fix that.)

(Everything has holes in it!)

(So how are we going to get out of here?)

Part of me had been clutching onto the hope that we could find a way to get the ship back into the water,

but seeing it shattered makes my chest tight.

We really are stranded here.

TK: "Seeing it in the sunlight..."

TK: "Damn, we're never going to get off this island, are we?"

Arthur:  "Don't be so dour, Mr. Yoon."

Arthur: "It's entirely possible that htis island has a lot more to discover."

Logan: "Like what?"

Logan: "Did you stash an airstrip around here somewhere?"

Logan: "If a private jet's coming to pick us up, I'd like to know that now."

Serena: "I doubt that."

Serena: "But people like Arthur don't go missing without attracting a lot of attention."

Serena: "Someone's already probably searching for him."

Serena: "It's a matter of waiting until they find us."

Arthur shrugs, seemingly unperturbed, and I can't figure out why he's so calm about all this.

It makes sense for Serena to be used to stressful situations,

but he's staring at the wreck of his own top-of-the-line ship like it's a minor inconvenience.

(Is he so sure someone's going to show up to get him?)

(...Then again, that's a lot better than the alternative.)

Clyde: "Like I said, she's not going to be seaworthy again."

Clyde: "But we should take what supplies we can get."

Logan: "How do you want to split that up, then?"

Clyde: "Everyone should take what they can carry."

Clyde: "If it looks useful, bring it."

Clyde: "Although I'm not sure how much survived the water damage."

It's a slow, creaky trek to climb up onto the ship's deck,

tilted so sharply that I slip near the top and stumble into Serena.

She manages to steady her balance before we both fall,

arms tightly gripping mine as I stagger back up straight.

MC: "Sorry!"

Serena: "Don't apologize."

Serena: "Let's just get what we need off this ship."

Serena: "It looks like a deathtrap in this state."

The groaning wood under my feet certainly doesn't help that impression,

but everyone splits up to scavenge in different parts of the ship.

I manage to wrangle a bunch of bottled water from a busted cooler,

but so much of the architecture has just been crushed.

Serena: "Fuck."

(Oh boy.)

(That's the first time I've heard her curse.)

MC: "What's wrong?"

Serena: "I was looking for a change of clothes."

Serena: "Everything's shredded or missing."

MC: "Yeah."

MC: "I didn't come up with much either."

Logan: "We've got food, at least."

MC: "We do?"

Logan holds up a stack of cans with a triumphant smile.

It's not a lot, but I'll take anything that isn't tomatoes right now.

Clyde helps Serena down into one of the lower rooms,

and I hold my breath until she reappears with the first aid kit,

which looks battered by still closed.

Clyde: "See anything else down there?"

Serena: "Nothing of use."

The walk back to the ruins is even slower with us all laden down,

but as soon as I set the bottles where Arthur tells me to,

Serena comes up to me with the first aid kit.

Serena: "Sit down."

MC: "Uh! Okay."

Serena tears what's left of the makeshift bandage around my leg off,

and produces a thick gauze pad an tape from the kit.

The same look of concentration she had the first time returns,

making sure every inch of the wound is covered.

Serena: "Much better."

Serena: "Not having that wrapped properly was bothering me."

(Does that mean she was worried about me, or worried she wasn't doing her job right?)

A. Sorry I can't fix your skirt.

B. Thanks for the care.

C. Now you can relax.

---

B. Thanks for the care.

MC: "Thanks for patching me up."

Serena: "Just making sure it doesn't get infected."

(That doesn't explain why her eyes haven't gone above my waist this whole time, though.)

---

MC: "You're probably tired of looking at my legs at this point, huh?"

Serena: "...It's not exactly a burden."

I'm caught off-guard by the answer,

even more so by the warm flicker in Serena's stare when she finally meets my eyes again.

(Okay. So that's new.)