Part 2 : Little Eddie

Tony made his way to the beach with a struggle. His muscles ached and his face was stinging. The ocean water was doing a good job of disinfecting the wound but it was also making it bleed faster. The moment he got to his feet in the shallows, he reached up and began to pull the glass out of his face. One chunk at a time. Patience, he thought. Focus on the task at hand. He did the best he could, despite the fact he was certain he lost his right eye. His left eye had particles of glass near it but not in it. He still couldn’t due to those wounds.

When he got the majority of the glass out of his face, he quickly scooped down for some water and splashed it on his face. He then began to walk toward the beach. The water level decreasing around his legs told him he was leaving the water. He quickly wanted to get away from it. As he finally felt the water leave him, he continued to walk toward the beach. He heard a mixture of sounds, from people screaming to people coughing. He needed to find John. He was a friend of circumstance and the only one who could aide him with his blindness. Tony began to walk forward, seeing an amber blur out of his left eye. Then he tripped over something. He grunted as he caught himself on the sand. As he twisted around, even blind, he couldn’t mistake what his leg was feeling. The arm of a small child.

Tony quickly turned around and felt around for the child. He connected to the shoulder, then the stomach and found the head. Scooping up the young kid, he brought him away form the water and onto the sand. He leaned down and felt for a pulse of child. He found one but it was weak. There was no air coming from the kid. He immediately began to tilt the child’s head back and perform CPR. Tony breathed into the child then pressed the chest in perfect order. He continued but the kid wasn’t responding. “C’MON, KID, BREATHE!” he screamed.

Nothing was happening.

“C’mon, damn it!” he said, breathing into the child.

Then the kid coughed and coughed, puking up water. Tony grabbed the young child and tilted him over, allowing the water to flow freely from him. The kid coughed some more and regained the majority of his senses. “Daddy?” he whispered.

Tony recognized the voice of a young boy. “Are you all right, son?” he asked.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Dr. Tony Largo. What’s your name?”

“Eddie.” The young boy whimpered.

“Well, Eddie. Are you sure you are okay?”

“My throat hurts.” He cried.

“That’s okay. That sort of thing is common when you swallow too much salt water. Just take some deep breathes and it’ll feel better. I promise.” Tony smiled.

“Do you know my mom and dad?”

“I’m sorry, Eddie. I am afraid I don’t,” Tony sighed, fearing the worst for the boy’s parents, “But I’ll make you deal.”

“What deal?” Eddie asked.

“As you can see, I have hurt my eyes, real bad. I can’t see where I am going. If you want to look for your parents, I’ll go with you but you have to lead me around. Can you do that?” Tony said in the nicest tone.

“Okay,” Eddie sighed, standing up and taking Tony’s hand.

Eddie and Tony began their journey. Eddie didn’t just hold Tony’s hand, he gripped his arm. Tony could tell he was scared beyond belief. The doctor had not helped that many children but he was using his bedside manner to the best of his ability. They could hear the screams and cries of other passengers. Tony silently cursed himself. He got lucky about saving Eddie, plus the boy was already stressed out over the fact that his parents were missing. He wasn’t about to put him through diagnosing these people. He hoped he’d find John soon.

Then the doctor heard a new noise. The sound of shearing metal. “Eddie, what’s making that noise?” Tony asked.

“The part of the plane.” Eddie told him.

“Are we near it?”

“A little.”

“Keep us away from it. It may collapse at any moment.” Tony urged him.

“TONY!” John screamed as he fast approached his new friend.

“John, did you help the woman?” asked Tony.

“Yeah, I got her to the beach, “ John gasped, “She was a little shook but she’s gonna make it.”

“Good job, “ Tony huffed, “Is there anybody else in need of medical attention?”

“I don’t know. Most everybody is alive at least but there are quite a few who are dead too.”

“Get everybody who can walk, away from the plane. Move all the wounded into one general area. Once they are helped, we can police the dead.”

“What does that mean?” asked Eddie.

“I’ll explain it later, Eddie,” Tony grabbed John’s arm, “do you know what you need to do?”

“Yeah, “ John gasped, “How do you know to do all of this stuff?”

“I am a doctor, John,” Tony confessed.

“You are?” the man gasped.

“Yes, but right now I am a blind one. They need someone who can see. Go, John, you need to help these people.”

“I will, Tony. I promise.” John said, quickly leaving his new friends.

“Eddie, I know you want to look for your parents but we should really get out of their way,” Tony patted his hand, “Is there any shade we can sit down at?”

“There are some trees over there.” Eddie mentioned.

“Good, let’s go,” Tony said, as the little boy led him on.

Tony silently cursed himself. Never in his life had he felt so useless. These people needed him and he could do nothing because he was blind. This wasn’t the first battle scar he had, but his military days are over. Plus, he was still amazed that they had survived the crash. Feeling the sun leave him, he realized they had arrived at the shade Eddie promised. The young boy helped him turn around and he sat down on some grassy underbrush. Eddie then sat down beside him. Tony didn’t know what to do, so he gently placed his hand on the boys back. Eddie then collapsed in his lap and began to cry a storm. The doctor was astounded that he held it in this long. He held onto him, as he finally let go of his emotion. This wasn’t the type of doctor who did such a thing like this but without the boys parents, he had not choice but to temporarily take their place. Tony took a deep sigh.

This is the last time he would fly coach, he thought to himself.