Throughout the experience of the class five rapid, Jason felt divided between the river and keeping an eye on Bevis' wound. She rested with her head against the side of the raft. Those actions they had witnessed were courageous and highly dangerous; he wanted to rale at her and commend her simultaneously. Glancing at Jo, he could see no signs of injury other than she was wet and glaring at Bevis for some reason.

Did Jo expect himself or her husband to jump in to save her?

Did she think she was testing them?

Shaking his head, Jason looked out at the river; it was finally ending. Slowly the raft began to glide; he called for the raft to be pulled to the side of the river and held. Securing his paddle, Jason knelt next to Bevis, gently pulling the towel away from the wound. He heard her hiss and the sudden inhalation, but she didn't complain or make more of her injury.

"How you doing?" Jason murmured, watching Bevis as she opened her eyes and glanced at her leg.

"I'm breathing," she murmured, "I feel like an idiot, but I'm okay."

He chuckled, "What you did was very brave," he paused, "and very stupid."

"You were all busy getting us through that rapid," Bevis whispered, gasping as he cleaned the wound and bandaged it, "I didn't think the crew would appreciate it if you left them leaderless. Plus ... Jo was going to slam into those rocks then it would have been ..." she frowned, "is the word recovery ... instead of a rescue."

"You handled it very well," Jason smiled, "how is that? Can you move on it?"

"I'll be fine," Bevis said, "give me a hand up, and I'll be back to work."

"If you're not feeling okay, let me know," Jason said, looking around, "let's get going, crew. We have a few more hours to go and no more taking a dive into the river," he met Jo's gaze, "the next one how decides to go for a swim will have to meet up further down the river. No more lifeguard moments."

Agreements rose, and the crew pushed off, paddling down the river. Bevis gently put her arm around Chelsea's shoulders, hugging her to her side.

"I'm okay, Chels," she whispered, "you can breathe now."

"Bev, why did you do that?" Chelsea asked, hugging Bevis suddenly, "I could have lost you."

"I saw what was going to happen and reacted," Bevis said, "you know that about me."

"Yeah, but I didn't know you'd dive into a raging river to save an idiot who knew what she was doing," Chelsea said, "you could've drowned Bev."

"Could have," Bevis nodded, "but didn't... was wearing my life jacket, I know how to swim, and I have a healthy dose of common sense," she whispered, "besides ... it's a fifty-fifty chance I get out alive."

Chelsea gurgled a chuckle but met Bevis' gaze, "That is a little funny but nothing really to laugh at. Can we make the rest of the trip without any more heroics?"

Bevis shrugged, "It depends on the number of idiots trying stupid things."

Shaking her head, Chelsea sighed, "Let's get back to work if you're ready."

"Are you?" Bevis asked.

Chelsea nodded, and the two took their places, resuming their tasks.

The sun was low in the sky when Jason called the location of the campsite for the night. The men were tired, the women were silent but complaining every chance they got, and Bevis was happy to be on dry land. The raft was manoeuvred onto the bank. Everyone took their gear and luggage moving further up the shore, leaving Bevis alone. She watched them repeat their actions from the night before, but Jason stopped everyone, calling them back.

"Leave your gear and luggage where you stand," he said, "yesterday, Chelsea and Bevis pulled the raft up alone with no one else's help. We are a team, so we are doing it all together," Jason said, pointing toward the raft and waiting while the others followed the instructions, "find a place around the raft and pull it further up the bank, far enough that it doesn't float away."

Bevis slowly manoeuvred out of the craft, finding a place near the front where the water wouldn't wet her bandage and took her part of the weight as they lifted it and moved it up the shore until it was out the water.

"Before anyone starts their tasks for the day, raise the tents, the fire needs to be built, and food needs to be prepared," Jason called, "Jo and Tiffany, you're on supper duty."

"What about Mandy?" Jo asked, looking at the third woman.

"Mandy can help Bevis and Chelsea gather firewood," Jason said, pointing in the direction Bevis and Chelsea were moving, "I'd hurry if I were you; those two don't play around when gathering wood."

Bevis limped into the forest beside Chelsea, who frowned as they moved through the trees gathering firewood.

"You should be off that leg," Chelsea said, "and you should be resting none of this pulling your weight."

"In a world of the pampered, that would be the usual thing," Bevis said, "but this is not that world ... actually, it's not the world of anyone but the spoilt."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"So you're saying we're spoilt?" Mandy asked as she joined them, "Good to know, and here I was about to thank you for saving Jo."

Bevis stared at the woman, "What are you doing here?"

"Jason told me to join you and gather wood," she said, "but I'm not sure if you'll allow someone so spoilt to help."

Chelsea and Bevis looked at each other before looking at the other woman, "Are you spoilt?" Chelsea asked.

"What do you call spoilt?" Mandy asked, picking up twigs and pieces of wood as she moved with them.

"Someone who cannot or, more to the point, will not do anything for herself and has everyone waiting on them," Chelsea said, "miss anything, Bev?"

"Don't forget trying to manipulate every guy into waiting on them hand and foot," Bevis said, and Chelsea nodded.

"With that definition... are you spoilt, Mandy?" Chelsea asked.

Mandy cleared her throat, sighed, picked up another piece of wood and stopped walking. Turning to the other two women, she opened her mouth, inhaled and shook her head before speaking.

"I never used to be like that," Many said, "not until I met Jo and Tiffany in college. They seemed to have a lot of friends, be very popular, and so many guys hanging off their every word. I ... wanted that, if only for a time. It gave me the confidence to assert myself a little, which is how I met and married Greg."

"Great," Bevis said, "so why are you still behaving that way?"

Mandy shrugged, "Habit."

"Is that why you're on this trip?" Bevis asked.

"It was Greg's idea," Mandy said, "he said we needed to reconnect away from everything in our life. He wasn't happy when he heard Tiffany and Jo were coming. "

"Why do you think that is?" Bevis asked, stooping to gather branches.

"He says they're a bad influence on me," Mandy sighed, "and that the person he married was a pampered, entitled ..." she swallowed, "pooch-carrying individual."

"Wow," Chelsea said, shaking her head, "have you ever thought about being yourself?" Chelsea said, "Still use the assertiveness you acquired but just be ...you."

"If I do, no one will accept me," Mandy said, "I'll lose my friends."

"If they are truly your friends, they will like whoever you are," Bevis said, "if they don't.... they were never really your friends."

"Since this trip is supposed to be about connecting deeper ... why not?" Chelsea said, "Greg might enjoy having the real Mandy around instead of the snooty version you've become, and if Tiffany and Jo bring that out in you ... he has a right to be concerned."

Mandy looked between Bevis and Chelsea, "You two are like a life coach mixed with a therapist. I've been watching you, you have no idea what to do about anything, but you just dive right in," she pointed at Bevis, "literally as we saw today and you Chelsea, you just seem to go along with the flow without expecting anything out of this week."

"Oh, we're totally out of our depth," Bevis said, "our only goal is to get to the hotel and hopefully home relatively alive."

Shaking her head Mandy continued collecting wood, "You know you don't need to bring those branches back," she pointed at the logs Chelsea was dragging, "... wood like this is fine to do the fire."

"We figured," Chelsea grinned, "but since we're building a fire and making the food, the men can chop the logs into seat-size pieces."

Mandy watched them return to camp, "Huh, never thought about that."

The three women appeared on the shore again to find Charlie and Greg putting up their tents. Mandy smiled at her husband while Chelsea and Bevis stared in surprise.

"Thank you," they called in unison as they headed into the middle of the area, dropping the wood.

"Don't forget to dig the hole," Bevis called as she pulled small branches and leaves from the larger branches and logs.

"On it," Chelsea said, "you need to get off that leg. It looks like it's bleeding again."

Bevis glanced down at the bandage where a circle of red had appeared, "I think it scraped against something out there."

"Still need to get off it," Chelsea grunted as she dug the hole, "good ... sit and do that task, pass me some medium branches, then the twigs and leaves, and we can put the rest over it like a tepee."

Bevis nodded, following Chelsea's instructions, grateful to be busy but inactive. Pain shot through the muscle of her leg, dragging her energy from her. She just needed to get through tonight, and she could sleep.

Jason crouched next to her, handing her a bottle of water and two white tablets, "Drink those... they're painkillers, and when you've eaten, I'll redress that leg with some antibiotic cream,"

Drinking the tablets, Bevis stared at him, "Thank you."

Nodding, he rose, watching what they were doing, "You're getting the hang of it. Nice formation and structure Chelsea."

Chelsea smiled, "Soon, we'll be able to do everything anyone else can do."

Bevis smiled at her friend's words but didn't feel the confidence Chelsea displayed. There was so much going on inside of her, never mind the overwhelming feeling of not knowing what she was doing and constantly hoping that if she faked it long enough, she would look like she was meant to be part of something like this.

"Hey Chelsea, Bevis," Charlie called, "your tents are up?"

"Thanks," Chelsea called, looking at the tents, "how did you get them so ... perfect?"

Charlie chuckled, "Practice."

Nodding, Chelsea returned to building a fire while Bevis stared at the river. It fascinated her that something so beautiful, peaceful and inspiring could be so dangerous; frowning, she looked in the direction where Tiffany and Jo were preparing the food. The same could apply to people. She watched Jason crouch next to the pair checking on them and chatting.

"Bev, see this," Chelsea called, as she looked at her folder, "I was checking the itinerary..." she glanced at Bevis, "... we meet up with the more experienced group tomorrow night. Could be fun, right?"

Bevis smiled, "Could be," she sighed, "if we live that long. I'm going to get settled in the tent."

Chelsea watched Bevis move toward the tent. It worried her that Bevis was showing only her strong side.

What was she hiding?

Was she doing okay?

She didn't know this person ... could it be that Bevis was holding all the fear inside and not working through her emotions. If that was so ... Chelsea sighed. It could be explosive before the end of the trip. Glancing down at the itinerary, she frowned; never had she kept a secret from Bevis, but this secret ...

Could she tell her?

If she didn't tell her, was it as bad as lying?

Would Bevis be angry when she found out? Oh yes.

Would Bevis be angry with her if she found out she knew?

Closing the folder and burying her face in her hands, Chelsea groaned, "What am I going to do?"