When I woke up, first light was in the sky, the rain had stopped and James Purcival was kneeling over me. "Wake up Mr. Bowie, we need to get moving." "John" I mumbled. "Mary's with him. Come on, we need to get him to a doctor. If you can manage it, we could use your help getting him up the hill."
I propped myself up on my elbow and looked over at the big man. They had pulled him out of the water. His shirt was off and Mary was cleaning and bandaging his gunshot wound. Radio was sitting beside him in the mud. John's head was propped up on that lifesaving backpack. His eyes were open but showed he was somewhat worse for the wear.
"Well, I see you decided to wake up. I don't much appreciate you using me for bait on your trot line Uncle Tom." He smiled weakly. "Man could catch a cold before he caught a fish." I stumbled to my feet. "Now John, I never said I was much of a fisherman but Lord knows I'm not stupid enough to bait my line with somethin' as ugly as you. No self respectin' yella cat would be caught dead havin' you for dinner." I dropped to my knees and hugged his big carcass. Tears came to my eyes.
"I love you man..." There seemed to be something lodged in my throat. For once I couldn't think of anything smart to say. I held onto his hand and gazed into the pained eyes of my big friend. Finally, Mary tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on Tom. Several of the others are still missing. We have to get John to a hospital and find the rest." I sat up, suddenly remembering..."Joey and John Jr., they were in trouble."
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