The three of them returned to their new home, Alice put Michiko on the palm leaf bed and then went to the beach to wash the potatoes. When she came back, she walked over to Michiko's bed and handed out the washed potatoes, when Ronnie saw it, he stopped her, "Sister, raw potatoes are prone to diarrhea, we should find a way to make a fire and cook them before eating them."
"Then you find a way to make a fire, I'll take care of Michiko."
"Okay, you guys wait at home, I'll go find some hay and leaves first," Ronnie said and went out immediately, and in a short time he found a small bundle of hay, a piece of thick bark, a straight branch that was sixty centimeters long and one centimeter thick, and a large seashell. First he laid the thick bark flat on the ground and made a small opening in it, then he put the thick branch in the position of the opening and made it straight, and then he turned the branch quickly with both hands together, which he had learned from a book about drilling wood to make fire. Unfortunately, after nearly half an hour of hard work, the fire was not built, but he was half dead from exhaustion, and when he got angry, he did not want to do it.
"Ronnie, you're not strong enough, let me try," Alice saw him sweating profusely and took the initiative to help. She also tried to follow Ronnie's method many times and was so tired and sweaty that she couldn't make a fire either. "Ronnie, it looks like the only thing we can eat is raw potatoes," she said with a helpless look on her face.
"Sister, I have another way, we will peel the potatoes first, then cut them into slices and dry them in the sun before eating them, I just found a big bowl that can be used to peel and cut the potatoes," Ronnie shook a large shell in his hand as he spoke.
"You're the one with more ideas. I'm not as smart as you."
With that, the duo peeled the four potatoes they had brought and then cut them into thin slices. At noon, when the sun was at its peak, they took the sliced potatoes outside to expose them to the sun. When they were done, they returned to the cave, and when Alice saw that Michiko hadn't moved for a long time, she went over and saw that her face was flushed, and when she touched her forehead with her hand, "It's so hot! "she exclaimed. "Ronnie, she's got a fever, go down to the beach and wet your clothes so I can wipe her face to cool it off, and get some water for her to drink."
As soon as Ronnie returned, he was crouching on the ground, working on how to make a fire, when he heard his sister's cry, he ran over, "Let me see, "as he said that, he touched Michiko's forehead with his hand. "It's really a fever, is it possible that the snake venom hasn't dissipated?"
"You go fast, let's get her temperature down first," Alice was a little worried.
"Okay!" Ronnie rushed outside, first going to the beach to get his clothes wet and give them to his sister, then taking two crab shells to the water source to get water. He held one crab shell in one hand and had to hold it flat, and he didn't dare run too fast for fear of spilling it. He made six trips back and forth before he could fill all ten crab shells with water. At that moment, he decided in his mind that in the future, he would have to find a way to make containers to hold the water. Alice stayed by Michiko's side, not daring to leave. In the evening, Ronnie took the sun-dried potatoes into the cave, but found that they were not too dry, and planned to continue drying them the next day. The two ate some of the half-dried potatoes and were still hungry, but did not dare to eat more. They tried to save some for Michiko, but unfortunately she was unable to eat at the moment. Late in the night, her fever got worse and she started talking nonsense: "Brother... brother..." The siblings were worried. "Ronnie, go back to the beach and I'll rub her body to cool her down." This time Ronnie didn't say anything, picked up his clothes and left.
"You have to be careful, don't let the waves get you," Alice yelled at his back.
Ronnie ran and soon returned home. "Go out for a while, I'll rub Michiko's body."
"Why ... am doing this," Ronnie was about to say, but he held his tongue, lowered his head and walked out in silence, standing in the moonlight, looking at the coastline in the distance, thinking obsessively, "Is Michiko going to die? If she dies, there's no one to argue with me."
In the cave, Alice lifted Michiko's back clothes, and although it was late at night, she could still see the path of scars that covered her back in the moonlight, with knotted scars that hadn't come off, most of them the length of a hand, and the scars were light pink in color. "How did it get like this?" She gently stroked the scars on Michiko's back, they all looked fresh, she had been with herself for months, why had she gotten hurt? It puzzled her to no end. "Never mind, this is not the time to think about that," shaking her head, she grabbed Ronnie's damp shirt and wiped Michiko's front and back before pulling the wet shirt over her forehead, giving her some more water and then just waiting.
On the other side, Ronnie had been waiting impatiently at the entrance of the cave for a long time, ''Sister, are you ready? it doesn't take that long to deliver a baby!"
"Then come in!"
"Sister, you seemed to be talking to yourself just now, what's wrong with Michiko?"
"Ronnie, how did Michiko get those two 'Bira coins' last time? do you know?" Alice asked without answering.
"She didn't say, I think she borrowed them from her classmates."
"Then you go to bed! I'll take care of Michiko, I'll call you if anything happens."
"I don't want to go to sleep, sis, I can't sleep anyway and I'm worried about Michiko."
"Go to sleep, maybe we'll have to take turns watching her."
Ronnie had no choice but to go to bed, probably because he was so tired from running around today, he didn't take long to fall asleep. The next morning he was awakened by an alarming sound, "Ronnie, Michiko seems to be dying, her breathing is so weak."
Hearing this news, Ronnie's heart pounded and he rolled over and stood up, his whole heart sinking as he saw Michiko's pale face and weak breathing, "Sister, why is it that none of the good people end up well, Mother, Mr. and Mrs. Kenny White, and Hasegawa are all dead, and now Michiko is dying too.”
"I don't know, human life is too fragile."
"Sister, what do we do now? nothing?"
"All we can do now is stay with Michiko and pray for heaven's blessing."
"Yesterday, Michiko told me that she wasn't afraid of death, that if she died, she could see her brother."
"Michiko misses her brother, he's the only family she has.”
"If only they hadn't met us, maybe they'd be happy now. I wish I could turn back time, I'd rather not know them than let them die."
"Ronnie ..." the siblings suddenly heard a soft call. They quickly turned their heads to see that Michiko had opened her eyes, "Ronnie, I heard you, if I could go back in time, I'd still like to know you."
"You're awake," the siblings said in unison.
"I'm a little hungry, can you bring me something to eat?" Michiko spoke up.
"Okay, you wait!" Ronnie turned and left, and in the blink of an eye, he ran back and handed out some slices of dried potatoes. He was very happy to see Michiko eating them and continued to walk around the bed. "If we make a fire and catch some fish, we can feed Michiko." He muttered. "Sister, can you go catch some fish? I'll make a fire and we'll make fried fish for Michiko."
"Hehe!" Alice laughed, "Ronnie, it's rare that you care so much about Michiko, I'll go out now and make sure I catch some fish before I go home today."
"Sister, you bring the flag, tie the four corners of the flag with a long branch and stick each one in the sand to make a net, then sprinkle some potato crumbs on it to attract the fish. Wait about ten minutes, and then pull it up slowly, so you can be sure to catch fish."
"Then you didn't say that before," Alice complained.