her on oxygen and back to Houston as soon as possible. My antibiotics and antiviral meds were useless. I knew the hospital I was in had some antitoxins.
The next hour was painfully excruciating. I found a truck to hotwire with enough gas to make it at almost halfway back to Houston. I siphoned the rest of what I would need into several large gas cans. I raided a clinic and got a breathing machine on a battery pack that still had some juice. I found three dog cages big enough to house the loves of her life, a fact which kept me from unloading the rest of the tranquilizer darts into their snarling hides. The whole time, I kept her next to me, constantly checking to make sure her vitals were still up. Every errand made me nervous. I itched to get back on the road and get her to the hospital where I knew I could help her.
When we were finally departing, once everything was loaded onto the truck, I stole a few moments to look at her. Yeah, her droopy eye gave her a Quasimodo vibe but I could still see the girl underneath the temporary deformity and it fit. It fit her voice. It fit her fire. Her hair was as described, cut in a short crop. I could see streaks of red in the top from the dyes she told me she’d been playing with. It looked good against the caramel of her skin. She was tall, almost as tall as me. I wanted to see her eyes. It would finish the picture, make her real. But they were closed and if I lifted her lids, they’d be lifeless to me anyway. I could wait for that last piece.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and, with a fleeting moment of sadness for the motorcycle I had to give up and leave in Tucson, I sped onto the highway and headed back. I glanced in the rearview mirror at her asleep in the back and the wistful sadness dissipated. She was more than a fair trade for that motorcycle.
Chapter 19
Her
My mind flipped through images, like watching snatches of late night television during a night of staggered sleep. I was delirious and tired and in that fuzzy state between dreaming and awake. I was lying on a plastic mat in the corner of a large room. I saw a figure hauling a large cage across the space. One of those cube cages for animals made of wire and metal. The face was hooded but I could tell it was a male. He was built like one, limbs pieced together on a larger frame, no softness or curves. He turned to a table and picked up a gun, leaning towards it. Checking it for something. I fell back asleep.
* * *
The next time I came to, my body was bouncing. It was a soft bounce like rolling over a speed bump. My head rested on tan fabric. A plastic cup covered my mouth and nose. A mask. The air it pumped smelled stale. My eyes could make out seats in front of me. A driver’s seat. A passenger seat. A nervous hand tapped on the gear shift in the middle. After the bumps subsided we sped up. Enough to where I felt the pull backwards. The humming of the engine began to pull me back under. My eyes hooded. Before they closed, they met a foreign pair of eyes in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t enough to keep the sleep from taking me, those eyes. But it was enough to make me dream about them afterwards.
Chapter 20
Her
My eyes opened slowly. They blinked slowly, too. Colors and shapes blurred and sharpened in front of me as I looked around and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Of where I was.
It was a hospital room. I heard a beeping noise and I craned my head to the left to see a monitor. It was in time to my heartbeat. The monitor was monitoring me. I looked down at my arm and saw a needle sticking out of it, leading to a line that lead to a bag of fluid.
I pulled the mask off my face and took in a deep breath of air. I felt weak but it was a strong weak. One that I knew would wear off as I healed. I worked my jaw from side to side. Sore, but moving.
I sat up a little and it made me dizzy. Instantly,
The next hour was painfully excruciating. I found a truck to hotwire with enough gas to make it at almost halfway back to Houston. I siphoned the rest of what I would need into several large gas cans. I raided a clinic and got a breathing machine on a battery pack that still had some juice. I found three dog cages big enough to house the loves of her life, a fact which kept me from unloading the rest of the tranquilizer darts into their snarling hides. The whole time, I kept her next to me, constantly checking to make sure her vitals were still up. Every errand made me nervous. I itched to get back on the road and get her to the hospital where I knew I could help her.
When we were finally departing, once everything was loaded onto the truck, I stole a few moments to look at her. Yeah, her droopy eye gave her a Quasimodo vibe but I could still see the girl underneath the temporary deformity and it fit. It fit her voice. It fit her fire. Her hair was as described, cut in a short crop. I could see streaks of red in the top from the dyes she told me she’d been playing with. It looked good against the caramel of her skin. She was tall, almost as tall as me. I wanted to see her eyes. It would finish the picture, make her real. But they were closed and if I lifted her lids, they’d be lifeless to me anyway. I could wait for that last piece.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and, with a fleeting moment of sadness for the motorcycle I had to give up and leave in Tucson, I sped onto the highway and headed back. I glanced in the rearview mirror at her asleep in the back and the wistful sadness dissipated. She was more than a fair trade for that motorcycle.
Chapter 19
Her
My mind flipped through images, like watching snatches of late night television during a night of staggered sleep. I was delirious and tired and in that fuzzy state between dreaming and awake. I was lying on a plastic mat in the corner of a large room. I saw a figure hauling a large cage across the space. One of those cube cages for animals made of wire and metal. The face was hooded but I could tell it was a male. He was built like one, limbs pieced together on a larger frame, no softness or curves. He turned to a table and picked up a gun, leaning towards it. Checking it for something. I fell back asleep.
* * *
The next time I came to, my body was bouncing. It was a soft bounce like rolling over a speed bump. My head rested on tan fabric. A plastic cup covered my mouth and nose. A mask. The air it pumped smelled stale. My eyes could make out seats in front of me. A driver’s seat. A passenger seat. A nervous hand tapped on the gear shift in the middle. After the bumps subsided we sped up. Enough to where I felt the pull backwards. The humming of the engine began to pull me back under. My eyes hooded. Before they closed, they met a foreign pair of eyes in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t enough to keep the sleep from taking me, those eyes. But it was enough to make me dream about them afterwards.
Chapter 20
Her
My eyes opened slowly. They blinked slowly, too. Colors and shapes blurred and sharpened in front of me as I looked around and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Of where I was.
It was a hospital room. I heard a beeping noise and I craned my head to the left to see a monitor. It was in time to my heartbeat. The monitor was monitoring me. I looked down at my arm and saw a needle sticking out of it, leading to a line that lead to a bag of fluid.
I pulled the mask off my face and took in a deep breath of air. I felt weak but it was a strong weak. One that I knew would wear off as I healed. I worked my jaw from side to side. Sore, but moving.
I sat up a little and it made me dizzy. Instantly,
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