by Drew Cordell
“This will hurt a little bit, then you won’t feel anything. I’m going to clean out your system and seal this wound for good. You’re going to feel sick when you wake up but that’s to be expected. You’ll be back to normal in a few days.”
He slid the needle into my arm and everything went black.
27 FIRE
∆∆∆
I heard muffled noise in the distance. The dull click echoed through my head and seemed to lack direction. My eyes felt glued shut, but the sharp crust broke as I worked them open. Thick cloth was wrapped around my injured leg. The room was unbelievably bright, and the light was moving. The snapping sound continued, and I could hear my name being called. The white light washed my vision, but there were blurs of motion in front of me.
“Jake? It’s time to wake up now,” the voice called. There was a ringing sound in my ear as if a bell had been struck. I forced my eyes open again and took in my surroundings. I was in the clinic, and I had no recollection of anything since Dimitri injected me with the IV needle. Caeldra was standing near the bed, looking at me with worried eyes.
“The surgery went well, Jake, but it’s going to take you a while to return to normal. The toxin is out of your system now and you are radiation free,” Dimitri said as he used a device to check my vitals.
Color and swirls of shapes flashed in my eyes and I fought to blink them away, not wanting to alert Caeldra or Dimitri. I assured myself it was just a side effect of the medication. They were the same shapes I had seen after my three-year evaluation. The memory of the examiner returned to me. “We will contact you if you are of interest to us,” she said. Was that why the Government was after me? Was my mind already filled with treason at that point? My thoughts raced through my head and I struggled to compose them.
I was given a bottle of water and some saltine crackers to eat. My body felt hungry, but even something as simple as crackers made me nauseous. Unable to take more than a few bites and drink small sips of water, we waited at the clinic for a few hours and I was permitted to take a nap. Despite the rest I had on the river ride to the city, I was exhausted.
I was awoken again by Caeldra who forced me to eat a few more crackers and drink some more water from the clear plastic bottle.
“I got us a room at the tavern here so we can rest until you’re well enough to travel. If you’re up to it, we will head there now,” she told me as I chewed on a cracker.
“Yeah, I might need some help walking, though,” I said as I pushed myself up to a sitting position on the side of the bed and felt my head swim.
She gave me a smile and pushed over a wheelchair. “With your natural clumsiness and the aftereffects of your surgery, you’re not walking anywhere.”
I sighed in relief as I moved from the bed to the chair with a single strained motion. My leg felt like rubber, and the rest of my body wasn’t much better. It felt as if I was no longer in control. I focused on trying to gain composure over my slow and incomplete thoughts with some of the exercises Edgar had shown me, attempting to layer away the grogginess. It didn’t work. I found myself wondering how I would be able to control my mind if the Government decided to sedate me with anything half as strong as what I had been given for surgery.
I hid my frustration as Caeldra pushed the chair forward and into the streets. Dimitri gave her a bottle of pills on the way out with a set of instructions. Caeldra pushed me for several minutes in silence until we reached a large building with a metal and glass exterior. I could see bright colored lights inside with a variety of tables and patrons sitting at them. The loud voices of the people inside leaked through the glass, and I heard the distinct clink of glasses followed by a muffled cheer from a group of people sitting by one of the window tables.
Caeldra pushed open the door and wheeled me in, the aroma of cooking food flooding over us. In many ways, it was much like the pub in our Guild Hall, but it was much busier and more modern in design. The tables were all made of metal. LED lights and signs lit the interior of the building. There were at least thirty people enjoying meals, drinks, and playing some sort of game on the tabletops. It looked like a card game with a board and little pieces that covered the bright surface. While they weren’t enjoying meals like many other patrons, several robots were congregated with their groups of friends which contained humans and robots alike.
A young woman walked over to us and gave me a genuine smile.
“Welcome to Emeralds,” she said, her voice warm. “Can I get you a table?”
“Actually, I’ve already rented a room. Could we get two meals and a few beers brought to room eleven?” Caeldra asked.
“Certainly,” the waitress responded as she jotted it down on cheap paper.
“Oh, and a pitcher of drinking water please,” Caeldra added.
The waitress gave Caeldra a nod and walked toward the back where she disappeared through a swinging metal door into the kitchen.
Caeldra wheeled me through the crowd toward the rooms at the back and unlocked the door of room eleven. The inside of the room was a lot more spacious than I thought it would be. The first thing I noticed, however, was there was only one bed. The room itself had a TV mounted on a brass-colored dresser. There was a bathroom that included a shower, and a comfortable looking couch was pushed against the side of a wall covered in light blue wallpaper.
I got out of the chair and walked with slow determination over to the couch, where I sat down. Caeldra joined me, and we watched some old movie on the TV, something I had never seen and something that would be considered contraband on the surface of New York. A few minutes into the movie, the red-haired waitress knocked on the door. Caeldra let her in, and she placed a huge tray on the coffee table. There were two plates loaded to the brim with fried fish and what looked like French fries. A few ketchup packets lined the side of the decorative red paper that held the food in place. The fish steamed and sent waves of hunger through my stomach as the savory aroma filled the room. There was a large pitcher of frothy beer and one filled with water, as well as two large, stout glass mugs full of chipped ice.
“Put it on my tab, please,” Caeldra said as she tipped the waitress.
The waitress smiled, pocketed the money, and exited the room. Caeldra lifted my plate and handed it to me, then prepared her own.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Jake,” she said, her voice serious. I tried to prepare myself, unsure of what was coming next. “I might need another plate after this one. I certainly won’t be mad if you need another as well.” She flashed me her warm grin.
I felt myself break into a smile and tossed a fry into my mouth, biting through the thick outer surface and almost burning my tongue on the steaming center. My hunger had returned, and after eating two full plates of fish and chips, as the waitress had called it, I was feeling much closer to normal. Caeldra and I downed the pitcher of beer and finished the movie which featured people in some strange city that didn’t look anything like New York. Caeldra made me take one of the blue pills from the plastic bottle Dimitri had given her, and I started to feel the onsets of grogginess return. Unlike other medicines, the pills Dimitri put me on were compatible with beer, but I was instructed not to overdo it on alcohol while I was taking the meds.
Caeldra decided I needed the bed, and she moved a pillow and sheet over to the couch. She decided to take a shower and returned wearing her bra and some undershorts. The bandage over her abdomen was gone, and the purple color from the other day had faded to a calmer yellow.
“You going to take a shower?” she asked as she sat on the couch.
I gave her a nod. “Just a short one. I don’t want to risk falling,” I responded.
“Please try not to fall in the shower. I’d have to rescue you,” she said with a sly smile. “I wouldn’t want my clothes to get wet, if you get what I’m implying,” she added just to make me more uncomfortable.
I blushed and tried to hide it. “I won’t fall,” I said as I shambled into the bathroom.
“Oh, and don’t mess with your bandage. It needs to stay on,” she called after me.
I gave her a thumbs up and closed the door. The hot water was relaxing as it fell over my skin. I breathed deeply as steam floated from the floor and clouded the brightly lit LED bathroom. I washed myself with the small bottle of shampoo and soap included with our room. When I got out, I brushed my teeth and wiped the fogged mirror with my towel. After putting on my undershorts and a t-shirt, I walked back outside and returned to the bed. We turned off the lights, and I fell into a deep sleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night I awoke and had to use the restroom. When I got back to the bed, I saw a figure move in the corner of the room and instinctively raised my fists in preparation to fight.
“Relax, it’s me,” Caeldra said as she walked forward. She was holding her pillow and had her sheet wrapped around her body like a robe. “Do you mind? The couch is pretty uncomfortable.”
“Not at all,” I said, as I scooted over to the side of the bed. It was big enough for the two of us, but I still felt awkward. Caeldra must have noticed my discomfort, and she laughed quietly.
“You act like this is the first time you’ve been in bed with a girl, Jake,” she said in a joking tone.
“Well, umm …” I stammered, caught off guard.
“I’m just messing with you,” she said. “You make it too easy sometimes.” She quickly added, “I guess I should give you a free pass while you’re crippled and all, though.”
“I suppose I should be used to it by now,” I replied, glad the shadows were hiding the fire that surely burned across my face. Caeldra grabbed my hand and entwined my fingers with hers. Her hands weren’t soft like Mary’s; they were coarse, the hands of a Runner.
“Whatever happens, I’m glad that I met you, Jake,” she whispered as she raised my hand to her lips and kissed it. Her lips weren’t rough like her hands.
“I’m glad I met you, too,” I replied.
Caeldra held my hand and fell asleep next to me while I waited for sleep to take hold.
28 TRANSPORT
∆∆∆
The glowing clock next to the bedside table read 8:15 AM when I awoke. I suppressed a large yawn as I raised my one free arm up to my eyes and rubbed them. Caeldra was lying on my other arm, her hands wrapped around my wrist. My arm was asleep, but I didn’t want to wake her. I felt better than I did yesterday, but there was dread in realizing I had destroyed my life on the surface and would never see Mary again. Worse, she wouldn’t ever know what had actually happened to me. I’d just slowly fade away as a painful memory in her life. I hated myself for it and cursed the merchant who sold me the book that changed my life forever.
I slipped my arm out from under Caeldra. She really was beautiful, her ordinarily pulled back hair was lying free at her shoulders in streaming waves. The sheet covered her, and her chest rose methodically with her gentle breathing.
I smiled and slipped on my pants, t-shirt, and jacket before slipping on my boots. Even though I was feeling more like myself, I decided I wasn’t going to press my luck and would try to take it easy today. After grabbing my wallet, I decided to go order some breakfast for us. Perhaps Caeldra would be awake when I got back.
Contrary to last night, the restaurant portion of the inn was almost entirely empty. A few patrons who had decided to stay the night were enjoying breakfast, though. The scent of coffee filled the air like an alluring perfume, and I was determined I would be enjoying some this morning. I spotted the red-haired waitress who had brought us our food last night, and she smiled when she met my gaze.
“Good morning, sir.”
“Good morning,” I responded. “Any chance of getting some breakfast to take back to my room?”
“Certainly. Would you like it delivered?”
I almost said yes, but remembered that Caeldra was still sleeping.
“I’ll just take it back to the room. Oh, and can I please get a pot of coffee with the meals?”
“Sure, give me a few minutes,” she said as she shuffled back into the kitchen. I took a seat and realized my breathing was becoming labored. I was getting tired from just a simple walk and standing for a few minutes. I braced myself on the sides of a chair and lowered myself into it. I let out a sigh of relief as I relaxed against the back and rested my weakened body.
Through the main window, I watched as people walked through the streets carrying bags of goods and socializing. I realized I was growing fond of this city; it felt more like the Champions Guild Hall than the Slums of New York. The Slums, and the fact that the Government had placed a huge bounty on my head, were thoughts I wanted to push away and forget. Of course, I would need to talk with Edgar and work everything out with the rest of the Council, being a Justicar and all.
The waitress approached with the platter of food and a metal canister full of coffee, and I gave her a thirty credit tip. Our agreement with the Scavenger Guild put us in a good place financially, but neither Caeldra nor I wanted to go too far into debt on this outing.
“Enjoy,” she told me as she walked over and tended to another table.
Carefully, I walked back to our room with the heavy tray and focused on maintaining my balance. After somehow managing to open the door, I placed the breakfast platter on the dresser and turned on a lamp. Caeldra shifted and opened her eyes, raising a hand to block the light. She smelled the food and sat up, stretching her arms above her head. The sheet slipped down to reveal her bra. I could see a collection of scattered scars on her pale skin I hadn’t seen before. They were spread out across her body, but none were as distinguished as the one on her face.
“Good morning,” she said through a loud yawn as she reached down and pulled on her tank top and pants. I brought her a plate of the delicious looking food which she gladly accepted. The breakfast was fried fish scrambled with some onions, peppers, and eggs. The food at Emeralds Inn was fantastic. It occurred to me that most meals down in River’s Port featured some sort of fish. The fish was real fish, though; it wasn’t like the strangely delicious eel we had eaten with Jasper on our journey here.
“This isn’t even the best part,” I claimed through a mouthful of breakfast.
Caeldra raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” she asked, a look of curiosity forming on her face.
“I got us some coffee,” I said as I pointed to the metal canister which sat on the platter. Two ceramic mugs were stacked neatly next to it, each bearing the image of an emerald.
“Fancy,” she said with a wink. “You sure do know how to treat a girl.”
I smiled and walked over to the dresser to pour us some coffee. I forced myself to keep my hopes down as the dark liquid filled the cups and emitted a thin pillar of steam. I didn’t expect it to be better than the coffee Edgar brewed, but who knew? Everything else was fantastic down here, perhaps the coffee would be as well.
Turns out the coffee wasn’t as good as the kind Edgar brewed up in his flat, but it still was a luxury I enjoyed. Caeldra drank hers with appreciation, but I could tell that coffee wasn’t her favorite thing in the world—I was pretty sure that was spaghetti. We finished our meal and decided we should probably go have another meeting with Jack at the Scavenger Guild to finalize things. I expected I’d be able to travel tomorrow as I was feeling much better than the previous day right after the surgery.
With the relaxing stay at Emeralds and a chance to partially recover, it was easy to forget the most dangerous part, for me at least, was yet to come. I was going to bring up the idea with Caeldra that she and I should travel separately, but I knew she’d never buy into it. She was too caring and wouldn’t dare leave me behind, especially with the danger I was in. I loved that about her.
Had I suggested we travel separately for safety, she would have taken the opportunity to mock my “need to be a hero,” or my foolishness, or “that I was selfish by trying to be selfless.” Whichever way it would have gone, a private meeting with Jack would be my only shot if I wanted to pull it of
f. I didn’t want to leave her or get rid of her, but it was inarguably safer for her since she was considered a citizen in good standing on the surface, despite the fact she hadn’t visited a Collection Parlor in years.
Caeldra walked over while unscrewing the cap to my pill bottle. She handed me one of the blue pills, and I washed it down with a hot swig of coffee. Smiling, she kissed me on the forehead and returned to getting fully dressed. I ended up drinking four mugs of coffee while Caeldra drank two.
“All right. The coffee was a good choice. I didn’t like it much at first, but it grew on me,” Caeldra said.
“When we make it back, I’ll have Edgar brew us some of his signature brew. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” I replied.
Caeldra smiled and sat down beside me. “About last night. I don’t want to get in the way of you and Mary. It didn’t mean anything other than I was scared and just wanted to feel safe,” she said.
“I think there is a good chance I won’t ever see Mary again,” I replied, my voice sullen. “It hurts, but I don’t want to live with the false hope I can make things work with her.”
Caeldra was quiet. “I’m not saying it will be easy, but if you really care about this girl, then you can’t lose hope.”
I frowned. “I don’t know what to do. I feel so powerless. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
She leaned in and kissed me on the forehead again. “I’m sorry. Come on, let’s get going. We can talk whenever you’re ready. If you need unbiased advice or ever need to vent about anything, I’m here for you.”
Deciding it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to walk around the city in my current state, I used the wheelchair to get around. Caeldra wanted to push me, but I argued against it and ended up wheeling myself, saying I’d let her know if I got too tired. We exited Emeralds and entered the already busy streets of River’s Port. Having no set plan of how to kill time for the day before we met with Jack, we decided to browse Central Market. It was as busy as ever, and the distinct smell of raw fish flooded the entire area as the cooking stalls had not yet set about lighting their stoves.