Where to Belong

by W.J. Smith

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Price Of Freedom

  "Skyler? Talk to me. What's happening?" She helped him out of the tank's hold. He collapsed to the ground. The flashlight scattered away from him. The sound of it bouncing off the concrete echoed in the domed room before it plopped into the water.

  "Get it off!" he said in a pained whisper. "I'm freezing!"

  She didn't hesitate to react. He was already fumbling with the zipper across the front of his suit. Madison pulled off her gloves and knelt beside him. She had the zipper undone and hurried to help him out of the suit. He was completely soaked and shivering violently.

  Since they had put the suits on over their clothes, she knew he had nothing dry to wear except his coat. "Get the bag," he chattered. "Blankets."

  "I'm coming." She scrambled for the bag with her eyes gradually adjusting to the dark. Madison dragged it back to where he was fighting to get out of his sopping wet clothes. She had to dig past the coats to find the blankets that were hiding in the bag. There were two of them; wonderfully thick, heavy, and dry blankets.

  She muttered as she helped him get free of his shirt, "You're all right." His hands were shaking too much to maneuver the buttons. She undid a few before giving up and pulling the wet garment over his head. "You're going to be fine."

  "I ... can't ..." He fell short in forming the words. Madison didn't slow to question what he was saying. He needed to be dried off as soon as possible. Her hands were quickly feeling numb just from handling his suit and wet clothes with the cold air of where ever they were. She draped one of the blankets over his shoulders and had him hold it as she loosened his belt to get his pants off of him.

  "Here." She laid the second blanket down on the hard ground. "You're almost there. Hang on a moment longer." She helped him onto the blanket and wrapped him completely in it. She then fought with her own suit until she could step out of it. Madison scooped up both their coats and rushed back to Skyler.

  "I'm ...freezing ..." he said when she checked him.

  "I know. I'm trying to hurry."

  "Talk ...to me. Stay ...awake."

  "I know, I know. I'm sorry." She climbed into the blankets with him and draped the coats over them for another layer of warmth. "Hold onto me." She tried to nestle closer to him.

  "I am," he breathed.

  He wasn't. Madison wrapped his arms around herself and cringed at how cold he was. He felt like he was made of ice. She tried not to shiver as she hugged him close. His quaking only made it worse since she had to hold even tighter to him to keep him from pulling away. "Come on," she tried to speak calmly to him. "You've got this. We're all right."

  "Stay ...awake ..."

  "I know. I won't let you sleep. We have too much to talk about." She was beginning to shiver despite her best efforts. His body seemed as if it was chasing away any warmth she had within her. "I think we're going to miss that movie."

  "S-s-s-sorry." He buried his face in her shoulder.

  "It's ok, we can catch it another time." She fervently rubbed at his back and arms, and tried to keep the cold from taking him any further. "What was it called?"

  "Don't ...know ..."

  She was hoping to keep him talking more than that. He needed to fight more than he was. "Skyler? Where are we going tomorrow?"

  "I ...can't ..." He didn't seem to be trying to answer. "Madi ...I can't ..."

  "I need you to try," she shook him. "Come on, Skyler. You can do better than this." He whimpered and puffed, but he didn't answer. "What happened to Jessica? You never told me how things went with her."

  "She ...left me ...when ...Morgan ...came back ..." A forceful shudder rocked through him and he gasped. Madison winced and held him close. "She didn't ...know ... She thought ...I ... delivered pizzas."

  "I'm sorry," she whispered to him and tried to ignore her own aching body. "I'm sure she'd be happy to know you're out and on your own now. She'd be proud of you." Madison didn't know what she was saying. She could only hope his old girlfriend didn't hate him for trying to shield her from what he did. He had always talked about taking her away and starting over on their own. It was harder than it sounded. But he loved her. He would have made it happen.

  "Hey, Skyler?" She waited for him to make an effort to acknowledge her before going on. "Remember back before Jessica and before Morgan when it was just us? We were on our own and barely getting by. I think those are still my favorite times. Remember? I worked at the diner and you delivered pizzas. We worked right next to each other and took breaks together. Fridays we combined our tips and went to the drive-in and split a tub of popcorn and a soda. Remember?" She gave him a nudge and he seemed to nod. "That girl who liked you worked there and would let us in. Your car didn't have a radio, so you and I made up our own lines for the movie. We'd stop and get ice cream afterwards before going home. You always got chocolate chip and I had rocky road."

  She paused again and hoped he would join in. He didn't. She pressed her forehead to his. "Please talk to me." He just shivered and shook with his teeth clinched. "What kind of car did you have?" She gave him a few moments to answer. He remained unchanged. "Please, Skyler. What kind of car was it?"

  He groaned and opened his eyes some. "Honda." The answer was weak, but he gave it. The trembling calmed slightly.

  Madison gave a smile of relief. "It was white, right?" She knew it wasn't. It was another attempt to keep him active.

  "Black." His quaking increased and she let him bury his face in her shoulder again. "Tiffany ...at the ...movie."

  "That's right. Her name was Tiffany. She went to school with us and her dad was our English teacher."

  "Twice."

  "Junior and senior year. I forgot." She checked the blankets to make sure he was getting as much warmth as could be managed. He didn't seem to be getting any better, and she was beginning to shiver uncontrollably. He needed help, more than what she was able to give. She was afraid to leave him to look for help. She had no idea where they were. They were more alone than they had ever been before.

  The moments passed as she struggled to think of what to do. She didn't want to be his only hope. She wasn't doing a very good job of keeping him warm or awake. Her own eyes began to feel heavy. She wanted to close them and rest for a few minutes. But that would be a mistake, a dangerous one for them both at this point.

  "You ...there?" Skyler's unsteady voice called her back to the present.

  She nodded. "I am." Madison rested her head against his despite the sting of his wet and seemingly frozen hair where it touched her skin. She closed her eyes and willed away the cold. "I'm not going anywhere. You're still stuck with me, in case you were wondering." A strangled smile quivered her lips at the failed humor then instantly disappeared when she clinched her teeth to keep them from chattering.

  Skyler groaned as another tremor jolted his body. Madison cringed and held tight in hopes of it subsiding quickly. He began to mutter something, and she had to listen closely to decipher his words. He took a deep breath and tried again. "I didn't mean ...for this ...to happen ...I'm ...sorry ..."

  "No. You have nothing to be sorry about," she softly interrupted. "You said you would save us, and you did. You faced your fears and took a chance and now you're free. No one can bully or push you around anymore." He didn't make any attempt to respond as his trembling continued. "I didn't do that, Skyler, and I'm sorry. I ran away. I never should have left you alone. That is my biggest regret. But now that I've found you again, I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here, and we're going to be just fine."

  There wasn't any change in him as she adjusted her hold on him and tried to study his bruised face in the darkness. She couldn't tell if he was even listening to her anymore. "Yep. We're going to be all right. We'll get out of here and catch the first flight south. There's a sandy beach with our name on it. We'll build a bonfire and watch the tide co
me in. A night on the warm sand sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?" Madison's mind began to drift back to their carefree days in Miami when it was just the two of them. She could almost hear the waves crashing and the fire crackling. The heat from the flames and the summer night nearly reached her before Skyler's shaking increased and she felt him tense up even more.

  "We'll get there soon," she started again, "and we have you to thank for that. Just hang in there a little longer. You're strong. You can do it. But I'm not as strong as you. I need you to do this for me. I've only gotten this far because of you, and I can't do it alone." She paused as he stirred. He remained silent. "I saw him. Morgan. I almost couldn't do it. It would have been so easy to believe him again and to let him win. I wasn't strong enough to move on, but then I thought of you. The only reason I could walk away from him was you."

  She let out a weary sigh and leaned her head against his icy shoulder. There was an oddment of warmth that she felt within him for an instant then wondered if she had merely imagined it. She closed her eyes and thought to detect it again. She was only greeted by his shivering and a radiating chill. Her exhaled breath seemed to hang between them as it contrasted the absolute cold which slowly devoured it.

  As the adrenaline from the entire day began to run dry, Madison was forced to concede to her own exhaustion. Her limbs felt thick and foreign. The wound that had finally began to retreat from her consciousness was now screaming for her to lie still. Her shivering amplified its presence. Everything hurt with each breath, each tremble. She held tight to Skyler and wished away the past eight years and all the resulted strife. Was there ever really a hope for a normal life?

  Her mind strayed again as she imagined everything was all right. They weren't freezing in this random concrete enclosure. They weren't alone without any chance of help coming to them. They were gazing up at the stars on a clear summer night. The steady sound of the rolling waves eased the painful ringing in her ears. Was it waves? She shifted and listened closer. The rhythm reminded her of a train, but there weren't any trains on the beach.

  She let the remembrance take her where it would.