“The hospital called. Something’s wrong with Cassie!” She found her purse on the chair and slung it over her shoulder.
Jason’s hands tightened on her arms and his nostrils flared. “I’m coming with you.”
“Okay, I’m leaving now!”
He looked down at her, still in her nightie. “Get dressed.” Then, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
She shimmied into her jeans and yellow sweater. Jason reappeared, dressed in the same clothing he’d worn that day. There was a grease stain on the shirt from where he’d done engine work on his truck. He jingled his keys impatiently.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Miranda slipped her sandals on. “I’ll drive.”
He headed down the stairs ahead of her. “I’ll drive.”
She paused for a millisecond to argue, then followed after him. It didn’t matter who drove. What mattered was getting there as soon as possible.
The whole drive was a blur. Miranda spent the time staring out the window and chewing her fingernails to nubs.
Within the hour, Jason jolted over the speed bump into the parking garage. He pulled into the stall and they jumped out and ran for the elevator.
They arrived at the Critical Care Unit, and the nurse escorted them outside her room.
“Wait here,” she directed. A team of doctors filled Cassie’s room. Alarms buzzed. Unconsciously, Miranda reached for Jason’s hand.
A doctor came out then with a harried expression on his face. “Ms. Temple?” he asked.
“Y-yes,”Miranda stammered. “I’m her. I mean, I’m me.”
His lips turned down. “Your sister is fighting an infection. We’re not sure what kind exactly, but it’s in her lungs. A type of pneumonia which, so far, hasn’t been responding to our treatments.”
Miranda looked at Jason, then back at the doctor.
“I thought she was improving.”
“Initially yes, but since 5 o’clock her temperature has been going up. She hasn’t been responding to the steroids.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means she’s having a tough time breathing. Her lungs are filling with liquid. We’re doing our best to ease it.”
Miranda felt the blood rush from her head. Her baby sister was drowning. She felt the solid presence of Jason as he took a step closer.
He reached his arm around her and pulled her close. “So what does this mean, Doctor?”
“It means we are in a very serious situation. Serious enough that it could go either way, at this moment. We’re hoping for the best, but we needed to bring you down.”
Cassie….
Miranda’s entire body was sweating. She pulled at the neckline of her sweater. Jason’s arm kept her from collapsing to the floor. She shuddered with each intake of air, and tried to concentrate on breathing slowly.
“I know this is hard.” The nurse took one of her arms, and Jason the other. Together, the three of them walked into Cassie’s room.
Cassie lay on the bed with a contraption over her mouth.
“She’s intubated,” the nurse explained.
Miranda could hear the rattle in her lungs from across the room. She clutched her hands over her mouth, and ran over to the bed.
“Cassie!” Miranda’s voice was high with anxiety. Her sister’s hair had grown to a thick stubble where it had once been shorn. Her eyelashes were dark on her white cheek. “Baby girl. You have to fight. We need you to fight. You can do this.”
Cassie breathed in, another gurgle.
Miranda turned to Jason, whose eyes were wet. “Help me! Do something.”
Without looking at Miranda, Jason walked over to the bed. “Cassie, remember the soccer game when you faced Earl High? You were tough then. Remember how you shouted that you could beat anyone? It’s time to see it. Show me again.”
There was no response from her, just the steady struggle to breathe.
The nurse hovered at the doorway. “I’ll bring you both some blankets.” She pointed. “Those chairs pull out into beds.”
The two of them sat next to Cassie, coaxing and encouraging her through the night. Every gasping breath tightened the noose of guilt around Miranda’s own neck.
After a few hours she withdrew to the chair with her face in her hand. Covering, hiding.
Cassie’s closed eyes sunk deeper into the shadows on her face. Her oxygen monitor sharply buzzed as her saturation levels lowered. Miranda raised her head at the sound.
Abruptly, she shoved the chair back and stood up. Jason lifted his head, bleary-eyed, his forehead red from where he’d been resting it against the bed.
Miranda stared at her sister with a hand over her face. She spun towards the door.
Jason lunged to grab her arm as she walked past. “Don’t you run.” His eyes bored into hers.
“I’m not going to run. I just need a minute.” She looked away and yanked her arm free.
He exhaled deeply through his nose. “Well, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Grabbing her purse, she left the room.
When she tip-toed in an hour later, Jason’s eyes were closed and he had sunk back into the chair. “I frigging knew it,” he whispered to himself. He swallowed hard. “She did it again.” Then he looked at Cassie. “Just you and me, kid.”
“What are you talking about?” Miranda asked, as she shut the door with her hip, her hands clasping two steaming cups of coffee.
Jason jumped up. “Where the heck were you? I thought…”
“What, you thought I’d left?” Handing him a cup of coffee, she sat on the bed and studied her sister. “I was in the chapel. Praying.”
Jason stared at the cup. “You think that will help?”
“I’m desperate, Jason.”
Chapter Sixteen Present Day
Miranda woke up, confused. Sunlight spilled through the lower slits in the louvered blinds. She blinked again. A beep caught her attention. Cassie’s blood pressure cuff was inflating on her arm. Miranda sat up and rubbed the kink in her neck.
“Hey, beautiful.” A very tired Jason slouched in his folding chair.
Miranda gave him a small smile. “Good grief, Jason, how did you manage to stay in that all night?”
He shrugged with a half laugh. “Let me tell ya, I can sleep anywhere.”
The fact that he cared so much made her blink hard. “You’re awesome.”
Jason snorted at that and stood up and stretched, his mouth opening into a huge yawn. With slow steps he walked over to the bed.
“How’s our princess today?” he asked, brushing a blonde curl from the unshaved side of Cassie’s forehead.
“Good morning.” A voice behind him startled him. Darn those nurses and their crepe-soled shoes! The nurse’s eyes twinkled at seeing Jason jump. “Your princess is doing better. I’ll let the doctor go over her chart with you, but I can tell you that her fever broke at about five-thirty this morning.
“Thank God.” Miranda rested back in the chair, her lips curving in the beginnings of a relieved smile.
“That’s a very good sign.” The nurse adjusted Cassie’s IV flow, before typing into her hand-held computer.
Jason folded his hands behind his neck and hung his head, overcome with emotion. After a few seconds he straightened up with a huge smile. “I knew you could do it, champ.” He beamed at Cassie, before flashing that grin at Miranda.
Leaning over, Miranda reached for her sister’s hand, careful not to jar the oxygen sensor clamped to her finger. “You’re a fighter, Chickee. Now you’ve got to wake up. I’m here now, and we’ve got things to talk about.”
The nurse finished updating the chart. “They’ll be moving her to x-ray in just a few minutes, so I’m going to have you leave the room.”
Jason rubbed his bicep and rotated his arm to stretch his shoulder. “Want to grab some coffee?”
Miranda nodded. She stooped over to give her sister a kiss on her cheek, and then seized her
purse.
In the elevator Jason rested his hand for a moment between Miranda’s shoulder blades. “You did good.”
“I did?” Miranda raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, you didn’t run away.”
“I’m telling you, I’m working on my stuff.”
Downstairs, the scent of eggs and coffee drifted in the cafeteria air. At the far end of the room was a buffet, empty at the moment. At this time of the morning, people only wanted to run in and grab their cup of coffee and a bagel. Miranda and Jason took theirs to a table near the living arboretum at the center of the room. As soon as he sat, Jason pulled out his phone and started texting. Miranda reached into her purse for her phone. Ugh! She’d left it at home. Hopefully Claudia would understand why she missed work. Well, of course she would.
Miranda folded her hands around her coffee, the heat permeating her cold fingers. She closed her eyes and replayed the memory of the nurse saying Cassie’s fever was gone. Thank God she’s going to be okay. And somehow I’m going to fix this mess between us.
Jason slid his phone into his front pocket. “There.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I asked Doug to go check on Archer. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone today.”
“Does he live close?”
“Yeah, just up the road.”
Miranda glanced up and caught his eyes. She fidgeted with her napkin. He cleared his throat.
“I saw a doctor yesterday,” Miranda said, then winced at how loud she’d spoken.
“Oh yeah?”
Miranda nodded. “Turns out I have an anxiety issue I need to deal with.” The napkin in front of her was torn into shreds. “Probably stemming from something that happened to me as a teenager.”
Jason snorted. “Yeah, I can imagine. The fact that you lived through your teenage years is a miracle.”
“He recommended a counselor.” Miranda blushed at the word. Knowing she needed a counselor made her feel weak and broken. But maybe that was what she was. “I kind of feel like a failure because I can’t fix myself.”
“You don’t really think that’s true, do you?” Jason raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Millions of people see a counselor. Facing the problem is strength, even if you don’t know how to fix it.”
“Yeah, you think you’ll ever need one, buddy?” she gently ribbed him.
He looked away. “We’re talking about you, not me.” The skylight above them played on the shadows of his whiskery frown.
Miranda tapped his hand with a coffee stirrer. “Are you ever going to forgive me?”
“I said I did.” Jason licked his lip before taking a drink of his coffee.
“I mean,” Miranda began again, “I can see it in your eyes.”
“What?”
“You don’t trust me not to do it again, do you?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and pushed his chair slightly away from her.
“Do you?”
“Miranda,” he said softly, closing his eyes.
“I know I hurt you, Jason. I disappointed you. I wish you’d just talk to me.”
He tensed at her words, then looked at the ceiling with red eyes.
“Look, it’s been a rough night.” He stood up. “We’re friends. It’s cool. Let’s go back and check on Cassie.”
She frowned, but picked up her coffee cup and followed him back to her sister’s room.
Chapter Seventeen
~Homeless~
With a jerk, the train slowed down. “About five more minutes,” Jason said. He leaned his head out, but the town still wasn’t in sight.
“Can you stand up?” he asked her.
Her leg throbbed. The ground flashed by in a blur. What is he thinking? How can I do this? The image of herself landing on the pavement and cartwheeling across its surface flashed through her mind. He’s crazy!
“Two minutes.”
He’s serious! She closed her eyes and thought, It was nice knowing you, skin.
Another chug, and the train slowed more.
“Did I ever tell you I’m scared of heights?”
Jason grabbed her hand and glanced down at her leg. He squeezed her hand. “Hey,” he said, making her look him in the eye. “You’ve got this. I swear you’ve got this.”
“I’m going to die.”
“You aren’t going to die. We’re going to be fine, and then we’ll go find Cassie.”
She nodded. The train plodded into the town. Jason shot a quick look up the boxcars, and then at the flashing ground. His grip tightened on her hand.
“Ready?”
“Yeah,” she said, but her head shook, perceptibly, no.
“One.” His other arm clenched around her waist.
“Oh, no…”
“Two.”
The ground rushed by at a blur. “Jason, I don’t think—”
“Three!” He hurled himself out, pulling her with him.
They hit the embankment and rolled down it like wet towels in a dryer. With a thump they landed at the bottom in the grass, Jason on top of her. He smiled a bit as he pushed off. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Miranda lay there and groaned, testing her limbs.
He offered his hand to help her. “How are you feeling? Anything broke?”
“Now you ask? After you threw me off a moving train and landed on top of me?”
“Why are you making that noise?”
“It was anticipatory,” she said. “Just in case I was really hurt.”
“Are you?”
She tested her arms and leaned back to stretch out her back. “I’m fine,” she said dryly.
“Not super fine.” Jason looked at her leg, which was bleeding through the cloth bandage. “Come on. I’ll stash you someplace and get us some water.” His muscles bunched under his torn t-shirt as he supported her and she hung on to his shoulder. Together, they limped toward the town.
“I feel like a three legged pygmy goat,” Miranda complained.
“Why?” Jason asked.
“Because,” she gritted her teeth at a sharp jolt of pain. “They’re so dang cute.”
He struggled to keep a straight face but failed. “You’re something else, Miranda.”
“Just shut up and get me some shade.”
The town was busy. Cars passed by in a steady stream. Up ahead she could see a shopping center and a bank.
“I’m taking you there.” Jason gestured with his head to a group of trees behind the bank. “Then I’ll go find a store or a fast food place and get some water.”
“We need directions to the school, don’t forget,” Miranda added.
“Yeah. Okay.”
Miranda was surprised by the lack of attention they were getting. These people would be blind to a zombie apocalypse.
Once under the tree, Jason gently lowered her to the ground, grimacing a bit when she sucked in her breath at the pain.
“You good?”
“Yeah.” She readjusted herself. “Hurry up, I don’t have all day.”
He gave his half-smile, showing his crooked tooth. “Whatever, lady.” He winked and then, after a quick look both ways, jogged across the road.
The breeze felt amazing against Miranda’s sweaty face. She leaned back against the trunk and closed her eyes. Her leg throbbed and itched where the bandage stuck to it.
“Hey!” A voice startled her alert. Marching towards her was a woman in business attire and high heels. “You can’t be sitting there,” the lady called as she came closer.
Miranda closed her eyes and groaned.
“You need to leave now. Can’t you read?” The lady pointed to the side of the building, where a sign stated No Loitering.
Miranda raised her hand in acknowledgement, unsure of just how she was going to get up in a standing position.
“Don’t be waving at me. I mean now.” The firm footsteps came closer. “Want me to call the police?”
Miranda shook her head no, and rolled to her side. Carefully, she eased her good leg under her, and usi
ng the tree as a crutch, pulled herself standing.
The lady stopped. “Good,” she said. “Now get going.”
Miranda took a couple tottering steps away from the tree. Once she was out from under the shade, the sun nearly knocked her down with its intensity.
Satisfied, the lady turned to return to the bank, muttering loud enough for Miranda to hear, “Worthless kids. Why don’t you try working for a living?”
“Great,” Miranda thought, wondering where she was going to go. She hobbled to the crosswalk and crossed the road, trying to follow where she’d last seen Jason.
Little mirages lay like puddles on the shimmering pavement. “I can do this. I can do this,” she repeated with each footfall.
Up ahead was a tattoo parlor, with a shaded alcove. “Just got to get there.”
Miranda saw an old man heading her way. He walked slow and stooped over, but when he caught her eye, his face crinkled like origami into a smile.
“Well, hello there, young lady.”
The sun was so horrible it made it hard to think. She smiled at him for a second, then looked down at her feet. That’s when she noticed a bloody toe poking out of her torn sneaker.
“H-hello,” she stammered.
He stopped next to her and eased his weight on to his brass-handled cane. He swiveled his head, taking in the blue sky. “Beautiful day.”
Miranda nodded, and wished he would go away. The sun was making her nauseous. She needed to find Jason.
“What are you doing on this nice day?”
“I’m just waiting here.”
“Oh, waiting for something special?”
She straightened up, every part of her body aching. Put your game face on, Miranda.
“I'm trying to find the elementary school to pick up my cousin,” Miranda said.
“Ah.” He nodded, and pulled at his white beard. “I might be able to help you with that. Benjamin Franklin?”
Miranda licked her cracked lips and nodded. Breathing was becoming hard.
“It’s this way.” He pointed in front of him. A look of concern flashed across his face. “Let me lead you there.’
Can’t. Leave. Jason. Her head felt thick as she shook it in protest.
“Nonsense. The doctor harps on me constantly to get exercise. You’d be doing me a favor.” Somehow, he had Miranda turned around and walking along beside him. “Though I’ve barely listened to the doctor all these years. Why start now?” He chuckled.
Wrecked and Yours Page 10