by James, Jill
“Check him,” Shannon ordered.
With a shaking hand, Michelle lifted his eyelids and gazed at his deep, dark eyes. No lines. No milky film. She looked up at the doctor and shook her head. The woman nodded and went back to work.
Teddy mumbled as they untied him, turned him over, and branded the exit wound on his thigh. The man was past any movement. Michelle ran a hand over his scalp and wiped away the clammy sweat on his skin.
His body began to shake with tremors.
“He’s going into convulsions,” Shannon yelled. “Get him on his side. Michelle, keep away from his teeth. Don’t let him bite you.”
“He’s not turning, damn it,” she cried back. She grunted as they got him on his side. His eyes flew open and his mouth moved but no sound emerged.
Tears flowed down her face and dampened her shirt as Teddy’s shakes slowed and stopped. Her heart raced with dread. She stared at his chest for seconds that seemed like minutes or hours until she could see the shallow ins and outs of his breathing.
“Get the cushions from the couch. We’ll keep him on his side so I can check the wounds tonight,” Shannon ordered.
Ran left to get the cushions and Michelle stared at Shannon. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The woman pulled her long hair back in order and put it into a ponytail. “I’d enjoy the company. I’m afraid it’s going to be a long night.” She yawned. “I haven’t been this tired since my residency.”
Michelle fell back onto the stool. “I’m sorry. You can order me out of here if you want to. I don’t know what I was thinking, telling you what to do in your space.”
Shannon sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hand between her own. “You were thinking that you almost lost the man you love. That you still could.”
Her mouth gaped open and she slammed it shut. “I—We—There’s been no talk of love.”
“I’ve seen you two together. I know love when I see it.”
“But all we do is fight and argue, and he has no respect for me. That isn’t love. I loved my husband. He was sweet and kind and gentle.”
Shannon laughed. “Love is whatever you decide it is. Every couple has its own way of expressing themselves. I would see couples fighting and arguing in my ER all the time. But by the time they were done being treated they were there for each other. Their fear was making them say things they wouldn’t have said if they’d been calmer. Blaming each other for the son getting hurt on his bike. Accusing each other of not watching the little girl who fell and got a concussion. And I’m sure whatever you think Teddy did was fear getting in the way too.”
“But he ...”
“No, don’t tell me. That’s between you two. Life is precious, now more than ever,” Shannon said, pointing at Teddy’s injuries. “Too precious to waste on misunderstandings and things that could be solved with a plain old discussion.”
Michelle looked at the doctor. “You aren’t old enough to be such a wise woman.”
Shannon stood, stretched, and grimaced as her back cracked. “Medicine makes you old before your time.”
She put a hand on Michelle’s shoulder. “I’m going to get cleaned up. Just check his eyes from time to time, make sure he isn’t burning up, and I’ll be right back.”
The clang of metal dropping into the sink sent shudders up her spine. The burnt flesh smell lingered in the closed room. Michelle moved around, opening windows and closing the curtains to keep the sun out.
Ran came in with a basin of water and some rags. “Shannon said to give you this.” The young girl set it on the dresser and left again.
She took a rag and dipped it into the cool, clear water. The doctor’s patients must be higher on the list of needs, along with cooking to get the good stuff, not the cloudy with bleach the rest of them were using. Wringing out the towel, she slowly swiped it across Teddy’s head and sweaty face. He moaned in his sleep and Michelle dropped the rag onto the bed in a panic.
A quick look at his eyes proved her panic as unnecessary. His soaked T-shirt clung to his chest and abdomen. She needed help to get his jeans off, but she could do something about the filthy shirt.
Grabbing the scissors Shannon had left on the dresser, she cut the gray shirt off Teddy’s body. It came off in pieces as she cut along his arms and by his neck. The shreds of gray material floated to the carpet. She dipped the rag into the water again, wrung it out, and swept the towel across his chest and abdomen. His ebony skin glistened with wetness. Her mouth grew dry. He was so beautiful, even if men hated the idea of being called beautiful. She could think it in her mind. He was like a priceless sculpture in a museum. Her mind floated to their love-making. He was also very much a man of flesh and blood.
When he shivered slightly, Michelle put the towel back in the water and got a sheet to pull over him. His face calmed and he sighed. She placed her hand on his face and leaned in.
“I’m so sorry you got hurt. I would take it away if I could.”
***
Voices. Voices came from the other side of the house.
A woman’s cry. A man’s angry baritone.
The sound of flesh hitting flesh.
Teddy wallowed in a deep fog. His thoughts scrambled between here and there, now and before. Flashes of light pierced his eyeballs and cleaved his head in two. Pain shot through his legs and slammed into his stomach.
Something cool covered his face. A calm voice led him out of the darkness. His eyelids were heavy. Heavier than lifting a dead body into a pile. Finally, they pried open and Michelle’s face came into view. His breath came rough and hard from his throat as if he’d run miles to escape the undead.
“Teddy,” she whispered with a smile on her face.
“Michelle.” His voice cracked and his throat ached.
“Don’t move. You were hurt.” She put her hand on his shoulder to hold him down.
As if that small hand could keep him in place, he struggled to sit up. His body refused to obey his command. Hurt? He couldn’t remember being hurt.
A bottle of water appeared in front of his eyes. Michelle held his head up and helped him drink a few sips. He would have guzzled the whole thing but she pulled it away.
“Dr. Shannon said just a few sips until we see if you keep it down.”
He struggled to remember why he would need to see Dr. Shannon and be in bed. Vague wisps of sights and sounds filtered through the fog in his brain.
Voices.
Crying and yelling.
The sound of a slap, echoing in the still air.
The explosion of a gunshot.
Agony and pain.
“Teddy,” she said, wiping the cool rag over his face and head. “Do you remember what happened? The men said they didn’t see anything but you on the ground by a skinbag, with a gunshot wound in your leg.”
“It’s all fuzzy. Like I should know, but I don’t.”
“It’s okay. Once you’ve rested, I’m sure you’ll remember.”
He didn’t have Michelle’s confidence. In the back of his mind laid a worm of thought, telling him he had to remember. That it was very important.
He shook his head. Maybe if he put his mind elsewhere, it would come to him. Not as if he didn’t have enough going on to think about. Like the pain in his leg, the scent of burned flesh in the room, and Michelle at his side, taking care of him. The last thought was the most pleasant one to keep his mind on.
“You’re here. With me.”
She put a damp hand on his face and stared into his eyes. “Where else would I be?”
He smiled. “Well, lately it’s been anywhere but where I am.”
Her smile fell. “I’m so sorry, Teddy. I’ve been acting like a teenage girl having a hissy fit. Something I’ve had several people nice enough to point out.”
Not missing the sarcasm in her voice, Teddy laughed slightly. “Well, you have the body of a teenage girl, so why not the attitude too?”
“Teddy Ridgewood, don’t make me angry with you again.
” Her voice dwindled to nothing and tears filled her eyes before running down her dusty face.
He refused to look down his body and it hurt to look at her face with the tears filling those beautiful eyes. Grabbing her hand, he closed his eyes.
“Tell me the truth now. Did the doctor have to take my leg? Is that why everything hurts? Why I can’t move? Why you’re crying all over me?”
Her breath caught on a hiccup and hitched. “Teddy, open your eyes. Your leg is fine and attached. Well, mostly okay. She did have to cut some around the wound and we had to burn it some to protect you, the same as Miranda did for Seth and his hand.”
He swallowed the knot in his throat and his gaze followed her hand to where it rested on his bare leg. The flesh was red and ugly, but his leg was still there. He took a deep breath and wiggled his toes and moved his foot. The pain had him gulping in air and cursing under his breath, but it was worth it to see his leg there and in working order.
A knock came at the door and it opened with Shannon sticking her head inside. “How’s the patient doing?”
Michelle jumped up from her seat. “He’s awake and moving his toes.”
The doctor stepped into the room and Michelle moved back against the door. Shannon pressed and prodded with more cursing from Teddy, but his eyes stayed on Michelle the whole time.
“I’m going to give you some sleeping pills.”
Teddy started to grumble, but the doctor held her hand up.
“No arguing with me. It is going to get worse before it gets better. But there is no leakage and best of all, no black lines.”
He stared at his leg. “Not to piss off Karma or the fates or whoever, but, would you be able to see black lines on my skin?”
Michelle laughed and Shannon joined in. “I’ve seen enough dark-skinned and African-American undead to recognize the signs,” the doctor said. “Actually, with your skin tone I would expect the lines to be lighter, maybe even a beige color. I saw some in the hospital that were blood red against black skin.”
She handed the pills in a blister pack to Michelle. “Make sure he takes these. Once he falls asleep, I’ll take over.”
“But I want to stay.”
“No arguing from you either. You’ve been here all day with no food and no breaks. Your boys have been asking for you. Get some food. Get some sleep. I’m sure Teddy will be fighting me to get up and out of this bed by tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Michelle mumbled.
Shannon laughed as she left the room and shut the door behind her.
Michelle handed the pills to Teddy and got the bottle of water. With some fumbling of getting the medication and water into him, they managed to spill on the bed, but finally the pills were down and going to work.
“I’m sorry,” they intoned in unison.
“I’m sorry I treated you like you had no brain. I’m glad my momma can’t see me now. She always told me a woman was your better half. She would be there to have your back and to be by your side. The best ones would die for you and you’d be willing to die for them.”
She jumped up from the bed and started pacing the floor. Teddy lay silent as tears flooded those beautiful dark eyes. Pain radiated from them as her gaze hit him.
“I love you, Michelle.”
Stopping mid step, her face paled to white and her eyes widened. “I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I can’t. I was a cop’s wife and I can’t be a zombie hunter’s mistress or girlfriend or whatever this is. I can’t sit here day after day and wonder if you’ll come home hurt or not come home at all. Been there, done that. I can’t do it anymore.”
He raised himself up on his elbow and met her eyes. “Come out there with me.”
Her fist came to her chest as if her heart was going to burst out of it. “I can’t do that. I can’t.”
She turned and yanked the door open and ran out. The outer door slammed shut before he could call her back.
Chapter Nineteen
Rule #12 Don’t ask anyone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself. In other words, grow a pair. If there was ever a time to pull up the big girl panties, the zombie apocalypse would be it.
Michelle sat alone in her motor home, rocking in a chair, staring at the gold shag carpet. The day gave way to twilight and still she sat in the dark, thankfully no longer able to see the old, matted carpet. Her mind swirled in a million directions at once. Images of Mitch coming up their sidewalk bombarded her. They superimposed themselves on Teddy being carried to the makeshift hospital.
She cried. She laughed and stopped herself when it rang out in hysterics. She wanted to go to sleep and hide from the world. She wanted to be brave enough to not hide at all. She’d been hiding for over a year and nothing had changed. The undead still walked the Earth and humans were still an endangered species, at least the living ones. Because there were more than enough of the undead ones.
Pushing against her knees, Michelle got out of the chair like an arthritic old woman. Her stomach growled to remind her she hadn’t eaten all day. She stood at the sink and turned the cold water knob. A few drops fell and plunked in the empty sink.
Her head swum. The tanks of the motor home had been full last week. A different fear gnawed at her. Humans needed water. They could go days without food, but they needed water. Clean, potable water. She grabbed the pot on the nearby stove and headed outside. Silence filled the yard as she came down the steps. A small group sat by the fire pit, but the rest of the area was empty of people. Her ears hummed with nothing but the repel sound. Loud and echoing without the hum of people going about life.
She walked up to the group and spotted Seth.
“How’s Emily doing?” Her friend was back on bed rest, doctor’s orders, as her due date approached. As her stomach expanded, her breathing had become labored and Shannon ordered Emily to stay in bed. Another worry to add to the long list in her head.
Seth looked up. “She’s cranky as hell. Staying in bed is not her idea of a fun time.”
She laughed. “I can imagine. Her idea of fun is out hunting zombies.”
“How’s Teddy doing?”
“Shannon says he’ll be fine. I’m sure he will be. Nothing fazes the King of Pittsburg.” Her voice caught at her undertone of bitter sarcasm.
“That’s true,” Seth replied, obviously missing her tone altogether.
“Where is everyone?” she said, trying to change the subject to something less volatile than Teddy and their now nonexistent relationship. There weren’t many places to go after a man said ‘I love you’ and you ran away instead of returning the sentiment.
Seth threw a log on the fire and turned to her. “Well, there was an explosion and fire earlier to the north, so Jack and Paul took a group to make sure it was an accident and not a diversion or something.”
“You don’t think it’s an attack, do you?” Her breath caught. Would they never be safe?
“Jack didn’t think so. He radioed a while ago to say it looked like a propane tank at the hotel over there. But they are checking the area to be sure.”
She sighed. “What about everyone else? They didn’t take everyone, did they?”
“No,” Seth said, running a hand through his long hair. “A lot of folks are sick.”
“Sick,” she whispered. “Not from the virus. It can’t be. Not again.”
He ran a hand over his face. “Shannon isn’t sure yet. It came on right after dinner. But Jim is sick, along with Joseph and Robert Jones. She quarantined them to one trailer. Maggie and her friends are sick too. The doctor put them together in another trailer. So far, the kids and the younger people seem okay. Josh and Suz put them in the office building for safety.”
He didn’t need to say what safety. He meant if the sick ones died and turned, the kids would be behind cement walls. Her head spun. While she’d been having a pity party for one, the camp had fallen apart. Her boys must be going out of their minds. They’d needed her and she’d been so wrapped up in herself she’d ignore
d her responsibilities.
“I have to check on the kids,” she announced.
Seth nodded. “I saw them earlier, but I’m sure the Rogue Vantage would like to see their mom.”
She smiled weakly. “I’m sure I’d like to see them too.”
Berating herself all the way to the office building, she strode as quickly as possible, her heart racing in time with her steps. Miranda and Cody sat on chairs at the doorway. Ran sat sharpening the large machete she carried everywhere and the young man flipped pages in an old magazine, the pages frayed and falling out. Another casualty of the end of the world as we know it. Michelle sighed, thinking of the last book she’d read, a wonderful, rich and lavish, historical romance by her favorite author. Back before everything went to hell she’d been savoring it, a chapter at a time at bedtime. The book was wasted space in her one allowable duffel bag and probably still lay on her nightstand in the house in San Francisco, with a turned down page to mark where she’d stopped reading the night before she’d left. She shivered at the vision of millions of homes in stasis. A world full of Pompeii circa 79 A D or Roanoke Island 1590, with civilization forever frozen in the Pre-Z virus time.
Shaking her head, she walked up to Cody and Ran. “Came to check on the boys and the other kids too. How is everyone doing?”
Cody closed the magazine, something with surfboards on the cover. “We fed them a while ago, and then Beth was going to do some reading and writing lessons and Jed was going to teach them how to work the ham radio. I think he said something about talking with the capital yesterday and maybe contacting Los Angeles tonight.”
“The boys will like that, I’m sure,” she murmured, pushing open the door.
The ham radio sat unattended on the desk in the front office, low static filling the room, interrupted by random voices. She gave it a glance and headed to the storeroom in the back. Finding the door locked, she knocked and called out to the kids to let them know it was okay to let her in.
“It’s Michelle. I’m not sick. Let me in.”