Anyone?

by Scott, Angela

  “Take it easy? How exactly am I supposed to do that?” A machine went nuts at my side and let out a high pitched beep that wouldn’t stop. One of the men got up from the table, put on a surgical gown, hat, mask, and gloves, and then stood inside an adjoining room the size of a closet. Air whirled around him for thirty seconds, before he punched in a code and came into my room.

  “Are they doctors?” Toby didn’t answer me and I rolled my head to the side and faced the masked man. “Are you a doctor?”

  He adjusted a machine. “No, I’m not, but I’m the closest thing you’ve got.”

  I recognized his voice. “You stabbed me in the chest, and you’re not a doctor?”

  “You’re alive and breathing because I did.”

  “But not for long, right?”

  He lifted my oxygen mask and held it close to my face. “You’ve been given a chance to say goodbye to your family. I suggest you do it. A lot of people never had that opportunity.”

  Say goodbye? I turned to face my brother again. “Who is this guy? I don’t understand. Please, tell me what’s going on.”

  Toby brushed his dark hair off his forehead. “You’ve seen the mess outside,” he said. “Once those meteorites hit the ground, all hell broke loose. Radiation levels are higher than normal. We can hardly breathe the air because of all the crap in it and the water is so contaminated it’s impossible to drink. You’ve been out there in it longer than everyone else, so you’ve seen how crazy it is. What more can I explain?”

  I had seen every miserable aspect of it, but I still didn’t understand anything. “Why isn’t anyone fixing it?”

  “Sometimes things are too catastrophic to be fixed. And sometimes instead of fixing anything, people in charge make things worse. Those of us stuck in the middle are doing what we can to survive—pulling together, gathering resources, and doing what we can to keep from being more exposed than we already were.”

  “Is that why the government killed everyone?”

  Dad turned around, approached the window, and shouldered Toby out of the way. “How do you know that? What did you see?”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t see anything. A friend, before he died, told me about the planes.”

  The lights above my head flickered and the alarms on the machines sounded. My chest tightened and one of my arms began to twitch. The “doctor” inserted something into my IV, and heaviness fell over me. He left my room in a hurry. The mask, gown, and gloves were tossed into garbage cans, and the gust of air sprayed him again.

  The lights stopped their flickering, the machines whirled, and my chest rose in relief.

  I could see them talking through my heavy lids, but couldn’t hear a thing. Dad seemed to disagree with the two men, but when his shoulders slumped forward, I could tell that whatever argument they were having, Dad had come out the loser.

  After a few minutes he approached the glass window, defeated. “I know you have a lot of questions. Hell, we all do, and I want to answer every one of them, tell you what I know, but honey,” his lips quivered, “I don’t want to waste what little time we have left together.”

  Little time left together? I dropped the oxygen mask on the bed and blinked over and over again. “How much time are we talking about?”

  Dad placed a hand on the glass and let it slide down the smooth surface. He lowered his head and kept it there as he spoke. “Tomorrow morning, if you’re not showing improvement”—his voice wavered—”we’ll be turning off the machines.” He looked up at me and tears ran down his face. “You won’t feel a thing, honey. I promise. I’ll make sure.”

  “No, don’t turn them off. I’ll fight this, please.” I just got here. This wasn’t right.

  “The generators are struggling to keep up. I’m afraid we don’t have a choice.”

  “I don’t want to die.”

  “I don’t want you to either.” He hung his head, and his sobbing brought reality crashing down on me.

  This was really happening.

  Toby placed a hand on Dad’s shoulder.

  I didn’t speak. I didn’t cry. Numbness took over and I didn’t feel much of anything. A day? They were only giving me one day?

  “We’ll be by your side the whole time. You won’t be alone.”

  I was no longer listening. “Where’s Cole?”

  They exchanged a look.

  “Where is he? Why isn’t he here? Let him in, please. I need to see him.”

  Toby leaned close to the intercom, taking Dad’s place. “Tess, what are you talking about?”

  “The guy who brought me here? Where is he?” He promised he wouldn’t be a douchebag and leave me without saying goodbye.

  “There’s nobody—”

  I waved my hand, stopping my brother. “Never mind.” Cole, you asshole. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d take off.

  “Tess, I’m sorry. I wish....” Toby choked. “If I could trade places with you, I would.”

  The tears came then, running silently over my cheeks and down my neck. I adjusted the oxygen mask over my face, rolled away from both of them, and squeezed my eyes shut.

  I wouldn’t want anyone to take my place.

  I didn’t want anyone to hurt as bad as I did.

  “Do you remember when you were a little girl and used to carry around Mr. Pickles everywhere you went? Do you remember that?” Dad smiled.

  I nodded, but kept my eyes closed. I loved that darn stuffed bunny. One of the ears had fallen off and most of its whiskers, all except for one clear plastic strand that stuck straight out and snagged on everything. That stuffed animal slept with me every night until I was almost ten. I’d always wondered what happened, because it seemed like one day I had it and then the next day I didn’t. It just vanished.

  “Why did you bring that up?”

  Toby shifted in his chair and gave Dad quite a look. “Thanks a lot.”

  He knew something! I lifted the oxygen mask and watched them both through the glass. “What did you do to Mr. Pickles?”

  He raised both his hands. “Before I admit anything, I want you to know I’m really sorry, I swear.”

  “What did you do?” My eyes fluttered open.

  “You’ve got to admit that thing was getting pretty gross and was on its last legs.”

  “Tell me, Toby. What did you do?”

  “Okay, okay. You know that BB gun I got for my birthday?”

  I nodded, not liking where this was going.

  “And remember how Mom told me I couldn’t shoot real animals?”

  I lifted the mask, but held it within a few inches of my face. “You shot Mr. Pickles.”

  “By accident. I shot your rabbit by accident, and then I buried him in the backyard.”

  “That doesn’t sound like an accident. That sounds pretty deliberate to me.”

  Toby smiled. “Maybe a little.”

  “I forgive you, you big jerk. I guess while we’re admitting things, I should tell you about that Dale Murphy autographed baseball you loved?”

  Toby sat forward and smacked the window. “I knew you did it! What did you do with my ball?”

  I smiled through my sleepy haze. “I gave it to Robby Grindstaff in exchange for five bucks.”

  “No!” He slumped back. “Do you know how much that thing was worth?”

  “I’d have to say five bucks.”

  “I can’t believe you did that. Please tell me you at least spent the money on something good.”

  “Not really. I think I spent it on packages of Pop Rocks candy.” Medicine swirled through my body, causing sleep to tug on my eyelids. “I’m feeling kind of tired, why don’t you and Dad go get something to eat? I won’t even notice you’re gone. I promise I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Dad placed a hand on Toby’s arm. “Go. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Are you sure?” Toby looked from Dad to me. “I don’t know.”

  I nodded. “We still have until morning, right? No one’s pulling the plug o
n me before then, so go, please. Don’t make me worry about you guys.”

  Toby stood and placed the palm of his hand against the glass. “I’ll be back.”

  They’d moved my bed closer to the window, and I touched the glass where his hand was. “I’ll be here.”

  He left and Dad scooted his chair closer to the glass. “I wish I could touch you.”

  I smiled sadly. “Me too.”

  “I’m sorry. I should never have left you in the bunker. I should’ve brought you with me to go find your brother...” He shook his head, his eyes closed. “There were a lot of things I should have done differently.”

  “Dad, don’t. You did what you thought was right. I don’t blame you.”

  His eyes met mine. “I blame myself.”

  “Please don’t.”

  “I should have gone back for you. I broke my promise to you.”

  I shook my head a little. “Toby needed you. You had to stay with him. Besides, if you’d come for me, we’d both be in the room and Toby would have nobody. I don’t want him to be alone.”

  Dad hung his head, crying. “I love you, Tess.” His hand mirrored mine on the window. Only a few inches of glass separated us.

  “I love you, too.” I blinked away sleep, trying to hold on for a moment longer. My hand dropped from the glass. “Are you and Toby going to be okay? I mean, with everything going on? Are you safe here?”

  He sighed. “As safe as we can be, but as far as being okay? I’ll never be okay. Not without you. Not without your mom.”

  I didn’t want to think about any of that. “What are your plans? You can’t live underground forever, can you?” The facility, an abandoned military base, though providing most of the necessities, could never be a permanent solution.

  “I don’t know, honey. We’re taking it one step at a time. Radiation levels outside are dropping. The air is getting better, but we still have a long way to go before it’s livable. You saw what the government’s solution was, so for now, hiding is the best option, but we hope that will change soon. That’s all we can do.”

  “I’m really tired.” Hanging on to consciousness became harder with each passing minute. “I’m going to sleep for a little bit, okay? Just a little while.”

  “You do that, sweetheart. You do that.” He patted the glass.

  My eyes drooped closed. “Don’t turn off anything yet, okay?”

  “We won’t. We’re still hoping for a miracle.”

  “Me too, Dad. Me too.”

  “Hey, sleepy-head.”

  Cole?

  I forced my eyelids to shake off the heaviness holding them closed. He sat on the foot of the bed, grinning like he always seemed to do, and he patted my leg before giving it a gentle squeeze.

  I eased myself into a sitting position, careful not to disturb any of the dozens of tubes and wires attached to various parts of my body. I skimmed the room, saw we were alone, and slipped the oxygen mask from my face. I wasn’t supposed to, but wearing it made talking difficult.

  “I thought you’d left. I even called you an asshole.”

  “Sounds about right. We have this up and down kind of relationship, don’t we?”

  “I hated you.”

  His smile faded. “I told you if I hadn’t said goodbye, then I hadn’t left.”

  I pulled the sheets up over my chest, covering my near-nakedness. “What are you doing in here?”

  “What? You’re not happy to see me?” He squeezed my leg again. “I thought you’d like a visitor.”

  “Of course, I just...” I glanced at the large window separating me from everyone else, making me feel like a goldfish in a bowl. Those monitoring me, watching my vitals, checking on me for improvement, weren’t there. Neither was Dad or Toby. Strange to see the little room completely empty. “Are you even supposed to be in here, and aren’t you supposed to be wearing all the precautionary stuff?” Anybody who entered the room wore masks, gloves, and hazmat-like suits.

  “First,” he said. “I don’t believe what you have is contagious. I’d already be sick right now if you were, but I’m not. We spent a lot of time together, right?”

  I nodded slowly.

  “They’re being a little excessive. Second, I’ve been living out there in the elements a lot longer than you, and I’m fine. I’m not worried, so don’t you be. And thirdly, no one is keeping me from seeing you. I needed to see for myself that you were fine. I brought you here, and I wanted to make sure they were treating you right.”

  “They’re treating me well, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not getting any better.” I indicated to the machines wrapped around my bed. “They’re turning those off in the morning.”

  He didn’t say anything, but stared at the beeping and humming equipment.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “At least I got to see my dad and brother again. I didn’t think I would. You gave me that. Thank you.”

  “That’s not right.” He shook his head. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

  “I know.”

  “No, that’s not supposed to happen.” He took my hand in his. His fingers trembled against mine. “Are you certain?”

  I nodded.

  Neither of us spoke for a moment. I relished his hand in mine as he traced his thumb over my palm—the only place not covered in wires.

  “I am glad you’re here,” I said. “I really am.”

  “Me too.”

  “Where did you go?”

  He tipped his head and leaned in a little closer toward me. “I brought you something.”

  “Really?” I didn’t think I was supposed to have anything in the room—not even him—but I was dying, so what did it matter?

  He released my hand, held up a finger to tell me to wait, then reached in to his thick jacket and produced the ever-growing ball of fluff.

  Callie meowed when he placed her into my arms.

  I hugged her to me, pressing my face against her, and my tears fell, wetting her fur. “I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. Oh, my gosh, Cole! You went back for her.” I couldn’t believe it. “Thank you, thank you!”

  Cole half-smiled. He scratched Callie’s head. “Did you really think I wouldn’t go back for her? She’s worn on me almost as much as you have.”

  Tears poured down my face. “With everything going on, and leaving her behind, I thought—”

  He put his hand up, stopping me. “I wasn’t going to let anything happen to either of you.” Tears rimmed his eyes. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. We’ve been through too much to let this happen.” He pointed to the machines. “Don’t give up.”

  I held on to Callie with one hand, holding her against me, and reached for him with my other, needing to touch him. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  He shook his head and took my hand in his, holding on as though if by letting it go I would drift away. Maybe I would. He slipped his hands into his front pocket and removed something else.

  Silent tears ran down my cheeks as he tied the familiar bracelet around my wrist. He lifted my hand to his lips and he kissed my fingers, but said nothing.

  “I don’t know that I have any will left,” I said. I appreciated the gesture, but I could feel my body fighting me. Each breath became harder than the previous. “But thank you.”

  “Are you in any pain?”

  “No, not really.”

  “This is ridiculous.” He smacked the bed. “What can I do, Tess? Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

  “There’s nothing you can do.”

  “There has to be something!”

  I blinked a few times and smiled. “The only thing I want is for you to stay. Just stay.”

  He didn’t say anything, seeming to contemplate my request. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

  “Really?” I didn’t expect it to be that easy.

  “Yeah, I’ll stay as long as I can.”

  I couldn’t have asked for more than that. I made room for him beside me, and he hesitated
for only a minute before lying down and curving his body around mine. Callie purred and stretched on the opposite side with her body against my belly and her furry head below my chin.

  “I’m scared,” I said. “Not for me, but for my dad and brother. For you.”

  “Don’t be scared,” he whispered against my ear. “Don’t worry about any of us.”

  “You know, I didn’t really like you in the beginning.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I could tell, but to be fair, I didn’t much care for you either.”

  “Now, the funny thing is that I can’t imagine being in a place where you’re not.”

  He kissed the back of my head. “Don’t give up yet,” he said. “It’s not quite morning.”

  I could see them panicking behind the glass, but couldn’t hear a word they said. Dad finally pressed the intercom, asking the same question that had already been asked and answered a dozen times. I didn’t understand the fuss. Callie wasn’t hurting anything.

  “Tess, tell me again how the cat got in there?”

  Callie curled at my side, sleeping, and I ran my hand over her fur. “Cole brought her. I already told you. He went back for her and brought her to me.” I held up my wrist. “He brought me this too.”

  The intercom remained on, an accident I suppose, as Dad, Toby, and several men argued back and forth.

  “She’s been monitored the whole time. No one has gone in there. Not today.”

  “Are you positive?”

  “Yes.”

  “You didn’t leave your position, not even for a moment?”

  “I was gone for only a few minutes. Ten at the most, but there is no way someone came and left in that short a time.”

  “Then how do you explain the cat? It’s a cat, for crying out loud! A cat!”

  “Maybe it wandered in somehow. I don’t know.”

  “Through the decontamination chamber and into her room? When did cats start entering security codes?”

  “Maybe my sister picked out the smartest kitten of the bunch.”

  “Toby, you’re not helping.”

  “And you’re sure that’s her cat?”

  Dad nodded. “Yes, that’s the kitten she picked out at the shelter.”