“Do I need to cover up? I don’t want you to be so nervous.”
He was amused by my reaction. I hadn’t even turned around yet, and he knew that I was uncomfortable. I worked on getting ice cubes from the bucket to a bag, but my trembling hands kept spilling them on the floor. Each time I picked one up, I would drop another, having to chase it across the dirty carpet. I saw him with his one eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. I eventually dropped them back in the bucket, and – with a bit of fumbling – pulled my dry clothes out of a bag and ran to the bathroom before he could ask again.
The light in the filthy bathroom was dim at best, and there were large brown spots in the tub. It looked like no one had cleaned the place between guests. I wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, but the spots looked like they were moving. Leaning in closer, I took another glimpse.
The roaches in the tub came to life with the sound I made, scurrying out, or down the drain. I couldn’t help the scream that followed and quickly backed out of the bathroom, not wanting to look away in case one was following me.
Tripping over my own feet, I fell backwards into arms that shouldn’t have been there – catching me lightly and holding on. Another scream erupted before I could see that Job had me and was laughing at the sight of my fear of bugs.
“Calm down. It’s just a couple of cockroaches. They’re not going to hurt you.” He tried to hold back the laughter. He helped me stand back up, but I backed up against him, better equipped to deal with my nerves around him than with my fear of the insects roaming the bathroom.
“They’re disgusting,” I said, cringing as they ran into the corners to hide.
Job wrapped his arms around me, putting his head on my shoulder.
“They are disgusting. I would say those taste worse than onions.”
“That is just nasty,” I said, pulling his arms back off me. I was trying to play off the gross-out factor, but I was actually moving to get him off my arm, shaking off the pain that persisted. “Is there anything you haven’t tried to eat?”
“Come to think of it, no.” He was still grinning from ear to ear.
He had gotten me past my anxiety. I was back in the room with him, feeling a little more relaxed. I still had the daunting task of getting undressed in front of him. Slipping past him, I faced away, figuring he would get the hint as I pulled my shirt off.
My undergarments were still damp, but I wanted to leave them on, in case he hadn’t turned around. Creeping around him, I pulled back the covers, checking for more bugs before crawling under the sheets, keeping them away from my face, in case they were as dirty as the bathroom.
He was facing the dresser, putting ice in the bag, a task that I was unable to do. He made his way back to the bed, sliding underneath the covers with me. Moving in close, he rolled on his side, wincing in pain, eyes shut tight. I rolled over into him, ignoring the ache down my arm. His smooth skin felt like silk against mine. I ran my hand across his chest onto his neck, waiting for him to recover. He opened his eyes, the gold glimmer catching the light.
“Do you need me to…I don’t know what to call it,” I said. “But I promise not to freak out this time.”
I wanted him to say yes. Not just to help him, but to give me an excuse to kiss him again. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted an entire night to hold him and wake up to his face in the morning. He shook his head, turning me down.
“Not again. It’s been a long day and I just overdid it. You have already done enough for one night. Right now, I just want you to turn over – away from me. I’ll stay close.”
I did as he said, pressing my back against his chest – his arm under my head, so that I was still cradled into him. His hand swept away my hair, allowing him to kiss my neck, arm and shoulder. His gentle lips tenderly running across my skin helped the throbbing subside and replaced it with a warm sensation that traveled to the ends of my fingers. It was his way of saying sorry again for the accident. I was more than willing to accept an apology like this over the spoken words.
His lips stopped abruptly, and were replaced by a cold chill that ran down my back. It was shocking, and I tried to clamber away, but his arm held me in place while ice melted and dripped down my spine.
“That was supposed to be for you,” I said, still trying to fight him. His strength was too much, and I gave up, letting him overpower me.
“It’s bruised, and I know it hurts. You have taken care of me enough. I told you, it’s my turn.” His voice was filled with guilt.
The frostiness of the ice took a while to get used to, but after a few minutes of being held prisoner, it too helped draw away the discomfort. The extremes of his warm body and the cold ice, along with the intoxicating breath coming from over my shoulder, relaxed the tension throughout my body, and I felt as though I was floating on a cloud in a dream. I could hear the whispering in my ear but his voice was speaking words I wasn’t grasping. It wasn’t the white noise of his language, just English, but I couldn’t focus on the words as I was being carried further into sleep.
*****
Job’s warm arms were still around me as the morning light peeked through the closed curtains. I had no desire to move from his embrace. I didn’t want to think about having to run again, about the long drive ahead of us. As unappealing as the room was, I considered paying for another night, just so I could pretend the world outside didn’t exist.
“Good morning.” His voice was no more than a whisper.
I rolled over to face him. He propped his head up on his arm, flexing his bicep, leaning in for a morning kiss. It was irresistible, feeling his lips flow with mine. It was like a magnet, and I couldn’t pull from the attraction. I continued until I could feel his lips burning mine, making it difficult to keep contact.
I backed away, to look at him; His eyes were closed tight, refusing to let his pain control him. He took several deep, slow breaths, focusing on the room, while I waited. “Is this going to happen every time we do this?”
“I don’t know; it seems to be less each time,” he said, eyes still closed.
“Should we just get it out of the way now, then?” I was willing to deal with the last bit of watching him suffer, if it meant that it wouldn’t stand in our way anymore. I longed to be close – kiss him as long as I wanted. I was tired of the small spurts of passion, followed by either agony or having to keep my distance.
“Not right now. We should get back on the road, and I’m not sure how long it would take to recover. Besides, I want to get there before your car breaks down. I’m not sure it can handle the long trip.”
“If it does, I can steal a car. Do you know how to hotwire one?” I inquired jokingly.
“What is a hotwire?” he asked, curious, not catching on.
“Forget it. I’m not going to try and explain it.” I inched out of the bed, feeling the chill of the room biting at my bare skin. After a quick refresh in the bathroom, avoiding the roaches on the floor, I came back out to see Job rummaging through the clothes. I had brought everything in so that we had a selection to choose from. He was holding up the jacket, examining it with a bit of excitement.
“I thought you could use it when it got colder out. Not sure if it will fit. The guy told me I could return it if it didn’t. I get the feeling we won’t have that option.”
He laughed at the comment and set it back down, pulling out a shirt and jeans, hopping back over to the edge of the bed. While he dressed, I got out my clothes, opting for another pair of jeans over shorts, knowing that the weather would be a bit cooler till the afternoon due to the frigid rain the night before. I also took out the hooded pullovers and, after pulling off the tags, I tossed one at him.
“I thought this might come in handy to cover up the scars and hair, in case you wanted to get out of the car at some point.”
He looked at mine and at his, noticing the identical emblems.
“Why the same?” His curious brown eyes fixed on mine.
“In case I – never s
aw you again.”
I was still unsure if he would leave for good. Still clinging to my feelings for him, I wanted to believe that I wouldn’t have to return home alone. It was hard to know how this could turn out in the end. I knew I would never leave him unless he requested it of me. It was going to be harder to let go when the love that was growing in me was getting stronger. I could sense he knew the turmoil I was dealing with. He stopped in the middle of putting on his shirt and got back up.
Coming up behind me, he wrapped his strong arms around my waist. The bare skin of his chest touching me made the thought of losing him that much harder, and I struggled to hold back tears. “I’m not going to leave. I care too much for you. Here.”
He pulled off the necklace with my copper penny hanging from the chain. I could feel the warmth of the coin – retained from his body heat – as he clasped it around my neck. It had been my gift to him to help save his life, and now it had become a token of his affection for me.
“Don’t you still need this? I thought you said the pain made you shift.”
“I can control it now.”
He stretched out his hand to show me. In a flash, his hand dissolved in front of me. Tan particles the color of his skin flew around in a hand-shaped form. It was mesmerizing to see.
“Can I–?”
“Go ahead.”
I reached out to meet the silhouette with my fingers, feeling the grains flow around, dispersing as my hand passed through. They were as warm as his skin had been, but softer than anything I had ever felt. The solid form of his arms changed, still holding me firmly but enveloping me, surrounding me. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, making me tingle as each speck bounced off my skin. As much as I wanted to hold on to the feeling, he moved back, allowing his body to form again. I stood speechless, unable to find the words to describe the experience.
His lips pressed gently against the nape of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine, and electricity through my body. “We should get going,” he whispered in my ear.
I was unable to move. In the moment of exhilaration, I couldn’t recall where we were. Everything we needed to do came back to me in a rush, nearly knocking me over. I thought my legs had given out, but Job was there to help me balance again.
“I got you shoes, too,” I said weakly, hoping he could hear me as I attempted to regain my composure.
“How very thoughtful of you. Can you pass me the right one?”
As fluid as his movements were, I had forgotten he was still hobbled by his injury. Watching him maneuver himself back to the edge of the bed in silence, I couldn’t help but look at him and still feel there was so much more I could do for him. It had only been two weeks since he had come into my life, and he had made leaps and bounds in his recovery. Sally would be so happy to see how far he had come.
In the wake of all the events from the previous night, I forgot that I still needed to call my family and let them know we were safe. Looking at the cell phone, I could see there was only one bar left; enough to call one person – Sally.
Hoping she would answer, I dialed the number for her cell. She picked up before the first ring had even finished. It was still early enough that she hadn’t made it to work yet.
“Emily? Please tell me you’re okay?”
Her voice was a relief to hear. Even in the sweet melody of her tone, I could hear the traces of fear. She knew what had happened, and was concerned.
“We are. I can’t tell you where we are or where we are going, but we have a plan.” I blurted out as quickly as possible. The phone beeped at me, letting me know the battery was going to die.
“Chase told me everything, but was worried when he saw the chair had been broken in the kitchen. He was afraid Derrick had gotten there before you could leave.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was just an accident. We left before he got there. Please tell Chase I love him.”
I knew it would be a long time before I would see him again – if ever. I had to hurry to say everything I wanted to. The phone beeped again.
“I want you to know that I love you, and your mom would have approved.”
Her telling me this stopped my heart. I wished that my mom was there to see me. I wanted to tell her how much he meant to me – that I was in falling in love.
“Thank you, and I love you, too. My phone is about to cut off. I have to go.”
“Ok, then you need to know, Derri–”
The final beep of the phone came as it went dead. Her last words struck fear into my heart. Something about Derrick. I sat with the phone to my ear, in the hope it would turn back on and I could hear the last part of what she was saying. Job watched me from the end of the bed in silence. The look in his eyes told me that he could see I was terrified.
“You stay here. I’m going to take everything out to the car. I just want to make sure no one sees you,” I lied.
I knew Job could sense everything I felt. He would see right through me and know I was only giving him part of the story. I was uneasy about anyone seeing him anyways, but the small bit of information from Sally made it worse. If Derrick had followed us, there would be no way for Job to run. Derrick would kill him, and I would have failed to protect him.
I gathered everything to put back in the trunk – leaving out only a few snacks in a bag for the trip – and stepped outside, shutting the door behind me. The sun was deceiving, since the coolness of the morning air didn’t fit for early August. Puddles on the ground from the rain were starting to dry up, as the temperature was slowly back on the rise.
I looked everywhere, searching the streets for anything I thought would be familiar. The few cars that passed down the road just kept driving by, taking no notice of my wariness. I could see a red vehicle out of the corner of my eye, but as I turned to look at it, I saw it was just the back end of an older car making a turn away from the motel. At last loading everything into the trunk, I turned back to the room, still keeping my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.
Job answered the door wearing the pullover and followed me out, swinging over puddles with his crutches. Each time, he made bigger strides, hovering over the water and walking on only the crutches till he reached dry pavement again. As nice as it was to see him having fun, the phone call had put me on edge.
“Would you stop messing around and get in the car?” I yelled to him.
He had already circled around the car twice, enjoying the freedom to be himself.
“He’s not here. There is no reason to be so worried.”
Stopping at his door, he grinned over the roof at me and got in. I followed suit, tossing the bag in his lap and closing the door. I waited till I pulled away and felt confident that we were not being followed before continuing the conversation.
“And how do you know he’s wasn’t there?” I was curious to know his answer.
“I couldn’t feel anyone else around, and the only thing I feel right now is you getting angry.”
“Well, if you would start acting your age, I wouldn’t be so upset.”
He had already moved on to pulling the snacks out of the bag. He put the straw in a juice box and sucked it till he was slurping the bottom and the box had collapsed in on itself. After a few minutes of that, he opened the cookies, taking out a handful and cramming them into his mouth at once.
“How old do you think I am?” His mouth, full of cookies, sprayed crumbs while he talked.
“The way you’re acting? I would say six – give or take a couple of years.”
“Not even close,” he mumbled. He pulled out another juice box to wash down the remainder of the sweets.
“Seriously, I would say thirty-five or thirty-six at the most.”
I was afraid to guess too high and offend him. He easily could pass for thirty, but I didn’t want to flatter him too much, either. His ego was already getting too big for the car.
He laughed so hard, I was waiting for the juice to come out of his nose. Obviously I had made a wro
ng guess.
“How old are you?” he asked me, attempting to control his amusement.
“I’m twenty-five. Why?”
A perplexed look crossed his face. He had a mouthful of fruit snacks that he was trying to unstick from his perfect white teeth while he pondered my answer. He took a moment to think it over and chew his bite before responding. “That’s all? I thought you were older. I mean, you don’t look older, but you act it. Now I feel wrong telling you.”
“Will you just tell me? I’m not in the mood for guessing,” I complained. He was making too big a deal about a simple question.
“Fifty-eight – I think. I’ve lost track since I’ve been here.”
The shock almost made me slam on the brakes. “There is no way!”
“Yup. I don’t age like you do. It takes about twice as long. When you’re sixty, I’ll be about ninety-three, but we will look about the same age,” he said optimistically.
“So now I have to know. How long do you – I mean, your people – live?”
“You know, it’s ok to call us Sayners. It’s not like you could say our real name.”
I hadn’t thought about how I had been avoiding it. I had been watching how I said things to him, worried I would offend him again.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I think we would live to be about one hundred and thirty years. Maybe 150 years on our own world. Not sure how long it would be here.”
“You’re saying that you’re going to more than likely outlive me?” I said, not wanting to think that far ahead.
“Nope. I’m going to die of boredom in about ten minutes.” Now that he had cleaned out most of the bag of goodies that was to last us the morning trip, he amused himself by pulling on the cord of his hood till it almost covered his face and then dropping it again.
“It’s a long car ride. I don’t know how to entertain you for the next eight hours.”
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