Going Home (Completed)

Chapter 19

For a little while, he just held her close. 'I'm a dad.' buzzed in happy circles through his brain. Somehow it felt like there should be a cigar and balloons saying It's A Girl! in an excessive amount of pink.
His grin widened. If he was a dad, then Max was a dad too. They were dads! Oh did Max have a surprise coming!

"Hey, let's find a car for the night, hmm?" He smiled softly wiping drying tears from Miri's face only to realize he was smearing blood on her. "Oh, Miri, I'm sorry. Hang on." Miri cocked her head in confusion. What was he talking about?

"First aid kit, first aid kit." he murmured as he dug it out. "Damn, I'm getting blood on everything." A half dozen little cuts on his hands were leaving a trail of small blood droplets. Miri's eyes were round as she stared at the blood.

Tul glanced up at her as he opened the kit. "Hey, it's okay. They're little cuts but we can take care of them. Right?" A small unsure nod. "Can you help me?" Another small nod. "We got this!"

After using an alcohol wipe to get the blood off Miri, he used one to clean up his cuts. The burning sting definitely got his attention. "Are you ready? I got the cuts clean so no infections. Now we need ointment and bandaids to keep the dirt out." Miri was watching closely. Tul showed her the process. "Now the most important part. You have to kiss the bandaid so it works." Miri looked at Tul then carefully put a kiss on the bandaid. "Perfect! Wanna try the next one?"

Tul looked at the six bandaids covering his cuts. Slightly askew but gently placed and each properly kissed. Somewhere, he knew his Mom was smiling as he taught Miri just like his Mom had taught him."Thank you, sweetheart. You did a great job!" Miri gave him her happy smile. He gave her one back.

"Let's find that car, shall we?"

~~~~~

The next morning found Tul and Miri standing in front of the massive collision.

"You ready, sweetheart?" He glanced down. She glanced up. A tiny nod. She was expanding her means of communication. It was a good sign.

"Let's get to work!"

~~~~~

The day was long and arduous. He cleared rubble, shifted pieces of cars and hauled the bike and their gear through the shambles of the pass. It was exhausting but it was worth it. Max and Miri were worth it.

Miri had been a determined little helper. She'd thrown pebbles out of the way when he worked on rubble piles. Even insisted on carrying a blanket. How she could so easily convey that insistence without words was rather astonishing. Tul had simply smiled and let her help. She was so proud of herself.

He had made an accurate estimation when he thought it would take all day. He was exhausted but he'd done it. They had done it. Both of them were a dirty, sweaty, hungry, tired mess.

His plan was to find a car on this side of the pass, spend the night and then spend time in the little town coming up. They needed baths and clean clothes. An afternoon and a night should see them clean and rested.

He took a swig of the Gatorade he'd been saving for just such an occasion and passed the bottle to Miri. They were sitting next to the bike eating pretzels and dehydrated apple slices. Long Day. Very long day but he was so proud. Proud of himself and proud of Miri.

At least they could ride the bike out from the remaining congestion. He was relieved. 'There's no way I can push the bike out.' he thought as he felt the trembling in his arms and shoulders. A very long day indeed.

Together, they finished their snack and got ready to ride the last bit through the pass. "Ready? Not too tight, right?"
Tul asked as he adjusted her helmet. Thumbs up. "Okay! Let's go!"

They had managed to go no more than twenty feet when Tul lost his balance. He wobbled directly into a sharp edge on a car hood.

He felt it push into the flesh. All he could do was groan. The adrenaline rush hit him. His arms contracted pulling the accelerator. It gunned the bike ripping the jagged metal through and then out of his thigh. For a moment, he couldn't see. Couldn't breath.

He stopped the bike and just kept trying to breath. Finally, a deep clawing breath. It was loud and seemed to feed the pain. He was shaking. At least he could see again. A glance at his thigh confirmed the worst. Blood was already dripping from his jeans. Oh shit.

~~~~~

"I can do this. I can do this.' Played on repeat in Tul's head. He turned as much as he could bear to and pulled two shirts out of their bag. He folded them to fit the wound as close as possible and wrapped them around his thigh as tight as possible. Then he put pressure on it. He screamed into his clenched mouth.

Miri was desperately trying to turn around but Tul held her close with his right arm. "Miri. I'm hurt and I need you to help me, okay?" His voiced was strained. Words interspersed with gasps. "We have to drive to the town. It's not far. But I can't hold on to you. You have to hold on to me. Can you do that, baby?"

Miri nodded and trembled. "Hold on to my jacket." and he zipped it a bit higher. "Don't let go, Miri. Don't let go." She clutched at the jacket with a death grip

Tul carefully drove through the remaining debris while praying the pressure he was applying would be enough.

As soon as it was clear, he floored it. If he died, Miri would die. That wasn't happening. He wouldn't let Miri die.

The town was roughly ten miles out from the pass. It felt like a hundred. Tul knew he was still bleeding but he was pressing as hard as he could.

Where to go? The hospitals had been looted and ransacked. Where else had supplies? He paused. Vets? Vets' offices? The Gingerbread House!

He could get there. 'I can do this. I can do this.'

~~~~~

He remembered arriving at the Valley Veterinary Hospital. The struggle to pry the door open. That's where things started getting fuzzy.

"Saline. Saline. Blood clot stuff." He grunted dragging his left leg. He wasn't sure how he got into the small surgery room. The meds were gone but there were still some supplies.

He was sitting on the floor. He cut the jeans away with shaking hands. Saline to rinse and clean the ripped flesh. Miri just watched and cried. She was horrified.  "It's okay, baby. It's okay." was all he could say.

The blood clot powder cleared all the fog from his head in a second. He couldn't even scream it hurt so bad. Sweat was pouring off him. But it was working. The blood was slowing. Raw gasps when he could breath again.

He'd never used a medical staple gun. Never had staples. "Fuck. It's gonna hurt." Holding his flesh together with one trembling hand, he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

If he lived to be eighty, he'd never forget the agony he was in. The blood clot powder felt like acid and the staple was a sharp stabbing pain that lingered. He kept reminding himself to breath.

The tear was 6 inches long. He wasn't sure how deep. How many staples? He decided to use one every half inch. Eleven more. Both of his hands were shaking. He had to be quick.

He looked up at Miri. Helmet gone, face streaked with tears, eyes terrified. "It'll be okay." he whispered. She nodded and held on to his ankle with a death grip.

'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.' He nodded and put in the next eleven staples. He knew he gave in and screamed at some point.

At the end of it, he dragged himself out of the pool of his own blood. He had nothing left. Trembling all over, so cold. He made it two feet before he gave up. Where was Miri?

"Miri?" His vision was edged with a quickly expanding darkness. "Miri?"

The darkness won.

~♡~♡~♡~

Sorry, Tul. 😔