Don't Catch Me!

Chapter 14 - Plan is a four letter word.

Chapter 14 – Plan is a four letter word.

Again I woke with a jolt.  Again my body was tense and my back arched.  Ohh when will these nightmares cease?  I slumped back in an attempt to curl into my ball of pain.  But his arms instead drew me into the soft shirt and warm chest that I now knew so well.   I clung to him and sobbed.

“Shh Cissy, I am here.  I will always be here.  Shh Cissy,” he soothed again.

“I can’t fall, I don’t want to fall, I can’t do it, I can’t find you,” still half in the dream I pleaded.

His arms rocked me gently as his voice whispered its assurances to me. 

He held me until my sobs softened and then he looked at me with his own glistening eyes, and with a hesitant touch he wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“We have to get out of here today.  There is a chance that Pete will tell them about us, when they ... when he awakes from the drugs.” Joel frowned I could tell he was going to say something else, something more sinister but decided against it.  “I can only hope that the barn isn’t under surveillance after last night.”

“Sorry about that. But we are not jumping.”

“Cissy, I won’t risk you.  I would rather get my arse kicked back in my dimension than have anything happen to you here.  I can’t be responsible for anything happening to you... never again.  Can’t you understand that?”

“But I have a plan.”

“I am not listening.  We are leaving.”

“But it is a good plan. It will solve all our problems and give you access to as much information that you can shovel into that brain of yours.  Although 736 doesn’t seem to be the hub of this world so we might have to hitch a lift to the city, wherever that is.”

Right about now Joel was looking at me like I was certifiable.  “No... No, what part of No aren’t you getting.  Hitch a lift – seriously?  No!”

“Aww, come on, this will work.  It’s a really good plan.”

“No. I know that you will do almost anything to avoid jumping again Cissy, but you were there last night, right?  And you know what they will do to you if they catch us together.  I wouldn’t even need to touch you.  They will tie you to a pole and whip the skin off your back just because of the way I look at you.  I can’t hide the way I feel about you.    I can’t let them to do anything to you.”

“Have ya got the sickness real bad Muscles?” I couldn’t resist teasing him.  He was looking at me too seriously, he had told me that he loved me but this look was different, this look was something more.

His jaw tightened, he softly shook his head as he mumbled almost too low to hear, “You have no idea.”  Then his eyes came up to mine again, “You understand don’t you?  I can’t let them hurt you.  I just can’t.”

“Joel.  I don’t want anything to happen to either of us.  But that includes what will happen to you if you don’t do this properly.  If I am guess right, you being here is important, more important than you are letting me know.  And you will get more than an arse kicking if you go back to your dimension without what you came here for.” I cupped my hands around his face, “I got you into this situation.  I jumped after you.  So please listen to me.  Let me try to help you.”

His face creased and his eyes silently implored mine.  And yet he hesitated.

“You told me on my doorstep when you left me that you would not abandon your duty, that you were a man on honour.   We leave now and you might as well have stayed with me in my dimension.  We could be a home right now.  I hate to think what my Mum is going through.  Just listen to the plan Joel.”