Four Thousand Miles

Untitled Part 7

THE SUN SANK and darkness set in over the city. Natalie had no idea where she was. Her feet were swollen and blistered in her flats. The uneven sidewalks hitting pressure points in her feet sent sharp pains up her legs when she stepped. Fatigue was her enemy now. For the past couple of hours she'd been looking for a place to stay, but she seemed to be lost in a completely residential neighborhood, not a Holiday Inn in sight.

Block after block of brick Georgian townhouses with their brightly painted doors and flower boxes all looked the same. None of the streets met at right angles and many ended in dead-ends, causing her to have to turn around. London was a labyrinth that her tired mind just could not comprehend anymore. Her brain buzzed with exhaustion, and even while moving forward, her eyelids would threaten not to re-open after every blink, as if she hadn't slept in years.

Ahead, she saw a white and red sign indicating a Tube entrance with an arrow pointing up around the corner of Belsize Street. It was another residential street, this time on a slight uphill incline. She had to take it. She needed to get out of this maze and find a place to sleep before she fell over. It had been thirty-four hours since she'd slept, and she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Natalie shuffled up the road, following the Tube signs, her body protesting the whole way. Three blocks later, she spotted the entrance to the Swiss Cottage Station about twenty yards ahead.

Walking down the hill toward her were two teenage boys, shoving each other and laughing. They jostled into her as they passed, and her Jell-O like legs wobbled, careening her into a row of bushes, almost knocking her down.

"Hey, Lady," the taller one said, "watch where you're going." He laughed. For a moment, she heard them whispering behind her. She righted herself and pressed forward. Her breath caught when she heard the boys' feet change directions.

"Lady, wait," one called out to her. She attempted to quicken her pace, but her feet refused.

"Think you can give us some money, love? We're broke and need to get home."

Sure. They had just been leaving the Tube station. Natalie gripped her purse tighter and focused on the station entrance.

A hand grabbed her sleeve and spun her around. He glared down into her eyes and sneered, "You're really pretty." He was young, no more than eighteen, but bigger than her. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes. The smaller boy looked on smirking.

Without thinking about it, she brought her knee up as hard as she could, striking the kid in the groin. His breath escaped him with a whoosh, and he doubled over at the waist. The smaller boy laughed harder.

Burning her last ounce of adrenaline, Natalie turned and ran to the station. A few steps inside the entrance, was a small flight of stairs. Natalie's shoe slipped on the tile floor of the top step and sent her tumbling, landing on her hands and knees at the feet of a man. The boys came running in after her, but finding a witness, they turned and ran back down the street.

Natalie rolled over into a sitting position and started sobbing. Her injuries were not serious; her tights were ripped on both knees where the skin was scraped and bleeding and her left wrist ached from the hard landing. She sobbed for more than her scraped knees. The flood of emotion that she struggled to repress since yesterday morning came bubbling up. The tears stung her tired eyes, mixing with the snot running from her nose.

"Are you okay?" the man asked. "What can I do to help?" His voice was kind.

"No, I'm not okay," she cried hysterically. "I'm lost and I haven't slept in two days and I have nowhere to go and no one knows I'm here and I just need sleep and I'm . . ." She drifted off from exhaustion.

"You're American."

Natalie laid her head down on the dirty tile floor of the Tube station and curled up into a fetal ball. She thought she might die there on that grime-covered flooring, but she didn't care. Her eyelids would no longer open for her. Her head spun with both mental and physical exhaustion. How did she get here? Where had she gone wrong in her life? How had everything gotten so far out of control? She just wanted to cry and go to sleep and never wake up.

The man stooped down near her and brushed her hair back off her face with his fingers. "Shhhh . . ." he whispered. "It's going to be okay. Is there anyone you would like me to ring? I could fetch you a taxi?"

"No," she whined wiping her face on the soft cotton of his shirt. "Leave me here. I can't move anymore." Her eyes were incapable of opening. Sleep nipped at the edges of her mind, trying to pull her under. She wouldn't be able to fight it off much longer. She just wanted to give in to her exhaustion.

"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea," he whispered soothingly with his warm breath close to her hair. "Let's get you to bed. Can you stand?"

The man lifted Natalie to her feet. Whether it was the fatigue, the hunger or an emotional unwillingness to move, Natalie's legs gave out. With a sigh, he scooped her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest. Her body went limp as he carried her out of the station.