If We Survive The Night

Just Checking

Jaden

"I didn't kill him, right?" Casey says, still holding Owen in a headlock.

"I don't think you did," I say. "But you better let go of him now."

He looks down, as if only now realizing that he's still choking Owen, and quickly releases his grip. The big guy's body slides off the bed and down to the floor, hitting the floorboards, face first. I find myself hoping that he broke his nose. I really don't feel like he's been hurt enough for the things he did, and those he intended to do.

"Can you free my hands?" I awkwardly push myself up on the bed, together with the chair, then half lie on my side so that the back of the chair is facing Casey. "Can you reach it, with the handcuffs?"

"Move up a bit?"

I push myself up, until my head is pressing against the headboard. I sense Casey shift behind me, his fingers on my hands, half numb from the rope.

"Can you untie this?"

"I think I can." He fumbles with the rope. "Damn, I wish I had more nails."

"Should I try looking for a knife?"

"No, I think I got this." He pauses. "Are you sure I didn't kill him?"

I glance at the unmoving body on the floor. It's kind of hard to tell from this angle if he's breathing, but I suspect a bear like Owen would require more than a bit of choking to permanently dispose of. Right now, I'm mostly worried that he might wake up while I'm still tied up. What Casey managed to do was mostly luck, and we might not be able to pull off something like that again.

"Here we go," he whispers, and I feel the rope loosen around my chaffed wrists. "You're bleeding."

"Least of our problems," I mutter, pulling at the ropes, impatient to be free.

Blood rushes to my numb fingers. I sit up, then get up to my feet and toss the broken chair aside. It crashes to the floor, breaking a third leg in the process. For some reason it feels good, as if it were yet another defeated enemy.

Casey leans forward, his eyes on Owen.

"Can you check his pulse for me?" he says in a small voice. "Please?"

"In a moment."

I take the rope we've removed from my wrists, untangle it, and kneel next to Owen. He's lying face down, so I easily bring his hands behind his back and tie them together. Not satisfied with that, I retrieve the piece of rope I'd kicked under the table earlier and use it to bind his feet. I'm not taking any chances with this psycho.

Once I'm done with the knots, I slide a hand under his chin and check his pulse.

"He's alive," I say, and Casey lets out an audible sigh of relief. "Why're you so worried about him, anyway? He deserved this."

"I wouldn't want to kill anyone. Also, I'd hate to go to jail."

"Even if you did kill him, you wouldn't go to jail. It was self-defense."

I pat the pockets of Owen's jeans, slide my fingers into one of them, and pull out a key ring with a couple of tiny keys. I get up heavily, pausing to let the sudden bout of dizziness pass. All the blows and the bruises I received tonight seem to have started catching up with me.

I sit down on the edge of the bed and examine the cuffs, then stick in a key and turn it. A cuff clicks open.

"Gosh, this feels good," Casey says while I take care of the other one.

His hands free, he sits there, rubbing his wrists. I, too, feel reluctant to move. Up until now, it felt like we've been inside a hurricane, throwing us around, barely letting us catch a breath. In this quiet moment, it feels like we're both just waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

Nothing happens, though. I allow myself a deep breath.

"You did well," I tell Casey. "You got him."

"You helped."

"A bit, but you did most of it. You're quite the fighter."

"I'm not, but thank you." He smiles a bit. "You know, I really like it when you approve of me. You should do it more often."

"Why would you care about that? This time yesterday you didn't even know my name."

"I know it now," he says. "Jaden."

"All right." I'm beginning to feel awkward with the way he doesn't take his eyes off me. "If you value my approval so highly, get up and help me get this asshole into his car. We should get him to the ER."

He nods. Then, in a quick movement, he leans forward and pecks me on the lips.

"Why on earth did you do that?" I say, stunned.

"Just checking." He eyes me expectantly.

"Checking what?"

"Whether you'd punch me in the face, like you said."

"For fuck's sake, Casey."

I get up to escape his gaze. There was something soothing in that little kiss, though, setting something right in my mind. I feel like I can move again, like I know what to do.

"Come on, we must go," I tell him. "We'll call the cops from his phone on our way." I point a preventive finger at him. "And if you intend to start with that 'don't call them, let's lie low for a while' crap again, I will punch you in the face. Got that?"

"Yes, sir." He nods readily and starts getting off the bed.