Regretful Love

Chapter Sixteen

                  

through the night and they needed to find a place to be safe before it got too dark. As though she could hear his thoughts, the girl stopped in front of him, finally letting him catch up with her.

"We need to stop soon."

He lifted his head and looked around. The landscape was fairly flat here, not many trees, but carefully following the edge of the road he saw a smudge in the distance.

"There," he said, pointing.

He'd seen it often enough to know that the smudge meant a drainage channel or a creek passing by the side of the road. And that would mean a little bush or tree cover, and hopefully some wood for a fire. He was getting cold now, colder than was normal. It was, he figured, a side effect of losing so much weight. If he put his hands under his shirt, he could count his ribs, and his belt had been pulled past the last hole.

The girl took his elbow now and walked beside him, thought she still said nothing. Kell just concentrated on walking, getting the job done, and dreading the moment when he'd have to stop and then have to think. He needed to stop anyhow, to rest his broken body, and he needed to close his eyes.

Fifteen minutes, twenty maybe, and the smudge was clear now in the fading light. It was, as he'd suspected, a drainage channel from one of the fields. A few scattered and stunted trees lined the edge of the road, and as they came to the place the girl took his hand again and led him to one of the trees where he could sit propped upright. She was off again before he could get the breath together to say anything, and came back a little while later with enough wood for a small fire. One by one, she laid the sticks into a pyramid, and then she found a few dried leaves to act as kindling. Without asking, she came to Kell and fumbled in his pocket until she found the silver Zippo. He heard the familiar flick of the lighter opening; he could smell the hint of gas on the air, and then the smoky scent of the fire and the crackling as the leaves caught and the flames ate them.

"There's no food," said the girl. "But maybe I could try to find some?"

Kell shook his head. "I'm not hungry," he said. "Unless..."

"It won't be the first night I've gone without a meal," the girl said. "Don't worry about me. You'll need to eat at some point though, if you're going to have the strength to make it to the river."

"We'll deal with it tomorrow," Kell said.

His eyes were already closing of their own accord, and seeing him begin to slide away from the support of the tree, the girl gently moved him so that he was lying on the ground, and he didn't really even have time to register the fact before he sank into exhaustion.

Chapter Sixteen

The fire was still crackling, and he heard the soft singing of the girl, but there was a bite in the air and he knew it was night time. Kell tried to move but the pain stabbed at his chest, making him groan. He was still so tired, but the constant beating of the pain finally woke him up. Noticing his movement, the girl moved closer to his side and handed him the box of morphine.

It took a while for him to get it right. After several attempts, Kell finally got the needle in and got the drug, letting the coolness of it wash through his veins.

"You must be tired," the girl said.

He nodded, but didn't feel he could sleep. It was more an exhaustion, like every muscle of him was wearing out, than it was a mental tiredness.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, not really," he answered. It seemed important now that he be completely truthful with her. He looked at her eyes glowing in the firelight and said, "Can I ask you something?"