Embers & Ice

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Welcome to Livingston,” said Joshua aloud and both Jenny and Eli jumped upright in their seats and stared at their surroundings.

Day five into their travels, and things were starting to get a little chilly. Normally, Jenny would have happily sat in a car and driven across the country. It felt unreal that she was suddenly there, halfway across America, with two complete strangers on a mission to find a crazy scientist smart enough to return someone’s memory, a memory lost while frozen at minus 180ºC.

Hey, it beats being dead.

Jenny stared at the raging winds, hoping Joshua was as good a driver as he boasted and could get them to the hotel quick. There was a queasy feeling in her stomach.

“I’m starving, can we stop somewhere?” Eli moaned from the back. “I hear there’s a really good rib and chop house?”

“We can eat at the hotel,” Joshua replied.

Eli leaned forward and peered through the window. “God it’s like a cyclone out there,” he said. “You’d think it would be at least a little mild, being the beginning of September.”

“Livingston is one of the windiest places in America,” said Joshua as though he were reading out of a textbook. He turned to Eli and added, “it just feels cold, but really it isn’t.”

“Not sure I believe that,” said Eli, and he stuck his mouth in his scarf. It was attached to a beanie with a bear face and two ears. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but kind of cute. They’d stopped for lunch at a restaurant with a gift shop, and Eli bought it, if not for the chilly weather but to annoy and embarrass Joshua. “And anyway, where are we staying?”

“The Murray hotel.”

“I’ve heard about that place,” said Eli. “My dad says it’s rowdy.”

“I’ve called ahead and booked a room as far from the bar as possible. We’ll get a good night sleep and then tomorrow it’s on to Spokane early morning.”

“Awesome,” said Eli sarcastically. “Just gotta say, guys, this road trip hasn’t exactly been the most thrilling of adventures.”

“Would you rather be at school?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah, but we’re driving across 3000 miles of quality American country and all we see are the insides of hotel rooms and rest stops.”

“If you didn’t sleep so much, you’d see a hell of a lot more,” Joshua snapped at him. “Oh, but if you’d rather be back in New York in the hands of the Agents, that’s fine with me.”

“You’re just grumpy because you won’t let anyone else drive and now your eyes are melting out of your skull.”

Joshua sighed deeply. Jenny noted that, had he not been concentrating so hard, he would have pinched the bridge of his nose or wiped his hand over his jaw. Oh God, I’m picking up on his mannerisms now? What are we, a couple?

The uneasiness in her stomach increased and she curled her arm around it. Maybe I’m sick because I ate too many of those philly burgers back at the café near Laurel. But Jenny knew herself better. It wasn’t the food. It was something far worse. The pain started off in her stomach, but it always ended up near her heart.

Joshua was staring at her, his eyes darting back to the road. “You okay there?”

She nodded, not wanting to distract him from the road.

The storm started clearing as they drove deeper into the main part of town. Most of the shops were closed off and the street lights guided their way to the motel on the corner. Jenny gathered her things and stuffed them into the bag as he pulled the car into park. Eli wrapped his bear scarf tighter around his neck and gave her the thumbs up, then bravely opened his door.

Screaming winds hit them hard in the chest like a punch from a boxer. Joshua shouted at them to go inside and he would get the bags, but Jenny refused. The three of them threw open the boot, hauled their backpacks over their shoulders and sprinted through the heavy front doors into the Murray hotel lobby.

A tribute to western history, the Murray hotel was a cozy, elegant building with as much charm as the Hilton and even more charisma. Loud country music played in the bar and the lobby was filled with people coming and going from the restaurant and upstairs floors.

Joshua – who would normally storm straight to the receptionist desk to sign them in without caring what the hotel looked like – did a double take himself. Jenny watched him lower his bags slowly and then march over to the nearest fireplace where an array of snow globes were perched on the mantelpiece. Even Eli stopped gaping to frown with her as Joshua picked up each snow globe, examined them closely, and then shook them. A group of people rugged up in coats sitting around the fire were gazing at him, dumbfounded, murmuring and laughing to each other. Joshua returned to them with a smile on his face.

“What was that all about?” asked Eli. “Are you retarded?”

Joshua’s grin faded instantly and he huffed. “I prefer the term obsessive, if you don’t mind. I’m going to check us in.” And with that, he headed straight to the front desk before Jenny and Eli could burst out laughing.

“Ooo-kay then,” Eli snorted. “I guess we learn more about that freak as we go along.”

Jenny laughed and suggested they move to a few empty chairs to release the burden of their heavy bags. Eli continued to stare open-mouthed at the lobby of the hotel.

When Joshua returned, he wasn’t happy. “I specifically requested a room on the opposite side, but I’m too tired to care right now,” he said. “Come on, let’s go.”

The moment Jenny stood up, she was hit with a searing pain in her chest, a pain so familiar that she looked at Joshua with wide, fearful eyes and her legs gave way beneath her. Joshua shouted her name and grabbed her shoulders. The look on his face was of pure panic.

“Joshua,” she whispered. “Take me… to hospital.”