Forgotten Spark

Chapter 15

I woke to a sharp pain in my arm and back. I gasped, the sound only partially reaching my ears. Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. I sniffed experimentally. The sound was so muffled and distant that I wondered if I would ever get my hearing back. 

"Sorry, Michael, I'm about to pass out here. I'm done with your bandages now. Just let me sleep for.... a few.... minutes..."

The voice drifted off to sleep. The fact that I could understand what she said, even if I had to concentrate, gave me hope. The ringing in my ears was almost overpowering, but at least I could hear what people were saying. I nodded in response, though she was probably already asleep. 

It took several minutes to separate my eyelids enough to see where we were. I was in a nice bed with white blankets that were now blood stained from all our wounds. Morning light was streaming in through the window. Abigail was sleeping on the floor on folded up blankets for a pad and a sleeping bag. Jack wasn't in the room, though the evidence of his bed still was. An open, empty sleeping bag sat at the foot of Abigail's. A third bag lay in the corner of the room, along with a few suitcases and grocery bags.

The room looked like a nice hotel room. I was sure I'd seen better, but it wasn't a bad place to stay. Everything looked clean, at least. I wondered why I was on the bed and the others were on the floor. I was the least deserving. Abigail looked exhausted. She was totally out on top of her sleeping bag and fully clothed. Why didn't she take the bed?

I flung the blankets off of me, earning a flare of pain from my recent wounds. As I recalled how I'd gotten these injuries, a dull ache formed in my chest and a lump closed off my throat. The tears streamed down the sides of my face and I bit my cheeks to keep quiet. Abigail didn't need to lose sleep because of me. I sensed she already had. 

By the time Jack came back into the room I was under the blanket again, curled up and gasping--both from lack of air under the blanket, and my swollen throat. I came up for air, my face streaked with tears, and began coughing. Oh yeah, there was the smoke inhalation too. Jack dropped the tray he was holding on the bedroom table and came to me. He helped me untangle myself from the bed sheets and sit up so I could breathe.

When I was done coughing, the sobbing came back. I hugged my torso as pain shot up me with every sob. Tears sprang to my eyes again. The pain made me sob harder. I began to panic. If I couldn't get a hold of myself I would suffocate myself. A coughing fit broke through, and another sensation. I rolled off the bed, ignoring the intense pain, and found myself in the bathroom, retching into the toilet. 

Jack followed me carefully, then placed his hand on my bandaged back. "It's okay, buddy," he murmured softly. "You're okay, we're safe, it'll be okay." His voice was so quiet it was almost lost in the painful ringing of my ears. 

I stood and took several deep breaths before splashing my face with water from the sink. The water was cool and refreshing, and helped me calm down. I gripped the edge of the counter and stared down at the faucet. I bit my cheek hard to keep from losing it again. I tasted blood. I swallowed. Slow breaths. Anything harder would throw me back into coughing and vomiting. 

Jack helped me walk back to the main room and sat me down in a chair that looked much more comfortable than it was. He then brought the tray, which turned out to be breakfast. I didn't have much of an appetite, but with my stomach now empty, I knew I'd have to eat something. I sipped apple juice and nibbled on some toast.

Jack began to explain without me asking. After the third helicopter was brought down by Tanner, people were evacuating as fast as they could, and taking as many with them as they could. More choppers could be heard in the distance, so they were moving quickly. Jack had found two four-wheelers and Abigail had the foresight to grab two emergency backpacks: each filled with the necessities for a day or two, and enough money to last a week, at least. But that was for one person each. There were three of us, so we'd have to be careful.

After Jack and Abigail secured me on Jack's four wheeler, we drove as fast and far as we could before the gas ran out, then stopped and booked this hotel room for a few days. Apparently it was pretty hard to get me in the room without people wanting to call 911 for us. They told them I'd just passed out from exhaustion, but there was a low chance they bought it, with blood all over all three of us. 

Abigail took care of Jack and I, both of us needing stitches, with the first aid kits from the backpacks. The shrapnel had cut us up pretty good, and the cut on my back was particularly difficult. There were dozens of tiny splinters that needed to be pulled out, and then it needed ten stitches. Thanks to Abigail's gift, neither of us felt a thing. I looked over at Abigail. She was thoroughly asleep. Jack had folded the top of the sleeping bag over her so she was covered. It sounded to me like she over-exerted herself, and probably felt guilty about sleeping now. 

"How long has she been awake?" I asked hoarsely, the first thing I'd said since I'd woken up.

"Who knows?" Jack responded quietly. "After she was done with me and started on you, I went out and found some supplies: and old car, some food, camping gear, stuff like that. She was still working when I came back. I helped her a little, but she insisted I rest. 'If you exert yourself you might undo what I've just fixed!' she told me. I couldn't argue with her, so I set up both our beds and conked out after telling her to get some sleep too. When I woke up this morning she said she had gotten a couple hours of sleep, but I don't believe a word of that." Jack was right. Abigail looked like she'd pulled an all-nighter trying to patch us up. Now that she was able to rest, she still looked exhausted. she wasn't able to clean up before passing out either, so she still had our blood on her clothes and skin.

I sighed. I was immensely grateful for this wonderful person. "I wish I had a power like hers, so I could take her pain and stress away, too." 

Jack nodded. "She's the perfect person to have it. She'll be an amazing doctor, one day. That what she wants to do, you know? If this stupid war with the Elgen ever ends!" His voice was raising. Abigail stirred. Jack froze, seeming to want Abigail to sleep more than he was angry at the Elgen.

"Why would they do that? Bomb the ranch?" I asked softly, imitating Jack's effort to stay quiet.

Jack clenched his jaw to keep from shouting out again. "There's nothing they wouldn't do to reach their psychotic goal of world domination." The styrofoam cup in Jack's hand turned to nothing more than a ball of plastic. 

"How did they know? I thought that was the most secret place the resistance had against the Elgen. I thought we would be safe!" My blood boiled. I was angry at everyone right now. That ranch was supposed to be a haven, where the threat of an attack was tiny. Where no one could be killed. Where I would get to know myself and the people I loved. Where I would be with Taylor. I never got to explain and apologize to her. I felt my eyes burn and bit the inside of my cheek again. 

Jack's thoughts looked distant. His eyes were darting all over the place, as if he were solving a complicated problem. Eventually he groaned. "Ugh! I'm not the brainiac! I wish Ostin were here, he'd be able to figure out if I'm right."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice wobbly.

"I was trying to think of how they found out where we were. The only way would be to either follow us from another location, or a security breach, which is impossible. But the resistance is so careful and paranoid, that I can't see how they would do it. Unless..."

"Unless what?" I urged. Jack seemed alarmed, but recovered at my words.

"Nothing." He stood suddenly and gathered the breakfast dishes. "I'll throw these away. Don't get into trouble while I'm gone." He nudged my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes ironically. "I think you should be more careful, you're the one always getting into trouble."

Jack let out a hard laugh and shut the door behind him, leaving me wondering what he'd realized that he didn't want me to know.