I'm With You

Chapter 8

Eira climbed into the backseat of the car first, watching Miguel lie Mackenzie down and Eira helped to pull her up so that she fit across the seats, Mackenzie's head in Eira's lap.

"You got her?" Miguel asked and she nodded her head.

"Always." Eira breathed and Miguel shut the door quietly as if slamming it shut would wake the younger sister and he got into the passenger seat as Wendy started the car. She went to turn the heat all the way up, but Miguel stopped her.

"It has to be slow and gradual - her body would go into shock if we warm her too fast," Miguel said quietly, but Eira heard him anyway. Wendy nodded her head, starting to back up out of the parking space and she started to drive as fast as she legally could towards the homeless shelter. It was the early hours of the morning, so she was thankful that there wasn't any traffic. Eira looked out of the window, watching the city pass them by quickly - it had been years since she was last in a car. She instead looked over Mackenzie, silently begging her to wake up, to make any kind of sign that she was still fighting. It was impossible to tell whether she was breathing anymore.

"We left her clothes behind." Eira choked out.

"We'll get you both some new clothes, okay? Some good layers for the cold and a bag to put them in, so you don't have to worry about that." Wendy said and Eira didn't say anything in response, but Wendy knew Eira was grateful. She understood how hard it was for homeless people to accept help, especially such proud and protective people like Eira. She could imagine that Mackenzie was the same towards Eira, wanting to do all she could to help her herself before she would finally accept the help of a stranger.

"Once we get you set up at the shelter, I need to head to the hospital for medication and a specialist thermometer," Miguel said, turning his head to look into the backseat and Eira's eyes met his in the dark.

"Y-You'll come back, right?" Eira choked out and Miguel didn't hesitate to nod his head.

"Of course. I'll come right back." He vowed and Eira nodded, looking back down at Mackenzie. "Rub her arms, okay? It'll get the blood flowing quicker. We'll try body heat when we're in the room - you getting into bed with her, your body heat to get her warmer at a safer rate whilst I'm gone." Miguel said. "And your clothes are wet too, you need to get out of those when we get to the room anyway." He urged and Eira nodded her head. She didn't care that a man she didn't know was telling her to strip the moment they got into the room, she didn't care about anything besides getting Mackenzie well. She'd do anything to get Mackenzie better. Without her sister, she didn't have anything left.

"Anything," Eira confirmed and Miguel nodded, understanding what she meant by that one simple word.

Wendy pulled up outside the homeless shelter, getting out quickly and she rushed to get the supply bag out of the trunk as Miguel opened the door to the backseat.

"Try and raise her up for me," Miguel said and Eira used her knees to push Mackenzie's shoulders up, giving her enough room to get her hands underneath her and it was then that Miguel reached in and was able to get Mackenzie out of the car, holding her bridal style and Eira only let go of her when she was sure Miguel had a good grip - she didn't let go of Mackenzie's head until the last second, as if she were an infant. She got out of the car, closing the door and Wendy locked it up before leading the way inside.

"This is Mackenzie and her sister - I called," Wendy said and the woman nodded her head quickly, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the state that Mackenzie was in, her pale face mostly hidden against Miguel's chest but it was clear that she was extremely sick.

"This way." The woman demanded, rushing up the stairs and the others were close behind her. The woman used a set of keys to unlock the door, letting them all inside the room. It instantly reminded Miguel of what he imagined a prison cell to look like, but Eira looked absolutely amazed, which only broke his heart more. There were two single beds resembling camp beds against the left and right walls, pushed into the corner with simple and cheap-looking bedding on it and a nightstand for each bed that was bolted to the floor. There was a bathroom attached to the room looking cheap and slightly damp, a window directly in front of the door that overlooked the street outside but it was impossible to get to because of the bars that protected them from being smashed by the homeless that stayed there. "H-How long will you be using this room?" The woman asked and Miguel whipped his head around to look at her before Wendy could say anything.

"As long as these girls need to recover," Miguel said simply, the corners of Eira's lips twitching as she tried to smile but her complete fear over Mackenzie made it impossible.