Page 42 of Last Destination

I didn’t have the strength to debate him about the terror he’d just put us through. I needed a doctor. I’d do anything to convince him to agree to it.

“Please take me to the hospital, Papa. I swear I won’t say a word about Charlie. I don’t want to die of rabies.”

My tears soaked through my collar, and I wiped the trail of snot with the bottom of my filthy shirt as I waited for his answer. His lips formed a thin line, but when we reached the end of the fire road, he turned left, in the direction of the regional center.

I’d been right. He’d placed us in the middle of a national forest region to the north. How had it taken us so long to get through? Why had I failed him?

“How did you know where to find me?” I hiccupped, afraid to broach anymore about the hospital and have him turn around.

Father snorted like I was an idiot. “Tracker in your watch. You moved in circles for days before finding the right path. I taught you better than that.”

Fuck you. Fuck you! FUCK YOU! You miserable piece of shit! You negligent bastard! They should have killed you! They should have KILLED YOU!

Charlie screamed the words at the top of her lungs, but I didn’t have it in me to scream. I pulled into a tighter ball, until I barely took up any space in the world. A hot slice of agony ripped through my leg once again.

When the glowing H came into view, I struggled out of my possum cocoon and desperately shook off the seatbelt. Papa pulled in front of the Emergency Room. When he put the truck into park, I seized the opportunity before he could change his mind and scrambled out of the vehicle with gritted teeth. A paramedic waiting in the bay gaped, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

“Are you coming in with me?” I dared to ask the man who raised me, begging for his comfort in my worst hour.

“No.”

My chest exploded in a new kind of pain. Then before I could close the door, he screeched out of the lane and out of the parking lot, abandoning me to the rushing paramedics as I swayed on my feet then fell to the ground.

Don’t worry, Marley. Charlie’s face hovered above my head before unconsciousness took over.

I’ll never leave you.

“Marley. Marley!”

The gruff voice roused me from my darkest nightmares, the terrors I’d buried rising to the surface like vengeful Titans.

Wracking sobs shook my shoulders, my body mimicking a seizure to rid myself of the pain.

Someone — Madman, by the hardness of his chest and the intensity of his hold — crushed me tighter to him, and the responding pain in my ribs made me shrivel in his arms. He immediately released me, then cradled me like a porcelain doll that could break at any moment.

“Sorry, ángel. Here, please drink.”

He held up a bottle of water to me, likely his last few drops, and pressed it to my lips with a light but insistent push. “Please.”

I let the few beads of water fall on my tongue and gratefully swallowed them, their presence reminding me how completely dry I was.

The world around me felt mildly distorted, like I was hearing words through a tunnel and viewing my surroundings through a waterfall. Was this real life or my imagination? I cycled through the muddled memories — snapshots of racing bodies and overwhelming noise — but even that wasn’t discernible from a nightmare.

You were so worried about keeping me safe, silly.

Charlie’s face blinked up at me from her perch to Madman’s other side, lounging in the long grass as if she didn’t have a care in the world. My safety isn’t our concern anymore. Luckily, Madman is more stubborn than you.

Her lips — identical to mine, save for the tiniest bow-shaped scar at one corner — widened into a grin. How did the girl who never had a boyfriend get three?

“The guy said there are no more boats today.” Jamie’s voice carried over my head, saving me from answering her question.

Madman swore and shuffled me in his lap to reach into my pocket for my watch. He bowed his head to check the time at his side, then gently slid it back into my shorts. “It is several hours before nightfall. She can’t spend another night here.”

“Will one more night really make a difference?” His question wasn’t callous. Our options were limited. It would be easier to rest beneath the trees and wait until morning.

“She is barely conscious, and we have no food or water. I’m unwilling to take the risk. Are you?”

Jamie’s weathered, tan face creased into a fierce frown. He surveyed the crowd setting up camp right at the water’s edge.