TOUCHED

TOUCHED - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I felt the blood drain out of my face as I blinked, completely stunned. For a moment I thought my heart wasn’t going to restart. I forced my face into a practiced mask and looked away. It was not really who I had thought I’d seen.

It couldn’t be him. I knew that. My heart pounded in my chest as the old pain tore at my heart.

“Did you hear me?” he asked again

His voice pulled my eyes back. I couldn’t help myself. I looked at him again, making myself focus on the differences. He was too tall, the face was a little too long, the hair too dark and the eyes were brown instead of blue. It wasn’t really him, I repeated to myself.

I had to get a grip. Unable to breath, I had to look away again. I silently cursed him and felt a connection I didn’t want. It was weak and dangerous. As I finished wiping away some of Anna’s blood I let a cold pain replace my initial shock. When I finally turned back to him, I forced myself to look him dead in the eye and answer.

“You will call me Renee.” I responded more caustically than I intended. My intensity seemed to nail him to the floor as I held his eyes in mine. “Who the hell are you?” I demanded; cool authority returning to my voice.

“I’m…Eric” It came out as more of a squeak. Eric looked away reflexively, looking unsettled. He had every reason to look at me like the freak stranger I was to him. So why did it hurt so much?

“Since it looks like you are going to last a few more hours Eric, how about you make yourself useful. Grab the blankets under the desk over there.” I motioned to the desk by the elevators. “If Anna’s going into shock we have to elevate her feet and keep her warm.”

I turned away as soon as Eric moved to do what I had asked, relieved to look anywhere else. I ached to check the Guardian strapped to my ankle, to reassure myself that my eyes were playing tricks on me but there was no way to do it discretely. I settled for pressing a pad over Anna’s cut to stop any more bleeding.

“Why isn’t she waking up? You don’t think-?” Dillon asked, unable to finish his question.

I heard Eric hobble over to the desk and grab one of the thin but heavy woven blankets that were lying wadded up under it. I did my best to keep my eyes averted as he returned and dropped them next to me. Just his proximity made my pulse race.

“Can’t be sure” I said, finally responding to Dillon. “This cut on her head probably isn’t helping but the baby could be causing complications we can’t see. We’ll do what we can to make her comfortable.”

“It sounds like she was already beyond simple first aid.” We all tensed as Eric spoke the words all of us feared to voice.

Unable to delay it any longer, I got up and went over to the first aid kit that I had left with him. Eric spoke quietly to me as I searched for tape to hold Anna’s gauze in place. “I’m sure you mean well but maybe you should give them a moment alone to say goodbye.”

I hesitated, unsure; then returned to Anna’s side and taped over the cut without responding. When I finished I tried to casually back away from the couple but was afraid that Eric had noticed. When I glanced at him he seemed just as uneasy by what he had said.

Silence filled the room. No one moved. A thousand thoughts took over our minds as each was momentarily lost in our own memories. Memories that all repeated the same word; time-bomb.

Everyone knew “time-bomb” wasn’t the right word. People didn’t actually explode. They were more like cars without alternators, no one could predict how long our batteries would last on that first initial “charge”. It wasn't contagious. It was a congenital defect we’d all been born with. Since no one knew what set it off, one could not eliminate the instinct to distance one’s self from a possible victim.

In the uncomfortable silence, Dillon seemed to make a decision. He pulled Anna toward him until she was lying across his lap, her head almost falling off over his leg. Before anyone could say anything he pulled off his own thin gloves, revealing the dual color of his dark hands, the cream color under his nails. He supported Anna’s head with one hand before opening the top of her blouse and placing the bare palm of his hand over her heart.

        Eric, halfway back with another blanket stopped cold, “What the hell are you doing? How dare you assault her-"