Dying Wish

[18] 111 Atlas Square

We had minutes— no, seconds to carry out Emily's orders.

But we carried nothing.

My biceps burned and my knees buckled to pry his shoulders off the pavement. I heard the zoom of the car on my back. Emily dashed around, opened the door and grabbed a side to help me out. I'm pretty sure it was Stan's right side. Hannah and Alice were at his ankles, so, yeah, Emily had to be to the right. You have to understand, my mind was fogging from the stress.

I was trying to keep my grip firm, as well. The amount of sliminess spilling onto my arms was worsening. My grip was failing. I clawed the black, buttoned down shirt to keep him from slamming into the pavement. We lugged him into the car. "GET IN," Emily yelled for us.

I got whiplash from how fast we sped off. The whole way there, Emily was on her cell. So, what was she saying? Who knows? I was too busy peering into the front seat, where this lifeless piece of flesh jerked exactly like the car. We pulled into a roundabout. White light shone through a series of glass doors.

"Hannah," Emily spewed as we climbed out the car, "get help! You two—" she forgot our names— "help me!" We each did what she told us. We pulled Stan two feet closer to the door. Hannah sent out a team of scrubs. They wheeled him away on a gurney. After we watched him pass through those doors, the hardest part began. The long, long wait.

We did this in the sixth-floor lounge.

We waited... and waited... and waited...

Eventually, the staff brought clothes for us to change into. Baggy, itchy sweatpants and plain old sweatshirts. But they were clean. Unlike us. I must've lathered and rinsed fifty times. I know I weakened the soap dispensers from all my slamming. Scratches were in my forearms, I had to get the blood off. I'd take the pain.

I lingered in the hall, unready to go back yet. CLUNK! I chased this sound to its source— the adjacent bathroom, where Alice stopped to exchange eye contact with me. Lips in a tight seal, her stride was short, but it placed her toes inches from mine. The push of her forehead sunk deep into my heart. I felt fingernails pull at the wool covering my back.

For these reasons, my hands slid up her spine slowly. I then locked my forearms around her shoulder blades. We stood like this in total silence. The strength I lacked I borrowed from her. I'd like to think I was that for her, too.

On the way back, I realized he was here. At a vending machine.

He was sizing up his snacking option when I called out, "M.M.!" I turned to Alice. "Come on."

We walked over, but when he looked at me, he had this puzzled look on his face. "Hmm... Do I know you?" he said. "Wait a second. Wait right here." He sauntered over to a man mopping the floor. "Need to borrow this. Go on, you can take five." The stick went into my hand. "Oh, Smiley's. Is it Wednesday already?"

"Because I mop the floors," I said. "Very funny."

"Had to remember you somehow. Mommy always said, 'Never talk to strangers.'" He slipped some coins into the machine. "What are you doing here? A hospital," his tongue clicked, "not really the most romantic place to take your girlfriend.

"Not my girlfriend—"

"Someone we know was shot," Alice said.

This pinched M.M.'s brow. "The cop? That's you?" He could tell from the look on our faces what our answer was. "Sorry," he added. His finger slammed a white button. The whirl of the machine dumped a Hersey's chocolate bar for him to collect. "Last I heard, he's still in surgery."