Perception

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Silence is golden but duck tape is silver.

Unknown

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  “He can't have been on the streets too long. No one who’s starving can weight this much,” I groaned when we finally dragged him into the tent.

  “I’ll go get Lauran,” Petra panted as she headed toward the door.

   Petra had dropped the tarp flap as she had exited, making the inside black as pitch. Rolling in what I hoped was the right direction, I blindly searched outside the tarp till I found the rechargeable solar garden light tops.

    Once found and positioned, the eight lights bathed the room in a soft muted glow. Crawling back, I could see his face clearer now. Despite the blood and swelling, he did look familiar although I couldn’t place him.

    “Has he woken up yet?” Lauran’s slightly accented voice asked as she walked though the tarp flap.

    “No, he’s been out about fifteen minutes now. Pete didn’t have to wake you did she?” I asked, looking up from his battered face.

    She shrugged her shoulders in a dismissive gesture. “Yes, but she promised food.”

   Sighing heavy, I reached into my bag and pulled out a leftover white dinner roll.

   “She mentioned two.”

   Pete nodded as she dropped the flap.

   “Fix him first,” I demanded, rolling my eyes and pointing at the blob.

    She worked in near silence, only tutting now and then, as she poked and prodded away. Lauran used to be a nurse, but with budget cuts and hospital closures she was one of the first of many to be let go. At first she had tried to find another job, but openings were rare and apparently employers were only interested in age rather then experience. She had landed a job in some sort of factory for a short time, but that too had closed down. Then to top everything off, her deadbeat husband had cleaned her out of what little they had left and moved in with her best friend. It just goes to show you that life sucks then you are out on the street. Despite it all, she was a really remarkable woman. In fact she and Abraham had been the first to create our little ‘village’.

   “It’s Immanuel.” Petra’s announcement jolted me out of my daydreaming.

   “Who?” I wondered, moving closer.

    Pete held the touch light steady as Lauran wiped the blood off his face. “Immanuel. You know the guy from the shelter.” At my blank expression she continued. “The guy with the hammer and he was the one who helped pull you out from under the tree.”

   “No the guy with the tree had a beard,” I stated twisting my head to get a better look at his face.

    “Then he shaved it off. Amy, he has the same fish tattoo on the side of his neck.”

    “When did you get close enough to see his neck?” I demanded.

     “Jees, I was sitting right next to him in the car on the way to the clinic. You’re the one always telling me to observe everything. I wonder what was he doing out there so late?”

   The bloodied human lump on the ground moaned softly.

    “You can ask him later. Right now I need to stitch him up before he wakes up,” Lauran announced. “Pass me my bag.”