The Delusion

Chapter 5

{Carter's POV}

We're walking back to the lake to go home.

"Come on, Carter!" Micah shouts.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I laugh.

A lot of things have happened in the past week. Micah and I found an old radio and fixed it up. Got a ton of food that we found in an old bomb shelter.

Then, we found her. She was passed out in a pool of blood coming from a stab wound. She's different. The world is basically out to get her. She even trusted me with her past.

We are at the edge of the trees, now. Micah is splashing in the water-

"Carter!" She yells.

I turn my head in the direction of the voice. There's a man. But, I don't see Aaliyah. Then I see her hand go above the water.

"Micah! Stay there!" I yell.

I sprint quietly. He doesn't see me. He gets up out of the water and goes to grab her arms. She's not moving. White rage passes through me as I run out to where he's at. He looks up and sees me immediately. He swears under his breath, drops her and pulls out a gun.

The bullet grazes my side but I keep running. I tackle the man into the water. I punch him once and he goes unconscious. There's an undercover Official badge on his belt. I get up and run over to Aaliyah and carry her over to the grass. I put my ear next to her mouth. Nothing.

I put my hands over her chest and start to push down, remembering my CPR training. I put my ear to her mouth again. Still nothing. I continue to do CPR.

"C'mon Ally. C'mon, stay with me." I say.

Still nothing. Not a single breath.

"C'mon! Stay with me Ally, stay with me!" I cry.

Then she coughs, water coming out of her mouth.

"Oh, thank god." I say.

I cup her face in my hands.

"Ally, can you hear me?" I say to her.

"Carter?" She says hoarsely.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

She closes her eyes and I know that she passed out. I lift her up carefully. Her head rests against my chest. I now see that there is a large gash on her forehead. The steady stream of blood coming from the gash, pours onto my arm.

"Micah!" I yell.

He looks up with wide, worried eyes.

"Get in my backpack and pull out the extra t-shirt." I saw quickly.

He nods. He digs around and pulls out the thin gray shirt and hands it to me. I use the hand that's under her neck to hold the t-shirt in place. I rest her head against my arm to make it less difficult to carry her. We start walking as fast as we can to get back to the house.

"Carter?" Micah says.

"Yeah, bud?" I say.

"Is Aaliyah gonna be okay?"

"She should be." I say relieved.

As soon as we get back to the house I go and lay her on the cot.

"Okay, Micah I need you to get me everything we use for stitches."

"Got it!" He says.

He comes back quick, his little hands carrying everything we need.

"Thanks. Now go ahead in the other room I'll be out as soon as I can." I say to him.

He nods, and leaves. I take a deep breath and begin stitching the cut on her forehead. The movements are familiar. The knots, the needle, everything. The gash went from the edge of her scalp, right above her left temple, and down to her left eyebrow. Thank god it didn't hit her eye, or we'd have a real problem.

I finish the final stitch and put the medicine and bandages on. Then I put medicine and a layer of bandages around my mid-section to support the shallow wound in my side.

"Carter? Are you gonna eat?" Micah asks.

"Um, no thanks buddy." I say sitting in the chair next to her cot.

He shows the slightest smile.

"What?" I ask him.

"You care about her." He says.

"Huh?" I ask astonished.

"I know you do. I can tell." He says. "I haven't seen you joke around, smile like you have been lately or laugh in the longest time." He says.

I don't say anything. I guess it makes sense.

"I'm gonna go eat, you wait for her to wake up." He smiles at me.

"Thanks, bud." I smile back.

He's grown a lot. A year ago, he wouldn't even go to bed without knowing I was there, next to him. Now he's telling me, an eighteen year old, his feelings for a girl he saved about a week ago. I chuckle to myself. I look over at Aaliyah laying on the cot. Her body is still but her chest rises with slow breaths. Her blonde hair is falling down her shoulders in wet tangles.

I can't explain, really. The anger I felt when I saw that Official trying to kill Aaliyah at the pond. It's was like something snapped inside me. I didn't even feel the bullet hit my side. The only thing I felt was fear. The fear, that she would die. When I heard her say my name the relief I felt was overwhelming.

I get up and walk over to her. I smooth her her hair out of her face. She is beautiful. I can't believe I didn't notice before. I kiss her softly on her forehead, away from her wound. I go back to my chair, take one last look and close my eyes. I let myself drift off into sleep.