Broken

Chapter 19

Getting close to the end now

Ada reached into her wallet while Iris wasn't watching; she was too busy chatting up the gas station attendant. There was nothing more than ten cents and a collection of bills. How was she supposed to pay for the gas currently being pumped into her car? Her near-millionaire girlfriend currently preoccupied with the topic of pet hamsters could probably help out if only Ada asked. Yet, the inquiry couldn't be made. She grabbed a few receipts that may look like money provided that the recipient had impaired vision and was under florescent lighting and slipped the wallet back in her pocket.

"Hey, I think we better hit the road," Ada said, bravado swelling. She made sure to keep her palm splayed over the circumference of the receipts as she slid them directly to the cashier.

"It was nice to talk to you," Iris said sweetly. 

"Wasn't she nice?"

"Hmm, yeah."

She glanced back for a brief second- the bills still rested on the counter, exactly where Ada left them. The cashier hadn't paid any attention to her crime. Under normal circumstances, Ada would have wanted her fired for neglecting money just sitting out on the counter. Now she was grateful and made a run for the gas pump. In one swift motion, Ada was able to leave the gas pump dangling, its nozzle still dripping minute amounts of gas that someone else could deal with.

Ada peeled put of the gas station, and Iris was probably wondering why her girlfriend seemed so anxious.

"Where are we," Ada asked once the gas station became a recent memory and she began to slow down. "Last I heard, we were somewhere in Ohio."

"Still there," Iris said uneasily. "I think we're heading toward the state border now."

"Perfect. Should we camp out tonight?"

Iris traced Ada's collarbone, which made her shiver. "Definitely."

"Great," she said, shaking off the suggestiveness dripping from her voice. "Please turn on the radio."

Iris complied. "You change the subject now, but just you wait, Ada Freeman."

Ada nodded. She admitted, the words made her excitable but she reminded herself that a decision was made at the beginning of this trip. A big decision, where she was to leave Iris somewhere comfortable. But where could Ada leave her and get herself back to Gravity Falls on one tank of gas? That counterfeit trick could only work once- Ada's wallet was now nothing more than a flap of leather occupying space in her jeans.

'Impossible,' the voice of reason stated. 'You'll have to leave Iris at the border. She can get herself the rest of the way.'

Ada nodded, as if agreeing with herself, as Iris drifted off in the passenger seat. The boundless road ahead was going to take eons to travel.

*******

Ford sat begrudgingly in his hospital bed, staring intently at the guard posted outside. He didn't think they'd actually put a guard outside his room- but when was a hospital known to bluff? 

"I need to leave," he stated to no one in particular.

"Sorry, Mr. Pines, but you can't leave. Not now. Not today."

"I wasn't talking to you," he shouted irritably at the guard. 

Ford had felt the plight of losing his mind previously. He'd felt it thirty years ago, and he felt it now while lying in a hospital bed, thinking he was going to die. Oddly enough, both instances in which he thought he was losing his mind were under the similar circumstances- Bill was a large factor. Ford wondered if he'd ever really learned his lesson after thirty years on the other side of a portal at Bill's expense. 

"I'm sorry," he told the guard, and closed his eyes. Hopefully he would succumb to the call of sleep that was miles away.