I Will Love You Forever

Chapter 2, part 5: Water

After his heart slowed down, he looked up into the sky. What was that fiery thing that had hit them? Could it have been a meteor? What were the odds of that? He looked back at Lu. What hit you?

Lu opened her one remaining eye. It tracked around for a few seconds, and then it focused on Ken.

"Hi," he said, softly.

She opened her mouth as if she were saying hi back, but nothing came out. Her mouth looked almost normal, which was even more hideous for all that was missing above it.

"Hungry?"

No response.

He thought about it, and then reached across her to unbuckle the basket. He had seen her put water in there. Whatever else she needed, she would die without water. He gasped, as he had naturally pushed off with his right calf to reach for it. He pulled the blanket off his leg. His right shin was badly swollen. The little move he had just made had been extremely painful. Great. He closed his eyes briefly. Getting help was going to be more than tough, even if he was willing to leave her. He thought of the coyote, and shuddered. He wasn't going anywhere. Without disturbing the leg more than absolutely necessary, he managed to reach all the way into the basket. He found a water bottle by touch, and pulled it out.

"Can you sit up?"

Still no response. He couldn't pull her up without pushing on his hurt leg, so he lay back. Praying he wasn't injuring her further, he pushed her torso up to a vertical position, then sat up himself.

She flopped her head to the right, then twitched, and slowly brought it back up to vertical.

The sight of Lu flopping her horribly injured head to the side almost stopped Ken's heart, but seeing her recover was encouraging. She was going to die for certain if he couldn't get her out of there.

Water first.

He opened the water one-handed, and found it harder than he would have expected. He held the bottle up before her eye. "Water?"

She didn't nod, but her eye tracked to the water bottle, and she licked her lips.

He held the bottle up to her mouth, but she did not drink, nor did she move her arms or hands.

After a couple of tries, which just dribbled out, he leaned her back in his arm, and trickled a little water into her mouth. Her eye opened wide and she coughed out some water, then inhaled, coughed some more, and then finally swallowed.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I gave you too much. Ready for more?"

No response, but she was still looking at the bottle.

"Okay. I'll try to give you a bit less this time." He gave her something like a teaspoon, and she managed to swallow it, spilling very little.

He kept at it, a little bit at a time, until she had swallowed half the half-liter bottle. It was a victory, albeit a small one, Ken thought. At least she wouldn't die of thirst. As he started working on the other half of the bottle, Ken thought about the food and water they had. Five bottles of beer, one more liter of water, four sandwiches, and two apples. Sandwiches first. He tipped the basket on its side, so he could be sure he got everything in it.

The sandwiches were there in their bags. He pulled one out and grimaced. Roast beef, with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It was his favorite, which was why Lu had brought it, but that mayonnaise was going to go bad, quickly. He pulled out the other three sandwiches, and heaved a sigh of relief. Two of the sandwiches were all made up and ready to go, but the other two had mayo packets in them, and were dry. That meant they might last three or four days, in this weather. They might well be stuck that long. He couldn't think of anyone, offhand, who was going to come looking for them. Moving her was probably not an option, and he couldn't leave her.

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