I Will Love You Forever

Chapter 2, part 6: Food

The two sandwiches with mayo weren't going to last until noon. He gently laid Lu back down, and got the sandwiches out. By putting the two pieces of bread with mayo on them together, he managed to put together one sandwich with the mayo, all the lettuce, one of the tomatoes, and all the meat that had mayo on it. A second sandwich had somewhat less meat and the other tomato, but it was dry and would keep longer. He carefully put it back in the basket with the others.

He thought about it for a moment, then ate half the mayo sandwich. He had not eaten since breakfast the day before, and he was ravenous. He had to stop himself from eating the other half. He got Lu sitting up again, and this time, she seemed a bit more in control of herself. Her head didn't flop the way it had before. That was a very good sign. Surely. It had to be. "Ready for breakfast?" he said cheerfully, repressing another shudder.

Her eye was watching him, and her mouth showed no expression at all. He held up the sandwich for her to take a bite, and her eye looked at it, but her expression didn't change. Then she looked back at him, and he opened his mouth wide. She opened her mouth wide and he put the corner of the sandwich in it. When it touched her tongue, her lips closed onto it, but she didn't bite down. After half a minute, Ken pulled it free. Her teeth had torn the bread off, but everything else came back out. He looked at her carefully, but she didn't seem to be chewing or swallowing.

He gently opened her mouth, and the bread pieces were there, soggy in her mouth. "Can't you chew?" he said.

Again, there was no response.

He gently closed her mouth, then made chewing motions. It worked. She started making similar motions with her mouth. A couple of squeaks might have resulted from bitten tongue or cheek, but about half a minute, he could see her swallow.

"Good girl!" he said heartily. "Ready for more?"

Again, there was no response, and he was beginning to realize how desperate their situation was. He had no doubt he could crawl or hobble out of the woods in a few hours, even with his broken leg. It would be very tough, but he could do it, given the choice between that and dying. However, there was no way he could carry Lu and do it. That coyote was almost certainly a short distance away, as were others. It was smart enough to realize he wasn't armed. When he'd picked up the stick, it only went far enough away that he couldn't hit it. If he had been Lu's size, it might not have left at all. If he left Lu here, he couldn't be sure it wouldn't come back and attack her. It would be able to tell she was hurt and alone.

They were stuck until he figured out a way to get them both out of there.

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