I Will Love You Forever

Chapter 3, part 4: Walking

When he woke, it was earliest morning, and he was very cold. Lu was still pillowed on his chest, but her eye was open, looking at him.

"Good morning," he said.

When she made no reply, he said, as cheerfully as he could, "We might as well get started." He rolled her off him as gently as he could, then forced himself to sit up.

He was very weak, but he managed it, although he had to stop and breathe as the pain pulsed through his leg and his stomach clenched with nausea. He pulled back the torn pant leg, and it was as swollen as ever. The streaks had gone farther up his leg, but not by much. Still, he wasn't fooled. He had to get Lu to medical help by sundown. He had that long. Maybe.

For him, no hope at all. He looked up at the blue fall sky, watched a bird wheel high overhead. A hawk? A vulture, already waiting? Death. For sure. As horrible an expectation as that was, it was also very freeing. He looked around, and spotted the stick he had been using, just a few feet away. He managed to slide himself over to it on his back, and with his good knee, broke off a piece long enough to make a walking stick. He realized that he could see about half of his normal field of vision. At least something was improving. He glanced over at Lu, and gave up on the idea of asking her to help.

With one leg and a walking stick, Ken managed to get himself upright. His hurt leg began throbbing as soon as he got vertical, but it wasn't hurting any more than it had the night before. It was still excruciating, but he had already discovered that survival made literally anything bearable. He hopped over to Lu, using the stick.

He reached down for her hand, and she lifted her hand to his. As he took her hand, he said, "Let's go home," and pulled hard on her hand.

Lu had not gotten to her feet yet, and he didn't even know if she could. But it was do or die, so he didn't give her a chance to think about it. Lu sensed him pulling her up, and seemed to understand what he wanted, but she didn't have any idea how to do it. He got her bottom over her feet, and she seemed to sense he wanted her to use her legs to lift her body up, but they weren't used to doing that, and it was a hard motion for a person in good shape to do, let alone for someone injured.

Ken pulled hard, however, and she eventually got her legs extended enough that she could extend them the rest of the way, bringing her body to something resembling an upright position, before collapsing in a heap.

After several minutes of trying, however, she was precariously balanced on her feet and holding onto him. He looked down at the picnic basket and blanket. They had eaten and drunk everything, and were beginning to get seriously dehydrated, but even thirst had to take second place to getting to medical help. The blanket, though, could be a life saver. They couldn't leave it behind. He picked it up, and tied it over Lu's shoulders like a shawl, knotting the corners together. She needed to preserve all the warmth she could.

"Come on," he said. He could not help the feeling that they were leaving a safe harbor, heading out into stormy waters. It did not help that the ground seemed to be moving under his feet.

Tentatively, awkwardly, Lu took a step. It was a solid hour before she was functionally walking. In that time, she fell at least a dozen times, and he fell three or four times. Each time Lu fell, Ken's heart almost stopped, but she didn't seem to suffer any more injury to the horrible head wound. Each time he fell, it was harder to get back up, but he managed it.

It took them clear until noon to get out of the blast area, trading the smells of charred wood for normal walnut forest. By that time, Lu was getting the hang of walking, and he had learned he actually could put a little weight on his injured leg. It was excruciating, and he couldn't put more than ten percent of his weight on it, but it was a lot easier than doing nothing but hop on one leg. Twice, they got turned around, as he was half-delirious. Fortunately, he had learned the way pretty well, so he was able to get them straightened out in just a few minutes, each time.

The rest of that day was a blur of pain, regret, fear, and hope. It got harder, but he wasn't lying down to die just yet. Every time he thought about just giving up, he looked again at Lu, with that horrible head wound. If she can do it, you can, he repeated in his head, over and over.

They never did stop to rest, because he was sure he wouldn't get up again if they did. He never would have guessed that a human being could go on through such unimaginable pain. Yet go on he did, one agonizing step at a time, smiling cheerfully for Lu, encouraging her with each breath. As the day wore on, they got even more tired, and the fever started to take him over. Things took on lighter hues, and he began seeing halos around anything that reflected light. In the afternoon, he noticed that Lu was wearing traditional Cherokee garb, except that squaws didn't wear eagle feathers, or have wings. After that, he barely noticed when a flock of doves burst out of the bush in front of him and turned into angels. Sounds took on an echoing quality. As the light started fading toward sunset, he thought he could hear his grandfather, telling him to lie down and give it up.

"Have to keep going, Grandpa," he whispered, "for you." He did not notice Lu's puzzled look. He plodded on.

He found himself leaning against a tree, with no memory of stopping. He was going to lie down, but then saw the wolf, watching him. No, it wasn't a wolf, it was a huge German Shepherd, and it was going to eat him if he lay down.

He blinked and looked around him. The dog was no longer in sight, but Lu was watching from a couple of steps away. She looked curious, not alarmed, but he wasn't fooled. If the dog got him, she'd turn into an angel and fly away, all alone. He could see her wings, and she even had a halo, now.

"Cool," he whispered, and reached out for her. He meant to put his arms around, but somehow found that she had her arm around him, and was helping him walk.

"Shouldn't have drunk so much. Sorry, Lu." Good old Lu. I wonder if she'll hold my head over the toilet, if I have to throw up?

When he finally saw the dusky light on the garden, he was sure it was another hallucination. It was full dark by the time Lu helped him stagger to the house.

"Got to go hospital," he said drunkenly, as he stumbled through the door.

He turned on the kitchen tap, and drank as much water as he could hold. As he saw Lu bending to do the same, he staggered to the mattress, and felt the darkness rising up around him to haul him back down into its depths.

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