“I feel funny right now,” Daryl said from behind Reeves. Reeves turned around and saw a large bulge in Daryl’s pants. "That's weird, I thought that only happened around Amanda when we played leapfrog."
"Ooh, dang, darn it." Reeves turned his face toward Seraphina again. The delicate tendrils of brunette drifted down the side of her face, wild and wet as the water dripped down onto her drenched skin. A wet goddess, who had such features he'd never seen before, including the perks on the front of her- “Nothing to see here, everyone!” Reeves said quickly knowing he had to kill those thoughts. He turned his attention elsewhere and went over to the group of young boys, guarding them from a view they shouldn't have ever seen. "That's nothing you saw, let's not mention it ever again. It's not allowed in Hidden Secret." He went over and touched Daryl’s shoulder, "You should no longer play leapfrog with Amanda." He had looked back awkwardly, at Seraphina for a moment before he looked forward again. “Seraphina Medina, you’ve taken too much time, run along.” He tried to disguise the fact that his voice squeaked higher by adding a cough. As she crossed her arms over her chest and ran away, Reeves made sure everyone stayed there and then quickly caught up to her. Apparently she could move faster with a little adrenaline boost.
Reeves took a deep breath. Okay, she was not going to be happy, he knew that. What was he supposed to say? He hadn’t thought clearly about the effects of water on a thin blouse. “You at least smell better.” He was awarded with a shriek of pervert his way. “You’ll dry quickly, keep running." Well, she had to take a bath somehow. He couldn’t spend two days smelling her, not after all the exercise she would have to go through again.
“Yes, I’ll keep running while my shapely body sticks out like a sore thumb for everyone down the street to stare at." She crossed her arms in front of her, since her little blue blouse left nothing to the imagination. "I am practically streaking you son of a bitch!”
"Watch your language," Reeves warned her, “and it’s not that serious. Not as terrible as you think, it’s-uhh-your shirt is kind of see through, a little, and you've got 'peaks', that's all.”
“Yeah, nice for noticing, Pervert.” Her voice was raspy and dark.
“That’s not very nice.” Reeves ran backwards beside her. Now that the adrenaline had run out, Seraphina ran slower than even the youngest of residents again. “I didn’t think clearly about the water.”
“Let me guess, you've always played in little ol' Hidden Secret and never go hang out in wet T-shirt bars?” Seraphina questioned as she glared at him. “Even a fifth grader would know better. Perverted Paladin."
Reeves felt disappointed in himself. Why didn’t he think clearly? Now he had to run beside Seraphina Medina, soaked and exposed for all the innocents of Hidden Secret to see. He ignored the questioning looks of a resident as they came out of their house. Oh no, that person came from Jackson’s house. Oh yes, what a memorable day he would do his best to forget. “I’m sorry about the pool. I genuinely am sorry; I just don't think the same as most people from your sector.”
“Or from the planet,” Seraphina provoked him. “I don't know any guys that act like afterschool television specials one minute, and then hang out with their streaking prisoner the next.”
“I'm not an afterschool special." Reeves couldn't let that go again. "I care about how Hidden Secret acts, but that doesn't mean I'm some random afterschool special. There is hardly anyone here who willingly teaches between right and wrong, and if I don't do it, who will? Timothy Varmen? Please." He looked away. "There are only a couple original ones left." His voice trailed off.
"Maybe you're right," Seraphina said as she stole a glance at him. "Afterschool TV specials don't get this perverted."
That stopped Reeves in his tracks, which stopped her. He took off his shades and took a step forward to her "I am not a pervert, and I am getting tired of that word." He pointed her. "You should not judge people that-"
"Oh, here we go again. The captain of the planet deciding all that is bad and good, what are you going to say? Huh?" Seraphina continued to prod him like a bull. "I shouldn't judge people by the clothes they wear? Don't worry, I don't. Besides, looking at you the first time I thought you were a rebellious pot-smoking free spirit. Now I know you're a pot-smoking devil in tie dye clothing."
"My day is just beginning; do you already have to start with me?" Reeves grabbed his head. No, no, he had to rise above it. She was practically naked in the street and angry. He had to think about the situation and resolve it before it got worse. “Okay, let's start over.” Reeves put his shades back on. “Seraphina Medina, I’m sorry about the pool, again, okay? When we are close to your house we will stop, and you can get another shirt. Yes, I should have warned you last night too, but you drove me crazy.”
“I drove you crazy? You’re the one running me ragged all the time,” Seraphina countered him.
Reeves ran backwards causing Seraphina to run again. “I wasn’t thinking.” He tried again. “Hidden Secret is a small place, there’s nothing immoral about it at all. It’s about playing and having fun.” He did a cartwheel to emphasize his point then came around to running backwards next to her again. He winked and pushed his shades up. "Sometimes things I learned in the retraining program are forgotten."
“Yes, already, I get it,” Seraphina succumbed. She didn't want to, and had it been any other man on the planet she would have found a way to have him hurt. Someone Tracy knew could have taken him out. As she watched him, she couldn't help but remember where she was and who he had been. He was still one of the child-like adults, even though he was better informed. Like Timothy, he could not change who he had been. Plus, that wink and move she couldn't help but appreciate. “You’re an idiot and you didn’t think things through. I can’t believe you and Timothy are so alike.”
“What?” Reeves’ face scrunched up. “What do I possibly have in common with Timmers Varmint?”
“You’re both like giant kids.” Seraphina said. “Except Timothy’s like a sweet kid who tries to act like an adult.” She chuckled in amusement, then looked over at Reeves. “You’re a mean, spoiled kid who thinks everyone should do everything your way.”
“Spoiled?” Reeves crossed his arms, like a boy getting his sucker stolen for being bad. “Timothy Varmen is constantly trying to change this sector and its residents. That’s spoiled.”
“Stalking someone because they didn’t choose to follow the same path is even more spoiled,” Seraphina disagreed. “Honestly, what does anybody see in you?”
Reeves stopped. “Twenty push-ups.”
“In a wet shirt still?” Seraphina scoffed. “Pervert.”
“We can't stop for long even if you are wet, you need a little break from your running, but we aren't at your house yet. No one's around.” Reeves said in confidence. His arms were still crossed, and Seraphina figured it was revenge for what she said. Well, he deserved it.
“You are around." Seraphina pointed at him. He demanded twenty again and told her to stop stalling. Seraphina had no choice but to listen as she dropped to the ground and did twenty pushups side by side with the perverted Paladin. Although, she did cheat a couple of times since she realized Reeves made another mistake. Her getting down for pushups in her wet blouse meant there was more cleavage up top. In fact, she called out she missed count a couple of times, to make sure he looked. Torture to his soul, it was the only thing she could do to get him back.
“THIS ISN’T FAIR, NO sleep again?” Seraphina whined as they approached Reeves’ tower. Maybe it did sound childish to whine but if any sane person went through what she did, they'd be doing the same thing. “You promised Timothy-"
“Seven. I didn’t specify which day.” The Paladin gave her that same smug bastard smile he loved to use. “Don’t worry, I called him. He knows now.”
“You’re going to send me back to the jerk, aren’t you?” Seraphina Medina crossed her arms. "Some role model you are, you deceived me."
“Sergeant Charles did
well for you,” The Paladin smiled with fiendish delight hiding in his eyes. He enjoyed seeing her suffer, she knew it. “You’ll have as much fun as the first time.”
Seraphina didn’t reply as she turned away. “Fine, I should enjoy the fact that I’m not around you, Pervert.” She put her hand up to him, he wouldn't trick her this time. “Don’t even waste your breath.” Seraphina stopped by the Sergeants car. Reeves wouldn't be able to lure her up and make her run down this time.
“Unacceptable.” The Sergeant growled at Reeves as he looked over in his car. "I didn't tell her to do that. She's supposed to start at the top of the tower."
“Yes, she’s getting to be a rebel,” She overheard the Paladin before they took off to talk in private. Whatever, any minute alone from both those overbearing bastards was worth it. When the Sergeant came back, he had a different look in his eyes. Almost as if the Paladin had challenged him. Oh shit.
Seraphina tried to run the course as fast as she could. Her strength had decreased since she began training with the Sergeant four hours ago, and she was running on nothing but pure adrenaline. She couldn’t keep it forever. Didn’t Reeves give him anything to give to her like last time? It wasn’t fair, and her body felt so sore and weak. “Please, a little water.”
“You haven’t earned any water,” The Sergeant growled as he ran next to her. “You’re two minutes under the mark, you're still as slow as a snail, work harder.”
"I need water." Seraphina wheezed, trying to continue to run through the tires, but she could barely manage to get her feet through them. She was going on hours without food or water. This wasn’t right. Her condition had a balance for eating. She didn't understand it, but knew she was in trouble. If she didn’t figure out how to pick up speed, she would never get a drop. Her muscles ached, her head hurt, every bone in her body felt ready to snap, but she pushed herself harder. She had to earn water. That man must have been senile, no human could keep running without sustenance.
What she wouldn’t give to taste the sweet juiciness hiding inside a pear right now. Her throat was so dry that the liquid from a pear would feel good as it dribbled down her throat and chin. The comfort of it would be unmatched to anything else right now. All she could do to keep moving was imagine a giant pair ahead of her. After a while, she started to see pears, tomatoes, plums, and already sliced fresh orange and avocado pieces floating ahead of her. She gave chase but they stayed one step ahead all the time.
Seraphina hit the ground with a mighty blow as she climbed over a wooden wall. She stared at the wall, no longer moving a muscle. She heard the Sergeant rant at her again, but it was no use anymore. Her muscles had seized up.
A small tear fell down her left cheek as she stared at the wall. She had tried so hard to control her illness, but it was no use. It would prevail in the end. She knew now, this time, that there was no chance of living anymore. She didn't fall unconsciously so no one would realize what terrible danger she was in. Her throat was too dry to speak, her vision had become blurry. She glanced to her left as she heard a delightful childlike chuckle in the distance. A little girl in a red dress smiled at her as she skipped away. Medina? She heard another chuckle as a little girl in blue strolled behind laughing with the little girl in red. Herself.
Maybe she was already half dying, between the here and there of some afterlife. Seraphina could no longer see anything, all the colors of the night blended into one collage. The only thing she could see was her and her sister Medina, laughing as they twirled each other around. She closed her eyes as she felt the cool breeze rushing through her hair. When she opened them, she saw her sister Medina laughing and looking back at her.
5:07.5:08. 5:09. 5:10...
6:10. 7:10. 8:10...
Reeves walked back and forth around Seraphina repeatedly. She had been alive when he sensed her, but barely when he saved her at 5:07. Lucid daydreams enveloped her mind and then she went unconscious at 5:10. He had done everything he could to help, including placing pureed pomegranate pulp in her mouth to help her in the struggle to survive.
She still had not moved. Her condition did not improve.
Reeves got beneath her foot and continually tapped it on the ground every few minutes or he moved her arms up and down. She had to keep moving, even though she was unconscious. He had not spoken a word to her since he retrieved her that morning and brought her back to his tower. He had wasted no time dawdling with ‘what ifs’ as he had done everything in his power to help her, including fetching his doctor. He reached over and took more of the pureed pomegranate and placed more in her mouth with a solemn expression. Still no movement as he felt her pulse again. “Come on, Seraphina, please wake up. You’ve got to wake up. Why are you down like this?”
He reached out and pushed some of her hair back that had fallen in her tired face. Her face had become paler as the hours had rolled by. This pale and fragile girl was nothing like the girl of this morning. Angry but with such a strong personality. Determination and courage, only words for her. Yet she was so weak too, but never admitted it. Her words and fury hiding the obvious suffering and injury he was putting her through. Something he didn't want to do. She was a terrific person at heart, even risking everything for little Simps. A smile tugged at his face as he remembered. If only she could stop calling him names.
Reeves’ doctor stayed on Seraphina’s other side and felt her pulse. “Reeves, she's been under for far too long. There isn't even sudden jerking from dreaming,” He looked at his watch. “I think you had better call the hospital.”
“They can’t do anything,” Reeves said as he bit his fingernail. “At least we can move her up and down.”
“For how long?” His doctor questioned him. He moved Seraphina’s arm up and let it hit the bed in an ungraceful fashion. “Are you going to spend the rest of your life doing this? Do you think she would want to live this way? Call the hospital.”
“I have taken precautions.” Reeves stared at her. She had been getting so strong, great at endurance. Seraphina had been so close. “I gave her plenty of food, water, I balanced everything, and I made sure she moved constantly. I put up with all her bitterness, and I pushed her so far. I did everything I was supposed to.” He felt her pulse again, but there was no change. “There is always a way for the spirit to endure.”
“I warned you.” His doctor put his stethoscope away. “Not everyone has the strength and endurance you did to pull through this stage. Don’t feel guilty, you may have done her a favor. Seraphina Medina wasn't healthy enough to walk on her own with pills, so she wouldn’t have survived another ten years. Her quality of life would have exponentially decreased each year.”
“Nah,” Reeves shook his head. “She'll be fine. She needs more time, that's all,” he said as he placed more puree in her mouth. “She’ll wake up and everything will be okay. Just needs a boost.” He scratched his cheek. “She will want her pills back and she’ll never listen to me again.”
“No, no.” The doctor disagreed as he walked to the ladder. “Reeves, if by some miracle she did wake up, she would not be able to go back to pills for at least two weeks. Her body has withdrawn from them and giving some to her could cause irreparable damage. Now, I’ve done what I can, but I suggest calling a hospital and giving up.”
“I can’t do that,” Reeves said as he held the spoon of pomegranate pulp. He stared at it as if it were a symbol for her life. “I'm responsible for her and I'll get her out of this.”
The doctor didn't speak anymore to him as he descended the stairs.
Chapter 10
At ten O' eight, Reeves could do nothing more for Seraphina Medina. It was a difficult decision, but he would have to give in and call the hospital. He had hoped and believed with all his might that there was a way she could pull through, but he had to face the facts. He couldn’t constantly move her forever. He had to move too, and what life would it be if he spent his days constantly moving an unconscious body? She needed to move more than what he could give. Tha
t was no life for her either.
He knew exactly what would happen. After he called, the ambulance would come and fetch her. He would have to wait extra-long since it would have to come from the next sector over. They would not be able to do anything for her. She could breathe fine and didn't need air, the first thing they would want to try. All her vitals would be appropriate, and they wouldn't understand. When he informed them that she had JNSQ and needed to be moved continuously, they would do what they could. In the end, the hospital was not equipped to continuously move someone. Within the hour, Seraphina Medina would die.
The first call he would have to make before the hospital, would be the most difficult. Reeves felt his throat dry up as he dialed a number he had never had to dial for a decade. Timmers used to be a close friend with him years ago. Even though Timmers had many allergies, Reeves went to his house to keep him company and play. As he grew older, Reeves taught him some exercises that wouldn't cause him aggravation and help him stay in shape. He even came by at least once a day to relax and play some board games with him back then. It wasn't until after Timmers left for the retraining program that he came back with a hate for Hidden Secret and became bent on changing it. That's when their friendship disappeared, and Reeves began calling him Varmint.
Retraining was different for everyone, but for Timmers, Reeves wished that guy had never been retrained. The phone rang twice as he kept thinking. Would Seraphina’s death send Timmers over the edge? He knew many people who'd see that as a blessing, but Timmers was as much a part of Hidden Secret as any adult lifer. On the fourth ring, he heard the phone being picked up on the other side. The hello hadn’t sounded welcoming nor had it sounded horrible. Just confused. “Timmers.”
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