by Marla Monroe
Caleb tried one more time to wake Beverly up. “Beverly, honey. Wake up. You’re scaring us.” He shook her gently, but she didn’t respond.
“Let’s go downstairs and fix something to eat while we talk.”
Jeff turned away but not before Caleb saw just how much this was bothering the other man. It was eating him up. Caleb was just as worried. He followed his friend to the kitchen and helped him fix soup and sandwiches. They sat down at the table and ate in silence for several minutes.
“Do you think there is something out in the backyard that is dangerous that we don’t know about? I mean we don’t really know about half the crap on this planet. The others have been discovering things every day that they’ve been here.” Jeff ran a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know. If she’s not better in the morning or if she gets worse tonight, we’ll radio into the city and ask the doctor there.”
“This is why I think we need to go ahead and split our shifts so that one of us is always here to watch out for her.”
Caleb agreed with him, but they didn’t have the manpower yet to do that. If they did it that way, it didn’t leave anyone to check on the cows at night if they started wandering off. Maybe once they got the herd there they could see how they acted. If they didn’t spread out too badly during the night, maybe it would work out that they could work that way.
“We’ll see how the herd reacts once they get here.”
Jeff only nodded and picked up his bowl to take to the sink. It was obvious that right now, he didn’t care how the herd did. He didn’t want Beverly left on her own—period. Maybe he was right.
“Have you seen anything around other than the mantis things we saw the other night?” Caleb asked.
“No. Nothing. I mean we only found a few of those flowers that had to be pulled up. Sloan and Nelson had seen several of those dorries around their place.” Jeff shrugged. “Maybe there’s something like a lizard or snake that was so small she didn’t notice it when it bit her. I know they haven’t seen anything like that around, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t out there.”
They talked a little longer trying to figure out what might have happened. Finally, Jeff stood up and said he was going to wash dishes then go back up and sit with Beverly.
“I think I’ll look through those pamphlets we got and see if there’s anything in there besides the descriptions of the animals. I never really read much beyond that part.” Caleb left Jeff in the kitchen.
He’d just started reading the last pamphlet one of the women who had been there for a couple of years had put together when he ran across descriptions of bites and scratches from various creatures. His hands shook as he began to read about them. There were even a few pictures of the healed areas. The fact that they were still discolored but healed didn’t bode well at all. On the other hand, he thought, they had lived.
After studying the wounds for nearly an hour, Caleb had narrowed it down to either a scratch or bite from a dorrie or one of the ratlike creatures called muskies. He rubbed his hands over his face before standing up and stretching. He needed to show Jeff what he’d found.
He checked the time and swore. It was nearly midnight. Carrying the pamphlet upstairs with him, he found Jeff sitting up in the bed holding Beverly’s hand and sleeping soundly. He didn’t look comfortable at all. He was going to have a sore back and a crick in his neck if he stayed that way. Caleb touched his shoulder and called him.
“Jeff. Wake up. I found something.”
The other man jerked then sat up straighter. He checked Beverly then yawned.
“What? Did you find anything?”
“Read over these two pages and see if you agree.” Caleb handed him the booklet with the pages marked.
Jeff read over both pages several times, paying close attention to the pictures. His face paled. Caleb could relate.
“I think it’s the muskie. What do you think?” he asked.
“I’m with you. Do you think it bit her or scratched her?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t really look like a scratch unless it just stuck her with its claws, making puncture wounds. I’m leaning more toward a bite.” Jeff rubbed his face with both hands. “It says it will open up and drain, and at some point she should wake up. The operative word being should.”
“Yeah, I caught that. I think we should radio the doctor in the morning and see if there is something new that they’ve discovered since this was printed,” Caleb said.
“I agree, or maybe we should just take her back and let him see her.”
“I’m thinking that moving her around can’t be good for her. If the doctor wants to see her, we’ll take her then.”
Jeff nodded but didn’t look convinced. He reached over and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. He frowned and laid his hand against her cheek then her forehead.
“Damn. She’s running a fever. Her skin is hot and dry.”
Caleb checked her as well. What in the hell should they do now? The pamphlet had mentioned running a high fever, but it didn’t say what to do about it. They didn’t have anything they could give her to bring it down.
“Do you think it’s too high? Should we try and cool her off with cold water?” Caleb asked.
Jeff checked her again. “I don’t think it’s too high right now. We’ll need to keep a close watch to see if it gets any higher though.”
“You get some sleep. I’ll watch her for a while. Then I’ll wake you up.” Caleb walked around the bed and, after removing his boots, climbed up to sit and keep watch over her.
Her temperature didn’t get much higher during the rest of the night, but she did move around some as if she was uncomfortable or in pain. He tried to soothe her by stroking her head and holding her hand. Finally she calmed down and was quiet again.
Around five the next morning, Caleb woke Jeff up. He couldn’t tell there was much difference, but he wanted to check her ankle to see if it had opened up or started draining during the night.
“Any change?” Jeff asked.
“Not really. She moved around some for a little while like she was uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t wake up. Her temperature never seemed to get much higher.”
“I’m worried. I want to get in touch with the doctor.”
Caleb agreed. “Let’s check her ankle to see what it looks like so we can give him an accurate picture then decide when to call. It’s only five right now.”
Jeff eased off the bed and pulled back the covers so they could get to her leg. The towel was still where they’d left it, and the gauze they’d wrapped around it looked clean.
“I don’t see anything on it, do you?” he asked.
Caleb shook his head. “Nope. Let’s unwrap it and see.”
They carefully unrolled the gauze until they got to the original bandage. Jeff gently pulled it back to find that the colored bumps had enlarged and started draining a yellowish liquid.
“Careful, don’t touch any of it. We don’t know if it’s poisonous or not, Jeff.”
“Hand me a new bandage. We can still use the gauze to wrap it since there’s nothing on it yet.” Jeff used the packaging for the new bandage to wrap up the dirty bandage then rewrapped her ankle.
“Okay, let’s try to get some water down her, and then I’m going to take an hour nap. Wake me up by seven thirty so we can contact the doctor.”
Jeff managed to get Beverly to swallow almost a half a glass of water before she stopped swallowing. Caleb had to believe that was a good sign. Surely she wouldn’t be able to swallow if she was in danger of dying.
After several minutes of lying down, he didn’t think he was going to be able to sleep any despite how long he had been awake. Finally, his eyes closed and his mind settled down and slept. The last thought that crossed his mind was that he had begun to fall in love with her and now he might lose her.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeff sat at the desk with Caleb as they talked to the doctor about Beverly’s wound. He was worrie
d sick about her but managed to see the humor in the fact that the doctor’s name was Jeff Davis.
“Just call me Doc, guys. It will save some confusion,” the other man said.
“What can we do for her while we wait for her to wake up?” Caleb asked.
“There’s not much you can do. Keep her hydrated since she’s running fever. If she doesn’t wake up by tonight, try and feed her some soup to keep her strength up. At this point, we don’t have anything that will help.”
“What about antibiotics?” Jeff asked.
“I honestly don’t think they do any good. In fact, what we’ve noticed over time is that once someone has been bitten or scratched by one of the animals that are indigenous to the planet, they carry a type of antigen in their blood that seems to fight off most common illnesses. We’re still researching but so far, that is what has proven to be true.”
“So she’s going to have some strange cell in her blood now?” Caleb asked, his voice louder now.
“Yes, but once you start eating the food that is grown on Alpha, you’ll have something similar in your bloodstream as well. We don’t know what it means in the long run, but so far it hasn’t been detrimental to anyone.”
“Fuck!” Caleb kicked the desk.
Jeff didn’t like it any more than Caleb did. They were basically living experiments it sounded like to him. No one knew anything. They had landed on the damn planet without a clue as to what to expect despite the supposed education they received while they’d been on board the shuttle all those months.
“When she wakes up, find out if she was bitten or scratched. It will help me keep track of how being bitten differs from being scratched. So far, the venom seems to be in their saliva. It’s a lot like an acid.”
“So you don’t have any long-term experience with this crap,” Caleb grumbled.
“No. Just a couple of years, and so far the effects haven’t emerged outside of the possibility that it keeps you from getting sick easily.”
“Okay. Thanks, Doc. We’ll be in touch.” Caleb signed off and braced his head on his hands against the desk.
It was obvious to Jeff that Caleb was not just exhausted but worried about their wife. He felt bad for thinking earlier that Caleb wasn’t taking it as seriously as he should have been. His partner just kept things inside more than he did. If Jeff hadn’t been so worried, it would have dawned on him that, with Caleb’s tendency to be controlled and calm no matter what, he wouldn’t show his feelings concerning Beverly’s condition as openly.
Now, however, Caleb was worn out and unable to hold it in check. Jeff stood up and clapped the other man on the shoulder.
“Come on, Caleb. You need to rest. I’ll watch Beverly and wake you up in a few hours.”
“I need to go check on the horses. Then I’ll lie down for a while.”
“I’ll handle the horses. You go on upstairs and rest. I’ll be up as soon as I finish with them.” Jeff followed the other man out of the office and watched him climb the stairs.
He made a pot of coffee and waited for it to finish. After drinking a half of a cup, he grabbed a rifle and headed to the barn. The horses greeted him with whinnies. They appeared to be doing well. He cleaned out their stalls and fed them, making sure to brush each of them for a few minutes.
On the way back to the house, he thought about the garden. Beverly had talked about how important it was to keep it watered but not wet. He checked the ground in several places and decided it needed to be watered. After setting up the water system, he went back inside and poured another cup of coffee to take outside with him while he monitored the water system.
He kept an eye out for any movement just in case one of those damn muskies or dorries showed up. He didn’t think they could get in the backyard with the fence, but maybe they could climb or dig under. They needed to talk to some of the older families who had been there longer. He would suggest that to Caleb when he got back up.
Jeff finished moving the water system around and put it up. With one last look around the yard, he carried his cup back inside and refilled it. He knew he should eat something, but he wasn’t hungry. Instead, he walked around downstairs wondering if something had gotten in the house somehow. Surely they would have seen or heard the thing if it had. The damn muskies were supposedly as big as a small cat. There was no way they would miss seeing something like that moving around in the house.
He thought about the cellar. What if she’d been down there for some reason and one had managed to get inside? He grabbed his gun once again and opened the pantry door to get to the cellar door. Flipping the light switch at the top of the steps, he carefully walked down and looked all around the room from the vantage point of the next to the last step.
Nothing.
“Fuck. This is really getting on my nerves.”
He stepped down and looked around the area making sure to move things from against the wall to see if there was anything hiding. Nothing moved or jumped out at him while he was down there.
Satisfied that there was nothing down there, Jeff climbed the steps and closed up the cellar then the pantry. He started to return the rifle to its spot by the back door but decided to carry it upstairs with him instead. Just in case they needed it.
He found Caleb sound asleep next to Beverly. He had one of her hands in one of his lying against his chest. He felt guilty again at having been angry with himself for not appearing to care enough about her condition. The other man just carried his a different way. He and Caleb weren’t alike at all.
Beverly no longer felt hot to the touch. Her skin was cool but pale. He held her head up while he coaxed her to drink more water. She didn’t wake up, but she seemed to be able to follow some commands like swallow. He tried something different.
“Beverly, baby. Squeeze my finger.” He placed his finger in the palm of her hand.
Nothing happened. He tried again.
“Baby, squeeze my finger. Let me know you can hear me. I’m worried about you.”
Her hand remained open, but he could have sworn he felt her hand tremble. He rubbed her palm then left his finger there again.
“Come on, Beverly. Move your hand for me. Let me know you’re in there. You’ve got me and Caleb worried sick.”
Slowly, her hand closed over his finger. She didn’t squeeze it, but she did close her hand. Jeff grinned and pulled her hand to his mouth so he could kiss her palm and then each of her fingers.
“That was great, baby. I’m proud of you. Now rest and save your strength to get well. We need you to wake up and tell us what happened to your ankle, baby.”
Her hand jerked in his hand, but she didn’t make a sound or move her head. He wasn’t sure if she was reacting to what he’d said or if her hand had just jerked on its own. It didn’t matter. He’d gotten his answer. She could hear him and follow directions. He was convinced it wouldn’t be long before she would wake up now. Patience. They just needed patience.
* * * *
Beverly’s ankle was burning. She wanted to rub it, but she couldn’t seem to move. She tried to open her eyes, but they proved to be as heavy as lead. She wasn’t sure she had ever felt this bad before. Maybe when she’d had appendicitis as a child, but she wasn’t even sure about then. What was wrong with her?
She tried to listen to see if she could hear Jeff or Caleb talking anywhere, but there was a buzzing in her ears that was annoying as hell. It evidently drowned out all other sound.
She drifted for a few minutes or maybe it was hours, she couldn’t tell, but she tried to move again and managed to move her head and neck some. Her eyelids still felt like they weighed a ton, but she kept working to open them. She wasn’t giving up.
Somewhere she heard a voice, but with the damned buzzing she couldn’t tell whose it was. She tried to call out, but her mouth seemed to belong to another person. It wasn’t following directions. For that matter, nothing was following directions. Had she died?
The buzzing began to fade somewhat and she could
hear both Jeff and Caleb talking somewhere close by. If she could hear them then she couldn’t be dead, right? Beverly wasn’t sure of anything anymore. All she knew was that she was aggravated that she couldn’t move and scared at what that meant.
When the buzzing had all but disappeared, she worked at opening her eyes and moving her mouth. She desperately wanted someone to know she was there. Even as she managed to crack her eyelids, it registered that the voices had stopped. She’d been too late. They were gone.
A sliver of light burned her eyes when she tried to look through the thin opening. After a few seconds with tears blurring her already dim vision, Beverly managed to get them open a little more and found that she was alone in their bed. It registered with her that her right ankle stung. Why was that? Had she hurt herself? Frustration left even more tears in her eyes as her breathing sped up.
If she didn’t get hold of herself, she’d hyperventilate and pass out. She didn’t want to do that now that she had finally managed to open her eyes. Surely the guys would come back to check on her soon. If she just wasn’t so tired.
Face it, I’m sick for some reason, and I’m always grumpy when I’m sick.
A sound outside the room jerked her attention toward the door. She struggled to keep her eyes open as Jeff walked through the door. He didn’t look at her right away. Instead, he walked over to the bedside table and set a glass of water down. She tried to make a sound to let him know she was awake and so damn thirsty.
Without looking at her, he disappeared into the bathroom. Her eyes remained glued to that door waiting for him to emerge again and notice that she was awake. It was taking all her strength to keep her eyes open. Why hadn’t he looked at her? Didn’t he care enough to check to see if she was even breathing? Pain slammed through her chest with the thought that he and Caleb might be relieved if she died and they could find another wife. She already knew that she wasn’t their first choice.
