Land

by Theresa Shaver

  It was too much. It was all just too much for her to handle. She gave him a tight smile, “Yup. Be right back.” and turned and fled the room. She hit the front door running and whipped around the side of the building. Alex came to an abrupt stop and doubled over puking her guts out. She heaved painfully until there was nothing left in her stomach. She stayed bent over with her arms hugging herself while she sobbed.

  She just wanted to go home. She was only sixteen, just a kid. It wasn’t fair. She had been hung from a wall to be raped. She had shot and killed people and now she was supposed to perform surgery on one of her best friends. Why did this have to happen to her? She just wanted her Mom and Dad. She wanted to go home.

  When her sobs subsided, she stood back up and looked out over the fields. The voice behind her didn’t jolt her but the words did.

  “There’s a reason why we all think you should be the one to do this Alex. You’re our leader. You always have been. Right back to when we were kids and you marched us into the forest and bossed us around to build our clubhouse. You’ve always taken the lead. Quinn might be the responsible one but you are our glue. It was always you that held us together and organised all the adventures growing up. You have the biggest heart and you are one of the strongest people I know. I wasn’t surprised a bit when you came through that door at the biker’s house. I knew you’d find a way to get free. You’re a hero Alex. We trust you to do this.”

  Alex shook her head in denial, “I’m scared out of my mind Josh! I’m not a hero!”

  He smiled a compassionate smile, “Don’t you know Alex? That’s what a hero is. Someone who’s scared out of their mind and does it anyway.” He opened his arms wide and she rushed into them. He held her tight and said no more.

  After a few minutes he pulled back and gave her the trademark devil grin of his. “I brought you something.” and he pulled a bottle of rum from his back pocket. “Cooper grabbed it from that grocery store, remember? A little bit of liquid courage to steady your nerves.”

  Alex took the bottle and studied it thoughtfully and then shrugged. “What the hell. It sure can’t hurt.” and she took a big gulp. Josh howled with laughter when her face turned bright red and she started to wheeze. In a choking voice she said “As they say in the movies, let’s do this!” and they both went back in to help their friend.

  Chapter 17

  When Alex and Josh entered the exam room, she was surprised to see the changes that Dara and Cooper had made. It actually looked semi-professional. Quinn was covered in a blue linen drape except for his wounded area. The rolling cart was beside the table and a row of gleaming instruments were resting on a clean towel. There was a brown bottle and an open package of sutures waiting as well. On the counter were two steaming basins of water with more towels and a box of latex gloves.

  Cooper was wearing scrubs and holding another set. He stepped forward and addressed her in a professional voice “Ready to scrub in Doctor, I’ll be assisting you for this procedure.” as he handed her the clothing.

  Alex took the outfit with a grateful smile to both of them for their help and slipped it on over her clothes. She went to the hot water and scrubbed her hands and arms with soap. Cooper used a cup and rinsed her arms over the sink so the rinse water would stay fresh for him. He handed her a towel and helped her put on the gloves. Alex looked at him in surprise for his no nonsense manner.

  “What? I watch TV too. If you can’t make it, fake it, right?” he said defensively.

  Alex grinned at him and stepped back to give Dara room to help him with the rinsing of his hands. Alex went to the bottles of drugs and quickly did the math from the dosage chart and Quinn’s weight. She filled a syringe with the amount of morphine she would need and turned to the exam table. Quinn was still awake but his face was full of pain and very pale. He was taking in all the activity in the room and smiled at Alex when he saw the needle she was holding.

  “Gimmee!” he joked.

  She laughed softly. The rum was spreading through her body and she was feeling stronger. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  “Oh yeah, you can do anything you want to me after you give me the joy juice, Alex.” His face turned serious. “Really Alex, I believe in you. You can do this. Like you said, it’s a long way from my heart, right?”

  “Ok, night-night then.”

  As she was about to stick Quinn in the arm with the needle, Josh interrupted.

  “Wait! That’s the right amount isn’t it? You don’t want to give him too much, right?”

  Alex froze in place and closed her eyes in exasperation. She took a breath and in a flat voice replied, “I don’t know Josh because I’m not a doctor and he’s not a fucking DOG!” she spat the last word at him and tried to calm back down. “The book said this is the dosage for his weight so that’s the best I can do. OK?”

  Josh looked down at his feet and mumbled, “Okay, just checking. Sorry.”

  Alex sighed, “No, it’s ok. I’m just nervous.”

  She turned back to Quinn and quickly slid the needle into his arm and pressed the plunger. Within minutes his eyes went hazy and started to droop. He mumbled some words that Alex thought were “That’s the ticket.” but she was unsure because they were slurred. She waited a few more minutes and then tried to wake him up.

  When he didn’t respond she grabbed the bottle of disinfectant and sprayed the wounded area, spreading it around with a sponge so his leg was covered. She turned to the cart and looked at the instruments on it. There were a couple of wicked sharp scalpels, large tweezers, a small spreader and other things she had no idea about. Cooper gave her a nod and she picked up the scalpel.

  Her whole body tensed as she made a small cut on either side of the first bullet wound. Right away, she knew she would have to cut deeper to see where the bullet was. Cooper was right beside her with sponges and water. When she cut, he would pour sterilized water into the area and mop up the blood. Alex set aside the knife and grabbed the tweezers and spreader. She spread the wound open and once Cooper had mopped it up she could see the bullet. She got a grip on it and pulled it out. It wasn’t very deep and she didn’t think it had done much damage but she had no way of really knowing with no medical training. Nothing seemed to be gushing from the site so she took that as a good sign and removed the spreader and covered it with gauze. She would save the stitching for when she had both bullets out. The second bullet wasn’t as deep as the first one but when she grabbed it with the tweezers something seemed to come out with it.

  “Pour water on that Cooper. I don’t know what it is and I don’t want to pull it out until I do.” she told him.

  As the water cleared away she studied the object stuck with the bullet in the tweezers. “What is that? Hey Josh can you shine a flashlight on this please?” she asked him. Seconds later it was Cooper that identified it.

  “It’s a piece of his pants! The bullet must have taken in it into the hole. We need to check the other hole and make sure there isn’t any more or he’ll get infected. Go ahead and pull it out Alex.”

  She pulled it out and probed around in the wound for anything else that was loose but found nothing. Then she took out the spreader and went back to the first hole and checked it but it seemed free of any foreign objects.

  “Ok, I think that’s it. Should I pour more disinfectant into the holes or just sew them up?” When no one answered her she sighed “Damn it, where’s Google when you need it!” She stared around the room trying to decide and her glance took in the bottles of drugs on the counter.

  “I’m just going to sew him up and pump him full of antibiotics.” and reached for the needle and suture thread.

  It was a lot harder to sew skin than it was to sew cloth and she felt her stomach lurch every time she penetrated his skin with the needle. She put ten small stiches in one wound and eight in the other. Dara had thick bandages of gauze ready and she had smeared antibiotic ointment over them. After dressing the wounds and cleaning the blood off of Quinn a
s best they could, Alex consulted the drug book and gave him a shot of antibiotics.

  She peeled her gloves and bloody scrubs off and dropped them in the garbage. She looked at her pale friend and could see the steady rise and fall of his chest as he slept. Her friends were all smiling at her and she had to grin back. They had done it. They had done their best and only time would tell if it was the right thing to do.

  “Hey Josh, I really need something from you.”

  “Sure Alex, what do you need? Name it and it’s yours.”

  “I need that bottle of rum!”

  When he pulled it out of his back pocket and held it out, she went towards him and snatched from his hand as she sailed out the door. When he went looking for her later, he found the bottle empty and her asleep.

  ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

  When Alex woke up, she came up in a rush and banged her head hard. “ARGGGG!” her head was pounding and not just from banging it. Her mouth was paste dry and tasted like something had died in it. She remembered operating on Quinn and then sitting on a stump by the fence and drinking rum. She had never been much of a drinker, just one here and there at a party so she realized that she was experiencing her first hang over and vowed that it would be her last.

  It was dark wherever she was so she felt around with her hands and figured out that she was in one of the bunks in the camper. She swung her legs over the side of the bunk and groaned again from the pain in her head. Water, she needed water and drugs, lots of drugs. She made her way to the tiny kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the counter, she could barely see but after eight days of living in the camper she knew her way around in the dark. Opening a small cupboard she fumbled around until she found the bottle of aspirin and clutched it to her chest like a lifeline. She made her way to the side door and went outside.

  It was either very late or very early and it wasn’t until she looked to the east and she saw just a hint of lighter sky that she knew she had slept the rest of the afternoon and night away in drunken stupor. She shook her head at her own stupidity, causing it to pound even harder and making her stomach rush up her throat. She rushed away to the side of the vet office and vomited up the last of the rum.

  “I guess that’s the designated puking spot. Twice in twenty four hours, Alex? Nothing will ever grow there again!” Josh teased her from behind.

  Her stomach felt better but her head was still killing her and she fumbled with the child proof cap on the painkillers. Josh plucked it from her hands and popped the lid off, handing her two pills. After rinsing her mouth with water she took the pills gratefully and downed them.

  “How’s Quinn? Did he wake up? Why are you awake? Where is everyone?” she fired at him.

  Josh threw his head back and laughed “And she’s back! God, I love you Alex.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I love you too, you big goof. Now answer my questions.”

  When he got his laughter under control he told her, “Quinn’s fine. He woke up after about four hours and we fed him some soup. He didn’t puke it up like you, so we took that as a good sign. He has no fever and his wounds are still dry and clean so it’s a wait and see thing. We gave him some codeine pills and that made him so happy he went back to sleep and is still out. I’m up because we have a druggie and a drunk in our group and someone needs to keep watch while everyone is asleep.” he finished with a raised eyebrow at her.

  Alex looked at her feet in embarrassment. “Right, umm, good, I mean umm, oh crap. I’m sorry Josh. It was a really stupid thing to do. I’m sorry I left you guys to do all the work.”

  “Ah don’t worry about it Alex. You earned it. What you did in there was amazing. He’s going to be fine because of you. Besides, let’s just say, you provided the entertainment.” he said with an evil grin. “Something about black haired, blue eyed bad boys and lots of singing too!”

  Alex closed her eyes in mortification, her face flamed red. She could picture her embarrassed face on public service posters for the evils of teenage drinking. Her head started to clear as the aspirin took hold. She opened her eyes and looked at her laughing friend.

  “Ok, I deserve a little teasing for last night but that’s enough.” she thought to herself.

  “Hey Josh, remember this? ‘I would kill someone to keep you safe Dara.’” she said as a sickly sweet love declaration.

  His face went from laughing to blank instantly. “Right, I’m done. Let’s go check on Quinn, Doctor.” he quickly changed the subject. She laughed at him and grabbed his hand as they went in to the clinic to check on Quinn.

  Later that morning, once everyone was awake and they were eating a breakfast of instant oatmeal, they had a group meeting. Quinn had woken up with clear eyes and hungry for breakfast so the boys had carried him on his stretcher out onto the porch and propped his upper body up with pillows so he could eat with them. Alex didn’t want his leg to be moved for a few days and they discussed what the plans would be.

  Josh led the discussion. “I think we need to plan on staying here for at least five days. If we go back on the road with Quinn and we get attacked again, we would be in trouble. I looked through the house yesterday and it’s untouched. I don’t think anyone has been here. There are a lot of supplies we can use and take with us and there are some generators that I might be able to get working. I say we stay put until Quinn is more mobile and then we go like mad for the border and home. We’ve been staying away from main roads to avoid people and we’ve been shot at twice so it doesn’t seem to be helping us. All this back road driving is just making us lose time. Once we leave here, I say we head towards the interstate and once we get past Great Falls we get on it and try and make better time. I know Alex, Quinn and I have all been to Great Falls with our families for shopping. I’ve never seen that part of the interstate, from the border to Great Falls with heavy traffic. What about you Quinn?”

  Quinn didn’t answer him because he had fallen asleep again. His head was slumped down, with his chin resting on his chest. They took the empty bowl off of his lap and eased his upper body back down onto the stretcher. They decided to leave him out on the porch in the fresh air so they covered him up with blankets and moved out into the yard to finish the discussion.

  “I agree with you Josh. We need to stay here and let him heal. We were so lucky with where he was shot. Those bullets could have hit bone or even worse, his main artery. As it is he’ll be limping for a long time. I’m done with this back road driving too. It’s just taking too long and is just as dangerous. I agree that the northern part of the interstate was never very busy. There were always a lot of transport trucks and it was busy on a long weekend at the border crossing with shoppers but this happened on a Tuesday morning so it shouldn’t be heavy with car crashes. I’m ready to get home so that’s my vote.” Alex told them. Cooper and Dara nodded their agreement.

  “Alright then, we should go up to the house and get it ready. We might as well stay up there for the next few days in comfort. Once we get Quinn moved up into one of the bedrooms, I’ll start working on the generators and see if we can get some power. We’ll need more water too if we are here very long.”

  Dara volunteered to stay with Quinn as the rest went up to the house to get it ready for the coming days.

  Chapter 18

  Alex put her fork down and groaned at her stuffed belly. They had been on the Vet’s property for three days since the operation and so far Quinn was doing much better. He was starting to complain about being bored and that his leg was itchy so Alex knew he was healing. She had switched him to Tylenol for the pain and packed up the stronger drugs for future emergencies. Josh had fashioned him a type of crutch and she was going to start him walking the next day. It had taken all the first day for Josh to get one of the generators working but with much cursing he had it done by dark. Unfortunately there was a fancy, hot water on demand system in the house and he couldn’t do anything to make it work, so they had running water but still had to boil it.

  On the s
econd day Cooper and Josh had poked around in the barn and found an ATV that they got started. They had gone out into the fields to see if there were any neighbours close by that the group would have to deal with. They found that the property was surrounded by forest and they couldn’t see any other homes. What they did come back with was very welcomed. At the back fence line there was a small stream that ran through the property and keeping close to it were six beef cows. When the water stopped feeding into their troughs they must have went to the stream to drink. Having been born and raised on a working farm, Josh had no problem rounding one up and getting it back to the barn.

  When Josh showed the girls the cow and happily exclaimed,

  “Dinner!”

  Alex had clapped her hands in applause but Cooper and Dara just stared at him in confusion. When Josh saw that they didn’t get it, he laughed and howled at them. “Where did you think steaks came from? They aren’t born in little white foam trays covered in plastic wrap!” He laughed even harder at their shocked faces. When he got his breath back he reassured them “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it, just have the barbeque warmed up in a few hours and we’ll have a feast.”

  Cooper and Dara were excited for fresh red meat but were more than happy to leave the preparations in Josh’s hands. All of their bodies were craving fresh protein and greens. They had been eating from cans for the past two weeks and the girls were thrilled to find potatoes that were still good in the basement pantry. The vegetables would be canned but it was still exciting to have fresh meat and potatoes. With the power on they could do their baking in the kitchens big oven and they moved from baking buns to baking loaves of bread. They still had plenty of flour in the camper but were pleased to find another big bag in the house.

  Whoever had lived in the house had lived there alone. They had found only one bedroom that was being used with clothes in the closet. There were pictures of family members but only one man had lived in the house. Being out of town and in an isolated area seemed a strange place to have a business but the group was just happy to have a safe refuge while Quinn healed.