by Donnie Light
A street light at the corner of the lot began flickering to life, casting a cold, blue-white light onto the oil-spotted asphalt. The other lights, one in each corner of the lot, followed suit. They could hear the hum of electricity.
“Whether that thing shows up or not,” Galen said, “I’ll have to get in touch with this guy and tell him what happened. If he wants the damned thing, he’s gonna have to catch it himself!” A chuckle escaped him and he looked at Audra. “That should be some conversation, huh?”
“Yeah, I want to be around when you-” Audra’s words were cut short by a hollow metallic sound. It sounded like someone was rubbing a coarse file on the side of a coffee can. Galen twirled around, searching for the cause of the noise. They both looked toward the southwest corner of the lot in time to see sparks flying from the corner fence post. The ball-thing had sheared the metal post about halfway up. The sparks only lasted a second, sending a spray of hot metal off to one side like a tiny meteor shower. The top half of the fence fell inward, caught before hitting the ground by the next post on either side. The ball-thing glowed faintly as it came steadily toward them.
As Galen turned to get into the car, he again thought he saw flames in the direction of the ball. A faint, almost ghostly orange light surrounded it and flickered with movement.
Audra looked across the parking lot as the ball approached and saw white, moving shapes below the ball itself. The asphalt below the ball seemed alive, shimmering, like the heat rising off a highway on a hot, sunny day.
“Let’s go!” Galen shouted, not realizing Audra had already climbed into the car. Galen spun around in his seat, trying to keep an eye on the orb while Audra steered the car toward the nearest gate. The ball changed directions to intercept the car. Audra turned to the south and Galen watched as the ball again changed course, coming directly at them. Its speed was evidently no match for the Mustang. Galen watched it fade from sight through the rear window, still shrouded in the orange, flickering light.
“Darn that thing!” Audra yelled, “What’s it after?”
Galen shook his head. Seeing the damage the thing had done to a metal fence post had caused his pulse to quicken. He began to realize the thing had incredible power.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but let’s get in touch with this Paxon guy and tell him to come get his damned ball! I’m tired of playing with it!”
Deep in thought, Galen toyed with his mustache. They were putting some distance between themselves and the ball, which made both of them feel a little better.
“Well, we know a couple of things about it that we didn’t know before,” Galen said.
Audra looked at him. “Like what?”
“I doesn’t just “poof”, he said, “and it is definitely following us. It also seems to change direction, depending on where we are, always on a direct-intercept course.”
“It looks like it can go through anything,” Audra added. “It seemed to come through that fence post like it was nothing!”
“What do we do now?” Galen muttered more to himself than to Audra.
Audra was staring at the road, both hands on the wheel, looking like the model drivers education student - except for her speed. She was doing nearly eighty as she approached the intersection at route 72. She made a quick stop, then turned left; back on course to Rockford.
“Do you have any idea of where we’re going?” Galen asked.
“To the hospital,” She replied.
“Are you crazy?” Galen said, not quite shouting.
“We’ve got to get your hand taken care of,” she said.
“Right,” Galen responded, “we’re just going to sit in the ER and wait for the killer ball to come and get us.”
“I’m not exactly that stupid!” she shrieked.
She tried to calm herself down and Galen did the same. They sat in silence for a moment, both taking deep breaths before either of them could think of what to say. Audra’s hands trembled.
“I’m sorry, again,” Galen said. “Of course you’re not stupid.
It’s just hard to think with all of this going on.” He looked out the window and noticed a full moon just above the horizon. That seemed appropriate, he thought.
“What did you have in mind?” Galen asked, again nervously twisting his moustache.
Audra wiped at her eyes. She was not normally so easy to cry. She just hated it when people yelled at her, especially someone like Galen, whom she admired. She thought perhaps Galen liked her, but was beginning to have doubts. Maybe she was already getting to know him better and did not like what she was finding out about him.
“I thought I would go into the ER and try to swipe a stitch kit.”
“You don’t look like the stealing type,” Galen said.
“I would replace it or something. Maybe donate a little money to the auxiliary.”
Galen laughed to himself. Audra was special. She was one of those special people, the kind God did not create enough of.
“Do you think you can get away with it?” he asked.
She gave him a little disgusted look, still mad at him for yelling at her.
“If I didn’t think I could, I wouldn’t try.” There was a definite note of hostility in Audra’s voice.
“Okay, okay, I just don’t want you to get into trouble,” Galen said, now on the defensive.
“I’m already in trouble, in case you hadn’t noticed. I’d say that thing that’s following us could definitely be called trouble.”
“Jees, lighten up, will ya’? You know what I mean. We’d be in worse shape if we had to get you out of jail.”
Audra felt sorry for acting like this, but Galen deserved it. He certainly did not like the taste of his own medicine.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the car for the next minute, and then Audra offered her plan. “Do you know Suzy? Suzy Halverson, who works in the ER?”
Galen nodded, “Not very well, but yeah, I know her.”
“Well, she’s getting married in a couple of months and she loves to talk about her wedding. I know she’s working tonight, and maybe I can go in and get the nurses to talking about it…” She paused, because she was really just hoping she could get into the supply room for a minute and really did not have a plan.
“You can stay in the car,” she said. “If I can’t get into the supply room right away, I’ll come back out. Then we can try plan B.”
“Plan B?” Galen asked. “What’s plan B?”
“That’s the plan you’re going to come up with if mine doesn’t work,” she said.
Galen laughed a nervous little titter. “I’m terrible at coming up with plans,” he said. “I can’t even plan a meal.”
The drive to the hospital took about twenty minutes from the truck lot. The hospital parking lot was well lit and Galen caught himself looking for escape routes should the ball-thing show up while they were here. There were plenty of cars in the parking lot, but Audra found an empty slot close to the ER entrance.
Audra opened her door and stepped out. “Why don’t you get into the drivers seat in case the thing comes while I’m in there,” she said.
Galen nodded and got out of the car. He walked around to the driver’s side and she handed him the keys.
“What should I do if it does come?” he asked. “Just leave you here?”
“If it does come, I’ll be running out the nearest set of doors,” Audra said.
“I figure we’ve got less than an hour so I want you out in twenty minutes. If you can’t get the stuff in that amount of time, just come back to the car and we’ll try plan B.”
Audra nodded. “Twenty minutes.”
Galen watched as Audra entered the brightly lit ER. He admired the graceful way she moved across the parking lot. Yep, she sure was a cute gal, damned cute.
He began to think of the ball-thing. Maybe it was not such a good idea to have come here. He certainly did not like being separated from Audra. He wondered who it would come for first, and why. H
e had the feeling it would come for him first. He did not know why, perhaps because he had opened the stupid box. Why hadn’t Al warned him that it could be dangerous? He must not have known. Al would never have knowingly placed Galen—or anyone else for that matter—into any kind of jeopardy.
A sickening thought occurred to him as he thought about the whole situation. Where was the damned thing now? Was it chewing its way through some one’s living room wall? What if it killed somebody on its way to get them? What if it chewed its way through a fuel tank, or a city bus, or the hospital? People could die. But what was he expected to do? Just sit and let it come and get him? What would it do to him, if, or when, it caught up with him? The numerous thoughts sent chills down his spine. He had to get in touch with Paxon. Maybe he would have some answers. Galen absentmindedly watched moths flutter crazily around the parking lot lights as he contemplated the many questions.
Audra entered the Emergency Room through the public doors. She pulled her hospital ID from her purse and tagged it to a belt-loop on her jeans. She walked down a corridor and went through a set of double doors that lead to the ER nurses station.
The ER was a tangle of motion. People were moving quickly from here to there, carrying clipboards and pushing carts and wheelchairs. Good, Audra thought, it’s a busy night.
She made her way to the nurse’s station and walked behind the counter. A couple of the nurses sat reading patient files. They did not even look up to see who she was.
Audra knew most of the people who worked in the ER. She often had to X-ray the trauma cases that came in and had plenty of contact with the ER personnel. She glanced around to see if she could locate Suzy.
They had gone to high school together in Willow River. They did not get together very often and their brief encounters at the hospital were about their only time together.
Audra was hoping she could use Suzy’s wedding as the reason for her visit, even if it was an odd time. It was a Friday night, about nine-thirty and the ER would only get busier as the night wore on.
Audra walked to the end of the counter and looked around the ER in search of Suzy. One of the other nurses walked up to her, although Audra could not remember her name.
“Hi,” the nurse said, forcing the smile of acquaintance and evidently not remembering Audra’s name either. “Are you looking for someone?”
Audra’s face flushed with the redness of dishonesty. “I was wondering if Suzy was working tonight,” she responded.
The nurse was bending over looking for a file. She did not look back at Audra but responded over her shoulder. “Yeah, she’s around, but I’m not sure where right now.” She turned around, a file clasped in one hand. “If I see her, I’ll tell her you’re here.”
“Thanks,” Audra said as she watched the nurse disappear into the confusing busyness. She walked over to the water fountain. It was right across from the supply room and it would offer her the opportunity to see if anyone was in there. She bent over to get a drink and peeked up and down the hall. No one was paying her any attention. She pretended to read the notices on the bulletin board above the fountain when a hand clasped onto her shoulder.
Audra turned with a start.
“Hi, Audy!” Suzy smiled. “What are you doing here?”
Audra had been caught off guard and she fumbled for her words.
“Well…I…uh,” she stumbled. “I think I may have left a blanket here after our last ambulance call.
“It’d be in the supply room closet,” Suzy said. “Take a look in there and let me know if you don’t find it. Did you hear about Bill’s new job?”
“Uh, no, I didn’t,” Audra answered.
Suzy began to babble about her fiancée’s new job. Audra was beginning to think she may pull this off. She hoped that when she got to the supply room she could quickly locate the suture kits. Since the ambulance crews never used them, she was not sure where they were stored.
“…and then his boss said, ‘Bill, we need a good man to run the accounting department,’ and that was that,” Suzy continued.
Audra had not been listening to her friend’s story. “That’s great,” she said, hoping it was an appropriate response.
“Yeah,” Suzy said, “I think he’ll like it.”
“You know, we’re just going to have to get together soon,” Audra said, pretending to be interested.
“Yes, let’s,” Suzy continued. “We never get to talk anymore.” Suzy quickly left, explaining how busy they were in the ER.
Audra had meant to ask Suzy about the wedding but the blanket story seemed to work fine. Blankets were an item frequently left behind. The hospital would launder it, and then place it in the supply room to be picked up the next time the ambulance came in. She walked into the supply room where another nurse was gathering supplies for one of her patients.
Audra casually walked over to the closet, hoping the nurse would not be long. It may look suspicious if Audra spent too much time checking out the closet.
The nurse was only a minute and nodded a greeting to Audra as she left the room. Audra looked into the closet searching for anything marked “Willow River Fire and Rescue.” She peeked out the door and saw nobody. She began reading the contents of the many drawers the supplies were stored in. After only a moment, Audra spotted what she was searching for and pulled opened the drawer. She stuffed two of the cellophane packets into her purse. She also discovered a supply of topical anesthetic pads and took a few of those.
Nervous, Audra quickly zipped her purse closed and trotted over to the closet. She riffled through a stack of blankets and to her amusement found one of theirs. She retrieved it and exited the room.
Walking back through the ER, she hoped she wouldn’t run into Suzy. She headed for the door to the outside corridor. The ER was still busy and no one noticed her as she left the building.
Galen saw her as she exited the ER. She carried a bulky, unknown object under one arm and her purse in the other. He got out of the car and walked to the other side as she approached.
“Get it?” he asked over the top of the car.
Audra let out a deep breath. “Got two,” she said as she tossed the blanket into the small back seat.
They both got into the car.
“I was also able to get a topical anesthetic,” she said as she unzipped her purse. “It won’t be as good as a shot of Novocain, but it’ll be better than nothing.”
The thought of her stitching up his hand suddenly became frightening to Galen, but it had to be done. Galen had never stitched any one up but had seen it done many times. Part of their training had required many hours of emergency room duty, working with the ER docs and nurses, assisting in any way they could. He did not know if Audra had seen it done before, but hoped that she had.
“Where to?” she asked.
“Well, don’t take this wrong, but I was thinking of a motel.”
Audra flushed at the thought but Galen did not notice in the car’s dark interior.
“I was thinking,” Galen continued, “that we could drive to Madison. I figure that would give us about five-and-a-half hours before the thing could get there.”
Audra was nodding her head, thinking it sounded like a reasonable idea.
They headed for the toll way, which was the quickest way to Madison. Traffic was light at this time of night and they made it to Madison in an hour-and-a-half.
Several motel signs were visible from the highway. Audra pulled the car onto the next exit ramp. She steered the car into a Red Roof Inn and parked near the office. The sudden brightness from the lights caused them both to squint their eyes.
“I better check us in,” Audra said. “You shouldn’t go walking in there with those bloody bandages on your hand. They’ll think we’re a couple of escaped convicts or something.”
Galen nodded and smiled. “Just like Bonnie and Clyde,” he said.
He watched her through the plate-glass window as she requested a room for the night. After a few moments, she r
eappeared and tossed Galen a key.
“Two-twelve,” she said and backed the car out of its stall. “I almost made a big mistake,” Audra continued. “I was going to check us in as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and then I decided to put it on my credit card. I thought that might look pretty stupid since my real name is on the card.”
Galen looked at her, feeling guilty for having made her pay for the room.
“I’ll pay you back for the room and for the gas and stuff,” Galen told her.
“Why?” she asked.
“I’m the one who’s hurt. I’m the one who needed the room,” Galen said.
“I’ll split it with you, fifty-fifty,” she responded.
Galen nodded and they pulled into the stall closest to their room. Audra retrieved the med kit from the back seat and handed it to Galen. She grabbed her purse and they climbed the stairs looking for two-twelve. The room was fairly small but adequate. A large window covered the far wall. The curtains were opened all the way, revealing a shadow-filled view of the night beyond.
Galen walked into the bathroom, unwrapped a plastic cup and took a long drink of water. “I guess we better get right down to business,” he said, setting the cup on the vanity.
Audra reached into her purse and pulled out the suturing kits. She laid them on the small round table at the far end of the room and pulled the curtains shut. She dug into her purse again and pulled out the packets of topical anesthetic, tossing them onto the table also.
“What else are we going to need?” she asked.
“A fifth of Jack Daniels and a doctor,” he replied.
She gave him a strange look and then asked, “anything else?”
Galen was speaking to her from the bathroom as he carefully removed the dressings on his hand. The gauze stuck to the wound, sending sharp quirks of pain through his hand as he gently pulled them loose. Audra stood in the bathroom doorway watched.
“Need help?”
“Nope. Last one,” Galen said as he put his injured hand under the running water to loosen the last layer of gauze.
“Do you think I could I have the bathroom for a minute?” she asked.
Galen looked at her funny, gently pulling the soaked gauze away from his injury.
