ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK

by Susan Griscom

  “Girls.” Max mumbled and I could picture him shaking his head as I tugged up my pants.

  “You guys didn’t expect me to go right out in the open, did you?” I stepped out from behind the red-tip bush where I’d gone for some privacy—the darkness overwhelmed me.

  With no electricity, I could barely make out the two figures standing by the door to the cellar. If not for the half moon, I would not have been able to see them at all. I stepped up to them and realized they were staring up at the sky and my eyes naturally followed their gaze. I had never seen such an awesome sight. Without any city lights for miles and miles, the stars in the sky were unusually bright and plentiful. A truly beautiful sight.

  “Wow,” I whispered, standing between Max and Court. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Court’s focus change and he stared down at me. There was something strange about the way his eyes bored into me, as if he could see into my soul. I waited for him to look away but he held his gaze on me while I pretended to marvel at the sky. I’d never seen him stare at me that way before and I got nervous. My fingers fidgeted with each other and I clamped two of them in my other hand to steady them. If I hadn’t known better, I never would have guessed in a million years he had injuries. His eyes stayed fixed on me with an intense tenderness I had never seen from a boy before. Maybe Courtland Reese wasn’t so bad after all. Standing between the two of them in all their glorious hotness had my stomach doing flip-flops. I knew it was wrong to think these things under the circumstances, but maybe my mind just needed the distraction … or confusion. I loved Max, but I was beginning to like Courtland too. Man, I was in so much trouble.

  As if on cue, Mother Nature recognized the ramifications of the moment and needed to squelch the effect. The rumbling started with a low growl and within seconds, the roar raged around us. The ground rolled under our feet, swaying so hard I almost lost my balance but Court grabbed on to me with his good arm, holding me tight against him. Whether it was to hold me up or himself I couldn’t really tell, but I ended up wrapping my arms around his waist for more support. It turned out to be just a small aftershock but the shaking brought back the realization of our situation. I pushed away from Court, embarrassed by the way I’d held on to him and glanced at Max who seemed oblivious to the fact that I’d even had my arms around Court. I lowered my head and studied the ground as though the earth under my feet held the secret to my feelings as well as the shaking.

  “Let’s get back down to the cellar. I’m tired,” Max said.

  Once we were back down in the cellar, I sat with my back against the wall across the room from Court. The temperature had dropped considerably and my arms began to get chilly. I put my sweater on and wished for a jacket instead.

  I glanced over at Courtland who lay on the floor trembling. I stood up and walked over to him.

  “You’re freezing. I could try to reposition the blanket you’re on top of and drape part of it over you.”

  “I don’t know if that would help. My ankle is throbbing and my hand is on fire while the rest of me is frozen. I can’t stop shivering,” he said through chattering teeth, “and the ibuprofen is wearing off.”

  “I’ll get some more pills and I should probably put fresh gauze on the burns. That should help a little.” I opened the medical kit, took out four more pills, and handed them to him. I poured a little water in a cup and helped him to sit again. After he swallowed the pills, I sat on the floor beside him and cut some more strips, soaking them with water. I carefully removed the old strips from his skin and reapplied the clean, cool gauze.

  “The fresh dressings should help with the burning for a little while, but I don’t know what I can do for the chills.”

  I’d read somewhere that body heat was the best cure for the chills, but no way was I going to lie down with Court. I stood in the middle of the room trying to decide where the best spot would be for me to sleep when Max yelled out from the other side of the room.

  “Awesome! Here, Adela, catch,” he said, throwing a sleeping bag at me.

  “Fantastic! God bless your mom,” I said, instantly regretting mentioning her.

  “Yeah, she thought of almost everything, didn’t she?” Max agreed. His cheery smile disappeared as he turned to grab another bag and toss it over toward me.

  I unwrapped one of the sleeping bags, pulled down the zipper, opened it like a blanket, then placed the thick cover on top of Courtland, being careful to keep his ankle and hand outside of it. He opened his eyes.

  “Thank you,” he said with a shiver.

  “You’re welcome.” I stood over him a moment to make sure he was okay and he reached out and took my arm in his hand.

  “I’m glad you found me.”

  I nodded and he closed his eyes before scrunching them tightly as a small groan escaped from his throat. I wished there was something more I could do for his pain.

  I walked over, picked up the other bag, spread it out on the floor across the room from Courtland, and slid in. Pulling the zipper up to my chin, I turned my face turned toward Court to keep an eye on him in case he needed any help.

  Max laid out his sleeping bag beside mine, scooted in, and zipped it up.

  “Good night, Adela.”

  “Pleasant dreams. That’s what my dad always says.” The moment I mentioned my dad the longing for his hugs overwhelmed me and silent tears dripped down my cheeks. I sniffled, trying to be quiet, but couldn’t contain them any longer and my whimpering increased. No one said anything while I cried myself to sleep.

  ~~ Courtland ~~

  I hated lying awake listening to Adela cry, knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do. I wanted to hold and comfort her. I wanted to cry with her for my dad and for Shiloh, for her mom and her dad and her little sister and brother. I wanted to cry for my stupidity in spraining my freaking ankle and burning my hand and leg, because the damn pain was excruciating and I wondered how many more days I would be in agony before I’d be able to get up and out of this little hell-hole I’d landed in.

  We had three mouths to feed with very few supplies. I could have gone another ten years without being forced to live with Max. Too bad the guy hadn’t paid more attention to what his mom put down here. If it had been my mom and cellar, I would have helped her carry some of the stuff, made suggestions for things, like maybe an iPod and a nice set of Bose speakers—something to help pass the time. The Wendells had plenty of money. They could have afforded to build a complete shelter if they’d wanted to.

  I hated relying on other people to take care of me, especially an idiot like Maxen Wendell, wine boy.

  I was amazed how a guy, even one as obnoxious as Max, with most every girl in school hanging all over him could be so completely oblivious to the affections of someone as beautiful as Adela Castielle. I was even more amazed that Adela could possibly be attracted to such a Neanderthal. He’d been an arrogant kid, too, always trying to outdo everyone … well mostly me. I supposed he was lucky this part of his property wasn’t demolished in the quake, although I seriously doubted that Max even realized what he had. He wanted to go out and find other people. Good. It wasn’t a bad idea. I hoped he’d leave tomorrow. I needed to be strong and realistic. This wasn’t the best situation. We couldn’t hole up here for too long. As I listened to Adela sniffle over on the other side of the room, I wondered if she would leave with Max.

  Chapter 15

  ~~ Adela ~~

  Courtland’s low groans startled me awake and I opened my eyes into darkness. I had no idea how long we had been asleep. It was impossible to tell what time it was down in the cellar with no windows to let in the sunshine and I wished I’d worn my watch yesterday.

  I shimmied my way out of the sleeping bag and glanced over at Max. He didn’t move a muscle except for his lips that made a small puffing noise with each breath he took. It was sort of comical and made me think of a little puffer fish. I smiled and quietly walked over to Court to see if I could do anything for him. I stood over him, a position
I seemed to be in a lot since yesterday.

  He must have sensed my presence because he opened his eyes. “Hi.”

  “Hi yourself. Um … maybe if I change the gauze again it might help with some of the pain.”

  “Okay. Any more ibuprofen?”

  “Yeah, I’ll get those too.”

  I shuffled my way through the dark to the shelves where I’d left the medical kit and tripped over something, falling face first onto the cement floor. I stretched out my hands to break my fall and scraped the bottom part of my left palm, the same hand I hurt yesterday, in the process. “Ouch.”

  “You okay, Adela?” Court said.

  “Um, yeah. I tripped and scraped my hand.”

  Max grumbled and tossed a bit in his sleeping bag as I glanced behind to see what I tripped over. It was a book, a rather thick book. I picked it up, but had a hard time making out the title in the dim light so I placed it on the shelf, thinking I’d come over later with a candle. A book might be somewhat comforting to read and help pass the time while we waited. Waited for what, I wasn’t exactly sure. Court to get better? Max to decide to leave?

  I located the flashlight, lit a candle, picked up the medical kit, and walked back to Courtland.

  I poured him a cup of water and handed him four of the tablets. “There are only eight more pills in here.”

  “Enough for two more doses. Should be enough to get me through another night. The pain should start to decrease by then.”

  I reached for his bandages and he grabbed my hand. “You’re bleeding again.”

  I looked at the palm of my hand, saw a little bit of blood dripping from the scrapes I’d gotten when I tripped. “Oh. It’s nothing,” I said and rubbed off the blood with a piece of the gauze before reaching again for his bandages. Again, he stopped me.

  “Take care of yourself first. Then me.”

  “Really, I’m fine. If I worried about every little scrape and cut I managed to get on my hands I’d be a basket case.”

  “No. Wash the cut off so it doesn’t get infected and put a Band-Aid on it.”

  “Okay.” I stood up, poured a quarter-sized spot of water onto a piece of gauze, and wiped off my hand.

  “Adela, what are you doing? We need that to drink,” Max yelled.

  Startled, I glanced at Court who grimaced, then back at Max as he sat up, rubbing his hand over his face. “I scraped my hand and I’m only wiping off the blood before I put a Band-Aid on. Besides, I only used a tiny drop.”

  “Okay, just making sure. That’s all the water we have.”

  “I know.” I rolled my eyes while drying my hand, opened a Band-Aid, and stuck it over the scrapes. I sat down next to Courtland again, unwrapped the bandages from his hand, and studied his burns. “Your hand seems to be getting better. The blisters have gotten smaller.”

  I poured a couple of inches of water into a cup, emptying the bottle, and dipped in a new strip until it was saturated before gently placing the gauze over part of the burn on his leg. After dipping two pieces, the water in the cup disappeared. “I better go get another bottle of water. This one’s empty.”

  “What time is it?” Max asked, still sitting in his sleeping bag.

  “I’m not sure. Just go back to sleep, Max.”

  “Who can sleep with all the groaning going on over there and you two chit-chatting.”

  “Maybe you would like to change places with me,” Court said.

  I chuckled to myself at the way they bickered back and forth, almost like brothers. The whole scene made me think about the fight they had when they were younger. The more I listened to them, the more I wondered if Max had told me the entire story.

  All in all, I thought Courtland was being a very good sport.

  “Maybe. Then I’d have Adela catering to me instead of you, which reminds me, what should we eat for breakfast?” Max shoved off the top of his sleeping bag, stood, and walked over to the shelves. He picked up the can of beef stew. “This looks good to me.” He opened the can and lit the little container of Sterno.

  I walked back to Courtland and finished changing his bandages. As I placed the last new strip over his hand, the lines in his forehead smoothed out some and he smiled.

  “Thank you.”

  “You say that a lot.”

  “Do I? Well, I mean it and I want you to know.”

  Max came over with three bowls of the stew and handed one to each of us. I placed my hand under Court’s arm to help him into a sitting position.

  “I think I can do this. My hand is a little better today. Thanks.” He smiled.

  Unsure of where to go, I sat down on the floor next to Court. The cement was cold but sitting on his blanket seemed a bit too close and going over to sit on my sleeping bag seemed like a statement that I didn’t want anything to do with him. I didn’t want him to think that.

  “You can sit over here if you want. The floor must be kind of cold. I won’t bite,” Court said, patting the quilt beside him with his hand.

  “Um … okay.” I sat inches from his good leg and scooped up a spoonful of stew, nervous for some unknown reason. The idea of Courtland Reese being concerned about me sitting on the cold floor and wanting me to know he was thankful made me feel rather special. For some other reason, sitting only a few inches from his leg made my stomach flutter a bit, in a good way. I ate slowly, not wanting the feeling to disappear.

  Max finished his stew and walked over to where all the stuff was stored. He stood in front of the shelves staring at everything for a while then turned toward us. “We really don’t have much in the way of supplies. We’re going to need to find some food and more water.”

  “Max, we can’t leave Court here. How will he be able to get anything he might need?”

  “His hand is better. I heard him say so.”

  “But what about his ankle? He can’t walk on it yet, and what if his hand gets infected?”

  “Well, not much we can do about that even if we stayed here. Infections take oral antibiotics and we don’t have any, but I do know we won’t survive if we stay here and do nothing. Come on, Adela, you need to come with me.”

  “I disagree. We all need to stay together. I won’t leave him here like this.” I stood with my arms crossed over my chest. There was no way I was going to let Maxen Wendell tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. I never had before, and I certainly wouldn’t now.

  “He’ll be fine. Won’t you, Court?”

  Court nodded. “Go with him, Adela. You can find help and send someone back.”

  “No,” I said, glancing at Court and then back at Max. I must have looked like a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum, but I didn’t care. “I’m staying here and that’s it.”

  “Sheesh. Adela, you are really being stubborn. Okay, I’ll go by myself.”

  I wanted to tell him not to go. We needed to stay together and … Max was my family. Please stay here. “Max, please reconsider. We have enough food and water for a couple of days. Courtland will be okay by then, won’t you Court? Then we can all go together.” I glanced back at him, my eyes pleading, hoping for his support.

  “Adela, as much as I hate to admit it, Max is right. Someone needs to go get help. I don’t know how long I’ll be like this. You’ve done a great job of helping me so far, but no matter how many strips of wet gauze you apply, if infection sets in, I’m gonna need antibiotics.”

  I had a horrible feeling if Max left, I might not ever see him again. I knew they were both right, though, especially the way Courtland put it, so I caved. “Okay. I’ll stay here with Court until he can walk. But you’ll be back before then, right? Won’t you come back before dark?”

  “I’ll try, but it depends. I’ll need to take some of the water with me. No telling how long it will be before I find more.”

  “You should take a couple of cans of soup, too. We’ll still have enough cans here to last two days. Take the half-full gallon of water with you. We’ll survive on the full one.”

  Max f
ound a backpack among the supplies and packed it up. We only had one flashlight, but I told Max to take it. If he was going to be walking around outside at night, he would need it more than we would, but I suggested he take a couple of the candles and some matches, too.

  When he was all set, he walked up the stairs and I followed him. At the top, he turned to me.

  “Max, don’t say goodbye.” I couldn’t bear it.

  He flashed that grin I loved and brushed his fingers down the side of my cheek. I closed my eyes for a brief second, hoping … praying for a kiss, but he turned and walked away without saying anything.

  Chapter 16

  ~~ Courtland ~~

  Adela stepped slowly down the stairs after saying goodbye to Max, swiping her hand over her cheeks as she strolled over to the shelves. She seemed to be moving things around, creating quite a ruckus. I managed to pull myself up to a sitting position so I could see what she was doing. I watched her pick up a plastic pail and carry it across the cellar to the corner behind several wine barrels. She stayed there a few minutes and I could pretty much guess what she’d done. The pail made the perfect toilet, a good idea considering it would be hard for me to walk up the steps. When she finished, she walked back to the sleeping bag she’d slept in, sat down with her legs crossed in front of her and stared at the ground.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine,” she said, looking up at me. “You shouldn’t be sitting up. You need to keep your leg elevated as much as possible.” She jumped up, grabbed the sleeping bag she had been crouched on, rolled it up and walked over to me.

  “Lay down,” she ordered.

  I frowned, but the way her lips tightened and the determined expression on her face told me not to give her any sass. She was rather adorable. I lay down and she picked my leg up, placing the sleeping bag under my calf. Adela turned to walk away and I couldn’t help myself; I grabbed her arm.