by J. R. Tate
“I fell down on a fence post.” Omitting the rabid coyote was the smartest thing to do.
“Were you running?”
He nodded. “Steve stitched me up with some sewing thread. A nurse also tried to fix me up.”
“You definitely need to have it looked at. There is medical help available. Why not?” She reached for him, skimming the back of her hand over his forehead. “You feel a little warm. Will you at least let the nurse take your temperature?”
Ryan hesitated. He had never been a fan of going to the doctor, but she was right. He had made it this far. He wasn’t going to let a leg wound take him down and leave Cecilia and Ty vulnerable without him. He also needed to be strong to find her parents. And to warn every one of the fluctuating climate. They had gone their longest span without any form of precipitation. With each minute that passed, his prediction was becoming more real.
“Okay, call the nurse over.”
“Ma’am, can you bring a thermometer? My husband has a leg wound and I think he might be running a fever.”
She pulled one from her pocket and cleaned it with some alcohol. Slipping it into Ryan’s mouth, she pointed toward the makeshift exam room where they had previously completed Ty’s surgery.
“Join me over there so we can look at your leg.”
Ryan didn’t put up a fight and Cecilia joined them. He wished she would have stayed back with Ty but his dad had finished his shower and stayed there. The thermometer beeped and the nurse winced at the display.
“What is he running?” Cecilia asked.
“One hundred point three. It’s low-grade, but still a fever. Mr. Gibson, can you please pull your pants down so I can look at your leg?”
Ryan complied and sat down in a chair. The nurse clicked her tongue. “I’m going to have to have the doctor look at this. It’s red and there is pus around the edges. Mr. Gibson, how deep was the wound before it was stitched it up?”
He shrugged and looked at Cecilia. “Not sure. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even pay attention to it.”
“I’ll be right back. We can’t let this go untreated.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t that bad, Ryan. You must have been running really fast. I knew you had a fever just by looking at you. You’re pale.”
“I don’t have time for this,” Ryan said.
“And where else do you have to be? Ty isn’t going anywhere. Neither are we.”
“I should be out there helping the rescue squad. I told you I was going to find your parents and I mean that.”
Cecilia pointed at his leg. “Not with your leg looking like that. You saw what happened with Ty. Do you want that to happen to your leg? Infections are something to pay close attention to now. Just imagine we’re back in the eighteen-hundreds with the cowboys. Take a look around you, Ryan. Everything must be taken seriously.” Her tone was stern and her expression harsh. “I love you, babe. I need you to take care of yourself.” Sympathy replaced her harsh demeanor and she reached for his hand.
“Speaking of injuries, how are your ribs?”
“I’m fine. Not much they can do for that.”
The doctor and nurse came back in and the doctor slapped on some exam gloves as he knelt before Ryan. He gently prodded the edges of the wound and studied the stitch job. “It’s good work by whoever did this for you, but with all of the walking and riding you’ve done, it came loose.”
“How infected is it?” Cecilia stepped forward, her hand still in Ryan’s.
“It’s controllable but I’m going to have to un-stitch it, thoroughly clean it, and then redo it. And Mr. Gibson, you’ll need to be hooked up to an antibiotic drip for a few hours to make sure we take care of it before it gets out of hand.”
“Just take care of the wound and I’ll be fine. Save the medicine for someone who needs it worse than me, like Ty.”
“You need it, Mr. Gibson. If we don’t get a handle on it, you’ll lose your leg.” The doctor looked up from the wound. “I can give you something to numb the pain but this is going to hurt like hell.”
“Just get it over with. Ty needs the pain meds worse than I do. Go ahead, Doc. Do it.”
It was good enough consent for the doctor – and it was the worst pain Ryan had ever experienced. Convincing himself it was all for his family, he closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and gripped the arms of the chair as the stitches slid from the injury.
Cecilia was right – the medical treatment was like something out of an old west movie. The discomfort was a quick reminder that it wasn’t a movie, but real life, and a very treatable injury a month ago was now serious enough to take his leg.
“Okay, Mr. Gibson. I’m going to clean it now. We’ll be done soon.”
It was the last thing Ryan heard before his vision went black.
***
“How’s he doing?” Darryl pointed down at Ryan and glanced up at Cecilia. “Ty is still asleep. I bet he sleeps through the night.”
“They got the wound cleaned and he’s hooked up to an IV. He passed out but now with the pain medication, he’ll probably sleep through the night too.” Cecilia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and let out a sigh. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Darryl sat beside her and patted her knee. “Me either. I’d say something inspirational and corny, but I’m not that kind of person. All I know is that we’re lucky to be here.” Darryl scoffed and scrubbed his hand down the back of his neck. “Listen to me. I said I wouldn’t get corny.”
Cecilia laughed and looked down at Ryan, glad that he had been taken care of, but he was pale. He needed the rest and it was good to see him getting some sleep.
“I know we’re lucky. But what else is going to happen? You think we can come back from this?”
“Of course we can. Did you forget who you’re married to?” Darryl arched his eyebrow and it reminded Cecilia of Ryan. There was a heavy resemblance between the two men. “Ryan was a very stubborn child. When his mother died he really stepped up and didn’t let it ruin him. If anything, he saved me. And now he’s taking care of you and Ty. He’ll make damn sure you will be just fine.”
Cecilia felt a sense of pride. “You’re right. Ryan is stubborn. It’s what I love and don’t like about him, all rolled together.” She ran her fingers over Ryan’s. “Do you think...” It was hard to come up with the right words.
“Do I think what?”
“Do you think we’ll get back to the way things were?” Cecilia might not like the answer, but she had to ask the question, though it had already been asked several times before.
“We’re in the twenty-first century. I think we’ll come back even stronger.”
Ryan muttered something, pulling Cecilia’s attention off of Darryl. His eyes shot open for a moment and closed again, his body lurching upward. She put her hand on his chest and whispered in his ear.
“It’s okay, Ryan. I’m right here.”
His eyes opened again and it took him a second to focus on her. When he finally realized it was her, his head fell back into the pillow and he looked up at the ceiling.
“What happened?”
“The doctor took care of your leg. You’ve been asleep but everything is fine. Don’t worry about anything.”
His eyes looked tired and he struggled to keep them open. Jerking his arm, he looked at the IV port in the back of his hand. “I don’t need the medicine. Give it to Ty.” It came out in short pants.
“The doctor just wants to keep it on for a few hours. You had a fever, Ryan. This will help.”
“I don’t have time for this.” He sat up and winced when his leg slid off of the side of the bed. “I need to be helping the rescue team. We need to start...”
“Ryan, right now you need to get your leg better. We’ll take care of the other stuff once your fever is gone and you’re in the clear.” Darryl’s tone was stern. It must have been the way he spoke to Ryan when he was a kid and he needed discipline.
Ryan glared at him and d
idn’t say anything. Pushing the covers off of his chest, he glanced in Ty’s direction and back to Cecilia. “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after nine PM, which means it’s too dark to do anything anyway. I’m sure you’ll be fine in the morning to start on whatever you think needs to get done.”
“Has it rained or stormed since I’ve been asleep?”
“No. They’re saying the atmosphere finally cleared up and stabilized.”
Ryan let out a sigh and closed his eyes. “Who is they? Who is saying that?”
“One of the guys from your firehouse, Ryan. They’ve been out all day looking for survivors, but unfortunately, they’re not finding too many who are still alive. But everyone is thrilled that we’ve gone almost twenty-four hours with no storms.”
Ryan’s eyes shot back open and he shook his head. “The atmosphere is cycling, Cecilia. A stable atmosphere will be good for a little while, but not for long.”
“What do you mean by cycling?” Maybe it was just the pain medication talking, but the look of worry on Ryan’s face made Cecilia’s joy of being tornado free dissipate faster than a rain shower in the middle of the desert.
“It’s the El Nino and the La Nina. You hear about it all the time around here. El Nino is good for Texas with rain and mild temperatures. La Nina means drought conditions and hotter summers. It usually takes longer than a few weeks to fluctuate, but I have a feeling we’re moving into a La Nina weather pattern. And with everything gone to shit, that means an even bigger headache than a massive tornado headed our way.” Ryan rubbed his temples and continued, “I’m thinking long term here. There’s no doubt that we are going to have to rebuild. It’s only a matter of time before we dry up the river and the lakes. And then what? What the hell do we do? You said so yourself, Cecilia. We’ve backtracked a century with our technology. We won’t be able to run the pivot systems for the crops. We’ll depend solely on dry-land farming, and ask any farmer who is left. It doesn’t work that well.”
Cecilia held his hand, intertwining her fingers in his. “I don’t think we need to worry about that right now, Ryan. Get some sleep tonight and we can talk about it tomorrow.”
Ryan took a few minutes to fall back to sleep, dozing until he finally relaxed back into the cot. Cecilia joined Darryl across the room, Ryan’s concerns heavy on her mind.
“Ryan is right, Cecilia. We could be in for issues far beyond taking cover from a storm.”
“Could be. But not certain.” Fighting to keep a positive attitude was becoming a challenge in itself.
“No, not certain, but we do need to think long term. It’s obvious now that we’re on our own. Water supply is an issue lots of cities around the world face. It affects so many facets of life.”
“I know. I just wish Ryan didn’t feel like he had to carry the weight of the entire population on his shoulders. Other people can help. He’s acting like this is all on him.”
Darryl folded his arms over his chest and nodded at a young kid that ran by, trailing his mom by a few steps. “Remember our discussion from earlier. Stubborn. Headstrong. He’s very intelligent, which is why we need to listen to him. Painkiller induced rant or not, he’s right. Moderation is the keyword for us to survive.”
She eyed the table full of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and other travel sized toiletries. “I have to say that this is one of the few times I hope that Ryan is wrong. I’m going to try and get some sleep. Ty might wake up and I want to be there when he does.”
Walking away, she blinked back the tears. Through the frustration and uncertainty, she couldn’t let her boys see her cry. She had to be strong even though deep inside, she was scared to death.
Chapter Four
“Ryan? Are you hungry?”
He heard Cecilia’s voice and he fought his body to wake up. He had lost all sense of time and when he finally opened his eyes, the bright light overhead felt like a nail driving through his forehead. Maybe he didn’t rest as well as he thought, and when he stretched his legs out, he immediately regretted the sudden movement. The sharp pain in his thigh was an instant reminder of why he was lying in the bed, feeling hungover. The damn pain meds he didn’t want had clouded his mind, but the smell of coffee alleviated the bout of discomfort almost instantly.
Sitting up, he blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision. Cecilia held out a package of powdered donuts and a cup of coffee. The steaming liquid excited him almost as much as when he was able to take a shower and brush his teeth. Accepting the items, he drank the coffee too fast and the drink burned down to his stomach.
“It’s not I-HOP, but it’s donuts, and I know you won’t turn them down.” Her smile was refreshing.
“Where’s Ty?”
“Still sleeping. The doctor said the medications are taking a little longer to get out of his system, but he’s stable. His fever is gone and his color is getting back to normal.”
“Good. That’s good.” He tore into the donuts and the white powder sprinkled his clothes. He offered Cecilia one but she declined. They went well with the coffee and it eased his headache. “Am I still exiled to this bed or can I get up?” He tugged his arm and felt the tightness of the IV port, the needle still firmly pushed into his vein.
“They wanted to check your fever after you woke up. Said they’d bring the thermometer about thirty minutes after you got up.”
“I don’t have a fever.” Ryan grabbed her hand and ran it across his forehead. “Does it feel like I have one?”
“No, but I’m not a medical person, hon. You do look ten times better than yesterday. But let’s just make sure. What’s your hurry?”
He finished the donuts and pushed the wrapper aside, wiping away as much of the powdered sugar as he could. The sugar rush felt good and gave him an immediate jolt of energy.
“What’s my hurry?” He pointed at his chest. “You probably don’t think I remember this, but I seem to recall a nice conversation last night with you and my dad about a possible drought. We need to get going on getting stuff planted before the river is gone.”
“You’re not gonna do a damn thing until the doctor releases you,” Darryl chimed in, joining Cecilia at Ryan’s bedside.
“Somehow you think you can still talk to me like I’m a teenager. Guess you’ll never stop doing that.”
“Just wait until you’re my age and Ty is acting like you. Then you’ll understand.”
Cecilia broke in, a nervous smile lighting up her face. “Ryan, what have you been telling me? One step at a time. And with your leg in limbo, you ain’t stepping anywhere until you get a clean bill of health. Don’t you have a farmer friend you brought here? There’s other capable men to help. You’re not alone.”
Ryan leaned back on the pillow and felt the pull of the stitches in his skin. He didn’t want to go through another round of stitches and alcohol, but laying around twiddling his thumbs was driving him crazy.
“I just want to make sure we aren’t using up the water without thinking.”
“There’s not enough of us who survived to drain the river just yet,” Darryl replied.
“Have you been outside yet?” Ryan asked, adjusting his weight. He kept one eye on the doctor, hoping he was his next stop.
“Yeah. Clear blue sky. If it wasn’t for the piles of debris and rubble, you’d have never thought we just went through hell.”
“I bet it’s already well on the way to hitting one hundred degrees, yeah?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty hot.” Darryl nodded. “We’re getting to that time of the year where that’s pretty standard, Ryan.”
“Water evaporates in heat. We have to think about that too.”
Before Ryan could say anything else, the doctor held out the thermometer. “If your fever is gone we’ll get you unhooked from the antibiotic. I still want you to take it easy, though. You overdo it and you’re going to pop another stitch. Slow and steady...”
Ryan ignored the doctor and focused on his temperature. He didn’t have a f
ever. He hoped the thermometer would reflect that.
“You don’t have a fever but I’m going to keep you hooked up to the IV for a while to make sure.”
Ryan rested his head on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. “You just said if I didn’t have a fever that you’d take me off.”
“I know but I want to make sure we got right to the source of the infection. A few more hours will do you some good. In the morning you’ll be free of it, but I mean it when I say to take it slow.” The doctor walked off before Ryan could refute his current treatment plan.
“What is your hurry, Ryan? We are all here.” Cecilia shook her head and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just looking at both of my boys, laid up in hospital beds. Mother Nature really has gotten the best of us.”
Ryan laughed with her and it felt good. It took all of the tension and stress from him, even if it was just for a few seconds. “Mother Nature is a bitch if you ask me. But we’re tougher.” He patted the mattress. “How about you climb in bed with me? The night will go by so much better if you lay here. We haven’t slept in the same bed in a long time.”
Cecilia hesitated, looking at Ty and back to him. “I need to make sure Ty is okay.”
“He’s fine. He’s right here. We’ll hear if he wakes up. C’mon.” Ryan motioned toward himself, patting the bed again. “I’m hooked up to medicine. You’re not going to get me sick.”
Cecilia kicked her shoes off and scooted in beside him. With them able to take a shower recently, her hair smelled fresh like flowers and he buried his face in her long strands. It was relaxing and serving a better medicinal purpose than any IV stuck in the back of his hand.
“Ryan, what is that?”
Cecilia nudged him and when Ryan opened his eyes, the room was pitch-black except for a few lanterns in the far corner. It took him a second to grasp his bearings and remember where they were. A loud boom shook the room and it sounded like a bomb was exploding above them. Propping himself up on his elbows, he squinted, but he couldn’t see anything. More people began to wake up and flashlights and other lanterns flickered on, brightening the storm shelter.
