Saving Cassilia

by Liz Thomas

  Cody exhaled, relieved. Thank God. “Angel statue and a tree! I’m by an angel statue and a tree.”

  “Okay, wait there! I’m coming!”

  Cody laughed involuntarily. “Okay, I’ll wait! It’s not like I’m going anywhere!”

  Cassilia scaled the hill, following the voice’s directions. He sounded like he was fading, like the pain was getting the better of him. Either that or he was mad as hell.

  As she reached the top of the hill, she gasped. Crumpled at the far corner of the cemetery, where there were only a few graves, was a muscular looking young man who was clutching his right leg. Even from there, the way his knee was bent in the wrong direction, she could see how much pain he was in. “Oh my God!” She called.

  The boy looked up at her, his face red and his eyes matching. He was wearing a red jacket bearing the insignia of her school, and she frowned as she made her way down the hill towards him. She didn’t recognize him, but then again, she hardly knew anyone at Victoria University. “Thank you…” The boy forced as Cassilia approached, “It’s my leg, I can’t move my leg…”

  Cassilia hushed him and knelt at his head, “It’s okay. Don’t try to talk. It looks like your knee is hurt pretty badly.”

  “No kidding.” Cody replied through grit teeth. “Although I guess this all works out in the end, I mean, at least you’re here…”

  He could practically feel the girl bristle at him. She went cold, rigid, and stared down at him apprehensively. Suspicious himself, Cody looked up at her. “What?”

  “Look.” The girl said flatly, “If this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny.”

  “What?” Cody fired back, “Look, miss, I don’t know what you’re talking about…look at my leg. Do I look like I’m joking?”

  “Then what does that mean, ‘at least I’m here’?” She immediately shot back.

  Wow, she’s cute. Got a temper, too…

  He was a little transfixed; the way her hair danced about her shoulders, complimenting her curvy, yet concealed figure, and the way her pretty green eyes blazed down at him, even through rounded glasses.

  “Well?” She snapped, her tone still just barely polite.

  Cody hadn’t realized that he’d been staring. “Oh! Um…” he had to take a moment to gather his thoughts, and he could feel his would-be salvation scrutinizing him.

  Then, he chose not to think about his words, but to simply speak what came to mind. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, looking her squarely in the eye, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was grateful that someone was here to hear me. If you hadn’t shown up I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

  Cassilia was touched by remained apprehensive. She’d been taken too many times in the past. Still, there was something in his voice…

  “So…” She asked hesitantly, “…you’re really hurt? This isn’t a scam?”

  Cody winced. What has this poor girl been through?!

  Luckily, his leg had gone numb. There was no more pain to fight through. “Yeah, I promise, I’m not scamming you, miss. I could use some help. Please.”

  After a second, the girl smiled and knelt at his head. “What’s your name?” She asked, her eyes shifting from questioning to compassion.

  “Cody.” He replied with a gentle smile. “What’s your name?”

  “Cassilia.” She smiled back. She offered her hand. Cody accepted and shook gently. “Pleased to meet you.” He replied.

  “What happened to your leg?” She asked.

  Cody shook his head and looked down at his mangled knee. “I don’t know.” He said with a hint of desperation in his voice. “I was thinking that I may have overexerted myself running here, but now my leg’s completely locked out.”

  Cassilia frowned, scooting down to his leg. “Can I touch it?”

  Cody nodded. “Just please be careful.”

  As she nestled her fingers under his knee, he flinched as the pressure sent a small bolt of pain up his leg. Cassilia shook her head. “You can’t put any pressure on it, can you?”

  Cody shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “You said you ran. Where’d you run from?”

  “Victoria University.”

  She whirled on him. “What?!”

  Feeling foolish. “…yeah.”

  “That wasn’t smart. That’s at least five miles from here.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I’m in pretty good shape.”

  Cassilia shot him a maternally scolding look.

  “Or at least, I thought I was.”

  Cassilia sighed. “Okay, Cody, listen. I need to take your pants down.”

  Cody shot her a pleasingly astonished look, one she quickly rebuked with a glare. “But don’t you get any ideas or I’ll punch you and leave you here.”

  Cody held up his hands as if surrendering. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Are you wearing any underwear?” Cassilia asked.

  Cody scowled at her. “What kind of question is that?!”

  “Just answer me, please. Are you wearing any underwear? I don’t wanna pull down your pants to receive a greeting from wee willy winkie.”

  Cody laughed. “Yes, Cassilia, I’m wearing underwear. Boxers. Black, if you want specifics.”

  The glare returned.

  Again, Cody mock-surrendered and lay back. “I can do it, if you want?”

  “Do what?” Cassilia asked.

  “Take my pants off.”

  “No, you keep your hands where I can see them. I’ll take off your pants, just so I can see your knee, okay?”

  Cody nodded. “Okay.”

  He had to admit, it was sexy as hell to have this new girl, a perfect stranger, with her hands so close to his crotch. He had to summon every clean thought he could think of to keep from getting an erection as her delicate hands found the button to his jeans and undid them.

  As she slid his pants down, she gasped as his knee came into view. “We need to call 911.” She whispered. Cody sat up. “Why, what is it?”

  As he glanced down to his injury, he realized why she’d reacted the way she had.

  His knee was completely purple, even black surrounding the kneecap. It looked like some kind of virus had affixed itself to the joint and was now spreading throughout his leg.

  “Do you have a phone?” Cassilia breathed.

  Crushed, Cody nodded, fishing his phone out of his pants pocket. Praying that his pro football aspirations weren’t dying in the graveyard, he punched in those three ominous numbers and then relayed the situation.

  Cody sounded so sad and desolate as he told the operator his problem that she was nearly moved to tears herself. She took his hand and squeezed, and he appeared grateful for the gesture, keeping hold of her hand.

  After a few moments, he ended the call. Seconds later, sirens could be heard drawing near. Cassilia and Cody sat in silence as the ambulance entered the cemetery and wound its way back to them. “Well, um…” Cassilia began, “Good luck, Cody. I hope your leg heals up.”

  Cody didn’t like the cold that set in when she rose, taking her hand from his. She didn’t seem to like it either, her eyes lingered as the ambulance stopped behind her.

  “Cassilia…” Cody blurted, “Thank you.”

  Cassilia smiled as the paramedics exited the back of the ambulance and approached the two. “You’re welcome, Cody. Good luck to you.”

  “Um,” Cody asked hesitantly, “Please stay with me?”

  Cassilia’s mouth fell open. “What?”

  It didn’t take the paramedics long to assess his injury. They looked at each other knowingly and quickly raced back to the ambulance. They returned quickly with an orange gurney. “Please.” Cody said, terrified of the impending rejection.

  “We’re gonna lay you on top of this, sir.” One of the paramedics, an older black man, spoke with experience and authority, “Then we’ll get you out of here. Ready?”

  Cody nodded.

  Cassilia watched, clearly debating as the two rolled Cody onto
his side and then lay the gurney beneath him. They lay him on top, counted to three, and then lifted on opposing ends. “You coming, miss?” The black man asked.

  After a moment, Cassilia nodded.

  As she stepped into the ambulance behind them, she wondered just what the hell she was doing.

  Roger had stormed up the stairs and pounded on the door of Cassilia’s room with such force that he’d nearly knocked it off the hinges. Trina, his oldest, responded by grunting and hurling something hard against the door.

  Roger then stepped inside and spoke in a low growl. “Get up, all of you.” He sneered in disgust when he saw the condition of the room and his daughters, “We need to talk, now.”

  “Ugh, dad…” Trina groaned as she rolled over slowly, “…can it wait? We had a long night.”

  As her sisters stirred, Roger shot Trina a look that could’ve melted stone. “No, it can’t wait.” He entered the room. “We just had a lawyer drop by, Trina. Apparently Cassilia is going to come into a lot of money—all of our money—if we don’t do something about it right now.”

  That sobered Trina up quickly, and she bolted upright, along with Ramona, who was on the floor beside the bed. “What?!” They both exclaimed.

  “Yeah.” Roger stated, “So get up and get dressed. We got a lot to talk about.”

  “That little rat doesn’t deserve any money! Like she does anything!” Ramona snapped. She tried to spring to her feet but still felt the effects of the previous night. She swooned, falling naked to the bed on top of Trina.

  Her sister cursed and shoved her angrily, and Ramona fell to the floor in a surprised heap. Annalise stirred, and groggy, looked around the room before rising to a sitting position, holding the sheet she’d slept in to her bare chest. “Whas’ goin’ on?” She stammered.

  Trina nearly stepped on her in a mad dash to get out of bed, wrapping Cassilia’s blanket around her body. “The rat is about to take our money from us, cause dear old dad didn’t cover his tracks.”

  “She ain’t gettin’ one red cent. That’s our money. We earned it.” Ramona followed up earnestly.

  “What?” Annalise shook her head, still processing the information.

  Roger glowered at his oldest daughter. “Just get dressed, all of you, and come downstairs.”

  With that, he slammed the door.

  Twenty minutes later, Cody was hooked up to an IV in Mercy General, the best hospital in the area. His leg was wrapped in loose-fitting bandages and suspended, straightened, in a sling that hung from the ceiling. During the ambulance ride, Cassilia had imparted the incident to the best of her ability to the paramedics, but she’d been uncomfortable the whole time. She knew they were they weren’t trying to be aggressive, but she could sense that they hadn’t quite believed her when she tried to tell them that she had only just met Cody.

  It made her wonder just what two people did in a cemetery.

  Not knowing what else to do, and certainly not eager to get home, she had stayed with Cody and now sat up straight in a leather recliner beside his bed. Her hands were folded and she had been scared to look at her the entire time.

  The hospital had flat-screen TV’s installed in every room, along with voice-activated remote controls. Upon finding nothing interesting on the news, Cody had turned off the TV, and two had sat in awkward silence. “Hey, can I ask you something?” Cody finally spoke up.

  Cassilia jumped, surprised that he had tried to get her attention. Using her index finger, she positioned her glasses on the bridge of her nose and smiled shyly. “Sure.”

  “Why were you in the cemetery?”

  Cassilia blushed and then looked down at her hands. “My mom’s buried there.”

  “Oh.” Cody nodded.

  “What about you? Do you have family there?” Cassilia replied.

  Cody nodded. “Yeah, my dad.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  Cody looked at her and smiled. “It’s okay. He’s been gone awhile and he went out smiling. We had no ill will towards each other when he passed on. So it’s all good.”

  Cassilia smiled. “That sounds nice.”

  Cody nodded. “It was. He was a good man.” He turned to her. “What about your mom? What happened to her?”

  Cassilia blushed and focused on her hands intently. “Oh, um…she died.” She replied softly, “She’s been gone for ten years now.”

  Realizing that he was broaching a sensitive topic, Cody backed off. “I’m sorry. That’s about the time my dad died.”

  Again, the two fell into an awkward silence.

  A tall, handsome doctor entered the room, looking as though he’d stepped out of soap opera. He held up a clipboard and stopped, looking between Cassilia and Cody. He quickly took a step back, thumbing over his shoulder. “If this is a bad time, I can come back.”

  “No! No…” Cassilia and Cody exclaimed in unison. They fired each other uncomfortable looks and then quickly returned to the doctor, who smirked as he strode into the room. “Okay, then. Whatever you say, kids.”

  The doctor lifted the first sheet of paper and read from the second. “Well, Mr. Miller…you mind telling me what you’ve had to eat or drink today?”

  Cody scowled. The doctor merely raised his eyebrows. “You’re not in any trouble, son, but I think you’ve been poisoned.”

  “What?!” Cody exclaimed, “Why? How? How am I still alive if I’ve been poisoned?”

  The doctor went over Cody’s chart as Cassilia listened intently, “Not all poison kills, Cody. This something we haven’t seen much of, some sort of new strain meant to target only the victim’s legs.”

  “People make stuff like that?” Cassilia asked incredulously.

  “Yeah. Unfortunately, there are some sick people in the world, ma’am.” He looked at her as though realizing something. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name. I know you came in with Cody…”

  She extended her hand, and Cassilia smiled and shook it vigorously. “Cassilia.” She introduced herself, “Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “You too, Cassilia. I’m Doctor Warren Coats.”

  Cody couldn’t explain why their exchange made him uncomfortable. But Cassilia had a beautiful smile.

  “Anyway…Cody.” As Dr. Coats turned back to him, Cody realized that he was still lingering on Cassilia, who seemed to wither under his admiring gaze. “YEAH, doc?” Cody snapped, drawing the doctor’s attention back to him, “How did I get poisoned?”

  “That’s the mystery, Cody.” The doctor replied professionally, lingering on Cassilia just long enough to make Cody notice, “That’s why I need to know, candidly. What did you eat? Drink?” He hesitated and then asked, “Did you shoot anything?”

  “What?! Cody exclaimed, and looked at Cassilia as she was looking at him uncertainly. He quickly returned to the doctor and continued. “I’ve never shot anything in my life!”

  The doctor studied him for a moment and then nodded. He folded his arms and held the clipboard just below his midsection. “Well, let’s talk about your diet, then. Because chances are pretty high that you ingested whatever did this to you. Do you live with anyone?”

  Cody shook his head. “No, I live alone. And I eat the same thing for breakfast every day—”

  Alyssa.

  The name hit him like a bucket of ice water and he suddenly felt hollow in the stomach. “Oh my God.” He breathed, horrified. She kissed me and blew me and that’s how.

  “Well?” The doctor asked as Cody blanched, “Any ideas?”

  Still dealing with the horror of what Alyssa had done to him, Cody looked up at the doctor and furtively shook his head. “Nope. No clue.”

  At that point, Matt charged into the room like an angry bull. Red faced and sweating, he startled Cassilia as he looked from her, to the doctor, and finally to Cody. “Oh my God, bro!” Cody winced as Matt prepared to throw himself on top of him and grip him in a bear hug. Luckily, the doctor caught Matt by the arm before he could lunge. “Um, I’m afraid your friend
is in a bit of a condition.” The doctor explained to an astonished Matt. “As happy as you are to see him, I don’t think he’d appreciate your girth crashing down onto him.”

  Matt nodded quickly, happier to see Cody than anything else. “Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry, Doc.” He turned back to Matt and extended his hand, and Cody accepted. The two gave each other a team-style handshake, Cody sitting up and grunting. “Damn, man!” Matt laughed, “You shouldn’t do that to me! When I heard you were in the hospital I nearly—“

  “Matt smash hospital?” Cody quipped.

  Cassilia laughed.

  Matt looked down at her curiously, and Cassilia shrunk under his gaze. He smiled at her, waving harmlessly. “Hi. I’m Matt.”

  “This is Cassilia.” Cody uttered before she could speak up. She shot him a look and then shook hands with Matt. “Nice to meet you. You’re huge.”

  “Oh, don’t let his size fool you. He’s a big cat.” Cody joked.

  “Yeah, I have the heart of a lion!” Matt roared so loud that his voice reverberated throughout the hospital. Dr. Coats patted Matt’s shoulder. “Ease back there, lion king.”

  Cassilia, Matt, and Cody chuckled. “So what’s wrong with him, doc?” Matt asked.

  Dr. Coats looked at Cody, who nodded. “It’s okay.”

  “Your friend has been poisoned, Matt. Nothing fatal, it seems, and the IV drip we have him hooked up too will eliminate the toxins in his system in about an hour, but it appears someone didn’t want him walking around.”

  Matt scowled at Cody with a mix of fear and anger in his face, and the Dr. excused himself. “I have to file a report with the authorities. They may want to talk to you, Cody.”

  “That’s fine, Dr. Coats.” Cody lied as he wondered what he would tell them. If he implicated Alyssa at all, especially without proof, he may as well throw himself off a cliff.

  As the doctor exited the room, Matt breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad you’re gonna be okay. It all works out, after all.”

  Cassilia frowned as Cody asked; “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Do you ever check your phone?” Matt shot back, “I’ve been trying to get you forever.”

  “Oh. I thought you were…” Cody held his breath, remembering Cassilia was in the room, “…I thought you were someone else.”