Apophis (16 page)

I flicked my eyes to the indicated corner and nodded curtly when I saw a shelf of gauze and rubbing alcohol.  “Good call,” I approved, walking more fully into the room and striding over to the shelving unit.

I heard Nora shuffling around on the cot.  “D-did you, uh, hurt yourself?” she sputtered out. “You’re kind of accident prone, aren’t you?”

I scanned the stacks of medical supplies, not sure what I needed.  “Kind of sliced my hand open peeling potatoes.”

“You cut your hand on a potato?” Nora’s voice sounded rough.  I’d noticed she’d been crying when I first walked in, but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.

“On the knife that I was using to cut the potato,” I clarified.  I grabbed a roll of gauze and some medical tape. “I don’t think they’re hiding razors in the potatoes.  It’s not prison, after all.” I spun on my heels and headed back to the infirmary door.  I paused, however, as I walked past Nora, still seated on the cot.  “Hey,” I said, an eyebrow creeping up my forehead.  “Are you okay? You look a little…uh…soggy.”

Nora inhaled sharply through her nose.  She grimaced when her nostrils made an unattractive sound.  “I’m fine,” she said, waiving a dismissive hand.

I hesitated at the doorway and felt my body twitch as indecision flooded me. 
Do I stay or do I go?

Finally, I pushed a deep breath out of my lungs and sat down next to Nora, who continued to quietly sniffle. “Spill it,” I grunted, my injury momentarily forgotten. “What’s up?”

Nora bit her bottom lip. “No really, I’m fine,” she wetly lied.  A new batch of salty tears sprung to her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away with the backs of her hands.

I frowned. “Uh huh,” I rasped, my voice not unkind. “I don’t think you’re fine.”

Nora’s slender shoulders slumped forward.  The silent tears fell freely now, creating small wet spots on her pants.

“Nora, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll turn out fine.”  I smiled, even though I knew she wasn’t looking at my face. “Even if Eden doesn’t exist,” I guessed, “at least we found this place.” I placed a hesitant hand in the small of her back.

Although I meant for my words to comfort and reassure, Nora’s frail body shook harder.  “Shit,” I grumbled.  I dropped my hand to my side and stared at the floor.  I knew I was bad at consoling people, but I hadn’t realized I was
that
bad.

“I-I’m sorry,” she gasped between choking sobs. “I know you’re just trying to help.”  She wiped uselessly at her dripping nose with the sleeve of her shirt.  A long strand of mucus stuck to the cotton material. “Oh, gross,” she mumbled, making a disgusted face.

I chuckled lowly. “Don’t worry.  I won’t tell anyone that you’ve got snot like the rest of us.” I winked playfully. “It’ll be our little secret.”

Nora laughed a wet giggle and I exhaled.  She looked down at the sleeves of her shirt whose arms were streaked with unmentionables and what looked like black mascara.  “Well this shirt is ruined,” she muttered.  Her hands went to the bottom hem of her top and she began to yank the shirt off of her torso.

“What the—” I sputtered from my seat besides her.  My eyes went wide as I watched Nora awkwardly yank her shirt over her head.

Nora looked perplexed.  “What?” she asked, looking down at the tank top that had been hidden beneath her long-sleeved top.  “I’ve got layers on, Sammy,” she smirked, momentarily forgetting her angst. “I wasn’t giving you a free show.”

I felt flustered. “Yeah, well, not like I was worried or anything.  Nothing you’ve got that I haven’t seen before,” I mumbled, trying to slip on a mask of nonchalance.

“I’ve seen much more of
you
, anyway,” Nora noted.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably, but didn’t acknowledge the truth to her statement.

Silence fell once again between us.  Nora sighed deeply and swung her legs back and forth.  “Your hand still cut?” she muttered, glancing sideways at me.

I blinked hard, momentarily confused and then stared down at my hand.  A long gash in the palm of my left hand stared back at me.  It was a shallow cut and had stopped bleeding soon after I’d cut it. “Oh, right,” I said, shaking my head slightly.

“Want me to fix it for you?” she offered, turning on the cot.

“Uh, sure,” I shrugged.  I stuck my hand out and slightly shivered when she took my hand in her own. 

Nora chewed on her bottom lip and busied herself with the medical gauze.  The cut wasn’t anything that would require stitches, but it was probably a good idea to cover the wound to keep out infection.  “There,” she breathed when she was satisfied with the patch-up job. “Good as new.”

I stared down at my hand and flexed my fingers around the tidy swatch of gauze and medical tape. “Nice job,” I approved.  “You should ask Dr. Allyse if she needs help around here.  You’re a pretty decent nurse.”

Nora sighed deeply. “Yeah, my career options are wide open.”

I stood up from the cot and stretched my legs.  “Well, I should probably get back to the kitchen.”  I jerked her head toward the door. “Don’t want Ryan thinking I’m a slacker or something for not pulling my weight.”

Nora remained seated and nodded.  “Yeah.  Wouldn’t want
that
to happen,” she said dully.

I chewed on my lower lip, still tempted to say something about her previous tears, but instead I turned and made for the storage room’s exit.

“Sam?”

I paused and turned my head over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

Nora worried her bottom lip.  She opened her mouth and took a deep breath.  But the words never came.  She snapped her jaw closed and shook her head sadly.  “Nothing.  Never mind,” she mumbled miserably.  “You should get back.”

I felt troubled and perplexed, but finally I nodded.  “See ya.”  I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. 

I flexed my fingers around the neat bandage.  “Goddamn it,” I growled to myself.

I turned on my heel and burst back into the storage room.

Nora was still on the cot where I’d left her.  Her eyebrows went up to her hairline in confusion. “Did you forget something?”

“I hate that you think you can’t talk to me,” I blurted out. “I know that we had a rough start, but I’ve really been trying to be nicer.  And when it’s clear you have more to say, but you hold back, it makes me think all my niceness has been for nothing.”

Nora released a manic laugh.  I felt momentarily confused and then my face clouded over with anger. “What’s so funny?” I demanded, folding my arms across my chest, instantly feeling self-conscious. “You don’t have to laugh at me,” I snarled.

I was quickly silenced by Nora’s warm fingertips on my lips.  She was now standing in front of me, her beautiful face serious.  I tried to ignore the way her hipbone felt pressed against me.

“I wasn’t laughing at you,” she murmured. “And I
do
recognize that you’ve been nicer, even though I don’t always make it easy on you,” she softly revealed, letting her fingers fall from my mouth.

I dropped my hands to my sides and my rigid body involuntarily relaxed. “Oh.” I felt my face flush.  “Then why…” I trailed off, “why won’t you tell me why you’re crying?”

“Because it’s embarrassing.” Nora sighed deeply.  She rubbed her hands roughly over her face.  “And if I say it out loud, it just makes it more real.”

I stood my ground, silently indicating I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Fine,” she sighed again, flapping her arms at her side. “Don’t tell anyone, but I saw my dad and Dr. Allyse kissing.”

I blinked hard. “You saw
what
?!”

Nora cringed at my volume. “Not so loud, geez,” she winced.

I shook my head, dumbfounded. “Your dad and the doctor were
kissing? 
No offense, but isn’t your dad like old enough to be her father?”

Nora made a face. “I know.  It’s totally gross.”

“Hey, I’m not the one snotting all over about it though,” I cheekily pointed out.  “But,” I scrunched eyebrows together, “why the water works?”

Nora sighed and her face and shoulders fell. “You’re gonna laugh at me,” she lightly complained, sitting down on the cot once again.

“You may be surprised,” I grunted, falling easily beside her, “but I’m finding none of this funny right now.”

Nora looked over at me. “It’s just that…everyone’s got someone except me,” she revealed in a rush.

I took a moment to let her words sink in.  “And you feel left out?” I tentatively guessed.

Nora sighed miserably. “You make it sound so petty,” she grumbled. “But everyone’s all paired up down here.  It’s like Noah and the ark,” she spat out.  “My dad and the doctor, you and Ryan.  What if my dad won’t want to go to Eden anymore?” she worried.

I held up my hands. “Woah, slow down,” I insisted with wide eyes. “Ryan and I have just been hanging out. Nothing’s going on between us.  Besides, he’s not my type.”  I could have smacked myself as soon as that admittance came out.

“He’s not?”  Nora’s pink tongue poked out between two lush lips.  “What
is
your type?”

You, duh.
I could feel Nora’s eyes on me.  I pretended to be interested in something on the wall. “I don’t know.”

“Now I think
you’re
the one holding back.”

I desperately needed to change the subject. “Maybe Dr. Allyse will want to go with you guys to Eden.  I’m sure they could use another doctor, right?”

As if she could sense we were talking about her, Dr. Allyse’s head popped through the doorway.  “Oh hi, girls,” she said brightly. “I thought I heard voices.”  She looked a little relieved and made no indication that she’d heard the content of our conversation.  “I’m glad there’s actually people in here,” she chuckled.  “I was worried the voices were in my head.”

I popped up from the cot, feeling guilty.  We hadn’t been doing anything wrong, but I still felt like she’d caught me with my hand in the cookie jar.

“How’s that ankle doing, Sam?  I see you’re off the crutches now.”

I smiled a little too brightly. It felt unnatural on my face. “It’s much better, thank you.  I’ll bring the crutches by in the morning.  I think another day or two with the air cast and I’ll be back to my old self.”

“Wonderful.” Dr. Allyse cleared her throat.  “Um, Nora, have you seen your father recently? I need to take his stitches out.”

Nora stood up from the cot and I braced myself for an epic confrontation.  “I’ll tell him you’re looking for him the next time I see him.” I was surprised by the evenness, the civility in her tone.  It was absent of any warmth, but at least she hadn’t been mean.  That was an improvement, right?

I gave the doctor a pained smile as Nora and I left the infirmary.  Because of my extended detour, I had probably blown my chances of getting assigned kitchen duty again, but that wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me.  I didn’t know what I was going to do with the rest of the evening, but I had a hunch it involved listening to Nora complain. 

+++++

CHAPTER TEN

The next day, there was no work to be done, so after breakfast I went to the library to read.  The library doubled as the school and the children of Hot Springs, only numbering a few dozen, were in the middle of their daily lesson.  I grabbed a few books from their shelves and took a seat at a vacant table on the other side of the room so as to not interrupt.

As I paged through the books I’d chosen, looking for something interesting to read, I started to think about Hot Springs and my future here.  I was warm and well-fed and I had a real bed to sleep on, but to be honest, I kind of preferred life above ground when the four of us had been constantly traveling.  Food might have been scarce and sleeping in a tent got old really fast, but at least there was a reason to wake up every morning.  At least above ground we’d had some kind of purpose.  Down here, it just felt like we were all biding our time until something happened – what that something was, I didn’t know.

I saw movement in the direction of the library doorway and frowned when I saw Ryan walk through the open door.  Hot Springs wasn’t that large – only a few acres, if that – but it felt even smaller when I kept running into Ryan.  I tilted my head back down and lifted my book, hoping it would obscure my face and that he’d either not notice me sitting here or wouldn’t interrupt my reading.

I jumped at the sound of solid flesh hitting the wooden table. Ryan stood on the other side of the table with one palm flat on its surface.

“This is you, isn’t it?”

I didn't know what he was talking about until I saw the sheen of photography poking out from beneath his flattened hand. He'd slapped a photograph on the table like we were engaged in a game of poker and he was showing off the cards in his hands. In a way though, he was.