Live Alaska

8. Terror and Peace

Xyla

She’d never felt so loved by a man before, aside from her father. He’d cooked for her, taken care of her at her worst and looked at her like he was scared to lose his world when he thought she was completely unconscious.

And that was the reason that she decided she was going to take a very large leap of faith. If she survived this, she would marry him if he still wanted her. She’d heard his muttered promises about making sure she wouldn’t regret her decision when he wrapped her up in a blanket after giving her something to drink.

Why were the first few sips always tainted with this metallic taste?

But then she’d felt him lift her and carry her. She was too weak to stay fully conscious, but she hovered between the two worlds where she could hear and feel like it was a dream. And yet she knew she was awake, without a shadow of a doubt. Where was he taking her? Were they going to the hospital?

“You called for a taxi?” She heard a strange man’s happy voice, before he sobered up. “Man, she looks like the corpse bride.”

Leeson growled at his words. Growled? Why did he manage such a deep, animalistic growl that actually made gooseflesh rise on her skin?

“I don’t mean like she’s dead, but she’s pale, and her lips are blue…and I’ll shut up and carry her things before you kill me.” The stranger ended his explanation lamely. “I parked in the alley so we wouldn’t have too many eyes seeing us carry an unconscious woman into a white van.” He spoke from just ahead of them.

“You picked a white van?” Leeson asked with annoyance. His friend picked the creepy kidnapper-colored van? Great, she really was being kidnapped. And she had absolutely no way of escaping. And, yet, she still didn’t feel afraid of Leeson. Maybe the illness had made her lose her mind, after all.

“Hey, you asked for a hospital on wheels; I got what you wanted, hospitals are white, right?” Well, his logic was fair; she guessed, but….

“So are kidnapping vans,” Leeson retorted her exact thoughts. See, he got it, too!

“Well, next time be more specific about your color choices, because hot pink is not exactly non-descript.” The stranger answered indignantly.

Yeah, hot pink would be hard to miss…

Soon they stepped out into the cool spring air for a few moments, before she sensed them stepping up into something darker and slightly warmer.

Leeson laid her down on what felt like a gurney before she heard the sliding door before she felt him connect something heavy to her finger and she realized it was the sensor to monitor her oxygen levels, heartbeat and blood pressure. She knew these things from past experiences with medical emergencies. Then she felt the oxygen mask slip over her face and, a moment later, the cool rush of oxygen to help her breathe. The guy really had brought an ambulance!

By then, she felt the van lean and then heard a door close before the engine started. “Welcome on the Aurora Sleuth long distance ambulance service, please keep yourself settled, since we’ll be pushing the miles and racing the GPS arrival time. I will beat that clock one day if it’s the last thing I do,” the stranger answered, and she guessed he drove casually out of the alley. Why did he call it the Aurora Sleuth ambulance? Is that some kind of new company she didn’t know?

And did this guy realize he would never be able to beat the GPS’s estimated time of arrival? Seriously, it was calculated according to your speed and distance, to within a few seconds.

She slipped in and out of consciousness from then on, not sure if she was feeling peaceful with Leeson taking care of her or terror that she had no real idea of what she had agreed to. What if the one time she didn’t think through all the facts properly was the one time she should’ve done precisely that?

Now and then she would come to, and Leeson would give her some warm tea with a taste of that metallic saltiness that she couldn’t place whenever she was lucid enough to swallow, adding an IV with fluids and antibiotics to help her body while they raced to save her life. He would actually talk gently with her whenever he did something, explaining what he was doing.

She was grateful for it, but it didn’t make her any less terrified of what would await her at their unknown destination, because she just realized that she had no idea where he was taking her.

She slipped into darkness again, remembering her promise she had made to Jenna that night they had both got drunk.

“I, Xyla Ashdon, solemnly shwear that from here on out I will do theshe three things every day. One; do something adventuroush, two; shomething that lashts and three, shomething that reminds me I’m shtill alive. Becaushe I refushe to go down without a fight.”

“Here, shign it! Thish ish a binding contract, Mishy. No take-backshies.” Jenna demanded and held the pen to her.

Seeing the obstinate focus of her friend’s bleary eyes, she finally shrugged and just signed it. She was already basically dying; what could possibly be worse than that?

Xyla was sure her death was close. She had that thought a moment before she became aware of a frantic Leeson talking rapidly to someone else, but she couldn’t really make out the words.

Then she felt the tingling of his skin against her lips and she heard him pleading to her to drink as much as she could. She couldn’t deny his terrified pleas, and she tried to drink the metallic liquid, waiting for the taste of the tea to follow, but it never came, it was just that strange metallic salty fluid.

Then she heard the long-drawn-out beep of the machine that warned that her heart was stopping. “Don’t leave me, my Daisy. I just found you!” She heard Leeson’s pleas and a moment later she felt wetness on her cheeks.

Was he crying? He couldn't be so sad when he hadn't known her long at all. But then, she was sad for him, too.

Then she felt someone doing CPR on her, she could feel her ribs crack under the pressure. She felt sorry for him, but he was hurting her! He had said he would take care of her.

She slipped into darkness, just as she felt the van under her suddenly bolt forward with much more speed. She felt strangely peaceful as she slipped into the darkness again.

If she didn’t make it, at least she had met someone she could have seen her future with. She had known an amazing man before she died. But she hadn’t managed to say goodbye to Jenna. That would be her one big regret.

The other was that she had met such an amazing guy just before she died. She hoped he wouldn’t be too sad with her passing. She had tried to warn him, but he had been so completely devoted from the start. It was just their luck that they would meet just before her lungs would give up on her. But she could find peace, even if she left her friend and this wonderful guy behind.