Surge (56 page)

I snap my head to see who touched me and see Olivia’s hand still raised and her eyes trained on the smarting spot with wide eyes. I reach up to feel the area and wince. It goes from the top of my right ear, to my eyebrow and down my neck until it reaches my jaw. My hands, I notice, are also blistered. Olivia’s hand ghosts over the injured skin and scowls at it. Lifting her eyes from my chin, she looks up and points with rage in her eyes.

“What?” I ask. She snaps her hand out flat with the palm up in a,
‘what happened?’
gesture accompanied by her dangerously glittering eyes.

I give her the simple answer, “Kelly.”

<~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~>

Choices

“We cannot change the hand we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

-Randy Pausch

“Jared, we can’t stay here much longer,” John says.

Doesn’t that bring me right back to the beginning? Before that trip the grocery store, before Hal’s, and before Olivia. It makes me laugh, and everyone starts staring at me like
I’m
the one that’s lost his shit, instead of the group member who fucked us all. Why does it have to be all the women I bring home, that turn out to be psychotic murderesses?

Obviously, Olivia doesn’t count; since she technically found us, and brought John and I to her home before we convinced her to join our ranks. We basically had to beg her to come with us; and this is how we repaid her.

“I know,” I reply with a crazed grin at John. “Is it me, or does this conversation sound like dejá vu to you too?” At that, John gets it and grins. The rest of the group is still scratching their heads, so I shake off the mirth, and concentrate. “I think it’s pretty obvious that we can’t stay here, since there is no longer a
‘here’
to stay.”

Several heads turn to view the smoking pile of rubble in the rising sun. There’s only one charred wall still standing, and I’m sure if I went over and poked it, it would collapse like the rest. The roof caved in portions, and it’s still burning in areas with the higher concentration of gasoline spills. It’s silent for a few minutes as everyone takes it in, but then they turn back with weary expressions. Those defeated faces are another thing that bleached bimbo is responsible for.

“We can all pile into the van,” I propose. “But we have to find another place close by. Olivia can’t be travelling on those bumpy dirt roads in this condition.”

Marissa grimaces, but turns her face away to hide it. Chelsea looks like she may throw up, but she’s caught in that
‘scene of the accident’
curiosity, so she doesn’t stop staring until I glare at her. Carlos and Oscar are stoic, and look like they want to burn the woods down to flush out
The Bitch
. Tommy and Leonard have come closer, and are now whispering to Olivia; who hasn’t moved from my lap, which is perfectly fine with me. Cory looks tired, tense and pissed, but it’s one of those
‘let’s just get this the fuck over with’
expressions. Sarah and Danny are over near the woods, calling for Morris.

When Olivia hears them, she snaps her head in their direction and winces. Slapping a hand over her throat, which makes her flinch and squeeze her eyes in pain, she takes several deep breaths, before looking at me. Motioning with her hand, she points at her bag a few feet away.

“Tommy,” I say and he looks up. “Grab that bag for Olivia.”

I point to the one she motioned toward, and he nods. After passing the bag to her, Olivia unzips it, and out pops a black and white tabby-faced prick. I may dislike the bastard, but I’m glad he didn’t perish in the fire. Morris hisses at me with his normal enthusiasm, before rubbing his face against Olivia’s cheek. She rubs his ears, and pulls him to her chest.

“Hey, Sarah!” I call out. She and Danny look over, before I continue. “I found your asshole cat.”

Sarah quickly abandons the woods, and sprints over with Danny on her heels. She dives to the ground, and snatches the cat from Olivia’s arms. I’m about to scold her for not only snatching like a selfish brat, but for not being gentle with the cat’s injured savior, when I feel a hand rub my tense arm. Looking down to find the owner of that tiny hand, I meet Olivia’s eyes. She gives me a slight shake of her head. It’s no more than an inch in either direction, but it gets the points across. I take a breath, and sigh it out as I nod.

Once Sarah’s assured that her lazy feline is no worse for wear, she releases her choke hold on him. Morris snaps his hooked tail in agitation at the ordeal he’s been put through, before hissing at me again, and stalking off toward the woods in a tizzy. Real appreciative, you prick. I fight the urge to flip off a four legged asshole, and feel a vibration against my leg.

I begin to panic that the tracheostomy didn’t work, so I snap my focus back to Olivia, and check for any sign of her struggling for breath. What I find, is completely different. Olivia’s eyes are dancing, and the rumbling I felt, was her laughing. Raising my right hand up with both of hers, she bends all my fingers except the middle one, and lifts it to the woods. I can’t help but burst out laughing. Is it any wonder that I fell for this woman? She knows me too well.

“Why the hell are you flipping off my cat?” Sarah demands. “He’s traumatized.”

“Traumatized?” I ask and she nods. “That asshole just snubbed his savior.” I give Sarah a pointed look, and she glances at Olivia.

“Can I hug you?” Sarah whispers. Olivia holds up her thumb to say it’s okay. Moving slowly, Sarah leans down to give Olivia a quick hug as gently as possible. Pulling back she says, “Thanks for keeping Morris safe.”

Olivia pats her chest, and after days of reading her hand signals, I know it’s her way of saying many things that vary from her being okay to understanding; or in this case, saying,
‘you’re welcome.’

“How did you sneak the bastard out?” Olivia picks up the bag, and clutches it to her chest to demonstrate. I lower my voice to ask the next thing. “That’s why you were squirming? Not because I was touching you?”

In answer, Olivia meets my eyes as she raises my hand with her own, that isn’t shaking in the slightest, to brush it across the side of her face. That has to be the best gift I’ve ever been given. Olivia’s trust is finally mine, now I just have to earn the right to keep it.

<~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~><~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~>

“Jared, let Akio take a look at you.” I glance away from Olivia, to look at John. “You have burns, he needs to look at them, and listen to your chest.” In response, I shake my head, and hold my precious cargo a little tighter.

“Let Cory hold her,” John demands.

“Check him first,” I counter. John smirks as he replies.

“He’s already been checked, and cleared with mild smoke inhalation, and second degree burns,” he says. “Now, pass her off to Cory, before he follows through on his plan to strangle you.” I glance over at the man in question, and see that he indeed may strangle me if I don’t give him a little cuddle time with Olivia. I look down at the girl in my arms, to meet her worried gaze.

“Will you be alright?” I ask. In answer, I receive a scowl, along with a tiny finger pointed at Akio. “Fine, I’ll get checked.”

Carefully assisting Olivia to sit up, I see her grimace in pain the whole way even though she tries to hide it. My tough little cookie may not be feeling better physically, but her mental faculties are just fine judging from her stubbornness. Once I have her sitting upright, I motion for Cory to take up my position behind her back. As I slide out, he slides right in like it was a prized parking spot in front of Boston’s city hall. Believe me, those were damn near impossible to come by any time I needed to make the trip in for my Dad. Settled in, Cory lays her back against his chest, and wraps his gauze covered arms around her waist.

“You sure you’re okay?” I address this at the two of them.

Receiving matching scowls, and a shove from Cory, gets me moving. Akio has his downgraded kit spread across the dead crab grass, so I plop down in front of him. Adjusting his glasses, his eyes scan my face as he picks out supplies. Gauze, tape and ointment are added to a pile closer to me, along with his stethoscope. Once he has everything he needs, Akio slides closer and slips the ear plugs for the stethoscope into place.