Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“What are you doing?” I ask, eventually finding my voice even if it comes out hoarse and croaky like a bullfrog. I shouldn’t have asked because he’s taking my shoes off, so I know. Still, I’m nervous. These thoughts of Max I keep having, combined with what happened yesterday…what my body keeps craving more of…Maybe once I get free, I can sign up for therapy. I hear it can do wonders, and I think it’s pretty clear I need it.
He reaches over to his side and gets a box, handing it to me. First-Aid Kit, I read on the lid. Guess that was his answer. He works in silence, taking the old torn pieces of cloth off my feet and setting them with my shoes to the side. He puts my feet down and goes back to the basin, bringing it over, with the water and an old towel that he throws over his shoulder. I hiss in pain as the cool water flows over my poor feet. There are so many open raw spots from blisters that have burst; I want to weep. He works, quietly efficient, making sure my feet are clean and padding them dry gently, but with a firm hand.
“Hand me that roll of gauze,” he says, startling me out of the semi-trance I was in.
I open the lid and quickly grasp it, handing it to him.
“And a few of those cream packets, the antibiotic ones.”
Once he treats the worst of the blisters, he rolls the gauze over my feet, securing it with the tape from the box. Then he goes back on his heels and looks at me.
“We can’t go anywhere today, there’s no way you’d last trying to walk on those feet.”
“Is that safe?” I ask, knowing not only that the law is on our heels, but also the other escapees. I don’t want to think about what might happen if they accidentally find us.
“We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll let you rest up today and head out early in the morning.”
“You could take me into town and leave me, Max. You should leave me. You need to keep on the move; it’s not safe.”
“Since you work for a lawyer and all, shouldn’t you be urging me to turn myself back in?”
“Would you listen to me if I did?” I counter.
“Not hardly.”
“That’s why I said you should keep running. Besides, it’d be better if you go to a police station and turn yourself in. Out here…”
“You think they might shoot first and ask later?” He says dryly with a cold smile on his face that in no way reaches those beautiful dark eyes.
“Probably…” I answer truthfully, and the very thought of it causes my blood to run cold. I can’t let that happen. I need to make it my mission to make sure Max gets back in jail safely and still be eligible for parole. I have no idea how I’m going to make that happen; I just know I need to.
“Last night you didn’t want me to leave you,” he says, getting up to return the things back where they belong. He sounds angry. He pours the water into a big barrel in the corner. It’s on my mind to ask what happens when that gets full, but since I won’t be around when it does, I guess it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t know what I want when I’m around you,” I answer with complete honesty. “I’m torn between wanting to go back to my quiet apartment or run off to Maine with you.”
“Maine?” he asks with a sardonic smile on his face.
“No one ever wants to go to Maine. Seemed like a good place. When people go on the run in the movies, they always head for the border. I always thought a quiet state to hide in would be better.”
He shakes his head and doesn’t say anything else. It almost feels like we’re friends, and then he does something I’d like to slap him for. He puts the handcuffs back on me. I don’t argue, instead I find myself staring at the light in the lantern he must have lit before I woke up.
Therapy. I definitely need therapy.
It shouldn’t bother me that Tess seems so disappointed when I handcuff her back to the bed. It does, and that’s all kinds of bad. I have a soft spot for this little, brunette spitfire, and I need to tap that shit all the way out. I am even staying here for another night just so her feet can heal a little more. That in itself is pure idiocy. I should do like she suggested and drop her. Not here though, if the Hernandez twins managed to escape and find her, Tess would never survive—or if she did, she would wish she hadn’t. I could take her to the local town as she said though. I have to go there anyway to get a car off of Zeke. I ignore that train of thought, however, because the simple truth is I don’t want to separate from Tess just yet. I may die today and if I do, these moments with her have been the bright spot in my sorry life.