Dictator s Daughter (15 page)

Sean finished up and secured the tubing with
extra tape to prevent it from pulling out. He moved next to her and
wiped her tears and smoothed down her hair. “Hey,” he said softly,
“it’s going to be ok.” He rested his face against her hot
cheek.

With his other hand, he pushed the blanket
off her legs. He started unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom and
worked his way up stopping at the last two buttons. He gently
opened up her shirt and pushed it off her belly, maintaining her
modesty. The heat radiated off her sunken stomach.

She slowly turned her head toward his face,
their lips almost touching. Her breathing was rapid, hot and sweet
and was the only sound to be heard. Sean could both feel and hear
the air move in and out of her body. He allowed his lips to touch
hers. At first there wasn’t any response from her. He opened his
eyes and saw her looking at him. Her lips formed into a delicate
smile, and then she reached forward with her lips and found his.
Like slow motion, he kissed her carefully and slowly; her lips were
on fire. He didn’t know how long they continued to explore each
other’s mouths because time stood still; the only other body
contact was his hand behind her warm head.

The self-condemnation hit him hard. What had
come over him? What was he thinking! He pulled away, guilty of
taking advantage of her in her vulnerable state, exactly what she
had talked about, and what he never wanted to become.

He sat up and turned away putting his feet on
the floor. He put his palms on the bed and pushed his shoulders up,
letting his head hang down, and taking deep breaths to cool
down.

After a few seconds, he turned and looked at
her. Her lips still parted, as if she was waiting for him to come
back to them.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done
that. I’ll get some washcloths and cool water. You’re burning
up.”

“Yes, I am,” she said in a whisper. Eliwese
closed her eyes as he left the room. In a different life, she and
Sean would have been happy together.

He went out into the kitchen and turned on
the water; he needed to kill some time while other parts of him
cooled off.

What’s the matter with me?
He thought,
she
needs me and I’m not thinking of her, only
myself.
He filled the bowl and headed back to the bedroom. A
strange clicking sound sounded and he froze in place. He looked
around cautiously until he realized the sound came from the CB
radio on the wall.

He put the bowl down and picked up the
handset but resisted the urge to speak into it. He listened
intently to more clicks and static then silence. He hung up the
handset and picked up the bowl of water and went back into
Eliwese’s room. She was lying on her side with her eyes closed.

“I heard clicks and static on the CB. I think
someone might be trying to contact us, but they must be out of
range.” He set the bowl down and began cooling her off with the
water and towels. He continued with the evaporation method for a
half hour and then took her temperature; one-hundred five. The
tension in the room had lessened considerably with the hopes of
help on its way.

Why isn’t she cooling down?
He looked
at her face and her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn’t
sleeping. He continued with concern. With everything he knew about
medicine, which wasn’t much, he could tell her condition was
worsening.

The CB radio voiced to life. Sean ran into
the kitchen.

“Bad Dog calling Mad Dog, over,” the male
voice said.

Sean didn’t recognize the voice or the call
sign. He didn’t dare answer.

“Bad Dog calling Mad Dog, Sean are you there,
over?” Sean recognized the voice now; it was Ryan.

Ryan had come to the back door and needed
Sean to open it for him. As soon as Ryan entered the cabin, he
dropped his pack and coat and embraced Sean.

“What happened, Ryan? Where’s everyone
else?”

“I need a drink of water.” Ryan pushed
himself past his brother. He walked over to the table and plopped
himself down on the chair.

Sean brought him bottled water and sat down
adjacent to him noting the time, ten o’clock AM. Ryan took a long
drink of his water and looked over at Sean. Ryan’s face had several
bruises and cuts and Sean noticed his hands were also hurt. What
had transpired after Sean fled? Sean waited as patiently as he
possibly could while Ryan drained the water bottle.

Ryan looked past Sean and stood quickly,
walking into the bedroom. Sean followed.

“What happened here?”

“Someone shot at the car and hit her,” Sean
stated.

“What? When did that happen?”

“Same time as the house being raided is my
guess.”

“Is she going to live?”

“Yes, I believe so. Tell me what
happened.”

Ryan just stood there staring at Eliwese and
her at him. For a long moment, Ryan and Eliwese looked at each
other and Sean kept looking back and forth between the two like
watching a tennis match. Sean stepped in front of Ryan to break his
view and pull him back to reality.

“Ryan - what - happened?”

“Eli is Eliwese! He wanted Eliwese... He knew
she was there... He came for her... Eli.” Ryan’s disconnected
thought process didn’t make any sense.

“Ryan! What happened to everyone else?” Sean
yelled to get his attention.

Ryan looked at Sean and said with numbness in
his voice, “Dad’s dead.” He walked away from Sean and sat down in
the armchair. Sean froze in his spot.

“In the fire?” Sean asked without turning
around.

“What? No! He was executed at point blank!
Some son of a bitch looking for her,” he motioned to Eliwese, “shot
him in the head when he wouldn’t tell where you guys were. He had
already shot Beth. She’s dead too.”

“No, it can’t be.” Sean turned around and
looked at the floor.

“Oh, it can, and there’s more, they took Mom
and Lyndee.”

“They what?”

“They’re being used as collateral for Eli, or
should I say,
Eliwese
,” Ryan emphasized her name.

“But...we can’t... I don’t understand,”

“If we don’t turn her in, we’ll lose Mom and
Lyndee too.”

Sean ran his fingers through his hair as if
his head hurt from all of the confusion. He tried to piece together
what he had heard on the radio and what his brother had said, but
there were holes in the stories.

“The news report said two were injured and
were being held in custody.”

“The Tronts from next door tried to enter the
house to help and they were burned a little, but they weren’t put
in custody; no one was. Oh, but there was a girl with the man. She
looked just like her, except with long hair.” He pointed to
Eliwese.

“My sister, Elaine.” Eliwese spoke up for the
first time, her voice faint and weak.

Ryan looked at Sean with ache etched on his
face. “You knew… You knew and you let me look like a fool thinking
Beth was Eliwese.”

“You looked like a fool all on your own,
buddy.”

“We could have gotten rid of her and Dad
would still be alive!” Ryan’s voice cracked.

“You were so transfixed on the reward money,
Ryan! You didn’t have anyone’s interest at heart except your
own.”

“Oh, and you do! Look at this situation. If
you had others’ interests at heart, you’d have turned Eliwese in
and saved your own father’s neck; instead, you ran. You should have
revealed Eliwese’s identity when you first discovered it so we
could get her out of the house. Mom, Dad and Lyndee would still be
around.”

“Don’t you blame me for this turning sour! Of
everyone in our home, you were the only one who didn’t know Eli was
Eliwese. So don’t go thinking I knew this grand secret and by
keeping it caused Dad’s death.”

“Should I blame Dad for getting himself
killed protecting your sorry ass? Because that’s what happened! How
about we blame you for ticking off Chandra, because she’s the one
who turned us in! No, let’s put the blame where it really needs to
be,” Ryan pointed at Eliwese, “there. If she’d never crossed, we’d
still have a father!”

Sean walked straight over to Ryan and punched
him square in the stomach. He knocked the wind right out of Ryan
making him fall back into the chair. Ryan doubled over for a few
seconds and then he bolted out of the chair and tackled Sean to the
ground. The force of their bodies hitting the floor made the walls
shake. Ryan was on Sean, then Sean on Ryan rolling all over the
floor. Fists were flying, punches landing, and then Ryan threw Sean
off of him and Sean crashed into Eliwese, who had gotten out of bed
to try to break them apart. Eliwese was knocked backwards and hit
the back of her head on the corner of the dresser before falling to
the ground.

She let out a cry of pain for both her head
and her side. Both boys immediately jumped up and rushed to her
side. She was lying on her back and had a small amount of blood on
her hand which had been pressed to the back of her head. She looked
at the boys. “This is pointless. The responsibility lies with me
and me alone.” Her voice was only a raspy whisper as the searing
ache pounded through her head.

“No, don’t say that.” Sean immediately melted
beside her and carefully placed his hands on each side of her
head.

“As soon as I am able, I’ll see that you get
your mother and sister back.”

“But, he will kill you.”

“Better me than them.” One corner of her
mouth tugged up in a resigned understanding.

“Shhh, don’t talk like that,” Sean reached
under her knees and shoulders to pick her up.

Ryan reached over and pulled her shirt
together. As he did so, his fingers made contact with her flaming
hot skin.

“She’s burning!” Ryan said to Sean with a
sudden change of attitude. “Have you taken her temperature?”

Sean threw a glance back at his brother as if
to say, ‘Naw, we’ve just been up here partying’ and Ryan got the
hint. Sean carried her over to the bed and laid her down. He used
the scanner thermometer to get her temperature and the reading said
one-hundred five.

Ryan looked over Sean’s shoulder to see the
results.

“That’s too hot, Sean.” Ryan had blood
sliding down his lip.

Sean had a gash above his eye from the brawl.
“Go get the medical tape and turn on the shower to lukewarm.”

“Why?”

Sean’s patience was gone. “Just do it!”

Ryan left the room and Sean leaned close to
Eliwese’s ear. “I’m going to cool you off in the bathtub.”

After Ryan had started the water, Sean told
him to find a fan. Ryan left the room and Sean stretched tape over
her gauze to try to waterproof it. Then he removed his clothes
except his boxers and picked up Eliwese carrying her into the
bathroom. She had her shirt and shorts on and he decided he would
leave her dressed. He climbed into the tub and sat down, holding
her in his arms.

Ryan came in with a small electric fan.
“Where do you want it?”

“Set it up so it’s blowing on her.” Sean held
out the IV bag to Ryan. “Can you hang this up somehow?”

Ryan nodded and hung the bag on a nail on the
wall. He placed the fan on the hamper and aimed it at Eliwese.

Sean’s body experienced two extreme
temperatures; her extremely hot skin next to his and the cool air
from the fan chilling his wet skin She was curled up in his lap
with her head resting on his shoulder and she shivered
uncontrollably. Sean encircled his arms around her to offer some
comfort, but he didn’t want to warm her.

Sean asked his brother to retrieve more
ibuprofen and water for Eliwese. Ryan did so and together they
helped her swallow the pills down. Ryan left the bathroom.

Eliwese started mumbling incoherently; Sean
figured she was delirious again. Many thoughts were swarming inside
his mind as he laid his head back against the wall. He still hadn’t
allowed his mind to accept his father had been killed and Lyndee
and his mother were now prisoners. Chandra had indeed turned them
in like he feared; but then again, Riley already knew where Eliwese
was. What a mess! How were they ever going to pull through this
situation?

“We can blackmail him,” she said quietly.

“What?”

“Blackmail, it will work.”

“Just rest.”

He continued to hold her and caressed her
forehead with his hand. He tilted his head to hers and rested it on
her; he wasn’t sure if she was coherent or hallucinating. He
doubted whether or not Eliwese had information damning enough to
blackmail the leader of a country.

An hour went by and Ryan came back in the
bathroom with the thermometer and took her temperature. She had
dropped to one-hundred three and Ryan helped the two of them get
out of the tub; it was a tricky maneuver. Ryan brought in a blanket
and wrapped it around Eliwese and then he took her in his arms so
Sean could dry off. Ryan took Eliwese back into the bedroom and
laid her on the bed. Sean noticed for the first time that Eliwese
and Ryan were the same height. Sean had followed with the IV bag
and his towel wrapped around his waist.

“Ryan, would you go warm up some broth for
her while I help her change into some dry clothes?”

Ryan nodded and left the room.

Sean helped her dry off and change. He found
her a tank top and another pair of boxers to wear.

“I was serious in the bathtub when I said we
could blackmail my father.”

“You must have some crucial information about
him then.”

“I do; why do you think they tried to kill
me?”

“Right.”

Sean worked with the bandages on her back,
removing the old ones and replacing them with fresh gauze and tape.
When he finished, he covered her with a sheet and went out into the
kitchen to see what was taking Ryan so long.

Ryan stood in front of the microwave, waiting
for it to finish. He turned his head as Sean entered the room. “I
couldn’t find the soup,” he explained his delay.