The Cold Kiss (9 page)

18

I heard someone behind me, and when I looked back I saw Megan running across the parking lot. She approached slowly, and when she got close, I stepped away from Syl.

“Did you see where he came from?”

I didn’t answer at first, and she asked me again.

This time I shook my head.

My thoughts split and trailed away in several directions. If someone had dragged him back, then someone had seen me carry him out.

It didn’t seem real.

“Hey!”

I looked up at Megan.

“I said help me get him inside.”

“He’s alive?”

“There’s a pulse.”

I knelt down and helped her roll him onto his back. Once we had him turned over, I saw what was left of his face.

I’d heard about what frostbite could do, but I’d never seen it up close. Syl’s face looked like someone had painted him with shoe polish. His nose was shrunken and black. His cheeks were swollen and the color of asphalt. The skin around his eyes looked waxy and there was a forest of white spots that ran down his neck then disappeared under his coat.

“Can you lift him?”

“I think so,” I said. “If we can sit him up.”

Megan grabbed his arms and pulled him into a sitting position. I knelt and started to drape him over my shoulder, then I saw Zack come around the corner. He was carrying his snow shovel and smoking a cigarette.

Megan waved him over.

Zack raised the cigarette to his lips then dropped it in the snow and started toward us. When he got closer and saw what we were doing, he tossed the shovel aside.

“Give me a hand?” My voice shook. “We need to get him inside.”

Zack stopped behind me and stared at Syl.

He didn’t move.

Megan told him we needed to hurry.

Zack muttered something then stepped closer and together we got him standing, each of us under an arm.

Megan ran through the snow toward the office.

We followed.

“Put him over there,” Butch said. “Next to the fireplace. I’ll get some blankets.”

Zack and I eased him down to the floor then Megan moved in and started to unzip his coat.

“What are you doing?” Zack asked.

“His clothes are wet,” Megan said. “We have to get them off and get him dry, or he’ll freeze.”

Caroline and Marcus were up and standing behind me, watching. “Where did he come from?”

I shook my head, didn’t speak.

“Probably got caught in the storm and tried to walk,” Megan said. “I can’t believe he survived.”

“Good Lord,” Caroline said. “The poor man.”

I stood and watched Megan pull Syl’s clothes away from his skin, then I started inching my way toward the office door. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but right then, every instinct I had was screaming at me to get out, to get back to the room and grab Sara and the suitcases and just run.

We could take our chances on the road.

I was still backing away when I looked up and saw Zack standing next to the fireplace, staring at me. Everyone else was completely focused on Syl, but Zack wasn’t paying attention to anything but me.

I stopped backing up and looked at him.

He nodded.

Megan pulled off Syl’s shirt then she leaned in and looked at the bandage. When she sat back she said, “That’s a bullet wound. He’s been shot.”

There was a commotion, then everyone took a step closer and looked down at Syl. I turned and walked out of the room and into the office.

Butch was coming the other way. He was carrying a stack of yellow blankets and didn’t see me.

“Sorry, Minnesota,” he said. “Are you leaving?”

“I have to tell Sara what’s going on.” I motioned back to the dining room. “I guess that guy’s been shot.”

Butch’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding?”

“That’s what they’re saying.”

“Holy shit.” Butch looked past me toward the dining room then held out the blankets. “Do me a favor and take these in there. I’ve got a first aid kit in the back, might help.”

I didn’t take them at first, but I didn’t know how I could say no. “I need to get to Sara and—”

Butch pushed past me and ran out of the office.

I watched him go, then I carried the blankets into the dining room. Megan and Zack were kneeling over Syl. Caroline was arguing with Marcus. Zack was the only one who looked at me when I walked in.

No one else had noticed I’d left.

“What the hell do you mean there’s nothing we can do?” Caroline was yelling at Marcus and the slur in her voice was worse. “We can’t just sit here. Look at the man.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Marcus leaned back in his chair and motioned toward the window with his coffee cup. “The highway is closed. More than that, it’s completely buried under snow. We’d drive off into a ditch within five miles.”

I walked past them and set the blankets on the floor next to Megan. “Butch went to get a first aid kit,” I said. “But he gave me these.”

She took one of the blankets off the top then unfolded it. “Help me sit him up.”

Zack reached down and grabbed Syl’s shoulders and lifted him enough to get the blanket under him. Megan wrapped him tight then took another blanket and draped it over him.

“I’m not going to accept that,” Caroline said. “If we don’t get him to a hospital he’s going to die.”

I heard the bells over the office door then Butch came in carrying a large metal box. There was a red circle on the front with a white cross in the middle. He sat it on the table and undid the latches.

“No idea what’s in here, but there might be something we can use.” He looked at Syl. “How’s he doing?”

“Unconscious,” Megan said. “But breathing.”

I got up and looked over Butch’s shoulder at the first aid kit. All I saw were Band-Aids, individually packaged over-the-counter pain pills, and saline eyewash bottles.

“How old is this kit?” I asked.

“Old.” Butch looked at me. “Does this stuff go bad?”

“I think we’re beyond first aid,” Caroline said. “He needs to get to a hospital or else he’s going to die.”

“Closest thing we’ve got to a hospital is forty miles north in Frieberg. I don’t see how we can—”

“You’ve got a plow,” Caroline said. “On that truck you used this morning in the parking lot. I heard it.”

“It broke,” Zack said. “I snapped the mounting pin.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Even if it was brand-new, it wouldn’t work on a highway, especially not all the way to Frieberg. That plow barely handled the two or three passes it took to clear the lot out there.”

Caroline looked at Marcus then to Butch. “I think we have to try, don’t you?”

“I just told you, the mounting pin is busted. We’ve got nothing to hold it in place.”

“You can’t find a way to rig it so it’ll work?”

“Jesus, Caroline, the man just said—”

“How about that wire you got back there?” Butch asked.

Zack shook his head. “Too thin, won’t work.”

“You can try it, can’t you?” Caroline said.

“I’m telling you that plow wasn’t made to go long distances like that. It isn’t going to work even if I do get it mounted and secure.”

“And I’m telling you,” Caroline said, “if this man stays here, he dies.”

Zack stared at Caroline for a moment then he took a deep breath and ran his hand over his chin and said, “Maybe I need to talk slower.”

Caroline looked at Butch. “Can you help me, please?”

Butch didn’t say anything.

“Jesus Christ, doesn’t anyone get it?” Caroline looked around the room. “This man is going to die.”

“Zack,” Butch said. “Why don’t you try it. If it doesn’t work, at least we made the effort.”

Zack turned to Butch and whispered, “This is pointless and you know it.”

“Just try it.”

Zack stared at Butch then shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. He motioned toward me and said, “I’m going to need an extra pair of hands. You up for it?”

Everyone was looking at me.

There was no way to get out of it.

19

I followed Zack out of the office and across the parking lot. He walked fast and I could hear him mumbling to himself under his breath as we went. I did my best to keep up, but the muscles in my chest felt sore and cold, and I wanted to throw up.

When we got to the end of the building, Zack stopped and turned back. He took a few steps toward the office then stopped again, talking to himself, breathing steam into the air.

I waited for him and didn’t say a word.

All I could think about was Sara and what I was going to say to her. My mouth tasted sour and I leaned over into the snow and coughed.

Nothing came up.

I stepped back and saw Zack reach up and run a hand through his hair then kick the snow hard and say, “Fuck.” He spun around and walked past me toward his room.

I followed.

Once we turned the corner I told him I was going to check in on Sara. At first I didn’t think he heard me, then he looked back over his shoulder and said, “I don’t give a shit. It doesn’t matter anyway, this isn’t going to work.”

I hoped he was right.

Zack stopped. “Who the hell is she to tell me? All of a sudden I’m her fucking servant? Do this, try that, fix this, make it work.” He stood back and yelled toward the office, “If I say it ain’t gonna work, then it ain’t gonna fucking work, you cunt!”

I kept quiet.

When he finished, Zack took a deep breath and let it out slow, then he looked at me and said, “Sorry, Nate. I’m letting her get under my skin.”

I thumbed back over my shoulder and said, “I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

“Whatever, man, the truck is around back when you’re ready. I don’t care.”

I turned and walked away.

When I got to our room, Zack was still standing in the middle of the parking lot staring toward the office. I thought about Butch telling me not to worry about him, that he just had a different way of looking at the world, but it didn’t make me feel better.

I stood at the door for a while, going over everything in my mind. I knew I needed to tell Sara about Syl, but I had no idea how to do it.

There was really only one way.

“No.” Sara shook her head. “He’s dead. You said he was dead.”

“I said I couldn’t find a pulse, that’s all. You’re the one who said he was dead.”

“He wasn’t breathing, I swear.” Sara brought her hands up and covered her mouth. “Nate, we left him out there, alive.”

When I heard her say it out loud, I felt all the strength go out of my legs. I reached out and braced myself against the table then eased down to the chair.

I sat for a moment then leaned forward and rested my head in my hands. I didn’t look up for a long time.

“What are we going to do?”

I could only think of one answer.

I stood up and grabbed my suitcase off the floor and set it on the bed. “Get everything together. I’m going to load the car.”

Sara didn’t move.

“We’ll double-back to I-80. The roads can’t be that bad, and the Dodge does good in the snow. I think it’s worth a shot.”

“What about the notebook? They know who we are.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the page with our information and dropped it on the bed. “I got it.”

Sara picked it up and turned it over in her hands.

“Hey,” I said. “We’ve got to go.”

“Nate, hold on.”

I ignored her and reached for Syl’s green backpack lying next to the bed. His clothes were still inside along with the sterile gauze and the twenty thousand dollars.

I thought about taking the money out and putting it in the suitcase with the rest, but I didn’t want to take the time.

“Grab anything you unpacked.”

“Nate, we can’t leave.”

“We don’t have a choice.” I picked up one of the suitcases then started for the door. “I’ll be back for the rest, so hurry.”

Sara got up then crossed the room toward me and took the suitcase out of my hand. “Just wait a minute.”

“Sara?”

“We can’t leave like this,” she said. “Think about how it’ll look.” She took my hand and led me away from the door. “Just sit with me, let’s think this through.”

The last thing I wanted to do was sit down. Instead, I paced the room from one end to the other and tried to slow the thoughts screaming through my head.

“Go over it again,” she said. “From the beginning.”

So I did.

When I finished, Sara said, “He’s that bad?”

“Worse.”

“And they don’t think he’ll make it?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t talk anymore.

Sara noticed, then reached out and took my hand. She pulled me over to the bed, and this time I sat next to her.

“We didn’t know,” she said. “This isn’t our fault.”

I looked at her, and the desire to tell her the truth was almost overpowering. If I’d had the words to explain why I did what I did, they would’ve come pouring out. I wouldn’t have been able to stop them.

But there were no words.

“If we panic and try to leave now, everyone will know,” she said. “We have to act calm and try to ride this out. Do you agree?”

I told her I did.

There were tears pressing behind my eyes, and I blinked hard to keep them back.

Sara leaned in and put her head against my shoulder. When she spoke next, her voice was a whisper.

“I love you, Nate.”

I believed her.

Someone knocked on the door, soft.

I got up and reached for the gun on the nightstand, but Sara stopped me.

“Nate, no.”

I hesitated, then set it down and walked to the door.

Zack was standing outside smoking a cigarette and kicking snow off his work boots. When I opened the door he looked up at me and smiled.

“Did you forget about me?”

Sara came up behind me and put her hand on my back.

When Zack saw her, he nodded and said, “Hello again. How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” She looked at me. “Forget about what?”

“Hold on a minute,” I said.

Zack motioned toward the office. “Did Nate tell you about all the excitement we’ve got going on today?”

Sara nodded.

“You know, I’ve seen some crazy stuff around here, but I’ve never seen anyone just come out of a storm like that guy did. After being shot, no less.” He looked past us at my suitcase on the bed. “You two packing up?”

“Give me a second,” I said. “I’ll be right out.”

“Sure, take your time.” He held up his cigarette. “I’ll be over by the truck when you’re ready.”

He turned away, and I closed the door.

“What’s he talking about?”

I told her about the broken plow and about Caroline’s plan to use it to try and get Syl to a doctor.

She frowned. “And you volunteered to help?”

“No,” I said. “I didn’t.”