Between the Lanterns(14)

“Ma’am, please keep your voice down,” the other nurse said. “Patients are sleeping in other rooms. He may not be dead now, but he will be in a minute. He can’t breathe, and there’s nothing we can do.”

August grabbed a face mask attached to an automated breathing machine next to the bed, handed it over to the nurses and begged, “Use this. Intubate him or whatever you call it. He’s a real person, damn it all! Don’t let him die without trying to save him! Please!”

The nurses looked at one another and shrugged, then one said, “It won’t do any good, sir. Patient Hill is a hopeless case.” Then the two heartless nurses walked out of the room and back to their station.

As they did, August overheard one of them saying, “He would have been a great candidate for the new Montek.Automaton program. I wonder why they didn’t buy that option, seeing as how they’re so hung up on that old geezer.”

John stopped struggling and breathing at 2:16 AM, a. A full three minutes after the two terrible nurses said he had died. August and Samantha held each other and wept until the sun came up. That’s when the clinic staff asked them to leave so they could clean up the room.





Chapter 6

IT’S THE LAW





The two of them walked down West Main Street in a daze; both felt dizzy and lost after the events inside the clinic.

“I’ll walk you home, if that’s alright with you,” August said, with his arm still around Sam. His thoughts were not on how pretty she was, or how marvelous it felt to hold her. His mind was on those horrible people in the clinic. How could they have let that happen? Should he and Sam have gone with the Montek.Automaton option after all? It was all too much for him to handle. So instead, he decided to focus his attention on making sure Sam got home ok and wasn’t too upset. He’d do whatever it took to keep her from feeling sad for too long.

“Thank you, sweets,” she sniffled, adding, “I need that right now. I don’t want to be alone.”

“I don’t, either,” he admitted shyly. August didn’t mean just for now, either; he meant for the rest of his life. But he couldn’t say that to her, not yet. It was way too soon.

Samantha looked up at August, correctly guessing what he had meant. She locked eyes with the beautiful stranger who felt so much more than that… so much more than someone she had just met. With what the two of them had just been through, and the losses they had both suffered in their lives due to The Countdown… Samantha felt a connection to August that she couldn’t explain. When he touched her, she tingled all over. When he talked with compassion and understanding, when he cared about something… it made her feel like she was home and safe around him. He was everything she had ever hoped to find in a friend... and everything she had ever hoped to find in a lover as well.

“Do you mean that, August? Do you mean it the way I hope you mean it?” she asked quietly, looking deep into his eyes.

“I really do, Sam. You’re somethin’ special, and I don’t want to miss out on… well, you,” he answered, trying not to sound awkward. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like there is no one else in the entire world who feels the way I do about stuff. Everyone is so damn rushed all the time, and so worried about what’s popular and what other people think. You and John are the only other people I’ve met since my granny died who actually… care,” he said, pulling her hand up to his mouth, kissing gently on her knuckles. “Kindness is so rare these days, and I don’t want to let it out of my sight for one more second. I want to hold onto it as tight as I can and never let go. I want to hold onto you, Sam.”

She felt in perfect agreement with everything he was saying. She knew it was crazy, but there was a spark between them. It came from a real place, and it felt wonderful. She beamed at August, and he smiled right back.

They kissed each other standing in the middle of West Main Street. AutoCars raced by and honked their horns. The two of them didn’t even notice. August held her head gently in his hands as he ran his fingers through her smooth hair. They kissed long and soft, trading secrets through their breaths. Samantha held him around the waist and rubbed at his lower back. The kiss was never-ending and eternal, yet fleeting and over way too soon.

They pulled apart and pressed their noses together, breathing heavily. August’s chest heaved with excitement. He had never felt like this before. His heart beat like a drum, and he almost hummed a tune to the beat. He was ecstatic and lost in her, this beautiful woman.

Sam’s legs trembled, and she held onto him for support. She had never in her life been so excited and so afraid at the same time. All she wanted was this man and nothing else. He was the sun in the center of her solar system, the gravity that held her to Earth. How could this be happening? She didn’t know yet, but she was going to take Cheryl’s advice. She would hold onto this feeling; she would not be left wishing August were around. She would make sure that he was always around.

August looked to the sides, and Sam followed his gaze. Somehow, they had ended up standing in between the lanterns at the end of West Main Street again; in the exact spot where they first met. It was the third time the two of them had come together here in this place, between the same two normal, everyday lanterns.

“This is my favorite spot in the entire universe, sweets,” Samantha whispered to him.