Chapter 11: Stragglers
Grace Peters
People always used to tell Grace she was special. She never believed them. They told her that she was good at leading people, and she didn't believe them then either. She hated when people put her above others. She knew she was the same as her and she wanted that fact to go uncorrupted. She was only as simple as they would let her be. She enjoyed being simple. That was her.
"Let me have a look." Quentin said emotionlessly, leaning down to Leo's limp body. "If it's like you say, He could already be gone."
"What do you mean?" Grace asked frantically. "We sealed up the wound. The bleeding stopped. How could he be dead?"
"He may have lost too much blood." He replied, taking Leo's hand in his, checking his pulse. "It's a long shot. I'll do everything I can to help your friend, but I can't guarantee anything."
Noah took her by the shoulder and spun her around. "C'mon, Grace. Let's give the doctor some space."
"That would be great, thanks." Quentin said, without looking either of them in the eye. "I work better when people aren't breathing down my back." Grace turned around and exited the room, leaving Leo alone with the young doctor. He didn't look older than 30. He must be new to the job.
"She'll make it." Noah told her confidently after they shut the door. "I've seen people come back from worse. Much worse..."
"Like what?"
"Like Leo did back in that car on the road." He replied. "If he can come back from that, I have no doubt he can come back from this."
Grace smiled at him. "Thank you, Noah."
"You blame yourself don't you?" He asked her.
"What?"
"You blame yourself for him being like this." Noah asked her, stroking his beard with his fingers. "You think, since you're the one who crashed into him, you owe it to him to save his life. I'm going to tell you, you don't owe this guy anything, Grace. When you owe people things is when your life can go to shit. It's much better on this side of the river."
"It's already gone to shit..." Grace spoke, remembering Ashley's colorless eyes for one more time.
He nodded in agreement and turned around toward the hallway. The remaining five people rested in the living room, arguing up a storm. The two of them walked into the room. Grace sat down beside Laura on the couch, and Noah leaned on the wall, away from it all. Grace couldn't tell if he didn't like these new people or he was just shy.
"What the fuck?" Sebastien swore, glancing around at each person in the room. "When I say I want to get down to the city before making a stop, I mean it!"
"We need to rest!" Natalie replied loudly, throwing her hair back behind her head. "Get some food! We haven't eaten in two days."
Katherine, the old woman in the room, nodded her frail head and held her hand on her stomach. She wanted food too. "It's okay." Winston said, sweetly, patting her on the shoulder. "We'll find food soon. We're all hungry."
"My son is going to have some food in him by the end of the day!" Natalie barked. "No one is going to argue with that!"
Laura raised her hands in the air, trying to calm them down. "No one's arguing with-"
"I am!" Sebastien shouted. "Now you're gonna listen to me! We are packing up our bags right now and driving the fuck out of here!"
"We're staying here!" Grace shouted back at him, inserting my opinion into the argument. "I've got a friend injured back there and you've got a doctor with your group."
