How To Lose Weight And Survive The Apocalypse

Chapter 16

"I didn't use one."

"What?" I've told him I'm not on the pill, how the medication doesn't agree with me.

"You know I hate how they feel." He slaps my backside lightly. "It'll be fine, don't worry. See, this is your problem – you can't relax in bed."

Panic rises, but I don't want to upset him. So I hug him closer and try to stop worrying. What's the worst that could happen?

"Karla? Karla, can you hear me? Karla, squeeze my hand."

"Ugh..." My face was aflame; the skin on my nose and chin sent signals to my pain centres that things were seriously messed up and my skull throbbed from a singular point on my temple. A metallic tang hit my tongue, and I swallowed, gagging on blood.

My eyes creaked open, Nev and Rueben's alarmed faces swimming into focus. Rueben said, "Don't try to move just yet, okay?"

I tried to move, then cried out as a bolt of agony flared from my jaw to my tailbone. "Ow! That'th really thore..."

I'm lisping. Like a satellite delay, my brain caught up with the sibilant sounds coming from my mouth. Experimentally, I pressed my tongue forward in my mouth until it found my front teeth.

Not front teeth – front tooth. One tooth was normal, smooth, whole. The other tooth was snapped in a jagged diagonal line that cut the skin on my tongue as it connected. "Oh god! My tooth!"

"I have your tooth," said Rueben calmly. "But I'm more concerned about your concussion. Stay still."

Rueben's hands probed my face and skull. At some stage I'd begun to shiver, even with the warmth of the concrete against my back and the sun hard on my face. Tears dripped from my eyes, and they sizzled as they slid from my face to the ground. "I can't believe I thmashed my tooth."

"We can get your tooth fixed. Watch my finger." He drew his hand back and forth in front of my eyes, and I watched it, confused that only a few hours before I'd been dreaming about those fingers on me and in me, and now they were gauging me medically which was way less sexy.

"Her pupils are fine, and the bump isn't too large. I mean, in a perfect world she should get a head scan, but I think she'll be okay. Has anyone got electrolytes?"

"Here." Bailey stepped into my line of sight, shaking a packet of crystals into a water bottle.

Rueben helped me into a seated position, then gently tipped the salty sweet water against my lips. I guzzled it like nectar.

"You need to eat, but it will have to wait until we fix your tooth. The longer we wait, the harder it is to fix, but you need to rest, so tomorrow morning-"

I interrupted him with a squeak of fear. "I don't want to wait. I want to fix thith."

"Karla, I'm not an ER doctor. I can't tell you if your concussion is mild or worse, but either way, you should rest."

"No! Pleath." My teeth had been the one part of my body I didn't have a problem with. I couldn't face the rest of my life with a hill-billy gap. "Help me. Pleath." My stupidity had caused this. Shame pulsed more painfully than the graze on my face or the nerves of my cracked tooth. Once again, I'd screwed everything up.

Reluctantly, Rueben said, "Can you ride? It's only about ten minutes to Albury. There should be a dentist there."

"There is," interjected Simon. "Saw it on the map at lunch. Place on the way into town."

"Okay. Let's see if they can check your tooth and your head."

Nodding, I tried to rise but fell back against the concrete. Nev and Bailey rushed forward and hooked me beneath the armpits, helping me to stand. "Youse guys, we need to ride on either side of her in case she falls again," said Nev, supporting me over to my toppled bike.