We half drag, half carry Torin into Steven's old house. Torin is in and out of consciousness and when he is not moaning, he is muttering and singing. He is singing the song "I Would Walk 500 Miles", only he is making up his own words.
"I'm going to walk 500 miles. To see you Eliot, my lady. Cause I can walk 500 miles to be safe with you my lady." He quits singing and says to me, "I should have known you would be beautiful. Your mother is lovely."
"Sshh, be still Torin, I can't get the bleeding to stop if you are not still."
"I have to go find Eliot, that is what said your mother. Mountain Airy. I have to go." Torin tries to get up.
"Steven, hold him down. Get me some water. Hand me that bandage."
Steven tries to do it all and then says, "He must have been listening to us talk about your mother. He thinks he knows her now."
I put some alcohol on a bandage and use it to clean around the wound on the back. I try to be gentle, but Torin screams, "Mother, where is my mother? I need her, go get her. I want my mother. Wait, there she is, I see her." He points to the kitchen. "No, it is just Nana. Our tiny hero. Hello, Lindy's Nana."
He is so convincing that both Steven and I turn to look where he is pointing. No Nana or mother.
"Hallucinating," Steven says.
We soon know for sure that Torin is, if not hallucinating, at least going down sad memory lane. He continues to talk about others that are no longer here. "My uncle and his family are gone too," he says. "It was really sad."
"I know, I know," I say as I continue working and try to comfort him.
"I was young. I don't remember them," he says, "but still it is sad. Kaboom, and that quick, just gone forever."
"Yes, very sad," Steven agrees.
"I remember my grandfather, but barely," says Torin as I turn him over. "I miss my brother. He was afraid of the water, always afraid. And my sister. She is not gone forever, but she may as well be."
Steven and I don't speak. It is obvious that the Playboy Prince has been holding back a lot of trauma over the years. I knew about his uncle and family being killed in a plane crash, and his grandfather's heart attack, but I had forgotten that his brother drowned a couple years ago in a freak accident. What exactly happened to his sister? How is she now? I don't get the chance to ask Steven because Torin is squirming so much.
I finally get the wound cleaned out, and I'm ready to sew it up with no help from a non-compliant patient. Thank goodness for Nana's sewing basket. There's thread, but no needle in my med kit. I know it will hurt like hell, but it has to be done. I am grateful that Torin passes out again before I thread the needle.
After I cut the last thread, Torin is awake again and says he needs to call his mother, she will be worried. I wrap the wound as Steven crushes an antibiotic and something that will hopefully help Torin rest. Torin has worn us both out with his singing and talk of a dead grandmother and absent mothers and continuous squirming and attempts to walk to his lady.
Torin takes the medicine, and there is finally quiet. Both Steven and I are leaned back in our chairs with our feet propped up on Nana's coffee table. We are eating one of the apple pies and drinking some water from the spigot. I am so tired, I can barely chew.
"Damn good pie," says Steven.
"Hell yeah," I say.
"How does Carli know Jack Taylor?" asks Steven. "She ever mention that before?"
"No," I say. "She didn't "
"Maybe, she only met him after the EMP. But how? And what happened to Brad?"
Steven knew all about Carli's love life. She was always fascinating to us, and the men in her life were an endless source of discussion and speculation for us both. We lived vicariously through Carli who always kept us updated.
"She said she dumped him."
"Well, Brad was adorable, but you know, he did have that funky toenail."
We both laugh. The good old days, when a funky toenail seemed like a good reason to not fall too hard for a guy.
I continue, "She did say she met a new man. A man's man. Came to help her. My mom sent him."
"Your mom?"
"That's what she said."
"You mom sent Jack Taylor to help Carli?"
"Well, Carli didn't say it was Jack Taylor."
"They did look pretty friendly in the shower."
"Yes, yes they did." I say. I try to get that image out of my head because I still see Carli with Torin. "Wonder why Carli didn't tell me she knew Jack Taylor. She had to have known about the prince. Jack must have told her. They look so much alike. Unless."
"Unless, what?"
'Unless Carli is in on it too. Unless Jack Taylor is in on it too."
"Impossible," says Steven.
"Who shot Torin?"
"I don't know. I thought it was Jack Taylor, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure. He was waving that gun around. Telling Torin they had to go. It was not safe. They were arguing, but it was like brothers do."
"Yes, but Torin got shot, Steven."
"I got shot," says Torin who wakes up just long enough to say those three words.
"Carli swung her backpack at Jack and then," Steven says and adds, "They both looked shocked. We all did. Torin was holding his side. And then..."
"Then what?"
"I forgot this part. I was too busy trying to help Torin. We heard someone running towards us."
"And?"
"Jack said run. He said run. He and Carli ran towards the person coming. And, I ran as fast as I could the other way half pulling, half tugging on the prince."
"Steven, it was probably our people. Probably Leia and Adam or Sarah."
"No, it wasn't them. They would never fire a gun towards the prince. I heard shots. I thought they were firing at us, but I guess it was each other."
"It all makes sense, Steven, think about it - red jeep."
"The jeep was outside. Someone left the keys in it. We were lucky."
"Steven, it's the same red jeep that was at the library. The same one at the newspaper office. The same one Ned told us about. A woman and three men. Jack and Carli."
"Where's the other guys?" asks Steven.
"I don't know, but think Steven. It all adds up. Carli and Jack tried to kill our prince. They killed Ned. They are the bad guys, just like my mom."
"I don't believe it."
"I don't want to believe it either, but what other explanation is there?"
Torin stirs, "A pram. People think we are twins. Our mothers put us in the same pram and parade us around. We are twins. Jack is my twin." Torin smiles that dimpled smile and adds looking right at me and yet through me, "But, we are not really twins."
Both Steven and I look at Torin. Steven says, "For his sake, I hope all this is not true."
"Me too," I say.
For my sake, I hope it is not all true either.
We both doze off for several hours when I wake up suddenly and remember the red jeep. It is almost daylight. It will be easy to spot for anyone looking for us in the morning. I go outside and move the jeep to behind the house. When I go back inside, Steven is awake and waiting on me.
"I've got it," he says.
"What?"
"The reason why Jack and Carli are not the bad guys."
"Why?"
"Because they told us to run. After the prince was shot, they tried to protect him. Besides, no matter what, they would not have shot Prince Torin on purpose. The One Nation Army wants Torin alive. He is to be a hostage. He's no good to them dead."
I think about this. "So, if they are good guys, then who was firing at them? If it was One Nation, they would not have been firing at the Prince either. So who was shooting?"
"Maybe they didn't know it was a prince. He had his back to them. Maybe, they just thought it was the Resistance."
This all makes sense to me. "An ambush," I say. "Ned did say that One Nation was close to here." I start to pack up our belongings. I am throwing what I can into our bags.
"What are we going to do?" asks Steven.
"Get the hell out of here."
"Rule one - help others. Rule two - leave no man behind. We have got to warn the others about One Nation being here. They will all be slaughtered, Eliot. We have got to go help."
"Steven, what is rule three?"
We both look down at a sleeping prince. Steven does not answer.
"Rule three - Save the Prince," I say.
Steven does not say anything. I finish packing. "There is nothing we can do for them," I say, "But we can save the prince. Get him to safety."
"I'll help you load him in the car," says Steven. "But then I'm going back."
"Steven."
"There is always hope, Eliot. Always."
"That is foolish thinking, Steven."
"I guess I am a fool, just like our rebel editor, because I believe there is always hope, because without it, there is nothing."
I am upset with Steven for always being the good guy so I say to him, "Look around Steven, this is nothing. There is nothing here. No hope and nothing left worth fighting or dying for."
He doesn't say anything back to me. He helps me get the prince to sit up. Torin at least has some color this morning, though his cheeks look red. I feel his forehead, and he's hot. He must have a fever.
"I don't think I need to move him just yet," I say. "He feels warm. Might have a fever. I need to get more antibiotic in him and some ibuprofen."
"What happened?" says Torin.
"You were shot," says Steven.
"Jack," says Torin and then falls back over and passes out again.
"I guess that answers our questions," says Steven. "I have got to go back. If Jack is involved, that means Carli is too. Everyone there trusts her. They'll be ambushed."
"I can't move him now. It would be too dangerous."
"I am going to go back. Warn them."
"Steven, it is hopeless. They don't stand a chance. Wait here with me. We can go together. Get him to safety. Go to my dad's."
"Eliot, I agree with you. We can't move the prince, but I've got to go warn them. You stay here with Torin. I'll come back if I can. Give me until this time tomorrow. If I'm not back, leave."
I think about what he has said. We are both right. We can save the prince and warn the others too. "Take the jeep. It will be faster."
Steven pauses and says, "No, you'll need a way to move him, if I don't come back."
He is right. "Have you got your gun?" I ask.
"Yes, and I have my hidden weapon too, just like you taught me." He shows me the knife in his sock. "You're a good teacher."
I pull him to me and hug him like I might not ever see him again because I might not ever see him again. "Be careful," I say.
"I will," Steven says, "and take care of our broken prince."