Never to lose this joy,
driving to one who awaits my arrival.
- Anne Michaels, 'What the Light Teaches'
Private Lives
Forty-five minutes after the shooting was captured and the bloody images fed into a dozen, then a hundred, then a million news wires across this country and every other, sparking a hysteria that spread like wildfire across the user-nets, the suspected gunman was mortally wounded by authorities in the middle of crossing the heavily armed US-Canadian border in a '24 Renault.
Speeches had been running late before the Governor took to the stage. The shooter must have known, reasoned a steely-eyed expert later on Sky HoloCast, that he would be caught. The sun was already low at the horizon when he made his mad, suicidal dash.
...Dan Guerrez, 35 years, a veteran of Nigeria and the Indo-Pacific, escaped in the chaos that erupted at the Democratic Convention in Seattle...
...-venor still in critical condition. Two bodyguards dead at scene. Traces of silver compound in bullets rec-...
...anyone genuine shocked? I'm only surpised that nobody's taken a shot at that unnatural woman before...
...dared to speak out against the messages of hate and prejud-...
...what I think? There's no small number of Americans, politicians among them, who'd be happy to see her dead. That's always assuming, with her supporters and that companion, Eric Northman, that she stays dead...
'Unless I was hallucinating,' said Sookie, tugging closed the shredded remains of her shirt over the cavity growing smaller by the second in her chest, her voice tight from exhaustion and the morphine still in her system, 'that was Dr. Ludwig who just gave me the all clear.'
'She is impossible to mistake,' agreed Eric, sitting at the edge of the bed. Now that the danger was over and he could smell death leaving her, he dabbed at a spot of stray blood on her chin with an index finger before putting it to his mouth. He felt buoyant and demonstrative. Another ten minutes - another five - and he might have been too late. 'I'm not letting anything like that happen again,' he said fiercely, without thinking, possessive in a way that he thought she'd long since cured him of.
Sookie made a snort that turned into a heavy cough, and quickly, he held her through it, a cool hand stroking her back until her lungs were cleared and she was breathing without pain. 'Then wishes would be horses, and the world would run on our clock and we'd never be apart,' Sookie said at last. 'It's a nice dream.'
'Cynic,' said Eric, unsure whether he approved or not.
Sookie laughed throatily and quipped, 'Old age, my love.' She gently pushed him away to look at him, and he felt the familiar weight of her scrutiny, her mind tasting the flickers of emotion vibrating between them. She had accused him, over the years, of doing whatever it took to get what he wanted, and he'd always replied truthfully. What was the outcome of this or that election to him, if she were gone?
'Well,' he said lightly, with nothing to hide. She had seen Dr. Ludwig; she'd figure it out. If she wanted, if forever was to start now, they could both disappear. 'Do I pass? Are my intentions honourable?'
Sookie rolled her eyes. 'Definitely not.'
'But it's your choice,' said Eric.
'It is,' she said, and took his hand.
THE END
1 August 2009