Ava watched the caterpillar inch its way across the leaf while she squatted. She could hear Gunner humming to himself a little ways to the left. Birds were calling back and forth, but they would soon be getting ready for night. Ava was dreading the night again.
She stood up, pulling her pants up with her, and walked back to rejoin Gunner.
"You're drinking too much," he pointed out.
"Hey, I don't have my own personal hose to just whip out and aim where I please," Ava retorted. "I have to be a bit more crafty about it." He laughed again. She was learning that it didn't take much to make him laugh. They walked along in silence until Gunner spoke again.
"Where do you want to go after this, Ava?" he asked.
"Why do you care?" she countered.
"I'm just curious," he said with a shrug. "You come out of nowhere, and now you're doing a job with us in order to help you disappear. I know there is someone named Duke who got killed by someone named Simon and that you're being hunted. You wanna talk about what happened?"
"You are chattier than a woman," Ava sighed, sweeping branches out of her face.
"We have lots of time on our hands here," he pointed out. "I'd like to know at least something about you before this is over."
"I hate strawberries," she offered after a moment.
"What?!"
"That's right," she confirmed. He guffawed.
"Who hates strawberries?" he asked.
"Those who almost die from eating them."
"Oh. You're allergic?"
"That's usually the main reason why someone almost dies eating them," Ava reiterated.
"Most people just get a mild reaction," Gunner said. "And kids can grow out of an allergy sometimes."
"I'd rather not find out," Ava replied. "And since when are you the expert on allergies?"
"My lillasyster," Gunner replied. Ava shot him a look.
"Your whatawhata?" she asked.
"Little sister," he translated. "She had several allergies; now, she only has one."
"Good for her."
She wondered how tall his sister was. She imagined she was anything but little. Gunner was a bit gigantic. It made her feel a little bit safer, having him around as an easy target.
"You don't like people, do you?" Gunner asked a moment later. She resisted rolling her eyes. He was really on the "let's talk" kick. It was annoying.
"Not really," she said impatiently. She was tired of walking, tired of being lost. It was bad enough she was lost emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, but being lost physically was too much. Plus, she was still stressing about the safety of her family. She also was worried about Luna. Had the girl gotten out in one piece?
"Was Duke your mentor?" Gunner asked. The question came out of nowhere, although she shouldn't have been surprised. She stopped walking, the breath forced out of her lungs suddenly by the emotional pain. Gunner took three steps before realizing she had stopped, and he did as well.
"Don't," she said when she could breathe again. "Don't talk about him."
"Okay," Gunner said simply. She met his eyes, and she saw that he was concerned for her. Why he even cared was a mystery. She was a nobody who was soon going to be gone whenever they got out of this Godforsaken jungle. She looked away and forced herself to walk again. Gunner had the sense to finally stop talking.
...
Toll was pacing when Tool arrived. Even Lee had come back after hearing what happened and looked concerned.
"What the hell happened?" Tool demanded, approaching.
"I don't know," Toll answered. "One minute she's talking to me and the next, she's having a seizure."
"How the f*** does someone miss a brain bleed?" Lee asked angrily.
"They sometimes don't show up right away," Tool answered, giving him a brief glance before looking back at Toll. "Where is she now? Is she okay?"
"They took her away, and nobody has told me anything," Toll explained. He stopped pacing. "What the hell do we do, Tool?"
"Mr. Smith?"
All three of them whirled to see the doctor standing there. She looked a bit more grim this time. Toll swallowed.
"Yea?" he asked, dreading what she was going to tell him.
"Miss Taffet has come through surgery but is currently in a coma," she explained. "It's the body's way of healing from this trauma."
"How long?" Lee asked.
"We don't know that. All we can do is monitor her and wait."
"Is her brain going to hemorrhage again?" Toll asked.
"I don't believe so."
"How did you miss it?" Lee demanded.
"It was a slow bleed. The first scans missed it. From the bruising on the side and back of her skull that we were able to see, it would appear she has suffered at least two head injuries. That can trigger a intracerebral hemorrhage."
"English, doc," Lee ordered.
"Brain bleed," she simplified.
"Will she be okay?" Tool asked. The doctor inhaled and sighed slightly.
"It'll be a bit of a road to recovery, but I believe she'll be fine."
"But you don't know 100%," Toll finished for her. "Right?"
"These things can go one way or another. I wish I could be more specific. I'm sorry," the doctor said, giving him a sympathetic look. "She's lucky to have you all here. Go in and talk to her. Sometimes coma patients can hear you. You might bring her back."
"We will," Toll promised. She left them standing there, and Lee swore again.
"I can take first shift," Tool offered. "You should go home and clean up, Toll. I think the doctor wanted to do an examination of you just by looking like that."
He didn't want to, but he desperately needed a shower and a change of clothes.
"All right," he caved. "But call me if she wakes up."
"Of course."
Toll left the two of them behind as he walked out of the hospital. He couldn't get the image of Luna seizing out of his head. When he got outside, he headed for the bushes and hurled. After he finished and coughed a few times, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and straightened up. He had to be strong for her. She'd be all right.
She had to be.
...
"Damn it," Barney said, banging his fist against the nearby tree. Then he swore from the pain and shook his hand.
"What's wrong?" Doc asked.
"Luna's in a coma," Barney answered. Everyone grew silent. Mars gave him a worried look, and Barney knew what he was feeling.
"Is she...is she gonna be all right?" Thorn asked, reading everyone's mind.
"Don't know," Barney replied. "It's a waiting game now." He looked around at where they were. He had no idea where Gunner and Ava were. With insurgents chasing after them, they might be lost forever or kidnapped. Or worse. They'd located the crashed truck and headed into the brush from there.
"What do we do about Gunner?" Mars asked after a moment.
"There's a river here," Doc said, looking at the map in his hands. Barney went to look. "They'll follow that to the nearest town and call for help. If not, they'd stay close to it for water. I would."
"So we should wait by the phone," Caesar clarified. Barney pinched his nose with his fingers. It was all too much. The thought of doing nothing burned him. He couldn't just assume they'd make it to a phone. He had to find them.
"Mars, you, Caesar, and Thorn follow that river. You might catch up with them or find them in a bad state. Doc, we're gonna go locate a chopper so we can pick 'em up at that town. I've got a contact."
"Okay," Doc agreed. The others nodded, and despite having a bad feeling about splitting up, Barney knew this was the right call. Someone had to be mobile to pick them up, and he was for damn sure not calling Trench for help. Forget it. He did not need to be made into a laughingstock anymore by that arrogant son of a-
"Barns?" Caesar asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yea?"
"Be careful."
"I will. You too. Got your sat phone?"
"Yea," Caesar answered, showing him.
"Good."
Caesar reached to clap him on the shoulder before heading off into the jungle with Thorn and Mars. Doc looked at Barney.
"Let's get rolling, big fella," he said, starting to walk back towards the road. Barney looked over at the now abandoned castle as he followed. He had a very bad feeling that an entire army was going after Gunner and Ava, and he just hoped that they were safe and that the others would reach them soon.
...
"I have a little sister too," Ava said suddenly. It fell out of her without warning, taking her aback. That was how much Jody was on her mind.
"Oh yea?" Gunner said without missing a beat. "What's she like?"
"She's okay. She's having a baby with my fiance."
"Whoa, what?" Gunner asked, stopping abruptly. Ava promptly walked right into him. She caught herself and stepped back from him. He held up his hand, looking at her. "What?"
"Ex-fiance," Ava corrected. "I mean, I said yes when he asked but then disappeared for eight years, so does that mean we were ever engaged?"
"My brain doesn't even know how to compute anything you've just said," Gunner told her. She laughed. It was a genuine laugh, and it surprised her. She didn't think she'd ever laugh again. She immediately felt guilty, though, for Duke was dead, she'd lost Michael, and there was nothing left in this world to laugh at or be happy about.
"It's definitely a head scratcher," she said after a moment. "My family is very dysfunctional."
"Your sister got engaged to your ex-fiance, and now they're having a baby?" Gunner clarified.
"That about sums it up, yes."
"Why would she do that?"
"They found solace in each other after I abandoned them," Ava said with a shrug. "I can't fault them that."
"You still love him?"
She reflected on her desperate plea that he come away with her, right before he told her Judy was pregnant. The guilt for even asking him was immense. How could she do that to her own sister? It had been the lowest of the low, even for her.
"I had to let him go," she answered softly. Gunner looked like he was going to say something else when a twig snapped. They both whirled around, gums aimed. The squirrel froze, tail erect and eyes bulged in fear. Ava was the one who started laughing first.
"Stupid wildlife," Gunner muttered, lowering his gun. Ava laughed a bit harder then, holstering her gun as well.
"At least I didn't wet myself from surprise," Ava pointed out, giving him a look before walking again. He snorted in laughter and shook his head, bringing up the rear.
...
Tool looked at Luna and wished he could bring her back from wherever she was. He reached to hold her hand. So long as there was a pulse, she was alive. That's how he felt about it anyway.
"Hey, girl," he said softly. "You gotta come back to us. We need you."
He didn't know what else to say. There was a lot on his mind, and he was tired. He wasn't sure what possessed him to start talking about his diagnosis, but he did.
"It started off really simple, you know? I forgot where my keys were, what street something was located on. I'd confuse the simplest things. I just thought it was stress or old age. Turns out I have bloody Alzheimer's, and I'm going to go mental and forget all of you and everything I've ever done..." he trailed off, tears coming now. "I'm scared, Luna. I'm so scared. I don't want to forget. I don't want to be sitting in some nursing home spouting off babbling nonsense and drooling all over myself. I want to go out before that happens. I can't...I can't do it like that. I just can't."
He sniffed hard and wiped at his cheeks with his arm.
"I almost envy you," he whispered. "Facing the possibility of dying. I'd rather die like that than like this. I mean, I don't want to die at all because it scares the shit out of me, but we all gotta go sometime." Luna didn't answer, her breathing slow and rhythmic on the machine. He patted her hand and then folded his together on his leg. He sat there tormenting himself with his own thoughts until Lee returned and took over for a shift. Galgo and John had heard and were signed up for shifts too. Tool left it up to them what times they wanted to be there. He said nothing to Lee, who looked disgruntled and scared. Then he went home.
It was a long night.