CHAPTER 3: JUST IN CASE

LATE AFTERNOON – IN THE CAR

Dawson retried insistently to start the car, every time with more anxiety and less patience.

"Come on! – he yelled - What the hell is happening? Why doesn't it start? Everything was fine until a couple of hours ago, I don't get it!"

Saying so he ran a hand in his hair, sighing. Pacey, next to him, remained in silence, almost paralyzed.

Glancing down on the dashboard, Dawson's eyes fell on one of the buttons and a shiver went down his spine.

"Pacey, please tell me that you turned off the lights."

Pacey hesitated for a second. Then, in a resigned tone, he whispered:

"Would it change anything now?"

Dawson threw a strong fist to the wheel.

"Damn it! – he screamed with rage – Why do you always be so distracted and unconcerned of any consequence! Is it so hard to turn off the lights when you get out of the car? Look now because of something so stupid in what an absurd mess we are! I…I really have no words Pacey, your superficiality even in the simpler things is just unbelievable, your attitude of 'act fast and then maybe think later' is a ruin for everybody and-

Noticing that Pacey was staring blankly at the glove box, Dawson suddenly stopped.

Hearing no further words from Dawson, Pacey turned to him:

"Done? Don't you think that maybe I'm already paying enough the consequences of my mistake? Do you really have to make me feel an idiot too?"

Dawson stood quiet, petrified.

Pacey kept on talking.

"I know that I made a mistake, Dawson, but, trust me, I can assure you that it wasn't my intention to forget the lights on and, even more, it wasn't my intention to be bitten by a snake either."

Dawson stared at him for few more seconds, searching for the right words to say and then finding just one:

"Sorry."

"Nah, don't be. After all you're right, I'm an idiot and all I can do is screw up everything…nothing new here. The only difference is that this time I'm in a bigger mess than usual…sooner or later it was inevitable that it could happen."

Dawson lowered his eyes on the wheel, not been able to say anything.

"So…what do we do now, Dawson?"

Dawson kept on staring at the wheel, lost in his own thoughts.

"Dawson?"

Suddenly snapping back to reality: "Yeah."

"What do we do?"

Dawson hesitated one more moment, then he picked up his mobile phone just to have the sad confirmation that there was no signal and so he put it back in his pocket, demoralized.

"All right – he finally said – While we were getting up here, we've encountered some houses, right? They must have a phone or something that we can use to call for help, we just need to go there."

"Dawson, the houses that we saw were pretty downhill, they can be miles away, it may take hours to reach them."

"You've got a better idea? We can't just wait for someone to randomly find us here, we need to do something and now."

Pacey thought about it for second.

"Ok…let's go", he finally said more convinced, opening his door.

"Hey – Dawson immediately stopped him – You said it, the closest house could be miles from here and you can't walk."

"So? What should I do? Stay here and wait? No, thanks."

"Pacey with you limping we could take double the time to get there and you know we need to be as fast as possible. I'm sorry but I have to go alone, it's the only way. But you'll be safe here in the car."

Pacey shook his head. "It's not what's outside that scares me, Dawson."

"I know…Hey do you still have the walkie talkie, right?"

Pacey took it with difficulty from his pocket. "Yeah…"

"Ok, I want you to talk to me with that while I go find some help. I know it's not the same, but at least you will know where I am and I will know that you're still-

"Alive, yeah", Pacey interrupted him with nonchalance.

Dawson looked at him with shock, realizing only in that moment the gravity of the situation.

"I was going to say…conscious."

Pacey made a nervous smile.

"Yeah…"

"Pace, take that thought out of your mind, ok?"

"I wasn't really thinking it, I just wanted to scare you", he replied with sarcasm.

"Well, you did it – Dawson became very serious – Look, I have to go now, I'll make it as fast as I can, ok?"

Pacey nodded. "Go."

Dawson touched his shoulder. "Hold on."

Then, he got out of the car and started running away. Pacey watched him fade away, now showing off more pain.

LATE AFTERNOON – WOOD/CAR

Dawson was walking at a fast pace when he took the radio from his pocket.

"Hey Pace, can you hear me?"

"Yep."

"So, come on, tell me something. I have to run, I don't have much breath to talk."

"And what should I tell you?"

"Anything, it doesn't matter, it's just to keep you focus on something."

"Ok…uhm… - Pacey tried to think for a moment - I don't know, nothing comes to my mind."

"Pacey Witter that has nothing to say? I'm sorry but it's not possible."

"Well, I'm not exactly in my best mood, you know – he replied with sarcasm before pausing for a moment – No, it's not just that. You know, until a month ago, if you had said to me to tell you something, I probably would have gone on for an hour, but now…I don't know, now it's like nothing seems appropriate, just like when you have to speak with a-

"With a stranger, I know – Dawson interrupted him – But you don't have to necessarily speak about you, we can stay in a neutral topic like a book or a movie…"

"A book? How much exactly do you think I have changed in this last period?"

Dawson smiled. "Indeed…ok, let's go with the movie."

"Well, also about that, I'm not sure it would be a good idea, since every conversation with you about movies that are not critically acclaimed, usually ends up with 'pathetic', 'shallow', 'useless', 'grotesque', 'excessive use of special effects', 'lack of psychological characterization'-

"That's not true – Dawson interrupted him - I can appreciate many different kinds of movies."

"If you say so. Anakin Skywalker is a young slave living on Tatooine planet. One day he meets a Jedi master and his apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi and helps them fix their starship-

"Wait, tell me that you're taking the long way, but you're going to talk about the real Star Wars and not that so called prequel they made 20 years later."

"What difference does it make? It's still Star Wars."

"Are you kidding, right? How can you even think to compare the best sci-fi trilogy with this new episode, so full of unnecessary and artificial CGI and so lacking in what should really matters, like tridimensional characters and a solid script with appealing and realistic dialogues. Not to mention the character of Jar Jar Blinks which is so out of focus and weird that-

Pacey cleared his throat. Dawson stopped talking.

"Ok, maybe I can't appreciate remakes of the great classics."

"Maybe?"

"Yeah…but you can go on if you want. I'll listen."

"Uhm, ok – Pacey's expression suddenly turned to pain again – Hang on a sec."

Pacey put down the radio on his legs, then he quickly opened the door and threw up outside the car. Dawson, on the other side, listened to the complete silence of the radio, becoming more worried.

"Pacey, what's going on?"

Pacey didn't listen and once done vomiting, closed back the door.

"Pacey?"

Pacey picked up the radio again.

"I'm here", he finally said with a weary tone.

Dawson exhaled in relief.

"How are you?", he asked, still alarmed.

"You want the sweeten version or the real one?"

"The real one, of course."

"Well, the sweeten one is…hurry up, Dawson."

"You know I will."

"Ok…Listen, Dawson, I don't feel like talking about movies anymore…"

"It's ok."

"But I wanna tell you something, you know, just in case…"

"Pacey, there is no just in case."

"There's always a just in case."

Dawson sighed.

"Earlier, when I said that I didn't think I did anything wrong getting together with Joey, I lied."

"Look, this is not the moment –

"Please let me finish."

Dawson remained silent. Pacey resumed talking:

"I know how much Joey was, and still is, important to you, no matter if you two were together or not and what I did to you, as a friend, was terribly unfair, and not just because we've kept you in the dark. Believe me, Dawson, the last thing I wanted was to put a spoke in your wheel and fell in love with the same girl you love, but you know how much extraordinary she is and, spending all that time with her in this last year, I couldn't help but noticing it every day more. So, I lost my head in a way that I've never have before and, unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough to put our friendship first. I know that this is not a justification, because there isn't any, but all I can tell you is that I'm sorry…I really am. Of course, I don't expect you to forgive me and that everything will come back the way it was before, but I just want you to know that it wasn't my intention to hurt you, even if I did."

"Pacey…we'll talk about that when you're fine, ok? Anyway, I appreciate you telling me."

"Ok."

EVENING – STREET/CAR

Dawson was still walking down the street when suddenly something caught his attention. Immediately he took the radio to let Pacey know.

"Pacey, I see a house!"

"Good."

Then, he started running to its main door.

"I'll call you back soon – he said to the radio before stopping the conversation. Then, he rang the bell.

After a while, an old man opened slightly the door, leaving the door chain in.

"Hello, my name is Dawson Leery, sorry to bother you, but I really need to use your phone. My friend has been bitten by snake up in the woods and we need to call for help."

The old man observed him, very suspicious.

"But…where is your friend?", he finally asked.

"He's waiting in our car that unfortunately doesn't start…please, it's very important, it will just take a minute."

The man kept on looking at him with suspicion.

"And who's going to guarantee that if I let you in, you'll only take a minute and not also something else of my stuff? There are a lot of criminals around, how do I know that these aren't just balls to rob me?"

"Unfortunately, I can't prove it to you, but I swear that this is the truth and I have no intention to rob you, I just need to use your phone…You could also do it yourself, do you think that a criminal would ask you to call 911?"

"For what I know, you could also have a knife in your pocket and stab me before anyone could answer."

Dawson emptied his pockets and tried again to convince him.

"Ok, look, I don't have a knife, would you let me in now? The life of person depends on that call and I could have no time to get to the next house. Please, every minute counts."

The old man started to look at him with less suspicion, but still he hesitated to open the door.

Not knowing what else to do, Dawson decided to let nothing unturned and put out his wallet.

"All right…if you let me do that call, I'll give you…uhm…52$. That's what I have with me right now. 52$ for a call to a free number. Take it."

Dawson let the money slide through the door. The old man, after a moment of hesitation, took it.

"Do you still think I wanna rob you?"

The man remained silent, finishing counting the money. Then, he closed the door completely.

Dawson cursed under his breath, baffled.

While he was turning around to walk away, he heard the door opening again.

"Come in – the man said – The phone is right there. But I swear that if this is a play-

"It's not. Thanks."

Dawson got in, reached the phone and immediately dialed 911 and started explaining the situation. The old man stayed a few steps behind, observing his every move.

"No, we don't know what kind of snake it was – Dawson continued answering at the phone – No, he's not with me right now, I had to go and call for help."

Dawson kept on answering other questions, while the old man was now looking at him more convinced that he was sincere.

"Yes. Ok, I'll wait for the ambulance, please hurry up. Thanks."

Dawson hanged up, still very shaken. The old man came closer to him.

"Hey, kid, are you ok? Do you want a glass of water?"

"Yes, maybe."

The man went to the kitchen to get some water, while Dawson sat on the couch and turned on the walkie talkie again.

"Pace, can you hear me? Ambulance is on the way, it'll be there any minute now."

"I knew you would make it", Pacey replied with a weak smile.

"Just hang on a little more, ok? Then this nightmare will be over."

"Yeah."

The old man came back and gave Dawson a glass. Dawson drank fast, trying to slow down his labored breath caused both by his run and his agitation.

At that point the man took the money and gave it back to Dawson.

"This is yours. I'm sorry if I didn't believe you before, but you know, these days, you should trust no one."

"No, I told you that if you let me do the call, I'd give it to you, so you can keep it, I don't care."

"I don't want money from a kid who just wanted to call an ambulance. Take it back", the man insisted.

Dawson accepted it at last.

"Thanks."

"So…- the man sat on an armchair in front of him – how is your friend?"

Dawson shook his head, demoralized.

"I don't know, but not well."

"What kind of snake bit him?"

"I don't know that either, we're not experts. I just know that we were in the wood up here and he stepped off the trail where he's been bitten by this brownish snake. Then, we tried to take the car, but it didn't start so I went down here by foot to look for help."

"You should never leave the trail…– the man tried to remember his name –

"Dawson. And yes, I think we've learnt the lesson. I just hope it's not too late."

Dawson sighed.

"You know, Dawson, I've been bitten by a snake too, many years ago – the man continued while Dawson glanced at him, more interested – A timber rattlesnake came out from under a rock while I was resting during a hunting session just a few miles from here…that great bastard…I still have the scar on my leg."

"But you recovered completely, right?"

"Yes. I was lucky. You know, crotalus' venom can spread pretty fast, but I got the luck to be taken to the hospital in time."

"How fast?", Dawson asked more worried.

"Well, it depends on many factors, but I think it would take at least a couple of hours without treatment before it could cause serious damage."

Dawson stood silent, focused on his own thoughts. Noting his preoccupied expression, the man resumed speaking:

"How long ago was your friend bitten?"

"Uhm…I think at least an hour ago, maybe more."

The man stared at Dawson, now more worried himself.

"I hope your friend will make it like I did", he finally stated.

"Yeah…Now it's better if I go out and wait for the ambulance", Dawson said while getting up and heading to the door.

"Sure", the man followed him and opened the door.

"Thanks again for your help, Mr-

"Brooks. Arthur Brooks."

Dawson nodded.

"Good luck, Dawson."

After a while the ambulance arrived with sirens on and stopped where Dawson was waiting.

"I'll guide you where he is", he affirmed before getting on.

Then, it turned the sirens back on and left.

EVENING – AMBULANCE

From the back of the ambulance, Dawson gave directions about how to find their car.

"You have to go straight along this road and then take a left to that unpaved street until the top of the hill."

"Ok", confirmed the EMT guy.

Dawson felt almost like having to justify himself.

"I had to leave my friend there because our car didn't start and phones have no signal up there."

"You did the right thing. When's the last time you have spoken with your friend?"

"A few minutes ago. We communicated with these", Dawson replied showing his radio.

"Ok, can we talk to him?"

"Sure."

Dawson pushed the button on the radio.

"Pacey, can you hear me? The EMTs want to talk to you."

From the other side no one answered.

"Pace, can you hear me? – Dawson repeated more alarmed while still no answer came from the radio.

"We've just spoken, I don't-

"It doesn't matter – the EMT man intervened – We'll be there shortly to do anything necessary, there's no need to be alarmed now."

Dawson looked at him not convinced by the answer while the ambulance continued its run.