Autumn in the City of Angels by Kirby Howell

Author:Kirby Howell [Howell, Kirby]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: kickass.to, ScreamQueen
Amazon: B00CCUHBLC
Publisher: Streetlights Publishing
Published: 2013-04-13T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I was conscious of being carried. For a moment, I pictured myself on my dad’s shoulders. I felt the swing of his legs beneath me, the bump of each heel hitting the ground as he walked. There was a faint citrus smell to the shirt beneath my face. Warm, soft cloth and a hard shoulder. I cracked my eyelids and immediately squeezed them shut again. Grey was carrying me.

“I need to examine her,” he said sharply. “She’s walked almost thirty miles today.”

“And she’s been up for probably thirty hours!” Ben argued. “She needs sleep. Give her to me. I’ll take her to where she sleeps... where does she sleep?”

Grey continued walking silently. I suddenly felt the presence of many more people around us, and I snuck another peek.

They were staring as we moved down the small hallway. We were back. Some staring was inevitable, what with Ben and Rissi being newcomers, but many of the stares were for me. I kept my eyes mostly shut. I knew I upset a lot of people by leaving, but I wasn’t about to be remorseful. No one could convince me leaving my family was the right thing to do. And now that I was returning with only Ben and Rissi, and not The Front, surely they couldn’t suspect me of sabotage, could they?

I felt a weak squeeze and realized Rissi was holding my dangling hand. She must be terrified.

We entered the supply room and slipped through the curtain. Lydia looked up from a book she was writing in and immediately cleared off the examination table. Grey laid me down on the table.

I felt my shoes loosen and saw Grey gently taking them off. I instinctively pulled my feet away from him, and he looked up in surprise.

“No,” I added when he made a move to pull my feet back within reach. He responded with a smile as he delicately touched my heels and extended my legs out for inspection.

“So you’re back,” said a voice from the door. Every head in the room swiveled toward Todd. His eyes fell on me, then Ben and Rissi, and then finally on Grey. “May I speak with you privately?” he said slowly to Grey.

Grey turned to Lydia. “Will you?” he asked, nodding toward my feet. Then he disappeared through the curtain with Todd. I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. Though I didn’t want Grey to see my gross, blistered feet, I didn’t want Lydia touching them either. I was sure her sharp edge toward me hadn’t dulled during my absence. If anything, it had probably only gotten more lethal after she discovered Grey went after me.

She removed my shoes, and I winced when I saw patches of my white socks stained dark red. She expertly peeled them off, revealing my swollen feet, red with blisters and blood.

“Gross,” Rissi whispered.

Lydia opened a cabinet and pulled out a clear glass bottle. “Your feet certainly don’t look good,” she said. “I’m going to clean these up and bandage them.

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