Thirst by Benjamin Warner

Author:Benjamin Warner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781632862167
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-02-11T08:00:00+00:00

In his kitchen, he soaked another washcloth with the rest of the vinegar and brought it down to Laura. She was still lying down with her eyes closed. The washcloth was almost cool. When it touched her forehead, she squeezed her eyes tighter.

“It’s a breeze,” she said.

“Just a washcloth.”

“It feels good, though, Eddie. Thanks.”

“It’s daytime.”

“I have a really bad headache.”

“I know.”

“You have one, too?”

“Yeah,” he said, and then wished he hadn’t told her. She would worry about his headache on top of suffering from her own.

“What else can we drink? Let’s really think about it.”

“What else? Can you think of anything? Our own pee, I guess.”

“Yeah. That’s what we should do.”

“I think we’re a long way off from that.”

“How long do we wait?”

“It’ll come back on soon.”

“What were you doing outside?”

“I was helping out at the Davises’. Mike Jr.’s still not feeling good.”

“Are you hungry? Everything we eat has water in it. We should be eating. You should tell the Davises to eat. No. I’ll do it.”

She pressed up to her elbow and took the washcloth in her hand, blinking her eyes as if the lights had just come on.

“You stay here,” Eddie said. “Rest.”

“I’m feeling better. That washcloth did the trick. It was smart of you to think of that.”

“There are still some hot dogs in the fridge.”

“I’ll give them to the Davises.”

“The Davises probably have their own hot dogs.”

“I’ll check, then.”

“It’s hotter out there than it is down here. A lot hotter.”

She stood up and Eddie watched her climb the stairs very slowly. Then he lay down and stared up at the drop ceiling. The house was silent. If he could fall asleep, even for a few minutes, he might escape the pain in his head. But he couldn’t fall asleep.

Bill Peters’s bloated face filled the space behind his eyes. It was too thick to push away. He stared at the ceiling again, but even there, he could see it.

The handrail creaked on its screws where Laura leaned into it. He thought it was the sound of her leaving, but she was already coming back.

Her skin was pale—Eddie could tell even in the bad light. The thirst had changed her summer tan. She’d taken two hamburger buns and spread mustard on them and put a slice of American cheese on top of each.

“Eat this,” she said.

“You saw Mike Jr.?”

“I gave them the rest of our hot dogs. Patty says they’re still okay.”

“Laur …”

“It was only two of them.”

“You need to eat, too.”

“We have this. Okay?” she said. “Eat it.” She looked at him kindly, and he took the hamburger bun and ate it. It stuck in his mouth and he had to chew for a long time to get it to go down.

They rested on the mattress, and with Laura there beside him, Eddie could fall asleep. It was a shallow, crackling sleep, though, and his dreams stung and spat at him like drops of water in a hot oiled pan.

When he woke, his breath was shallow. Laura was awake and sitting above him.

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