Cass fought diligently to hold up Lena’s limp body. Eb reached to cut down the belt, doing so without causing any more harm. But it was only when Niles and Art entered and lifted Lena higher, that Eb was able to do so.
Once they placed Lena on the floor, Ada watched Cass feel for a pulse, then without hesitation deliver breaths.
Cass beckoned her, pleaded.
It didn’t take long. Lena choked weakly with a whimper and that was when Ada summoned Dr. Craig.
Dr. Craig.
He made eye contact with Ada, now back in the present, as he pulled the door closed.
“How is she?” Ada asked.
“She made it through the night. That’s a good thing.”
“I knew she would.”
“Right now, she’s still under sedation and will be for a few more hours. She needs rest and to not move. I don’t think anything is broken. We’ll know when she wakes if there is a problem with the larynx. Doesn’t feel it though. The ligation isn’t too deep.”
“What about a pulmonary edema?”
“We have to watch for a delayed one, clots, and other repercussions. She should be in a hospital, but we know that’s not possible. We just have to keep monitoring her closely,” Craig said.
“I did that all last night?”
“Maybe you should get some rest. Niles is a physician. He can handle it for a while. I also appreciate you getting the monitor from the veterinarian. I didn’t have one.”
“There’s nothing really we can’t do for her here,” Ada said.
“I agree. I’ll tell you, your fast reaction saved her life. And more so from any permanent damage. She could have suffered hypoxia, lack of oxygen to the brain. I mean, it really could have been worse. Do you know how long she was hanging?”
“It wasn’t long,” Ada said. “We heard the thump. I didn’t think anything about it, no one did but Cass, so no more than a minute or two. She had a feeling.”
“Where is she now?”
“Cass? She left. She said for me to call her and keep her updated. She’s not one to hang around bad situations. But you know her.”
“No, actually, I don’t. I know her to see her. When she drives Mr. Algerman in for his tests. That’s it. She seems to be the only person in town that doesn’t come to me for treatment.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“What about Lena’s friend?” he asked.
“Yes, I uh… I spoke to her. She’ll be here this afternoon.”
“Good. That woman is alone and needs all the support she can get.”
“Well, Doctor, she’s part of Griffin now. She’s family,” Ada said, looking at the closed door. “And like any family member, we will do what we can to keep her going.”
Cass did that ‘speak softly to yourself’ thing as she sat behind the computer in the police station. “Stir… crazy.” She typed and hit enter. She cast her eyes over the screen and shook her head. Grabbing a pencil, she scratched out the word, one of many on a list.
The police station bell dinged and she looked up to see Eb walk in.
“Morning, Officer McDaniels,” he said.
“Hey, Eb.”
“Have you been here all night?” Eb asked.
“Pretty much. I just don’t want to miss a second of connectivity while we have it.”
“I get that. We just had an arrival.” Eb walked toward Cass. “A young man from Texas.”
“Another Texan.” Cass shook her head. “What did he do drive a hundred miles an hour?”
“Man, you are a state boundary bigot. I think he said he was in New Mexico.”
“Did Lena’s friend show up?” Cass asked.
“Not yet.”
Cass sat back in the chair and tossed the pencil. “Do we know where we are putting people in this town? Did Mark say at the meeting? I mean, after everything calmed down.”
“He did. Mark handled it with his usual style. People calmed and then got kind of excited that we were spared. I mean those who were worried about family out there. He took volunteers for committees.” Eb grabbed a chair and pulled it toward her. “A committee for housing, searching, food.”
“Oh, good Lord. Mark and his committees. I’m surprised he didn’t have a committee to have the festival.”
Eb only looked at her.
“We’re still having the festival?”
“Somebody asked,” Eb said.
“The world is ending and they still want their festival.”
“It’s important. It signifies life. We’re alive, Cass, when almost everyone else is dead. Speaking of which—”
Cass held up her hand. “Okay, if you’re gonna talk about Lena, that is a terrible segue.”
Eb winced. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Anyhow, what you did. How you had that instinct. It was great.”
Cass slightly pursed her lips and half shrugged.
“What? Why are you blowing it off? You saved her life.”
“And she is going to be pissed. She’s going to hate me, at least for a while.” Cass lifted her eyes. “Trust me, I know. And I can’t blame her. It wasn’t like I pulled her out of the way of a moving car. I took her choice away.”
“You and I both know she wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Cass nodded.
“So, what are you doing?”
“As I said we still have internet and I am on social media just looking for people. I thought I’d try key words.” She pushed the paper forward. “Just throwing things out. You know.”
“It’s a good idea. Quite a list. Why don’t you take a break? I’ll do this for a while. You need a break and need to sleep.”
“Maybe. Did you… did you volunteer for any committees?” She pulled the list back and began to type.
“Just the ‘don’t bury the festival’ committee.”
Cass laughed and hit enter. “Shit. Typo.”
“No, I joined the committee to look for survivors.”
“That sounds like a good one.” She looked at the screen and readied to retype the correct keyword. “Maybe I’ll… Whoa… Eb.” She turned the monitor some. “Look at this.”
It was the second time that Kit was doing dishes and it wasn’t even noon. The first time was after breakfast, the second time was when an out of the blue idea to bake cookies hit him.
“I know you hear me.” Kit aimed his voice toward the window where Kat sat on the porch not far from him. “Kat, I know you hear me.”
Or did he?
Kat had done nothing but play on his phone since a signal came through. There wasn’t anything he could look up or do. But he kept swiping through. What was he even looking at or reading?
Kit placed the final dish in the rack, shut off the tap, grabbed the towel and dried his hands. He turned and opened the fridge, reaching in for a soft drink. “You wanna soda?”
“No,” a woman’s voice replied. “I’ll take a beer if you have one. I haven’t been to bed so technically it’s a night cap.”
“Cass?” Kit asked shocked, then grabbed a beer from the fridge for her.
He was shocked to see her sitting on the steps of his front porch. “When did you get here?”
“Only a minute or so ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was here?”
Kat shrugged.
“What are you doing so intently on that phone?” Kit asked his son.
“Seeing if anyone is posting anything. Survivors, you know,” Kat replied.
“I’ll accept that.” Kit sat down on the step next to Cass. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
“I heard what you did last night. Man, give you a badge and you jump right on that protect and serve.”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Kit nudged her. “She’s gonna give you hell.”
“I know.”