© 2012 Phylicia Joannis
The six of us sat huddled together in the cold, dark tunnel, our hopes diminishing. The Nurse and the Old Woman were checking Dreadlock’s wound.
“I don’t have another bandage for it,” the Nurse shook her head. “It needs to be changed, but if I expose it to the air, it will only make things worse.”
Dreadlock had nodded off some time ago, and his face and clothes were drenched in sweat. He looked considerably grayer than before.
“Do you think he’ll make it?” I asked.
The Nurse’s face clouded with anxiety. “I don’t know. If we were at a hospital, this would be so much easier. I could dress his wound properly and get him antibiotics and something for the pain. Instead he’s here, suffering.”
The Climber placed his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault. You’ve done everything you can, and besides, it’s not like the world will miss him much. He was a drug dealer.”
“That doesn’t matter,” the Nurse shook her head, losing her composure. “It never matters when you come under a nurse’s care. You could be a drug dealer or a murderer or an addict, but when you come to me, it’s not about that. I promised myself I wouldn’t judge people the way I’ve been judged. Not when they need my help.”
Something about the Nurse’s statement pricked at my heart. “What do you mean?” I asked.
She sniffed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m a lousy nurse.”
“Don’t believe that for a second,” the Congressman interjected. “If it weren’t for you I’d be a goner, and that guy would have been dead already. You are a hero.”
“Heroin,” the Nurse felt for Dreadlock’s pulse and frowned.
“My mistake,” the Congressman chuckled. “You are a heroine.”
“No, no,” the Nurse pulled Dreadlock’s sleeve up several inches and felt along his arms. “He has scars on his arms from heroin injections. Heroin delays pain messages to the body, which explains why he’s been able to come this far. I should have noticed before now.”
“So taking heroin before going to his job interview was a good call?” the Climber asked cynically.
“No,” the Nurse shook her head. “Heroin also slows your heart. If his heart stops beating…”
“He’ll die,” the Climber finished her sentence. We all stared at Dreadlock, wondering if he’d ever wake up again.
***
“So Charles, you said you work across the street?”
Chuck nodded quickly and took another gigantic bite out of his burger.
“What do you do?” Penny asked.
“How long have you been a coffee drinker?” he asked abruptly, changing the subject.
Penny shrugged. “How long have you been a question dodger?”
Chuck swallowed. “Touche.” What could be the harm in telling her? The Detective had let everyone go home. No one had been arrested. The police had no evidence, no suspects, nothing.
“I work in the main dispatch hub for the city’s transit system,” Chuck finally answered. “My job is to monitor the trains coming in and out of my sector.”
“Is that a fun job?” Penny smiled as she bit into her burger.
Chuck shook his head. “Nah, it’s usually pretty boring. But today was different.”
“I can imagine,” Penny took another sip of her coffee. “Having two holes in the ground and a train go missing probably had everyone in a frenzy, right?”
Chuck choked on his last bite.
“Charles, are you okay?” Penny eyes grew wide as she handed him a glass of water.
Chuck’s coughing finally eased and he cleared his throat. “H-How do you know about that?” he stuttered.
Penny laughed. “The Mayor held a press conference not too long ago about it. Didn’t you watch it?”
Chuck shook his head, his face paling. “What else did he say? The Mayor, I mean?”
Penny looked up in thought. “Mm, he said he was going to do a full investigation and blah blah blah.” Penny stopped midsentence and stared hard at Chuck. Could she trust him?
“Charles, there’s something else going on,” Penny began tentatively.
Chuck’s heart thumped so loud he was certain Penny could hear it. “What makes you think that?”
“Charles, can I trust you?”
“O-Of course,” Chuck swallowed the lie in his throat.
“Maybe you might have heard something about it already, since you work there,” Penny began. “And I don’t know how high up your position is, but there was a huge cover up in regards to that missing train.”
“That’s what the Mayor is investigating?” Chuck asked gravely.
“No,” Penny shook her head. “He’s already blown the whistle on that. What I’m talking about is something deeper.”
“Like what?” Chuck’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Penny lowered her voice to match Chuck’s volume. “Like all the passengers on the train weren’t rescued.”
Chuck blinked. How could she possibly know that?
“How do you know that?” Chuck rasped.
Penny paused in uncertainty. The waitress returned to pour more coffee into their cups. Penny waited until she left before continuing.
“Charles, I met the guy who escaped.”