The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (2 page)

“So where are we?” I asked, this time talking out loud.

Erik finally turned back to look at me. “Somewhere in New Mexico. I told my dad I’d take over driving in an hour or so. He denies it, but I know he’s getting tired.”

As Erik talked, I felt my strong attraction to him again. I imagined us back on the porch swing at his old farmhouse, looking out at the fireflies in the field. It was there that we first kissed, a kiss so incredible that part of me ached to do it again, even though I knew it was wrong.
 

“Hey, what’s wrong, Sam? You got so quiet all of a sudden.”
 

“It’s nothing,” I lied, relieved that he hadn’t been reading my thoughts.
 

Erik reached over and put his hand on my shoulder. I felt his energy the second he touched me and I knew that’s why he did it. It was his way of keeping us connected. Reminding me what we shared.

“Are you okay? I mean, that whole thing with Worthings this morning was pretty traumatic. And you haven’t said anything. Do you wanna talk about it?”
 

“It’s weird, but I haven’t really given it any thought. I think I’m trying to block it out.”

“Guess I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He took his hand away.

“It’s okay. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. I killed a man,” I whispered, glancing over the seat to make sure Brittany was still asleep. “Actually, I killed two.”

“It was them or us, Sam. And you chose us. It wasn’t even a choice. You did what had to be done.”

“I didn’t even mean to do it, though. My abilities just kind of took over. I wasn’t trying to kill them.”

“Well, however it happened, you helped us get out of there alive. You and Brittany saved us all.”

“Yeah, who would’ve thought, right?” I shivered just thinking about it.
 

“Sam, if you ever want to talk about what happened, I’m always here.”

“I might just take you up on that,” I said, wondering how the morning’s event would affect me once I’d had more time to think about it.

“There’s some other stuff we need to talk about.”
Erik was communicating with his thoughts again.

“What stuff?”
I asked, even though I knew what he meant.
 

“We need to talk about
us
. About where we go from here now that Colin is back.”

I paused before responding.
“It’s not the right time, Erik.”

“I get that, but we still need to talk about it.”
He turned back toward the front of the van.
 

“So how’s Colin doing?” Erik spoke out loud again.
 

“He’s sleeping. He’s been sleeping a lot. I hope that’s not a bad sign. It seems like the drugs they gave him wore off, but he’s still really out of it.”

“When we stop, my dad can check on him. It’s probably just his body trying to recover.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

Erik lowered his voice and turned his head back slightly. “Did he tell you anything yet? About what happened to him?”
 

“No,” I said quietly. “But I probably don’t wanna know.” I knew from experience that GlobalLife was capable of doing horrible things, so I didn’t even want to imagine what they had done to Colin. “I should go check on him.”
 

I crawled behind my seat and kneeled down near Colin. He was still asleep but his body was shivering. I pulled the blanket over him and tucked it in around him. He looked so helpless and sick. He didn’t seem to be getting any better. In the dim light, I could see his hair had fallen over the cuts on his face again. I brushed it aside and noticed his hair was wet, like he’d been sweating. I put my hand on his face. It was burning hot with fever.

“Colin?” I tore the blanket off him, trying to cool him down. “Colin? Wake up. Talk to me. Colin?” He wasn’t responding. “Colin! Wake up!” I said it even louder but still got no response.
 

“Jack! Jack, stop the van!” I called out, startling Erik and waking up Brittany. Erik jumped out of his seat and made his way to the back of the van.

“Sam! What is it?” But as soon as he looked at Colin, he knew. “Dad, pull over! Now!” Erik was much louder than me. This time Jack heard.
 

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked. “What’s going on back there?”

“It’s Colin,” Erik called back. “He’s sick. He’s really sick. He needs help. You need to get back here.”

I could feel the van slowing. Colin was still not responding. “Colin, please wake up. Please, I’m begging you. Wake up.” Tears were streaming down my face.
 

Erik watched me, not knowing what to say. I could see the worry in his face as he looked down at Colin, who seemed to be getting sicker by the second. Neither one of us knew what to do, but we could both feel it. The feeling that it might be too late.

Jack pulled over to the side of the road and got out, racing to the back of the van. He burst through the back doors to get to Colin.
 

“When did this happen?” Jack’s urgent tone confirmed that Colin’s condition was as serious as we thought. “Sam, how long has he been this way?”
 

“I—I don’t know! I came back here to check on him and noticed that his hair was wet. Then I felt him and he was burning up. And now he won’t wake up!”

Jack ripped off Colin’s shirt. He grabbed a towel from a nearby box and tossed it to me. “Here, dry him off.”
 

“Why? What are you doing?” Jack didn’t answer, so I quickly patted Colin’s sweat-soaked chest with the towel as Jack checked his pulse. The color was starting to leave Colin’s face and body as his breathing became more labored.
 

“Jack, he’s getting worse! Help him!” I begged. “Colin, if you can hear me, please just hold on, okay?”
 

“Erik, get the defibrillator. Now!” Jack ordered.

Erik, who had been sitting silently next to me, suddenly burst up. “Where is it? Which box?”

“It’s marked ‘medical equipment.’ Should be on the top.” Jack took out a stethoscope from a small metal box on the floor.
 

Erik crawled over Colin and started searching through a box. “Got it!” Erik said, pulling out the AED machine.

“His pulse is very weak,” Jack muttered, “but his heart is racing. Skin is pale. He’s unconscious.” Jack seemed to be going through a checklist to determine a diagnosis.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I demanded.

Jack started attaching electrodes to Colin’s chest. “Ventricular fibrillation. His heartbeat’s too fast. His body isn’t getting enough blood. We don’t have much time. Erik, go up front. And take Sam with you.”
 

“Wait. Let me help!” I pleaded.

“Erik, get her out of here! Now!” Jack’s voice filled the van. He turned on the defibrillator.
 

Erik grabbed me, pulling me up to the second row seat. Brittany had moved to the front seat, unable to handle the commotion going on in the back. It was too much for her, given what she had experienced earlier in the day.
 

As I tried to crawl back, Erik held me down. “Sam, stop! We need to stay out of the way.” Erik kept a hold on me but I positioned myself so I could still keep watch on what was going on in the back of the van.

Jack pushed a button on the AED machine, causing Colin’s chest to heave into the air. Then he went back over to Colin and immediately started CPR.
 

“What’s wrong? Tell me!” I begged, but Jack wouldn’t answer.
 

“Sam, just let him do what he needs to do.” Erik turned me away so I couldn’t see what was happening.
 

We waited in silence as Jack continued to work on Colin. Finally Jack spoke. “His pulse is getting stronger. Erik, start driving. Hurry up! Find the nearest hotel, motel, whatever.”

Erik went up front. I crawled back over the seats, crouching down next to Colin. “Motel? But Jack, he needs a hospital.”

“There
are
no hospitals out here, Sam. And even if there were, we couldn’t risk him going there. It would alert GlobalLife and if they found him, he’d have no chance for survival.”
 

As the van took off, a box tumbled down beside Jack. He got up to secure it in place.
 

“Can I touch him now?” I asked.

“It’s best if you don’t.” Jack kneeled down across from me. “The machine is continuing to monitor his heart. He may need another shock.”
 

The light in the van was poor, but I could see that Colin didn’t look any better. He was still pale and seemed to have trouble breathing.
 

“Jack.” I paused, trying to hold back tears. “I can’t lose him. I’ve lost too much already. And I’ve already lost him once. Please tell me he’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that, Sam. I’m doing my best, but I’m not a doctor. His condition is very serious.”
 

It wasn’t the answer I expected. I was sure Jack would at least pretend that Colin would be fine. But he didn’t. And that meant Jack was preparing me for the worst possible outcome.
 

“Why did this happen? I don’t understand. He has cuts and bruises and they’re pretty bad, but not bad enough to cause this.”
 

“I don’t know. When we get settled somewhere, I’ll do some blood work. See what I can find out. His fever is likely due to infection. We’ve got to get some strong antibiotics in him.”

“How can you do blood work at a motel?”

“I have a special device. Erik calls it the dipstick because it looks like those sticks you use to check the oil in your car. Anyway, you dip it in a blood sample, then connect it to the computer and it gives you a complete breakdown of what’s in the blood, just like a lab would do.”

“Where did you get something like that?”

“It was developed by GlobalLife years ago. When I discontinued my employment there, it just happened to leave with me, if you know what I mean.”
 

“So why aren’t doctors using that instead of waiting for weeks to get test results?”

“Companies like GlobalLife dole out technology on a schedule, Sam. A schedule that they determine. They know that they always have buyers, looking for the latest and greatest technology. So instead of selling them the most advanced technology, these companies build multiple versions, each one just a fraction better than the last. People buy one version and then companies like GlobalLife dole out the next one. That dipstick device I have is so advanced, they probably have five or 10 other blood analyzing tools in the pipeline ready to launch before it. That’s just how it works.”

“Dad, there’s a motel ahead. I’m stopping, okay?” Erik yelled from up front.

“Yes, go ahead,” Jack called back.

It was a single-story roadside motel. Only five cars were parked in the small parking lot. Jack went into the main office while the rest of us waited in the van.
 

When he came back, he handed me a key. “We have two rooms, so you girls get one and we’ll take the other.”

Brittany and I went to our room. The motel must have been renovated recently because everything looked new. The room had two double beds, a side table, a small desk, and a dresser with a TV on top.
 

“I’ll take this one,” Brittany said, sitting on one of the beds. It was the first time she’d spoken since leaving the gas station.

I went back outside to help Colin, but Jack and Erik had already taken him to the other room. Colin was lying on one of the beds. Jack was checking his heart again. “Sam, you should wait in your room. I’ll come and get you later.”

“No, I need to do something. I can’t just sit over there and wait. I can help. Just tell me what to do.”
 

Erik came in, carrying boxes of medical equipment from the van. “Erik, Sam’s going to help me with Colin. You should go stay with Brittany. She shouldn’t be alone after what she’s been through.”

“Yeah, okay. If you need anything, just come over and get me.”
 

Erik left and Jack starting digging through boxes. “Sam, I need you to find the antiseptic solution. I’ll find the IVs.”

“IVs? You seriously have IVs?” I asked as I searched through a box.

“I’ve had this stuff for years. I wasn’t even going to pack it. But when we went back to the farm today to drop off the truck, I grabbed all of my medical supplies because Colin and Erik were injured. But I never thought we’d need them.”

I located the antiseptic and handed it to Jack. “What are you putting in the IV?”
 

“I don’t know yet. I need to test his blood first. I’m hoping that this was all caused by an imbalance of electrolytes because I can fix that. If he has a heart condition, I can’t help him.”

“Colin doesn’t have a heart condition. He’s an athlete. He’s in really good shape. He works out all the time.”
 

“Undiagnosed heart problems do show up occasionally in high school athletes. But let’s hope that’s not it.” Jack cleaned Colin’s arm and drew some blood. He took the sticklike device he had mentioned earlier and put it into the blood sample. “Sam, can you set up my laptop over there?”

I went to the desk and got the computer ready. Jack came over with the device. It had a port on one end that plugged right into the laptop.
 

“It will give us the basics right away, like electrolyte levels, glucose, blood count, that type of thing,” Jack explained. “Then it will continue to analyze his blood and give us more information over the next hour.”

I went back over to Colin and held his hand, wishing he would respond somehow.

“Okay, I’m getting some results,” Jack said as he looked at the laptop. “And it’s what I suspected—an electrolyte problem. His potassium levels are dangerously low.”

Jack returned to Colin and began preparing the IV solution. “We’ll pump him up with electrolytes and get his levels back to normal. We’ll get some antibiotics in him, too, to get that fever down.”

“So he’ll be okay?” I asked cautiously.

“He’ll need some recovery time, but yes, I think he’ll be okay.”