Chapter 28

 

It had been four days since Nick and Angela had been stranded there, and Nick knew that it would not be much longer now.   In a matter of hours, he would no longer be there, for either they would be rescued… or he would be dead.   The latter seemed to be most likely at that point.  

 

Nick had been sleeping most of the time, drifting in and out of consciousness.   His complexion was bright yellow now, and he was fatigued all the time, even though all he did was sleep.   He knew his liver was shot now, and it would only be a short amount of time before all the toxins in his body, which the liver was supposed to get rid of, would build up and kill him.  

 

But Nick knew if his failing liver didn’t kill him first, he would die of dehydration, starvation, heat stroke, or maybe a mix of all three, for he and Angela were both suffering from them all now.  

 

Nick closed his eyes, not wanting to let his thoughts of death keep running through his mind.   But as he drifted off to sleep yet again, another startling thought entered his head.   What if he never woke up?

 

***

 

Nick did wake up, but as soon as he did, he had a gut feeling that this would be the last time he would ever be awake.   He didn’t feel much different than he had before, but still, something was telling him that this was it, that in a short period of time, he would once again drift off to sleep, the eternal sleep of death.

 

“Angela?” he asked weakly.

 

Angela turned back from her seat in the front.  She managed to smile at him.  “What is it, honey?” she asked softly.

 

“Sweetie, I think this is it,” Nick whispered.

 

A look of panic crossed her face, and she went pale.  “Nicky, don’t say that,” she pleaded.  “You can’t give up.”

 

“I’m not giving up,” he said.  “But I have this feeling that I’m not going to last much longer.”

 

Angela wanted to press on, to tell him to keep fighting, but she didn’t say the words.   Still, Nick must have known what she was thinking, for he added, “I can’t fight this forever, you know.”

 

“I know,” she whispered, her voice catching in her throat.  She didn’t want to accept this, that he was going to die, but she knew she couldn’t fight it either.  Now she just had to make the best of their final moments together on this Earth.  “Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked, her voice shaking with bottled up tears.  “Anything to make you more comfortable?”

 

“I… I wish you could hold me,” Nick said.

 

“Okay,” she replied softly, an expression of steely determination crossing her face.  She suddenly knew deep down, just as he did, that this really was going to be her last time with him.   And if he just wanted her to hold him, she would, no matter how much pain and effort it took her to get to him. 

 

And so, grunting and moaning at the fiery pain that scorched her bad leg as she hauled it up, she slowly and painfully eased herself between the two front seats and into the back, where Nick had managed to prop himself up, giving her room to rest beside him.

 

As she collapsed against the backseat with a gasp of pain, Angela clenched her teeth and forced herself to forget about her own discomfort.   Instead, she turned to Nick, focusing all her attention on him, and gently took him in her arms.  Words were not needed right then.  Angela just held him, stroking his matted blonde hair, providing as much comfort to him as she possibly could. 

 

Nick clung to her, as he clung to life, not wanting to let go, but knowing that eventually, he would have to.

 

***

 

 

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