17 Alive

I coughed and choked, gasping for breath. Strong arms went around me and held me. I was disoriented as I felt the soft mattress. Kyle was holding me. I grabbed hold of him and squeezed with all my strength.

“You’re back!” he said. He rocked me back and forth.

“Well, I guess that worked,” Pa said as he came into the room. Moms were right behind him.

“What worked?” I asked. Kyle reached toward me and lifted a necklace and a black feather off my chest. I looked down noticing my tits were barely covered by the sheet. “Teeth?”

“Canines from the one you shot and the one Kyle shot,” Pa confirmed.

“You shot it? I thought I was dead. I thought I was never coming back. What day is it?”

“Wednesday,” Mom Mar said, pushing Kyle out of the way and hugging me. “You had a bit of a concussion, but mostly you’ve been fighting the fever from infection. Doc Hawkins shot you full of antibiotics and said you’d come around soon.”

“I feel ... My throat hurts.” I complained. Same feeling I’d had for the past four months as I worked to get Miranda’s throat unbent. Won’t it ever go away? Pa got to me and kissed me on the head and Mom Ash gave me a hug and touched my neck. I flinched. Mom Mar grabbed the mirror off my dressing table. She held it up to me and pulled away a gauze bandage. I saw a pair of angry red rips along my throat. They were closed but swollen.

“She was already dead when she hit you,” Pa said. “Fortunately, her teeth just gouged you but she wasn’t biting. They tested the body for rabies Monday and it was clean, so we just need to get you past the infection.”

“Those teeth had your blood on them, Ramie,” Kyle said. “Merv Longsteer came out and gave you a purifying ritual. That’s the feather. He made the necklace and said there was a spirit in you that needed to go home.” I got dizzy. I wasn’t dead. She could have ripped my throat open just from her momentum.

“Aubrey?” I asked.

“She went to school this morning to get our assignments and explain where we’d all been this week,” Kyle said. “She hasn’t left your side since we brought you home from the doctor.”

“Neither have you,” Mom Ash said. “Ramie, your pa and I were way too far away and at a bad angle to get a shot. Luckily your brother was in better position. We got you to the doctor and he told us to just keep ladling broth into you and make sure you woke up every couple hours. Your little brother made rabbit stew that he shared with you, even though I know he made it for Caitlin. That fever really knocked you out.”

I was hungry as the dickens but too weak and shaky to do anything but eat in bed and lie back exhausted. I wanted to see my horses but when the kids came in to hug me they assured me the horses were fine. They’d been out on the four-wheeler ‘patrolling.’ They were both hoping for a chance to shoot a wolf. Mom Ash tossed me a t-shirt so I could sit up in bed without exposing myself. That was the least of my problems.

Kyle sat with me while we waited for Aubrey to get back from school.

“She’ll probably be a little late. She hasn’t been home all week and I’m sure her folks will want an explanation as to why she thinks she’s spending Thanksgiving weekend here. I heard Pa on the phone, though, inviting her parents out for Thanksgiving with us all. One of us was always here with you, Ramie. Always.”

“You still got my back, brother.” He held my hand as I gathered my thoughts. “Kyle, you said I woke up every couple of hours. Did you notice ... was there anything different about me?” I asked.

“Yeah, you were kind of delirious. Once though ... It’s why Pa called Merv. It was pretty late last night. Aubrey was on the bed with you and I was sitting here in the chair. We had a movie playing on the laptop. All of a sudden we realized you were watching it. I hit the panic button on the 2-way and Moms and Pa were out here in less than a minute. All that time you were staring at the laptop and then at me and then at Aubrey. When Moms and Pa came rushing in you looked like you were in a flat-out panic. You started to hyperventilate and then passed out.”

“You wouldn’t believe what happened. I was traveling,” I whispered. At least my voice hadn’t suffered as much as Miranda’s. “I was gone for months, Kyle. Right at the beginning, Miranda threw a fit and all of a sudden I was alone in her body. She wasn’t there. She was gone for over two months. When she suddenly snapped back into her body, she was frightened out of her wits. I managed to see the memory and saw you and Aubrey. That was the first I knew I was alive.”

Tears were leaking out of my eyes. My precious brother kept holding me in his arms.

“Pa pulled me aside and said that he’d once been sick in a fever and had been traveling for several months. He guessed you might be, too. He hoped your host hadn’t died. But last night, after we saw the panic attack, he decided to call Merv.”

“Bet that freaked Aubrey out,” I snorted.

“She was gone when he got here this morning. He strung the teeth and beads and when he put them around your neck, your sheet slipped and I think he saw your boobs.”

“Whatever,” I laughed. “He’s a doctor-like.”

“Yeah, but ... I sorta saw ‘em, too. It was an accident and I’m sorry, but they were there and I saw, and I had to tell you so you wouldn’t think I was sneaking...” I laughed and pulled the sheet down to my waist. Of course, I had a t-shirt on now. Still, you could see the points of my nipples pretty clearly through it.

“Kyle, there ain’t much there to see so don’t worry about it. Not compared to Aubrey, for god’s sake. Speaking of which, you can go back and sleep in your own room tonight. You don’t have to sit up with me.”

“I’m not just going to go sneak off and make love to Aubrey,” he said indignantly.

“I said you, could go. I didn’t say she could. I think she still owes me part of my birthday present.” We laughed. I heard a car pull up and figured that might be her. “Kyle, one thing. When you travel next, Miranda and Katie are renting a room in St. Joseph, Missouri. I’m disguised as a man traveling with his cute young wife. We’re traders. If there’s any way you can do it, come and get us. Okay? It’s been really hard.”

Aubrey entered the room with a squeal and dropped books on the floor as she rushed to me. I hugged that girl so hard the air swooshed out of her lungs. We were both laughing and crying and kissing each other. Kyle pushed his chair back away from us but I reached out and grabbed his hand before he could get away. In a second, I felt Aubrey’s hand with mine.

“I was so worried about you, Ramie!” Aubrey cried. “Are you really going to be okay now?”

“I’m back in the land of the living,” I said. “And I have my two favorite people in the world by my side. I know you were both here while I was fevered. Thank you both for loving me. Right now, before dinner, I’m going to go take a shower.” Aubrey started to protest. “I’m fine, honey, but I feel like I’ve got a couple months of stink on me.” I reached for my cell phone and flicked to the alarm clock. “I’m going to shower for 25 minutes,” I said, showing them the time I’d set on the phone. “If you rush now, that gives you thirty minutes to fuck like bunnies before I’m ready to go up for dinner. But you better get started now!”