Giving a long moan as Wendy sat her upright, “I just want to lie down, I’m so tired,” Gloria panted and then erupted into a violent coughing fit, spewing frothy sputum over the room until she covered her mouth.
Stepping back, Wendy tried to think of a way to keep Gloria upright. Wendy knew she had to get some rest as she looked around the room and an odd idea popped in her mind. She stumbled back into the cart as she thought about it. “Yeah, that could work,” she croaked and then started coughing as Gloria stopped.
When Wendy finished coughing, she leaned hard against the cart, panting for air. When the stars left her vision, she pushed her body up and grabbed the extra sheets off the couch. Moving over to her suitcase, she pulled out the pocketknife she usually always carried, but she’d kept it in the suitcase since she had been on the ship.
Flipping it open, she cut the sheet in half and twirled the cut sheet until she had two long strands. Tying the two together, she moved over to the balcony door and tied one end to a light fixture. Then she threw the strand over Gloria’s bed and saw it was too short to reach the far wall.
Grabbing another sheet, she cut it to repeat the process and tied the other end to the clothes rack bolted to the wall. Turning around she saw the sheet hanging over both of their beds. “Gloria, sit up,” Wendy said, picking up the last sheet and cutting it in half.
After she twirled it into a strand, Wendy looped it under Gloria’s arms as she sat her up. Wrapping it around Gloria’s back, Wendy tied it to the overhead line. When she was done, Gloria was sitting up, or more appropriately, being held upright.
Moving to the couch, Wendy grabbed the cushions and put them behind Gloria and pulled Gloria’s legs out in a more natural position. “I want to lay down,” Gloria croaked, then started coughing.
Feeling lightheaded, Wendy toppled back into the cart. Catching herself before she fell, “You can’t lay down. Upright you have a chance to keep your lungs clear by coughing,” Wendy wheezed, feeling the fluid in her lungs trying to suffocate her.
She reached down and tossed half a dozen bottles of water around Gloria. Then she tossed some on her own bed. With the last of her strength, Wendy wrapped the other half of the sheet under her arms and tied it to the line, then sat down and found the loop held her upright.
Slumping forward, Wendy coughed as she flapped a hand out to the nightstand, grabbing the bottle of Tylenol. When she stopped coughing, she took two and set the bottle back on the nightstand. “Gloria, wake me if you need me,” Wendy said as Gloria started another foaming mouth coughing fit and ended it by hacking out a mouthful of phlegm.
“Don’t lay down, Gloria,” Wendy panted, struggling to keep her eyes open. “When you cough it up, you can’t drown.”
As Gloria continued coughing, Wendy’s head dropped down as her body gave out from all the exertion she had done trying to help others. Hanging from the line, Wendy started coughing hard but didn’t wake up as the visitor tormented her body.
Chapter Thirteen
Finding an angel
May 7
Finished feeding the animals, Arthur dropped back down on the couch. Still wearing the same clothes since he’d read Wendy’s message, Arthur had a look of defeat on his face as the dogs came over and surrounded him, putting their heads in his lap. “I’m sorry, guys,” Arthur said with no emotion, getting up and walking to the kitchen.
He filled the dogs’ bowls, then headed back to the couch and the dogs followed him. When he sat down, they again put their heads in his lap. Having no more tears left, Arthur reached down and rubbed the dogs. “Yeah, need to get it together,” Arthur mumbled. “Joseph will be here after this subsides.”
The dogs moved closer, since this was the first sign of affection Arthur had shown in days. When Don stood up on the couch, putting his maw in Arthur’s face, Arthur couldn’t help but give a small smile. “Yeah, boy, I’m going to get through this,” Arthur said, rubbing his head.
That set off all the dogs to stand up on the couch in his face. “Okay, I get the point,” Arthur said and the small smile turned into a grin he didn’t feel. Hearing his phone vibrate, Arthur gave a startle since the power had been off, along with the phones, but then heard the ring of the front gate tone.
He got up and headed to his office and saw his phone moving across the desk as it vibrated. Picking it up, he tapped the screen to see Rudy at the gate. Before he tapped the phone to turn on the speaker, Rudy got out of his truck and moved to the control box and punched the keypad.
“What the fuck?” Arthur mumbled as the gate opened.
Rudy turned back and jumped in his truck as the grief Arthur felt turned to rage. He pulled his pistol out and press-checked it, seeing brass in the chamber. Keeping it in his hand, he moved into the living room and looked out the front window to see if Rudy would pull to the front or back.
Less than a minute later, Arthur saw Rudy’s truck pull to the back and he headed to the back door. “Kit, Kat, sit,” he snapped and the labs sat down as Don and Daisy followed him to the back door. Peeking out the small window, Arthur saw Rudy stop the truck and ease the door open, looking toward the shop.
Yanking the back door open, Arthur raised his arm and aimed the pistol at
