With care, she placed her gun on a small stool and locked the door. As much as she liked the doctor, she still didn’t fully trust him. Unwinding the cloth tied around her head took some doing, matted as it was with dried blood.
After another long drink of water, she opened the shower taps until steam rose from the tiles and misted the mirrors. A floral body wash and shampoo waited on a shelf, and she scooped them up with a grin. As the air grew pleasantly warm, she eyed the waiting shower with drooping eyelids. “I am so going to enjoy this.”
Chapter 18 - Dylan
She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the stream of hot water, groaning with pleasure when it hit her skin. With careful fingers, she washed the blood from her hair, working the shampoo into the matted locks until the water ran red. She didn’t stop there, soaping every inch of her body as she went. Old bandages and band-aids fell to her feet, and she tossed them into the waiting bin.
Finally, she dared to take a look at her naked body in the tall mirror on the opposite wall and sucked in a horrified breath. The bite on her arm was beginning to rot, and the black veins had spread up to her shoulder. Tendrils crept along her back and chest, a road map of infection.
Her eyes were shadowed, her cheeks hollow and pale. Bruises and abrasions covered her arms and legs. The worst was the spot where Frankie’s undead boyfriend had tried to take a chunk from her arm. The area was a hideous mottled purple. She looked like death and felt like it too.
“I’m already half-zombie, I guess,” she said with a muted laugh. It wasn’t funny, though, seeing herself rot from within. Anything but funny.
Averting her gaze from the mirror, she continued to wash as well as she could, rinsing all the dried blood and puss from the bite wound until the water ran clear. Afterward, she dried off and wrapped her hair in a clean towel before getting dressed. Frankie’s boots and jeans would have to do, but at least she had fresh socks to wear. The new shirt and jersey was an improvement too, the material soft and warm against her skin.
By this point, she was almost too tired to move, but there could be no rest for her. Not when the clock continued its relentless countdown. With her gun once more at her side, she made her way to Ethan’s examination room.
He was waiting for her with a hot cup of coffee just like he’d promised. Even better, there was a whole plate of chocolate chip cookies too. Nursing the warm porcelain cup between her palms, she savored the strong brew one sip at a time while munching on the cookies. Gradually, the cramp in her stomach eased as she filled up on food and caffeine. “Thank you. I can’t remember when last I’ve eaten.”
“That’s okay. I took the liberty of packing you some food and water for the road too, and I topped up your gas tank,” Ethan said with a smile that reached his eyes. A genuine smile.
Surprised, Dylan stared at him. “You did? Why?”
“Why not? I’m a doctor. It’s my job to look after people, and you need it,” Ethan replied.
“Yeah, but still. It’s every man for himself nowadays,” Dylan said. “Actually, scratch that. It’s always been every man for himself.”
He regarded her with somber eyes. “You’ve had a tough life, haven’t you?”
Dylan shrugged. “I guess so. It doesn’t help to whine about it, though.”
“No, but you can talk to me if you want to,” he said.
“Thanks for the offer, but the past is best left in the past.”
“And now, what are your plans for the future?” he asked.
Dylan hesitated before deciding to come clean. “If I even have a future.”
“What do you mean?”
Rolling back her sleeve, she showed him the bite mark on her arm. “I’m living on borrowed time, doctor.”
He stared at the wound with a strange mixture of loss and sadness. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.”
“Because losing you would be a tragedy for this world. You’re an extraordinary woman, Dylan.”
She laughed disbelievingly. “Yeah? You think so?”
He nodded, not smiling back. “I know so. You’re strong. A fighter.”
His words evoked warmth in her chest that she hadn’t felt in ages. Attraction. Not that she could afford any complications. Shrugging it off, she said, “Anyway, it’s why I need passage. There’s a cure at Fort Knox, but I have to get there before I turn. Once I die, it’s game over.”
“I see. Do you have enough time?” he asked, leaning forward.
“Just under two days. I can make it if nothing else goes wrong,” she said with a quick glance at her watch.
“I can’t believe it. A cure.” Ethan jumped up. “We’d better hurry then. Can’t have you missing your deadline, can we?”
Dylan placed her empty cup on his desk. “Indeed not.”
He made her sit on the bed while he gathered a few supplies from the closet. She swung her legs back and forth, feeling relaxed after the hot bath. She yawned. “Do you have anything to keep me awake? I’m dead tired.”
Ethan shook his head. “I’ll give you a shot of vitamins to boost your immune system and another of antibiotics, but what you really need is rest.”
“The one thing I don’t have time for.”
He shot her a distressed look but remained silent. After snapping on a set of gloves, he said, “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
Dylan nodded and began pointing out her various aches and pains. Most of it was bruising with a few abrasions that needed
