This is the End 2(643)

“What do you mean, if?” Hendrix demanded. He took a step towards me- no idea what he even thought he was doing- but Reagan stepped in his path and lay two hands on his biceps. They had kind of a silent conversation in which she convinced him it was better to just let me explain.

“Well, without antibiotic, strep can clear up on its own- it is possible. Or it can get worse. It can infect the entire body. She could get really, really sick.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Harrison asked in a strangled voice. He sounded like it would be better if I didn’t know what I was talking about. If I was just guessing, then I could be wrong- his sister might not be in danger at all.

“My cousin had strep when I was little, it went untreated and he ended up in the hospital with a dangerously high fever and severe dehydration. It wasn’t life or death but he had the advantage of medical facilities, IVs and doctors. Page has none of those things.”

“How old were you?” Vaughan asked, his eyes narrowed skeptically.

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied evenly. They needed to take me seriously. Page could easily be fine in a few days- or she could not be fine. We needed to prepare for every scenario.

Vaughan opened his mouth to ask another question when Reagan cut him off, “Vaughan, she has an almost perfect photographic memory. If she says Page could be in danger it’s because Page could be in danger. Haley’s not going to bullshit you. I promise.”

Vaughan stared at me for a few moments as if deciding for himself whether I was making this up or not. “Alright, Haley. Worst case scenario, give it to me.”

I took this very seriously, Vaughan’s trust very seriously. And I was worried about Page; there was nothing scarier to me than that little girl in trouble.

“Worst case scenario, she has a high fever that could cause heart problems and even issues in her brain. Most likely this will disappear in a few days. But if not, her symptoms will get dangerous.”

“You learned all this from when your cousin had it?” Hendrix asked skeptically.

“No,” I confirmed. “That last part was from health class.”

Nelson let out a chuckle from behind me that sounded like a whoosh of stress

“Has she been sick since the infection broke out?” I asked Vaughan.

“No, she’s been perfectly healthy.”

“So what do we do?” Reagan asked. She was always like that- ready to act. One of the reasons we were alive was because she didn’t sit around and wait for solutions to be handed to her. She solved her own problems. She was first to act, first to jump into the fray. Playing offense instead of defense had saved our lives on more than one occasion.

“We get her temperature down. Keep up with the Tylenol as long as possible. We soothe her sore throat, help her get lots of rest. We search the house for antibiotics. The last owner could easily have left something behind.”

“What about a nearby town?” Harrison asked.

Vaughan thought about that. “There’s not enough daylight left to look today. I don’t want to create more problems than we have now. And we don’t have enough firepower to engage unnecessarily. We get through the night, and then explore that option again in the morning.”

“Besides, we don’t know what a town would be like,” Hendrix added. “The last few settlements we’ve been to have been anything but welcoming.”

“We have gold to barter,” Reagan offered, shooting me a nervous glance. She was right. We had been basically hoarding gold whenever we could find it. We took a lot of pieces from her mom, and then over the past two years we’d been stashing it away. We weren’t like wealthy from it by any means- even in today’s non-currency, renegade standards. But we had enough for penicillin if we needed it. Well, as long as the seller was fair- which was highly doubtful.

“Thank you,” Vaughan said sincerely. He held Reagan’s gaze with this meaningful, intense emotion that caused Hendrix’s shoulders to go rigid. Reagan stared back; seemingly unaware of the tension she was creating. She offered a small smile and then walked over to give him a hug.

I could see how stiff all the boys were, and I didn’t blame her for wanting to soothe their worry in some way. Vaughan let her wrap her arms around his middle and then placed his hands on her back carefully- almost humbly. He leaned into her and the tightness eased from his body like a sieve.

Taking her cue, I stepped back into Nelson, reaching behind me and threading my fingers through his. His other hand wrapped around my middle and he held me firmly to him. He rested his chin on my shoulder and I tilted my head into his, offering him as much comfort as I was capable of.