Chapter 5 - The Red Dirt and the Pure Soul
The two muggers spun around, caught off guard by the sheer velocity of my charge. I didn't fight like an executive; I fought like an animal whose den had been violated.
I slammed my full weight into the man holding the iron pipe, driving him into the brick wall with a sickening crunch. The pipe clattered to the asphalt. The second man lunged at me with a serrated pocketknife, slashing through the sleeve of my coat. I grabbed his wrist, twisted it violently until the bone popped, and drove my knee into his midsection. He collapsed onto the wet gravel, wheezing and cursing.
The larger man scrambled to his feet, looked at his injured partner, and then at the murderous fury in my eyes. Grabbing his friend by the jacket collar, they both bolted into the rainy darkness, their footsteps splashing away toward the train tracks.
Silence returned to the underpass, broken only by the steady drip of water from the rusted overhead girders and Emily’s ragged breathing.
She was huddled against the wet concrete, her hands clasped tightly against her chest, shivering violently. Her thin canvas jacket was torn at the shoulder, revealing skin mottled purple from the biting wind. Her large brown eyes looked up at me—not with fear of the muggers, but with sheer, stunned bewilderment.
""Mr... Mr. Whitaker?"" she whispered, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely form the syllables. ""What... what are you doing here?""
I dropped to both knees in the filthy gravel right in front of her. I didn't care about the mud ruining my thousand-dollar trousers. I didn't care about the blood dripping from the cut on my arm.
""Emily,"" I choked out, tears mixing freely with the rain streaming down my face. ""Emily, please. Look at me.""
She shrank back slightly, bowing her head. ""I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry about the kitchen. I didn't mean to cross boundaries. I know my place. I just... Zion was burning. His skin was turning into fire. I used to work as an assistant in a rural veterinary clinic back home... I saw dogs poisoned with agricultural spray, and they had the exact same blisters. The only thing that works is washing them with alkaline soap right away to break the chemical bond. I didn't want to hurt him... I swear to God I was trying to save him.""
A sob tore from my throat. I reached out, my hands trembling as I gently took her freezing, rough hands into mine.
""You did save him, Emily,"" I wept openly, lowering my head until my forehead rested against her cold knuckles. ""You saved my son's life. He stopped breathing ten minutes after you left because of the residual poison on his skin. The doctors at City General told me everything. If you hadn't put him in that sink, if you hadn't scrubbed him with that soap... my baby would be dead right now. He's alive because of you. Only because of you.""
Emily went completely still. She stared down at me, her eyes filling with giant tears that spilled over her pale cheeks.
""Zion... Zion is alive?"" she gasped, her voice cracking with pure emotion.
""He's stable in the ICU,"" I nodded through my tears. ""They gave him the counter-agent, but Dr. Chen needs to know exactly what you saw. What color the rash was when you found him. How long he was in the water.""
""I can tell them,"" she said, scrambling to stand, ignoring her bruises. ""I remember every second. Take me to the hospital, Mr. Whitaker. Please, take me to him!""
I stood up, stripped off my heavy wool overcoat, and wrapped it securely around her trembling shoulders. She looked tiny inside it, engulfed by the warm cashmere.
May you like
""I'm so sorry, Emily,"" I whispered, looking into her pure, compassionate eyes. ""I spoke to you like you were dirt beneath my feet. I threw you out into a hurricane when you were the only real guardian my son had in that house. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I swear on my life, you will never be cold, hungry, or unprotected ever again.""
""We can talk about that later, sir,"" Emily said softly, clutching the coat around herself. ""Right now, your baby boy is waiting for us.""
