Martin couldn’t help but wonder if she had feelings for the man. He shook his head, realizing that whether or not she had feelings for him, it didn’t concern him. Anita turned to look at him, her small body rising to help Martin slide the stretcher from the vehicle and onto the driveway.
Kevin grunted when the wheels touched the cement; it was the first sign of life that Martin caught since they left the fire. Martin and Anita looked at each other.
His flesh was blackened and blistering, the clothes reduced to cindering rags, his hair singed and melting. The odour of smoke and fire was thick on him, so thick that Martin retched. He turned away to take a breath of fresh air. Anita was jogging down the driveway and toward the gate, she closed the gate and latched it behind her.
She returned, and worked with Martin to roll Kevin up to the top of the driveway, outside of the garage door. Anita walked to the side of the door, while martin supported the stretcher. She opened a little panel on the wall, and punched in a code. The door immediately began to rise, and within moments, they were pushing Kevin inside.
The place was almost dark. only a few dull blue lights lined the room.
"Does your friend know we've come?" Martin asked. It was late to turn back now, and if they did, Kevin would probably die. They had to remove his oxygen supply when they took him out the ambulance. Kevin’s wheeze was getting worse every time he breathed.
"Yes. I told him to be ready to treat a burns patient," she said. Anita did something to make the garage close behind them; for a brief moment afterwards, the blue lights were all they had to guide them, Anita found the light switch.
The room lit up, and for a moment, Martin was a slave to his awe. Advanced medical equipment lined the walls of the oversized garage; it was set up to be a mix of a laboratory and a hospital room, something that Martin only saw before in television.
Anita secured Kevin against the far wall with a set of strangely accurate belts, confirming his suspicions. Her friend was far from a typical doctor. He watched her pull an oxygen mask over his face before speaking up.
He couldn’t hold back his morbid laugh.
“What is it?” Anita asked.
"I think your friend is a little more than a practitioner. I guess he decided he didn’t want to be a real doctor, and that caused him to lose his licence. This looks more like a laboratory than a clinic," Martin mused. Anita shrugged, offering him a smile.
"He likes to say that the system limited his talents," she said. "I, on the other hand, say he just likes to break the rules." Martin laughed, but from genuine amusement. In that moment he felt the tension between them evaporate. They smiled at each other.
The door of the house opened. It didn't surprise Martin to see an older man wearing large glasses and long white lab coat, with a pair of goggles strung over his head. He looked like the picture boy for a mad scientist organization.
"Anita, dear! How long it's been..." he looked over to Kevin on the stretcher, his smile fading to a frown. "Greetings can come later. Let me examine your friend here."
(To Be Continued Tomorrow...)
[The complete Book ‘MAN FROM TOMORROW’ can be downloaded at amzn.to/2MSf1ng]
No comments:
Post a Comment