“Don’t get stuck on yourself, kid,” I contradicted, sliding down a little in the seat. “Compared to most people I know, you’re barely a fluffy hamster.”
He laughed. It was barely audible and smothered in fatigue, but it was a laugh and not half as somber as I expected. Then he rolled over onto his side and this time did slip into a peaceful sleep. I wasn’t far behind him.
Chapter 18
The double vision was mostly gone, but reading the map was still a bitch. Rubbing my eyes against the blistering pain, I directed, “Take the next exit, then go left.”
Nodding, Michael announced, “I like driving. How much does a car cost if you actually buy one instead of stealing it?” “Funny. Funny stuff.” I tried to thread fingers through my hair but backed off immediately with a grimace. The curls were matted thick with dried blood. Pulling down the visor, I took a look at myself in the mirror. Jesus. I looked like the the lone survivor of a ketchup factory explosion. I couldn’t check into a motel like this. I’d have to grab a shower at the doctor’s place.
“Are you hungry?” With his hands precisely at ten and two on the wheel, just as the manual said, he glanced over at me. “I still have food from the drugstore.”
My nausea peaked at the thought. “No thanks, kiddo.” It might be a day or two before I could keep anything down. Concussions were good for that. Football had taught me that particular lesson and working under Konstantin had only reinforced it. “Maybe later.”
That didn’t seem to satisfy him and he checked the rearview mirror, then the side mirror, before turning his attention back to me. “Are you sure? You should at least drink something. You’ve lost blood. You need to replenish your fluid volume.”
“Replenish, eh?” Holding my hands up in surrender as he slitted his eyes, I gave in. “Okay. Okay. There’s a bottle of something down here.” I retrieved the half-empty soft-drink bottle from the floorboards and opened it for a lukewarm sip.
Mollified, he let me drink in peace, although I had the suspicion he’d be pushing those snack cakes again in no time. After I finished drinking, I blew softly into the opening of the bottle. The resulting musical note accompanied the bass drum pounding between my ears. “I’m going to be okay, Misha,” I declared lightly, unsure of the best way to approach a delicate subject. “I promise. I won’t leave you all alone out here.”
His hands tightened on the wheel until his knuckles stood in stark relief. Setting his jaw, he denied stiffly, “I’m not afraid to be alone.”
Of course he was afraid to be alone. He’d gone from a tiny fishbowl to the wild blue ocean. And while he may have shared that tank with a piranha, that didn’t mean there weren’t predators out here as well; unknown dangers that lurked around every corner. Everything was strangely surreal, and nothing was quite like it was in the pictures and books he’d been shown. Naturally, he was scared. I’d have pissed my pants in his situation.
“I know you’re not,” I said agreeably. “I’m just saying.” It was one thing to be aware of his perfectly justifiable fear but another thing altogether to shove his nose in it. No teenage boy would be accepting of that, free-range or lab raised.
“That’s not why I came back for you.” Stopped at a light, he studiously looked out his side window. “It’s not.”
I knew it wasn’t, but that didn’t stop the tiny verbal nudge I gave him. “Then why did you?”
“Good question.” The light turned green and he fed the car more gas than was strictly necessary in a move that had nothing to do with inexperience. “That’s a very good question.”
Casa de Vanderburgh turned out to be quite the dump—big surprise. A squat block covered with stucco that was crazed with as many cracks as a two-dollar ceramic pot, it didn’t precisely shout House Beautiful . The driveway was floating islands of asphalt shot through with rivers of yellowed weeds, and the flower beds hosted only dust and cola cans. The one spotless and gleaming exception was the satellite dish on the flat roof. Cleanliness might be next to godliness, but twenty-four-hour-a-day porn beat lawn care hands down.