After a short ride back to Aster and Lot's home, the car screeched to a halt right before the front of the house. Aster and Lot got out of the vehicle and headed inside. Iggy, unwilling to follow them anywhere, lingered in the darkness of the back seat until they were gone. He got out and came to standing at the highest part of the land where he could see down the hill and over the forest tree tops.
The pull was so strong. The strange feeling of longing was calling him so intensely that if he had managed to step forward, he probably would have kept going until he burned in the sun. But what was calling him? Was it his heart still trapped in the Labs? In the moment, as he stood practically half naked on the hilltop shivering in his skin, he was sure that he would end up meeting that place again. He envisioned his heart waiting for him there… then he thought about his brother, Baine.
Iggy lowered himself down onto the grass and crossed his cold arms over his beating chest. He had little time left. The medicine that was suppressing the heart from bursting out of him was diminishing. He had less than two weeks. Certainly, he would be dead soon.
Vanilla carried through the wind, and he could hear the creak of metal against metal. He turned and saw Becca standing just outside of the front door. Her plump lips were straight, yet pulled back toward her ears in a closed smile. She was wearing another short black skirt that had lace climbing up her hip, and a dark blue top with only one strap. A brown bandage clung to her upper breast and in her hand she held a dark plastic bag that was full of blood. She walked across the cold grass toward him barefoot and she sat down next to him. Her knees drew up to cover her breasts, but exposed more of her under thighs. Iggy couldn't help but to look down. The hot pressure in his wrists returned, and he forced himself to look away from her.
"Hey…" she spoke in a whisper, but even so, her voice was sweet and inviting as if they were close friends already. "I don't know what happened, but something sure got Aster and Lot riled up." She glanced back over her shoulder at the house.
Iggy trailed her line of sight to the front window overlooking the front yard. Lot was standing there watching them, fuming. Iggy's shoulders tensed and he clenched his hands into fists. With a stiff nod, Lot vanished to the side.
Becca's eyes met Iggy's. Her lips were straight, not in a smile nor a frown, but frustrated in between. "He mentioned you'd be wanting this," she said. She held her thin arm out and dropped the blood bag onto the grass. Recognizing the blood inside, Iggy swiped it up, and hovered over it. "Just so you know, nothing here is free," she warned.
Iggy glanced at her. His thirst was even harder to tolerate with her near. He turned his shoulders away and bit into the bag. Even though it was cold, he gulped it down and squeezed it all into his mouth. His tongue was wet and his stomach was soothed. For a moment he nearly forgot her.
Then, he peeked over his shoulder to gauge her reaction. She stared out into the night sky with indifference. She focused on the stars, fighting against the moon's bright light to see them better. She glanced at him, smirked politely, then looked back at the sky. She was comfortable with him. He was comfortable with her. And that was a relief for the both of them.
Iggy mumbled under his breath, "victims of dangerously unstable lives."
She leaned forward and faced him. "Huh? What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"No. I heard you. I'm wondering, what do you mean by that? You've been here for only, like, two days. What would you know?"
He swallowed and shrugged his shoulders. "Isn't it obvious what I mean?"
She exhaled and looked over her shoulder. "Fine. You've seen what my life is like. But what about you?" She leaned forward into his line of vision and through the holes of his shirt she saw the incision. She clamped her hand around Iggy's shoulder and she pulled it back to see better. Her eyes expanded and her jaw dropped. Then, she shook her head and asked, "is that a wound? That's a wound! Isn't it?"
Iggy flattened both of his hands over it to hide the hideousness. He felt himself leaning away from her. "It's nothing-"
"You need to let me clean that up for you. That looks like a severe infection. Are you in pain?"
Iggy shook his head and pulled his shoulder out of her hand. He huddled over his knees, hiding everything that he could. His head hung low so that she couldn't see the embarrassment on his face. "You can't help me… No one can."
Becca rolled her eyes, leaned in close and whispered, "you said that last time, didn't you?"
He bit his lip, and nodded.
She wrapped a hand around his and stood to her feet. Her legs looked so long. "Come with me, I'll help you, if I can."
Becca led him inside of the house, down the stairs, and into her own room. The whole room smelled like warm cookies, but it was exceptionally small in size with very few belongings. Her twin sized bed filled most of the space. Iggy sat on top of it with his arms crisscrossed over his chest while she dug underneath and pulled out a heavy black case which she then tossed down next to him. She unzipped it.
Inside there were medical supplies packaged and stuffed in tightly, so much that they bulged out after she opened the case. Familiar with her belongings, she dove in and pulled out exactly what she'd need; bandages, gauze, antiseptics, and wound tape.
After wrapping her hands in rubber gloves, she straightened her spine and looked Iggy in the eyes. Her face was hard with professional concentration. "Lie on your back, and place your arms along your sides, please." Her hand rested on his shoulder, as if she were guiding him backwards, but he resisted. "What's wrong?"
Iggy glanced at the nearby medical supplies. "How do you know what you are doing?"
She drew her hand back and her shoulders slumped downward. "What difference does it make?"
"Are you in the military, too? Like Aster?"
Becca squinted her eyes and shook her head. "No, I'm not anything like Aster." She exhaled and propped herself up onto her knees. "I was training to be a doctor-" she looked down "-I didn't get the chance to finish. Instead, I ended up here."
"How?"
Waves appeared across her forehead and she glanced at the medical supplies. "This has nothing to do with me… what's important is that you let me clean your chest. It's the least I can do." Her fingers slithered in between Iggy's hands and breast, and she pried his hands away. When she saw the wound through the shirt, her face became three shades lighter and she leaned away. Iggy's throat locked and his lips sloped downward. He brought his hands up to the top of his head and shielded his face to hide his shame.
Becca laid her hand softly against his upper shoulder. "Lie back." Iggy shook his head, no, and he gripped his hair in between his fingers, holding tight to his scalp. "Alright," she sighed. "I will tell you how I ended up here if you lie back and let this happen."
Iggy hesitated, but then he lied back. In horror, he covered the bottom half of his face as Becca leaned over him and started cutting away the shirt that she'd been forced to give him. The shirt came off, and she tossed it to the side, sadly.
"That was all that I had left of him…" she murmured. Concentrated, she touched the area surrounding the incision with her fingers. Iggy grimaced and defensively interlocked his fingers over it. She paused. "It hurts you a lot, doesn't it? I can give you something for the pain." Her attention returned to the black case. She reached inside and pulled out a bottle of white pills. She opened it, laid two in her hand, and held them out for him. "These are very strong. They should be enough to get you through this." She nudged them toward him. "It's good medicine, trust me." And he did. After swallowing them, she sat near his side, waiting for them to kick in. She stared at the opposite wall, silently, until she said, "it started with my brother, Alex."