With great difficulty, Ava said, “Heeeelp.”
“How can I help? You need to tell me. Please...”
“Heeeelp.”
Resting h
er cheek against the soft red curls, Minji wept.
***
The orange glow above the darkened city of Las Vegas was both beautiful and terrifying. Sin City was swathed in a choking miasma of smoke, its glittering lights and loud bustling streets gone in the aftermath of the event. The only lights other than the fires were the interior lights of a few buildings, but Minji knew those would be gone soon when the emergency generators ceased to run. Clouds of smoke shifted over the full moon hovering low on the horizon.
The air in the patient room was comfortably cool. It was just the right temperature to lull her to sleep, yet Minji struggled to mentally disconnect from the terrible events of the day and sink into slumber. Lying next to Jake on the hospital bed, she listened to the gentle sound of him breathing. Usually it was enough to lull her to sleep, but tonight she was painfully aware of each inhale and exhale. It had taken all her fortitude to rescue him from the carnage in the casino and transport him to the medical center, but would it be enough to save him? The vulnerability of his situation had forced a recasting in their relationship. A nurturer by nature, Jake relished his role as protector of his wife and children. Though Minji provided a good chunk of their income and was an equal partner in every way, she appreciated his role as the family defender. Now she was his protector.
The wrongness of the circumstances encapsulating her family and the world continued to gnaw at the dam containing her emotions. During her parents’ divorce, she had learned to keep her emotions in check. She’d wanted to be strong for both her mother and her father. The tears in her father’s eyes when he told her they were divorcing and her mother’s silent sobs during the court hearings had influenced her resolve to be strong for both of them. The wall she had created around her emotions had remained strong and in place until Jake unexpectedly scaled it and dropped over the other side. Where other people marveled at her ability to remain calm and in control, Jake could instantly tell what she was thinking. It wasn’t that Minji was unemotional. It was just that she knew there was a time and place to deal with more chaotic feelings. In conflicts, she was always calm, but later she would slug out her anger at her kickboxing classes. If someone tried to upset her, she never let them see if they slid under her armor. Of course, later on she’d vent frustrations to Jake. Minji was a firm believer in keeping calm and dealing with the emotional fallout later. It was sometimes the only way to get things done in life.
But her walls were starting to show stress fractures. Already she’d cracked when Arthur had been a jerk. Her emotional vulnerability in the face of his accusations angered her in retrospect. She should’ve just walked out of the room and not given into anger. Unfortunately, Arthur’s barbs had wiggled under her skin and now festered. It made her feel weak. If Jake were awake, he’d listen to her rant, then he’d say just the right thing. Now, she was alone, scared, and angry.
Across the room, Bailey snored softly in the bed Jesse had wheeled into the room. It was a comforting sound. Minji was well aware of the fact that she was luckier than her companions. Even though the fates of her parents, in laws, brother, friends, and customers were unknown, she at least had the comfort of hearing Bailey snore, feeling Jake’s warmth, and seeing Ava’s silhouette against the window.
If only the being within Ava would let her rest. No matter how hard Minji had tried to get Ava to lie down, the little girl had resisted. Now she stood near the window, her back to the destruction, her eyes glinting in the dim light seeping in from the hallway around the edges of the slightly open door.
Stretching out her hand, she stroked Ava’s cheek with her fingertips. “I love you, Ava.”
The strange mewling continued to issue forth from the child’s lips.
Adjusting the pillow under her head, Minji closed her eyes to block out the frightening view beyond the window. Her husband’s long, lean body was warm against her back and she was careful not to jostle his leg encased in a cast, or his heavily bandaged chest and arm. She’d tried sleeping on the rollaway bed, but wasn’t able to relax. Finally, she’d crawled into bed with her husband since she was small enough to stretch out beside him. She missed him so much it was physical pain. If only he would open his eyes and be himself again.
If only she could wake up and find the world restored...
***
“Help me, Mommy,” Ava whispered in her ear.
The universe was a churning miasma of inexplicable beauty and terror, the colors so vibrant it seared her corneas and sent a sharp stab of pain through her brain, and the sound was so ethereal yet gruesome it was agony to her ears. The blistering cold touch of spider silk sliced through her flesh and ripped her open.
All the while, Ava whispered, “Help me, Mommy.”
***
With a grunt, Minji stirred awake and gripped her head with both hands. The agonizing pulse shredding her brain sent her reeling across the room to the small bathroom. She just made it to the toilet before she vomited what little she’d eaten for dinner. She fumbled with the sink and managed to twist on the faucet. Her vision was smeared with darkness and bright spots, rendering her nearly blind. Unable to quell the trembling of her hands, Minji tilted her head so she could sip directly from the spigot and rinse out her mouth. When the foul acid taste was gone from her tongue, she drank several gulps of lukewarm water before sliding to the floor.
In the darkness, Minji sobbed in both sorrow and horror. The cold seeping from the tiles underneath her bit through the fabric of the rolled up scrub pants and sent shivers up her spine. Swiping the back of her hand across her wet face, she realized the air was vibrating with invisible strands of icy silk.
It was happening again.
Rising to her feet, she padded into the room and heard the whisper of the mesmerized slithering through the dark.
“Heeeeeeeelp moomee,” was the eerie chorus.
“Ava?” Minji called out, shivering.
A quick flip of the light switch left her blinking the dark spots out of her vision. The bright illumination from the overhead fixture revealed Bailey in her crib, clutching the bars, and staring at her mother with wide eyes. Jake’s eyes remained closed, but his mouth was moving in sync with Bailey’s. Ava was not in the room. With a start, Minji rushed to where she had tied the child leash to the chair. The end was still attached to both the chair and the backpack. Ava had obviously slipped out of the straps and wandered off.
“Ava!”
Rushing toward the door, Minji slipped on the slick floor, barely catching herself in time on the end of the bed. She discarded the thick socks and ran barefoot out of the room and along the corridor. The floor was so cold, it burned her feet, but she was desperate to find her child.