“No.”
“Slow down at least.”
He squints. Woozy.Don’t pass out.
“They called you Kiro. Is that your name? You seem like a Kiro.”
He’s weaving.
“Stay awake, dammit!” I poke him. “There has to be a reason they want to kill you. Right?”
“I’m different,” he growls like it’s so obvious.
“You’re not that different,” I say. “You won’t let the woman drive even when it’s the best choice.”
He looks at me strangely, then swerves. “Pull over!” I scream.
My scream seems to have gotten him alert again. But for how long?
“Where are we going?”
He looks up at the sky. “This way.”
What’s in the sky? Then I realize he’s navigating by the sky. Back to the forest. Back home. And…taking me with him?
“You’re in no shape to drive. Let me drive.”
“You’ll run.”
“I won’t. I promise I won’t. Kiro—”
He thinks I’ll run. Why not? Everyone has probably always either run from him or tried to hurt him. Kill him. Drug him. Imprison him. He starts looking groggy again. He swerves.
I grab his arm, screaming. “Slow the fuck down!” He doesn’t slow down. I shake him. I start to cry. He’s losing blood. He trusts nobody. He’s going to crash. “Kiro!” I sob, deeply, deeply frightened now.
“Stop crying, Nurse Ann. Stop. Please.”
He really hates my crying. It gets through to him more than my screams. Yeah, I’m not above turning it on a bit. “You’re scaring me!” I sob.
“Stop it!”
I keep it going, begging him to rest his eyes a bit, telling him how scared I feel. “You want to go north? I’ll take you north. Please!”
He grits his teeth.
“Look at me!”
He turns and regards me with a pained expression. “We’re on the same side. You saved me. Pull over. We help each other.”
“You’ll…” He doesn’t finish the sentence.
I put a hand on his arm.
“Slow,” I say. “Slow.”
The speedometer ticks down. He slows. Or maybe he’s just losing strength.
“Good.”