Chasing the Dragon Ch. 02

In the space between one second and the next, a burning sensation grew in his middle.

"..roxie..."

He'd wanted to scream it, but it came out so weak. She'd already rounded the corner ahead of him. A numbness settled over his legs, but he had quite a bit of momentum. If he could just keep them pumping and maybe lean a little, he'd be ok. He looked back over his shoulder. Mr Bubbles was salivating, closer behind him than he was a few seconds before. Suddenly, Beez was tumbling forward. As he flipped, he saw that his legs had gotten tangled together, although he was sure he was still pumping them. He landed on his back, although he barely felt it. His eyes rolled up, looking backwards, and he saw Mr Bubbles had leapt at least 10 feet into the air. His hands were knotted together to form a club.

Just as the double fist was about to crash down on him, Mr Bubbles slid out of view above him. He both felt and heard the incredible thump as the savage little monkey hit the ground. A small dust cloud flew up around him. Through squinted eyes, he saw Roxie let go of his ankles and the two charged each other. Roxie landed a kick to his stomach which sent him sprawling, but as soon as he stopped sliding, he was on the move again. She ducked down, and when he pounced, she sidestepped, grabbed one arm, and swung him around like a giant sack of Potatomins. She didn't wait for him to land to start running towards the boy, and she scooped him up into her arms without hardly slowing down. The door shut behind them in plenty of time.

"...why don't you just kill him..."

"I swear, I must be the only person alive who appreciates a good moat monster."

***

"Beez? Beez, c'mon. It's time to wake up."

"I don't want to, Mom. It's Saturday."

"I'm not your mom, and you don't have to go to school, but it's time for you to wake up."

"No!"

"C'mon! I've kept you in a coma for a week, and I'm bored."

"A w..." Beez opened his eyes and looked around. He didn't recognize this room, but it looked fairly...medically? "A week?"

"Yeah. You tore yourself up pretty good getting in here. I figured a week to be safe. Had to stitch you back up again."

In his mind, Beez pictured pulling up his shirt to find that his torso resembled a clown suit, held together with stitches, staples, and scotch tape, but the reality was much cleaner. The wound, while still pink and sore, was clean and healing. He tentatively touched around it, and while it was sore, it wasn't a deathly pain. "A week!?"

"Yeah. I've had some time to pour through all the stuff you got. You got way more than just the personnel files I wanted, so it took some sifting, but you got everything I needed." Her smile was unusual. "...And as a thank you, I have a surprise for you!" She handed him a tiny white pill

"I don't think I'm up fo-"

"Nonsense. You'll just need to lay there. Don't worry! Oh! But I forgot the best part in the... other room! I'll be right back!"

Beez popped the pill and propped himself up on his elbows. When she opened the door and left, he thought he was looking out into the hallway where their bedrooms were, making this that first door that was locked before. He had most of her apartment mapped out in his head now, and as soon as the cobwebs cleared out of his head, he thought he was going to start... what? Feeling more comfortable here? Feeling like this was home? He certainly felt a massive amount of gratitude towards Roxie. His eyes widened when he started to think about how far she must have carried him. That was miles and miles! On foot! She'd been shot herself!! No matter what information he'd gotten her, he owed her.

"Hey Beeeeeez!" Roxie walked around the corner, smirking.

"Roxie, listen, I-"

"What?!"

"Listen, I don't know how I'm ever going to-"

"No! What was that first part?"

"Uh...Roxie?"

"That's... never happened before..." Her smirk got weird, like the kind of smile people get when they're trying to hide an enormous amount of nervousness. The boy couldn't figure out why that would be. He must just still be a little loopy from all the drugs. "Listen, Beez, I've gotta go see my friend Three Legs. It's really important, but I'll be back in a couple hours! Don't go anywhere!" And then she was gone.

As he sat there on the medical table, shaking his head, he was reminded of something his father had said to him once. "Women, am I right?"

"Yeah, Dad. Yeah, you were."