Fools of us All - Chapter 8

I reached the elevator and seriously considered hitting the up button, but instead I hesitated - I'm not sure why. Normally I would hit the button a few times. Not because I thought it would make the elevator arrive any faster, but because I like hitting buttons. It is hard for me to resist. But this time, I just didn't want to hit that button.

Maybe, I figured, I just needed to take the stairs, but then I remembered that his room was on the sixth floor, and it had been a long day, so the stairs were out. I gazed at the elevator again before finally turning away and heading back towards the waiting room. I was in sight of the theoretically comforting colour scheme when something bowled me over from behind. I tumbled, but the two years of martial arts and three years of gymnastics served me well. As quickly as I fell I rolled to my feet, landing lightly in a defensive pose, arms raised to eye level. They quickly dropped when I saw who my attacker was.

The mysterious woman had a bandage wrapped around her head and a few bandages on her legs and arms, but other than that she looked fine. I could scarcely believe that I had hit her with my car only a few hours ago. If she hadn't spoke up right then I may still be standing there, gaping like an idiot.

"Thanks for offering to help me up."

Ah sarcasm. There is very little that inspires me to action like a small slice of stinging sarcasm (it also inspires alliteration). Still not trusting my tongue, I reached down and pulled her up, surprised again at how little she weighed. Considering the force with which she had knocked me on my face I had figured that there was more weight packed on that tiny frame.

Once she was standing we spent a moment looking each other over. Once again I was drawn to her eyes. They were a piercing blue-green mix that seemed to flash in the pale fluorescent lights. I never could figure out how she managed that. Her short brown hair was a bit ragged, almost like she had cut it herself.

I suppose only a few seconds had passed, but when she shook her head and started to walk away I would have sworn that we had spent the better part of a year standing there. Fierce pain and an equally fierce determination to overcome that pain were written in her eyes, and I found it so compelling that I could no longer move. I realise that this is starting to sound rather sappy, and for that I apologise. But the truth was I felt, and this is a cliché alert, like I had just met my soul-mate.

No, that's wrong. It wasn't quite anything that romantic. When we spent that piece of forever face to face, it was as though I was allowed to read her life story, but only in emotions instead of words, and those emotions hooked me like a cheap drug.

Well, now I have compared her to a cheap drug. This is harder to explain than I thought it would be. Just trust me when I say there was a connection there. A connection that we both felt, though I don't think either of us quite realised what it meant right away. Not for at least ten minutes on her part. I was a little slower to catch up, but to be fair she had more information than I did.

She had managed two entire steps before she froze. A second later I realised why. "I can't believe our Jane Doe just skipped out on us like that." This voice was deep and rich, a very soothing voice.

"I just can't believe that she could move at all after being hit by a car, let alone giving us the slip." This voice was much harsher, sounding like it was perpetually irritated at life in general. One quick look at my mysterious companion and I could tell that she had reasons not to be found.

Thinking quickly I grabbed her hand and pushed her through the nearest door, following close behind. I closed the door behind us and clicked off the light. Mercifully the door locked from the inside. I could hear the voices continuing their conversation as they walked down the hall, trying each door as they came to it. The doorknob of our door rattled briefly and they carried on, their voices fading into the distance.

I turned, half-expecting to see an empty room. The window was open, a slight breeze blowing into the room, the smell of rain washing over me. A small sound drew my attention and I realised that the woman was still standing in the room, just to the left of the window. With the barest nod of thanks she turned to leave via the window. She got as far as one leg on the window sill before she hesitated.

We had now spent less than five minutes together while we were both conscious, but I had yet to speak a word to her. I finally found my voice. "Wait," I said, wincing at how small and pathetic I sounded to my own ears.

Reluctantly she turned. "Thank you," she said, "for your help, but I don't have time to wait."

"But I don't even know your name." I wasn't expecting a response to that. I was mostly just looking for an excuse to make her stay even a second longer. What was it about her that caught me so completely?

She surprised me. "My name is Caz."

Pouncing on my opportunity I followed up with a flurry of questions. "Are you okay? How come you can walk after being hit by a car? Where are you from?" A glare from her cut me off.

"I don't expect you to understand." Her words were carefully picked, like someone who didn't grow up speaking the language. "But I have very little time, despite the fact that I should have all the time in the world. Any delay could have dire consequences." I could tell that she had dismissed me completely at that point as she turned and leapt awkwardly onto the window sill. Her injuries were worse than she was letting on.

Desperately I cast around for anything to keep this conversation going. "You dropped this." The words were out before my hand had even closed around the dimly glowing globe. I held it up for her to see.

The sight of the globe brought her up short. Stiffly she dropped back to the floor and walked over to me. "Please return that immediately." Suddenly she looked younger. The bravado had left her face, replaced with a worry and...doubt.

"On one condition." I was feeling brave now. "You have to tell me what you are doing here. Maybe I can help." Kind of foolish I realise, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was pretty obvious that she didn't want to play along, but equally obvious that she didn't have many options at this point. "Besides," I continued. "You're obviously not from around here. You need all the friends you can get."

Bowing her head she sighed. "I am looking for someone who is supposed to be here in this time and place."

"Hey, maybe I can help. I'm good at finding people." I wasn't expecting her reply.
"Very well. The one I am looking for is a brave warrior named Spin."

I was speechless for a moment. This was interesting. I stunned her right back with my reply. "Well lady, you are either very lucky or the biggest hard-luck-Harry I've ever met because you are looking at the man you came to find." Now it was her turn to be shocked.

"Woh," she said.

"I know," I replied.

We stared at each other some more.

We were still standing there a moment later when two very large men burst through the door, holding what looked to be two very large handguns. I was soon going to learn that this wasn't as uncommon a phenomenon as I thought it should be.