EIGHTY-EIGHT

Knight in Dark Armor

Hayden stared at Lolita, taking in her features. Her red hair was short and scanty on her head. Her face was bloated and covered with an oxygen mask. One of her legs was raised in a cast and a bandaged arm lay across her stomach. She looked horrible. She looked so, so bad. He was sure that if he removed the mask from her mouth, she’d surely stop breathing. It was all that was holding her together, otherwise she was as good as dead.

Six was a crowd, so the doctor asked only two people to remain in the room with her. Mrs. Adams wanted Hayden to stay back with her so she sent the rest away. She sat on Lolita’s other side, touching her hand. Hayden’s head was blank as he stared at her. He felt nothing, saw nothing. It was just Lolita, lying on the bed, half dead.

“Why can’t she survive this?” He asked Mrs. Adams. “You just have to hold on and see if she’ll wake up.”

“Huh?” Mrs. Adams looked at him and then at her daughter. “We can’t. It’s better to let her off the