Then I face the front window.
“Don’t die on me now,” I say to Mack. “We’ve got twenty-nine minutes to go. Can you hold on for twenty-nine fucking minutes?”
The car engine revs awake, and I stutter on the pedal, pushing against the people who’ve gathered around to stare in the windshield.
But I mean fucking business, and I’ll run them the fuck over.
“Get out of the way!” I scream, slapping at the horn as though if I hit the steering wheel harder, it’ll beep louder.
We’re running out of time.
And the people part like the Red Sea as I plunge through the crowd.
***
I don’t need to use the GPS to know where we’re going. My sense of direction has always been keen, especially because my dad used to draw maps with me as a kid. We’d walk around somewhere and then draw out all the places we went.
It’s the only thing I have left of him now, and it’s certainly coming in handy.
He won me that fish at the carnival, and now I’m going to return it to the sea.
“You’re gonna cost me a fortune from the rental car company in cleaning fees,” I say to Mack.
I’ve got one hand on the wheel, one hand pushing my balled sweater against his wound. He’s barely conscious. His breathing is shallow, and his eyes are rolling back in his head.
The car in front of me isn’t going fast enough, so I switch lanes, and a horn blares by us because I didn’t check my rearview.
“Shit.” I swerve back into the other lane and then hit the gas again and speed around two more cars.
I continue this way, swerving in and out, my eyes on the fluttering in Mack’s neck, just to make sure his breath is still there.
This other alleged universe better have some really good healthcare.
Or maybe he’ll just be magically healed.
All I know is, if he’s going to die, it’s not going to be in this universe, where he doesn’t even want to live.
One more swerve, and then a cop car lights up at the side of the road.
“Motherfucker,” I swear under my breath.
Please don’t pull me over, please don’t pull me over. But what a futile prayer.
Woop Woop!
Sirens.
Shit, double shit.
I catch my eyes in the rearview mirror, the pale blue iris surrounded by dark smudges, the skin puffy like pastries. I barely even recognize myself but not because of my physical appearance. There’s something different about me completely.
Who am I? What am I even doing?
I’ve changed. From the inside out.
The cop car is gaining on me.
There’s no denying I’m the target. After all, I’m driving like a fucking maniac.
“Pull over to the side of the road,” a robotic voice calls from a megaphone.
Mack’s head lolls to the side, dropping away from me.
“No!” I shout. “Stay awake!”
He’s still breathing. He’s still breathing.
I look at the clock on the car.
Seven minutes until go time.
The exit is in one mile.
All I have to do is get there. The water is within walking distance from the exit.
Then run a quarter mile into the water.
I’m so close.
