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TOM STRAIGHTENED UP from the wall. His legs wouldn’t make it far.
A quick scan around the cell gave little away. No wheelchair, stool, or even rolling table could help him follow behind Major Dilbeck. The man had run out the room the second the gun shots had stopped.
He hadn’t spared a second glance at Tom. Probably thought I’m too weak to do much. Tom pressed his hands against the wall and slid to the ground. He breathed out on a whoosh with the relief of removing his weight from his knees. Whatever the heck that boulder had done to his legs, it’d left a creaking and scraping behind when he moved. Like bones rubbing on bones.
Thank goodness the cold had numbed him somewhat. Tom’s brain was coming out of the haze the lowered temperature had caused, but his sluggish body was slower to respond. At least he couldn’t feel the had-to-be-broken bones in his lower legs. Yet.
Under his butt, the cold cement’s unforgiving hardness refused to let him relax. He leaned his head against the wall. Major Dilbeck had said Tom being SHOT3’s son was a problem. His dad was a dick sometimes, but why was it a problem for Major Dilbeck? Tom trusted Major Dilbeck, but only to an extent. Some of his dad’s distrust and belief that everyone had their own conspiracy theory to work had been drilled into Tom’s character. Dilbeck had wanted the convo books, and he’d been excited at the prospect of handling them.
Oh, crap, Dilbeck’s attitude toward Tom might change when he realized Tom didn’t have the convo books. Tom didn’t want to be caught without them, but at the same time, he didn’t want to be caught with them. Those dang books were causing him more trouble than they were worth. He’d love to dump them on his dad, if his dad was still alive.
Tom kept his knees pulled to his chest. The room warmed at a fast rate with the door open and Tom didn’t want to find out if his nerves had thawed or not, tingling in his fingertips indicated the former.
At the same time, he didn’t want to be alone any more either. What if the door slammed shut and the cold started again? Thanks, but not today. He gritted his teeth. He could do this. Moving into the hall wouldn’t be a big deal. A few feet at the most. He’d already walked from the bed to the doorway for crying out loud. He could scoot a few feet on his butt. Come on, Tom. You can do this.
A nod to encourage himself, added to the silent pep talk, and he inhaled deep. And exhaled. What the heck? He wasn’t going underwater. Scoot one foot and then take a break. Simple.
He looked at his knees. Deep purples, reds, and blues splotched under his skin. They didn’t hurt though. Yet.
Arms braced at his sides, he pushed up and lifted his body to the left. His legs moved less than an inch.
Tom whimpered at the pain, remnants from the scream he couldn’t get his swollen throat to make.
Yep, the cold had worn off his legs.
He relaxed his arms. Oh, crap. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t breathe the dang pain was so bad. Things were broken. Bad. How would he make it? They’d leave him for sure. He wasn’t worth anything injured as bad as he was. They’d shoot him like a lame horse. Or they should.
His breathing shallowed and then deepened once the shock of the pain wore off. A sharp stabbing sensation replaced the explosion of pain erupting up his legs and into his back. He could handle that compared to the attack on his nerves a moment before.
But nobody came to check on him. Dilbeck didn’t return. Maybe they’d solved the “problem” by leaving Tom behind. He crossed his arms and snuggled them between his upper thighs and stomach, cautious to not touch anything below the line where the discoloration began. No matter what happened, he’d lost his ability to survive on his own.
All his preparation had been for nothing. Silent tears escaped the sides of his eyes. He sniffed and tucked his chin to his chest and struggled to keep the sobs in. He didn’t want to die. Had done everything he could to this point to stay alive. And because of a stupid boulder, he couldn’t walk. He’d love to know how Jenny was, but at this rate, he was never taking her out for pizza.