Porcelain Comfort

Rescue Me by Kellie Roberts

“Remember, don’t drag your leg. You’ll only end up hurting yourself.” Dr. Smith scolded her from behind as she stood at the top of the stairs.

Ruby felt a bit dizzy looking down the elegant staircase. Its wooden planks had been covered by a stair runner of golden leaves on a red background.

She blinked, focusing on the checkpoint. The second floor.

Taking it one step at a time, Ruby made her way down the stairs and kept her braced leg lifted as she stepped. Smith praised her from behind.

Halfway down the stairs, she wobbled before plopping herself down. The doctor appeared by her side, asking her questions while he felt her forehead.

“What did you have for breakfast?”

“Toast. I feel dizzy.” Ruby leaned against the rail pattern built into the wall. The world began to spin.

“Just toast?” She nodded. “Darz, please get water, applesauce, and some protein from the kitchen.”

They sat on the stairs, watching as several people passed by. Most stopped, concerned, but Dr. Smith waved them off.

When Darz returned, he helped her up the stairs and back to her room where Smith laid out the food beside her.

“Eat. I'll be back. Darz, stay next to her please.”

Ruby seated herself on her bed, grabbing the applesauce and taking a bite. When she finished with that, she reached for the bottled water before a protein bar.

She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until Darz had come back with the assortment of food.

“Slow down.” The older man chuckled, grabbing her wrist to stop her.

She let him take the partially eaten bar, chewing slowly on the rest in her mouth. Once Ruby swallowed her portion, she sat back against the headboard. It didn’t take long for her stomach to start turning.

“You okay?” Darz noticed her paling face and helped her up as her cheeks puffed out and she gagged.

Half carrying her, they made it to the toilet in time before she emptied her stomach. Her braced leg stretched out awkwardly on the tile, pushing the bathroom mat away. Darz pulled her short hair from her face, keeping it balled at the back of her head.

“Ruby? Darz?” Dr. Smith rounded the corner to find them sitting on the bathroom floor. Ruby laid her cheek against the porcelain pot, finding the coolness soothing.

Smith brought her a cool cloth to clean her face and Darz left to fetch a bowl. They got Ruby back to her bed, setting the bowl beside her in case she couldn’t make it to the bathroom.

“You probably just have a bug. I checked your dosage and medication. It shouldn’t be causing any sickness or loss in appetite, and your infection looked to have cleared. If you feel any worse or anything funky, let me know.” Smith nodded to them before leaving.

“Do you need anything else?” Ruby shook her head at Darz who remained standing by her bed. “Blankets?” She shook her head, once more.

Nodding, Darz took the seat next to her bed. From time to time, he’d pull out his phone, then return it to his pocket to aimless stare at the wall.

“You don't have anything better to do?”

“My job is to guard you.” He looked over at her smiling. “Let me show you something.” Darz pulled back out his phone, swiping through until he settled on something.

Handing the phone to her, he had popped open a photo of him, a woman, and two children.

“My wife, Zalia, and our two kids, Marx and Mwali. She had come to America when still in her mother’s womb from India. They moved to Texas and during college at the University of Texas, we met.”

“How’d you know she was the one?” Darz chuckled at her question, pulling back his phone to flip through more photos.

“Well, for our kind, we have our Last Purpose. Um… our history is kind of long and confusing, but after we were created and then… no longer needed, our… creator set us out to live our lives, but we walked without aim. So, he returned and gave us purpose. We never really know until we reach our Last Purpose, what our life is supposed to lead up to. Mine was my family, it’s the final piece of my life. Finding Zalia and raising our two boys.”

“Sorry to ask, but, why would he just set you free?” Ruby sat straighter in the bed, retaking the phone to see his boys running around in the yard with the sprinklers.

“He created us to be an army, but things changed and he no longer needed us.” Darz swiped at the screen to show more photos of his happy family.

Before Ruby could ask more, Lilac knocked on their door before entering. He was quick to pull back his phone, standing to greet her.

“Brad wants you downstairs. He wants me to watch her in the meantime.” He nodded before swiftly leaving the room.

The young girl took his seat, notebooks in hand.

“Homework?” She nodded her head. Ruby scooted over a bit and gave a small smile, “need any help?”

...

“Alrighty. Try walking. Any pain? Discomfort?”

“No, none at all.” Her lips formed into a smile as she stretched her leg, not feeling any pain from the movement. Ruby wiggled her toes in excitement as she moved around, feeling the extent of her freedom.

“Okay, good. You should be okay to walk on stairs and I don’t see any reason to have any more physical therapy sessions. If anything concerns you, is weird, or you have any pains, please come talk to me.” Smith fatherly patted her hand before releasing her from his care.

Brad and Darz waited just beyond the door, speaking to one another in hushed whispers. When she came walking out of the door, on her own two feet, they both gave her dazzling smiles.

“Well, congrats on a full recovery.” Darz patted her shoulder and ruffled her hair much to her dismay. It had evened out a lot over the past two months but hadn’t quite reached her shoulders yet.

“Thank you.” Ruby tried to smile back but she couldn’t help but feel she had interrupted something vitally important. Plus, she felt as if their conversation had been about her.

“I think I’ll miss carrying you up the stairs.” Brad winked at her before leading her away from Darz. “You think you can handle the stairs? You’ve been doing well with your brace on.”

“Yeah, I think I can handle it.” He followed her up the stairs anyway, escorting her back to her room.

“You let any of us know if you need anything. Darz will be up shortly with some food for you and Meers is going to be with you all night, okay?” Brad left her to her own devices, trusting she’d be okay for a few minutes by herself. She seemed to enjoy those moments.

Later that night, about an hour before her guards would switch out for the night, Ruby crawled into bed, the television playing softly. She fell asleep to that but woke to a piercing silence.

She didn’t know what woke her, she didn’t remember having any sort of dream that would cause her to jolt into consciousness. Perhaps, this was a dream. It didn’t matter, she knew he was here. Not cult members. Just him. She couldn’t seem him, but her mind screamed at her to run.

With a panic, she threw off the blankets, thankful the brace wasn’t holding her down anymore, as she sprinted to her door. It must have been a dream because Meers, who she knew was guarding her tonight, wasn’t standing outside her door. He was nowhere in sight.

Ruby bolted down the stairs, noting how dark the house was. Like nobody was even here. Just like her dreams. Rarely was anybody ever inside the house in her dreams. No one to help her when they came.

This time, she wasn’t going to hide inside, she was going to keep moving south. Ruby slipped out the front door and ran for the woods. A small patch of trees on either side of the road separated the house from the community that rested on the lower side of the hill. Some houses still had a light on, but Ruby bypassed them, cutting through backyards until she reached a gate.

Ruby didn’t know the passcode for it, so she opted to climb a nearby tree and propel herself over the iron fence and onto the other side. Hopefully, that’d slow her pursuers. Wherever they may be.

She landed roughly, half on her side. Pain throbbed from her leg and she clutched at her knee, gasping for breath. Surely, in a dream, her pain wouldn’t be this intense. After a moment, she stood once more and limped her way across the road and disappeared into the tree line.

It all felt like a dream. Touching rough tree bark under her fingers felt surreal and the dirt beneath her feet came in waves of sensations. Her head throbbed.

She wasn’t familiar with her surroundings, especially the abundance of pine trees that surrounded her. But, so long as she headed south, she headed further away from the cult. That much she knew.

Ruby continued on throughout the night, her fear nearly paralyzing her at the thought of them jumping out at her at any moment. A new throb came from her side, aching.

After what felt like an eternity, Ruby just couldn’t continue any longer. She needed to rest, and hopefully, she’d make it to dawn where they couldn’t reach her. She snuggled up against a tree, the chill freezing her sweat and making her shiver.

Nothing jumped out at her and she finally relaxed, curling in on herself and laying down. She brought her knees to her chest, rubbing soothingly at the pain.

Ruby couldn’t run forever and perhaps, letting them get to her, to end the night and wake her in the early hours, would be better than just waiting in fear. Sometimes, ripping off the band-aid was the right thing to do.

A twig snapped and her heart came to a dead stop. There was the sound of something sniffing before a wet nose touched the top of her forehead. She didn’t dare move, not even to peek until a warm hand brushed her hair back.

“Ruby?” Brad’s voice came as a surprise. He had never been in her dreams, not once.

“You’ve never been in any of my dreams.” She peeked up at the shadow over her, she could only make out his eyes and the outline of his face. He looked to be frowning.

“You’re not dreaming, Ruby. Why’d you leave the house?” He helped her to sit up, taking note of her dazed expression and just how cold she was. “Let’s get you to the car, it's not far from here.”

He helped her to stand, noting how she limped.

“Are you in pain?” She merely nodded. “Here.” Brad lifted her up, surprised by how she gave no resistance.

“I don’t feel good… This isn’t a dream?”

“No, Ruby. No dream.” Brad ground his teeth when she asked again, and then again, about if this was real. Not in frustration, though it did frustrate him that her mental progress was not on par with her physically. Worry settled into his gut as he neared the SUV’s engine and she asked, once more, if she was dreaming.

Meers and Darz were standing by the open door, holding blankets for her. When she saw him, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“You weren’t outside the door…”

“No, I had to use the bathroom.” Then, he looked towards Brad with a guilty expression. “Sorry.”

“Hmm…” She only hummed catching their attention as she crawled into the back seat, dragging her lower half in. “I didn’t even think of that. Usually, no one’s ever in the house.”

To catch them up, Brad whispered, “she thought she had been dreaming.”

As they all settled back into the vehicle, wolves surrounded the car for a moment before disappearing back into the woods.

“No more potty breaks. Got it.” While Meers had only meant that for him and Darz in the front seat, Ruby piped up.

“You shouldn’t hold your bladder. It's bad. If there was to be an accident, it could pop and then you’d just be poisoning yourself.” Darz raised an eyebrow at that fact, looking at Brad behind him.

He didn’t comment, just tuck the blankets around her.

“Do you dream of the house a lot, Ruby?” If he could, he wanted to know what was going on inside her head.

“No. Not really.” She blinked sleepily, her voice fading as she spoke.

“What do you dream about most nights?” He squeezed her foot comfortingly, as it pressed up against his thigh when she stretched.

“The forest most nights. This isn’t a dream? The house felt empty and I knew he was there. They usually are and I’m good at spotting them, just this time it was just him. He was there.”

“No, Ruby. I promise. This isn’t a dream. He wasn’t there.” She didn’t say anything to that, but by the way her mouth formed a straight line, she didn’t believe him.

Brad looked to Darz, who had turned himself in his seat to observe the exchange. There was no possible way he got passed them. Someone would have noticed, just like Darz had seen her running through his backyard, along with several others.

Still, the doubt lingered.