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Maddie nodded slowly, then she paused, as if thinking something through. “Is that what you’re looking for?” Saffglanced at her, the low light of dusk illuminating only half of her face. “The medication, I mean. Is it for asthma?”
Saff was quiet for a moment. She didn’t like sharing too many details, but it also probably wouldn’t be a problem if Maddie knew.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
Maddie looked thoughtful, her head dropping a fraction as she bit her lip. “I don’t,” she started quietly, “I don’t know if they’ll have that.”
Saff watched a look pass over her features. A look that resembled guilt.
Maddie was quiet for a few moments before she continued. “When I figured out that you wanted medication, I—“ she paused again, and the look on her face then was definitely one of guilt—or shame. “I guess I didn’t think it was something like that. I assumed you just wanted general stuff. Not something that..” She trailed off, but Saff understood what she was getting at.
And she wasn’t all that surprised. She knew the risks when she agreed to go with her. No matter what she’d chosen, there was going to be a risk that she wouldn’t get what she needed. There was no getting around that fact.
“I—I don’t know if they’ll have that,” Maddie said, in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
Saff watched her for a few moments. People like Maddie—good people—weren’t made to last in the world they were in now. A world where guilt would do more harm than good. She’d known that for a while, especially after she’d started raiding with her father. She’d never thought about it much, but for some reason, seeing it in Maddie bothered her.
“Wake me up if you hear anything,” she said before rolling onto her side and shutting her eyes.
***
She woke to a throbbing ache in her stomach. Her eyes flitted open to gray early morning light. Then they instantly flicked to the side.
Maddie sat there, still leaned against the wall of the library, exactly where she’d been when Saff had fallen asleep. Her head drooped slightly, but she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses anymore, and Saff could see her tired eyes.
She shifted in her sleeping bag and sat up, letting out a small groan as the swollen skin on her side protested against the movement.
Maddie’s head raised, turning toward her.
“Did you sleep at all?” Saff asked, her voice hoarse with the remnants of sleep.
Maddie shook her head slowly.
Saff frowned. “No one showed up?” she asked, pushing her sleeping bag down so she could lift the bottom of her hoodie and t-shirt to check the wound.
“No,” Maddie murmured.
With the shirt pulled up, she could instantly see the swollen bright red skin around her torso. She gently pulled the gauze up off the skin, her mouth pressing into a hard line when she saw the blood and clear liquid oozing from the wound.
She let out a small breath, pressing the bandage back into place as she leaned back onto the wall.
The sky was gray, but over one of the buildings, the sun was beginning to rise.
She couldn’t wait any longer. It could be hours, or it could be days, until Maddie’s group showed up. And she didn’t have that kind of time.
She watched some small birds flitting from tree to tree in the grassy area below the stairs.
“They might not come,” she finally said, not wanting to put it off any longer.
Maddie didn’t react. She didn’t even move. And Saff wondered if she’d been thinking the same thing—if that’s what had really kept her up all night.
They sat in silence for a while, until finally the sun made its way past the roof of the building, casting a ray of light and warmth down upon them.
Maddie blinked a few times, then pulled the sunglasses off from where they hung on the collar of her shirt, slowly pushing them up onto her face.
Saff cleared her throat. “What’re you gonna do?” she asked, surprised by how much she cared to hear the answer.
Maddie shrugged slightly. “Wait, I guess.”
