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The longer I stared at the blood covering me, the more my panic grew, the memory of how Carlos had pointed his gun at my parents and vowed to come after me, too.
My breath quickened, my vision blurry as I replayed how the blood covered the floor and me over and over. I stood, my legs wobbly as I raced to the shower, barely turning the knob before I fell over. I gripped the wall and used it to support myself as I stood under the spray, and my body shook as the cold water ran over me. Once I no longer feared I’d fall, I scrubbed at my skin as I shed all my clothes, ensuring I washed every trace of the red stickiness away.
When no more blood remained, I turned off the water; my naked body shivered in the cold air. Squeezing my eyes closed, I picked up the bloody clothes and shoved them into the trash can. I couldn’t look at them without remembering what had happened and sending myself into a panic. I didn’t have any time to waste; I had to keep going, or he’d find me.
With trembling fingers, I redressed into clean clothes and left the locker room, spotting a school bus up ahead. Climbing onto it, I ignored all the kids’ stares, sitting in the back. I didn’t care where it went. It was away from here, and that was all that mattered.
Fingers wiped my tears, bringing me back to the present. Opening my eyes, I spotted Otto below me.
“No more tears, Little Bird.”
“I know. I was just remembering…” I didn’t need to say anything else. The only time I normally cried was when I remembered my parents. Though Otto might fall into that category soon, too.
“He’s not going to find you. I’ll protect you until you can protect yourself,” he vowed how only an eight-year-old could—with his whole heart.
“And I’ll protect you. Together forever,” I whispered, holding my pinky finger before him. He lifted his, wrapping it around mine. It was weak, and my heart worried now for a different reason.
“Running into you was the best day of my life,” he said, shocking me.
“It was?” I asked, wiping the rest of my tears away.
“Yeah. Because I found a friend, I didn’t have to do it alone anymore.”
I smiled, nodding. He was right. Our lives hadn’t been the greatest, but we’d found one another and were surviving together. We might be homeless and always hungry, but we had each other and our imaginations to entertain us.
We’d even given each other new names, leaving our pasts behind us.
“Tell me another story, Little Bird.” His voice sounded weaker, so I nodded, willing to do anything he asked.
“There was a ship of pirates who sailed the seas, looking for treasure…”
“You know, all your stories are about taking from the rich and punishing the bad,” he said when I’d almost finished.
“Those are the best kind!”
He gave a small chuckle, bringing a smile to my face, and I believed he’d be okay. But a second later, his body shook hard as foam formed around his mouth.
Panicking, I jumped up, running out of the attic through the main part of the building as I screamed for help, breaking our promise never to reveal our secret location. But I was too scared to worry about the consequences, wanting Otto to be okay. I couldn’t lose another person. A woman and man hurried out of an office, halting in their tracks at the sight of me.
“Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”
“Please, help. Something is wrong!” I cried, not stopping to explain. I turned on my heels and raced back to where we’d been hidden for months now.
Otto wasn’t shaking anymore when I got back to him, but his face was redder, and he wasn’t responding. The woman dropped beside me, placing her hand against his forehead.
“Call 911!” she shouted, bending down to gather Otto into her arms.
“Wait, you can’t take him!” I screamed, fear that I’d never see him again racing through me.
“He needs a doctor,” she said, not pausing as she rushed out of the room and down the stairs. I hurried after her, promising to stay with him so he wouldn’t be alone.
The paramedics met us at the front, taking Otto’s small form from the woman and placing him on a bed. They started to hook things up to him, and I watched in amazement as they worked, praying they’d be able to save him. They wheeled him away, and I ran, ignoring the woman’s pleas, and climbed onto the bed, wrapping my arms around his legs.
“Um, what should we do?” one of the paramedics asked the other.
“Leave her. There’s no time.”
The door closed, and I relaxed as the ambulance took off, knowing I hadn’t lost him yet. When one of the machines beeped, the EMT pulled me off, explaining they needed the space to keep him alive. Nodding, I watched as they worked, inserting a tube down his throat and an IV in his arm.
