* * *
Since Aaron was the only person who was both lucid and not bloody, he was chosen to rent the motel room. With a resigned sigh because he really did not like putting his deformities on display, Aaron got out of the taxi, struggled to open the motel's office door, and paid the clerk after filling out the registration. Of course, it cost extra for a cot. The clerk brought out a cot for him, which meant that he had to then struggle back through the door while dragging the cot behind him.
Sometimes, it sucked to be Aaron Turner.
Once in their room the women took Mary into the bathroom and cleaned her and themselves in the shower. After they exited the bathroom, dressed in nothing but towels, they wrapped themselves in blankets from the two beds. Since he felt gritty and was tired of his own stench, Aaron wasted no time hopping into the bathroom so he could shower. Unfortunately there were no unused towels so he reused the driest one he could find and hoped it wasn't Mary's because he was not sure how much wildlife she had crawling over her. At least she smelled like soap now. That was a definite improvement, though a certain fragrance of residual B.O. still hung around her.
They stayed in the room the entire next day. Aaron left only to pay another day's rent, exchange towels and order pizza delivery.
In the morning Mary grew lucid briefly, and then she became agitated and violent and started screaming. Five minutes later she was bound and gagged and thrashing on the cot while Aaron and Perk taught the other two how to play cards. After several hours Sarah used her knife to cut the blankets into strips that could cover the women more comfortably, but first she sent Aaron outside to pace around the motel until they were decent. The dirty, bloodstained clothing had been deposited in the tub by the time Aaron was permitted back in.
And then it was back to cards.
Kit liked Hearts. Once she learned that gambling was involved she liked poker even better although she moaned and griped about having no money to bet. She made Aaron promise to bring lots of cards over with him when they returned, and then they ordered another pizza delivery even though the women universally agreed that they hated it.
Eventually, Mary stopped fighting and grew quiet so they untied her. Upon examination, her breathing seemed shallow; her skin dry and hot, but there was nothing they could do to help her.
Evening rolled around, and Aaron was finally sure that the injections had worn off. From some source deep inside his soul he knew that he had regained his skill.
And so he sent Sarah, Kit and Mary back to the other side without a hitch. Sarah gave him a kiss and the last of her money. Twenty-three hundred dollars and change.
Before he and Perk left the motel Aaron placed two hundred dollars on the night table. The women had taken the blankets with them and left a bloody mess of clothing in the tub, so he owed the motel and its cleaning crew extra.
After driving two and a half hours in a beat up taxi, they ended up at his apartment. Aaron gathered everything that was loose, put it in the room with the liquor, sent the entire load over to the Isabella side, and went to bed for the night. Perk slept on the couch.
In the morning, he and Perk disassembled every piece of furniture that could be broken down. They shoved all the furniture Aaron owned into the bedroom, tossing a couple chairs on top of the pile. Aaron sent that to the dining hall of the Manor. Presents for Kit.
And then they went shopping. Playing cards sold for a nickel a pack. Aaron bought a thousand.
Columbia City boasted three Universities. Aaron's money ran out at the bookstore of the first one. When he was finished buying at that store he owned complete manuals for every technical course the University offered. He also had fifty paperbacks for trash reading. Though the bundle came to a lot of books, Aaron griped that it was not enough.
At which point Perk convinced him to take money from her. After all, she said, he was the one who had given her most of it. She stopped at a branch of her bank, withdrew her money, and then they exchanged the last of his gold coins for more. Feeling loaded, they visited the two other colleges and three bookstores, buying every volume that might in some way be useful or entertaining. Perk had to stop at his apartment twelve more times so he could unload and make more room in the taxi. They made two very serious liquor runs.
Inside, Aaron felt hollow.
After Perk cooked him dinner and they watched the holovision news together. War was breaking out in the Mid East. A hurricane was heading for the East Coast. Dr. Wise announced from the Mercy Bend institute of Science and Technology a tremendous breakthrough in nano technology. The government confirmed that the bodies recovered on the Hilness Farm were indeed those of the two murderers who had rampaged through Columbia City, Gains and other nearby areas. Despite an intensive search, no sign of their mysterious weapons were discovered. It was confirmed that the combined death toll for the two was now standing at eighty-three. Coming up, an interview with the family of one of the victims.
Aaron grieved. A swath of innocent lives had fallen due to his mistakes. Countless more lives were emotionally maimed. If he had never crossed back, if he had allowed Beech to kill the three of them, more than eighty people would not be dead and hundreds of others would not be left grieving.
Perk shushed him as the news changed to a report on three missing people, two women and a man. Aaron did not see his picture displayed, and Perk did not point it out to him.
Changing the channel, she found other news of interest. Outside the city of Gains, Intelligence had raided an Everlasting Life Militia compound, known locally as Field's Militia. Illegal weapons and explosives were taken, as well as over half a million in cash. Plans for the disruption and eventual takeover of the government were discovered. Charges had been filed--thanks to the efforts of Captain Grant Hill--medals would be presented--retire after this last--
"Yes," Perk said, "they died, but they did not die by your hand. They died because two others were evil. Those two are now dead. Other people are dying out there too, Aaron. Children are hungry. Women die in birth. Make a difference, Aaron. All you can do to make amends is to make a difference. Here you can't make much of a difference but over there--"
She left, and when she returned she was dressed for bed. Taking his hand, she pulled him after her, pulled him down into the bed, and she comforted him.
Later, when she offered her body, he raised his head. "What about your boyfriend?"
"That one is history. If you have to know, it was him what put the bruise on my cheek a while back. I'm never that clumsy in practice. The problem, Aaron, is that most men do not like women who are better than they are. So, do you want to do it?"
Aaron thought the matter over. Yes, he did want her. After all, his hormones were stirred, and his emotions were shredded, but no. He owed his loyalty to Sarah and Cathy. He was soiled, but he still held a few rags of honor, of integrity. It did not matter that those two did not expect fidelity from him. He expected it from himself, and on this matter he refused to yield.
Perk said she understood and rolled over to go to sleep. Watching her, Aaron figured she had not been all that enthused on the issue anyway. Most likely, she had not offered him her body because she was interested in him. Her offer had been one of compassion, not passion. She was only being a friend.