With his head between his knees and forearms on his knees, Mike finally felt confident he was done dry heaving. All the while, his eyes rested on Julia. She was breathing heavily, not moving.

She cursed under her breath. “Shit, shit, shit,” she repeated.

Seeta’s legs were slack, one arm on the bed, the other hung over the side. Her tangled hair lay spread across her and Julia.

With each breath, black hair rose and fell to settle on her mouth, then rose again.

“Are you all right?”

She made a noncommittal grunt, grabbed Seeta’s arms, and angrily pushed her off.

Mike reached over, grabbed the dead woman, and helped dump her to the ground.

Still on her back, Julia stared at the ceiling, getting her breathing under control. Her shirt was a rumpled mess, and her blond hair was splayed out on the bed and across her neck and chest.

She took her time as she sat up. “How are you, Mike?” she said quietly.

“I don’t think I have a concussion, but my head hurts pretty good.”

“Hm, good.” She snatched a look at Seeta’s body, looking for any glimpse of life. There was no sign to indicate Seeta was ever coming back.

Pushing off the wall, Mike sat up. “Thanks for pulling her off me.”

“How are you?” He already knew the answer.

She looked up at him. “I’ve been better.”

“Yeah.”

Seeta’s body slowly rolled over, face down, her mouth and eyes open.

He reached in, gently touching Julia's chin, and lifted it. “I’m sorry,” he said.

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“I…” she started, then stopped.

“It’s okay.”

She shook her head. “She knocked you down. I could see the pain in your face. I knew she’d hurt you. I don’t even know…” She trailed off, trying to find the words, her shoulders raised into a long shrug. “I got so angry, so mad. I didn’t think. I don’t know why I did what I did. All I know is she'd hurt you. And when she finished hitting you, she was probably going to call someone to finish the job.

Tears rolled down her face. Her tongue slid from the top lip to the bottom lip.

“I jumped up and grabbed her.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to get her around the neck. I was only trying to stop her from doing anything else." Her head moved left to right. "She wouldn't stop fighting me. I knew I couldn’t let her go.” She wiped the tears from her face. New tears replaced the old ones. “I knew I couldn’t let her go.”

He took her hand. “It’s alright. You’ll be fine, don’t worry. When we get out of this, I’ll help you get through it.”

Strands of hair hung over her red face. “Help me?” She put her hands to her eyes and rubbed them. “I’m not like you.” She took a deep inhale through her nose. “I’ve seen you. You could have killed her and forgotten her the next second. I can’t. How can I?”

“You don’t forget.” He squeezed her hand with both of his. “You compartmentalize it and move on.” The grip on her arm tightened. “For now, we have to deal with it.” He kept his tone soft but direct. “We have a long way to go to finish this and get out of here in one piece. I need you. I need some of the fire I saw when we first met. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this. I need you to try to forget about what happened. I promise I’ll help you through it when we get back to the world. Okay?”

She nodded.

If it helps, you can use my technique. Shove it down in some deep, dark recess of your soul where it will never rear its ugly head again.” He smiled at her. “Hopefully.”

Her lips twitched up. “I’m not sure that’s the best advice, but I hear you.” She grabbed the blanket on her bed, pulled it to her, wiped her eyes, and blew her nose. “What about you?”

“My head still hurts, but I’m not dizzy anymore. I’ll need some more of those pills, that's for sure.”

Her eyes took in the table with the half-full plastic bottle of water and the little white pills in an orange plastic bottle of their own. She pulled her hair out of her face. “Can you fight? Do whatever it is you do?”

“If football players can play a game with a concussion, I can play this game. Besides,” he grinned, “I’m not even sure I have a concussion.” He gave her his most encouraging smile, teeth and all.

She frowned and looked down. “What do you think she was after?”

“Trying to determine why we’re here and get any info on Tom and Al’s whereabouts, I’m sure.” “Good riddance, I say.”

Julia cleared her throat, pursing her lips.

“Sorry, too soon.”

“Ya think?”

His shoulders rose. “Sorry.”

She dipped her head in acceptance.

Mike tugged at Seeta’s shirt. “So, how much do you think she weighs?”