Campbell by C. S. Starr

feel strained, you know?”
    Cole nodded. “Good. I don’t think there’s going to be an offensive from West. It wouldn’t be smart.”
    “Agreed,” she nodded, as she stood. “I think I’m going to go to bed.”
    Cole stood as well, and kissed her forehead. “Night, Sis.”
    She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, and relaxed into   his embrace. “You know I need you, right? More than anything?”
    He rested his head on the top of hers. “I do.”
    “I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll get rid of these assholes and maybe go swimming in the river after we sort through some correspondence?”
    There was always so much correspondence. They both sighed at the thought.  
    “Let’s just go do something together. The correspondence can wait. Maybe we can make Zoey do it so she feels important.”
    The Campbell twins smiled the same knowing grin.  
    “Love,” Lucy whispered, as they parted ways after locking the front door. It was their word. They’d exchanged it every night since they’d first learned to speak it.  
    Cole smiled back, a twinkle in his eye that Lucy adored. “Love.”

Chapter 4

    August 2001
    Fort Macleod, Alberta

    Lucy looked around the crowded emergency room for a seat, but saw nothing available. It wasn’t a big hospital, but it seemed like everyone in town was there, most of them grey and coughing or accompanying someone that was grey and coughing. The wait to check in was about thirty people long, and the hospital receptionist barked ignored commands, and tried to maintain some order. She was failing miserably.  
    The small girl zoned out for a moment, and she tried to process everything she was feeling. She was distracted by the blood running down her thighs, sticky and warm.
    Cole squeezed her hand tightly. “Come on, Ce. We need to find a doctor, or someone important. Someone that can help.”
    The pain between Lucy’s legs made it uncomfortable to walk, but she did so anyway, finally desperate enough to put herself in the care of someone else, someone that would hopefully be able to deal with the situation better than she was.
    A nurse paused and looked at the two of them critically, there without anyone else. Without an adult. Lucy realized that she was young; close in age to her sixth grade teacher who had just finished school.  
    “We’re not taking in kids,” she said sympathetically. “I heard the police station was.”
    “I’m...” Lucy took a deep breath, hoping the words wouldn’t catch in her throat. “I’ve been hurt.”
    The nurse bent down and checked her vitals. “You seem all right to me. Better than most of the people in here.”
    Tears streamed down her face and Cole let out a haggard sob, the night having taken its toll on him. “Our grandfather hurt her,” he said, with a firmness Lucy had never heard from him. “We need help.”
    The nurse’s face screwed up at the desperation in their faces, took them into a small examination room and closed the door. “Look, unless there’s something medical I can do for you, you’re not going to get much help here. People are dying all over the place. You picked a bad time to do a brave thing…what’s your name?”
    “Lucy Campbell,” she answered in a small voice. “Please, we need somewhere to go. We can’t go back there…he...” she took a deep breath, her eyes pleading with the nurse. “There’s blood.”
    The nurse sat down in the task chair and cradled her face in her hands. Lucy knew that she hadn’t slept in a long time from the bags under her eyes. She looked at them both critically, her eyes stopping on Lucy’s faded Simpson’s t-shirt. Her expression tightened, and she opened her mouth a couple of times before words came out. She crooked her finger, beckoning them closer.  
    “I wish I could help you, but I can’t. I’m going to tell you something, and if the world turns itself to right, I’ll deny ever saying it, you hear me?” She scanned their faces as they nodded