Free Care Factor Zero by Margaret Clark Page B

do you know all that stuff?’ he asked when he caught up to her. ‘I’ve been on the street and seen bad whacks, but nothing like that.’
    ‘Yeah, well … I know anaphylactic reactions because I’ve had one,’ said Larceny shortly. ‘Not from speed. From prescribed drugs when I was in hospital. And I’ve seen someone go completely numb from speed. Now, shut up and keep walking.’
    ‘Will that woman call the cops?’
    ‘Dunno. Maybe. I can’t risk it. That’s why I’m outa here.’
    ‘I’m with you,’ said Lynx.
    They walked quickly away from the hospital and round the corner into St Kilda Road. In their hurry to put some distance behind themselves and the Alfred Hospital neither of them spoke
    ‘I feel bad about leaving Frantik,’ Lynx said finally when they were several blocks away, still walking fast. ‘He’s my mate. But I don’t need cop trouble. I’m on a good behaviour bond.’
    ‘Yeah? What for?’
    ‘Stealing a car. My old man paid big bail to get me off, but I’ve got to stay clean or I’ll get sent down. Why don’t you want to get tangled with the cops?’
    She faced him under a street light, her large green eyes glowing like a cat’s in her white face.
    ‘I killed a guy.’
    ‘ What?’
    She shrugged. ‘I killed a guy. Do you want to make something of it?’ The tone was angry, challenging.
    ‘What happened?’
    ‘He was gonna double cross me so I killed him. Come on, my feet are freezing.’ She took off fast across the road, dodging the traffic and narrowly missing getting run over several times. Lynx darted after her.
    ‘Wait up, will ya?’
    But Larceny kept striding. She broke into a half trot and then a jog. Lynx pounded alongside her.
    ‘Hey,’ he puffed. ‘Slow down, will ya?’
    Larceny went faster, as if by running like hell she could rid herself of her own devils that rode in her head. But though she ran till her lungs felt as if they would burst, she couldn’t run away from the one thing that terrified her the most: herself.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    When they got back Bex and Comma were asleep in the double bed. Larceny turned her back on Lynx and stripped off her wet things, leaving them on the floor. She’d sort them out in the morning. She pulled out a clean t-shirt from the pile of laundry and lay down on the sofa, pulling the rug up to her chin. Lynx pulled the mattress over beside the sofa. He’d also stripped off his wet gear and found a blanket.
    ‘Larce?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You’ve got funny feet.’
    Larceny look down at her toes. The little toe on each foot was bigger than its companions and curled over. She was the only person she’d ever met who had these weird toes.
    ‘So?’
    ‘Nothin’. Um … do you feel like some company?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘We’d be warmer if we shared this mattress.’
    ‘I’m warm enough.’
    ‘I’m not.’
    She heard him move towards her on his hands and knees. She lay rigid beneath the blanket. She’d kill him if he touched her. The grey mist came swirling, swirling … The sofa sagged as he sat down beside her.
    ‘Larce? You’re beautiful.’
    ‘Piss off,’ she hissed between clenched teeth.
    ‘I thought you liked me.’
    ‘Yeah? Well, you thought wrong.’
    The rage took over. She jackknifed upright, pushing him hard in the chest. He fell off the sofa onto the floor.
    ‘Do I have to spell it out? LEAVE ME ALONE!’
    ‘All right, all right, don’t get so shitty.’
    He crawled back onto his mattress. After a while his gentle snores told her that he was asleep. But she couldn’t sleep. She lay staring into the darkness, her stomach in knots at the thought of him holding her, touching her. He was a nice guy. Why couldn’t she unfreeze enough to let him have sex with her?Was there something seriously abnormally wrong with her? All those bloody shrinks hadn’t been able to help —
    ‘Why did you feel the need to burn the school down?’ one had asked when she was in therapy.
    How the hell did she know? The