Free No Service by Susan Luciano

regularly. Her heart and chest hurt, but her lungs were so happy to have oxygen in correct and comfortable amounts.
    She wondered if she’d laid there for two minutes or two hours. A check of her watch told her it had probably been at least a half hour, but it had been a long time since she’d checked her watch so it was all speculation.
    As far as she cared, it was late enough that the sun was beginning to truly set and her husband was still completely knocked out. She checked his breathing and his heartbeat. He was breathing more normal than hers, and his heartbeat seemed like it was probably fine as well though she wouldn’t have a clue if that was an accurate assumption.
    She sat up next to him, uncertain of what action she should take, if any. No one would even think they were missing until their checkout in three more days. She doubted anyone walking by their campsite would notice their absence unless park security was trying to check back with them about anything.
    As the daylight faded, the sky overhead exploded with a rainbow of beautiful natural colors. It was always gorgeous when this close to nature. It wasn’t blocked by a multitude of big tall ugly buildings and their glaring lights. It was like the city wanted your focus and damned if you wanted to appreciate what little nature there was in the urban landscape.
    The sky was already violet receding into navy as Chris stirred. He didn’t wake up, but he grunted and twitched a hand. Jess stared at him, hoping that her enthusiastic feelings would telepathically make him wake up. Chris quieted again and Jess wondered if she should try to wake him. With the way he’d been complaining about his back, she wasn’t sure if she should move him to a horizontal position or if this was better because it left his spine in the same spot without a lot of jostling.
    “Please be okay,” she whispered to him.
    It was full dark by the time Chris woke up. Jess couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. She thought she knew what “dark” was, but she hadn’t really thought about how pitch black it really was because she had become so accustomed to streetlights and flashlights to guide her. She only reacted because she heard Chris mumble incoherently.
    She pulled out one of the phones and turned on the flashlight option. The bright white light blinded Chris who put his hand up to shield his eyes.
    “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
    He recovered for a minute. “Why’s it so dark out here?”
    “Oh, babe, it’s night. You passed out and I…” She bit the words back, afraid it would trigger her again. She shined the flashlight toward the ground, but it was nice to have some light after sitting alone in the dark waiting for him.
    Chris rubbed the back of his head a moment. It was uncomfortable from laying against rough bark for hours. He leaned forward some and found that his back still hurt significantly, but it didn’t feel any worse. “I think we maybe both went into shock. I didn’t think you were hurt that bad, I thought it was just the situation was just too much at once for you, but I don’t know. Maybe you even have a concussion.”
    He tried to stand, but felt stiff and spent time bending and straightening his legs instead. He continued, “We need to drink water. Clean water.”
    “We can’t really walk around in the dark, can we?”
    He pushed himself up off the ground and rested on top of the fallen tree again. He had pins and needles in his legs and feet and moved around to try and stop the fire he felt. He grimaced with the effort, but as feeling came back, he stretched his arms up and felt his back crack.              It wasn’t a bad sound or feeling and it seemed to relieve some tension and pressure. He was certain he shouldn’t be moving like that after an accident. It was the same kind of thing he’d yelled at patients in the past for, but now that he was in the moment, he realized just how satisfying it