Return to the index
Take the reader survey
Episode 32: Past the Point of No Return
Sorry it has taken me forever to get another story out! In this one, Nathan and Sarah have recovered from their disastrous campout and are now back on their way to Mexico. They're getting the idea that their adventures are only beginning - and there's no turning back. --The Author
"Now I am here with you..."
Sitting in the passenger seat of Nathan's truck once again, Sarah took a last glance back at Tishomingo State Park as they turned south onto the Natchez Trace. "Well, that was an interesting campout," she commented ironically.
It had taken the better part of the day after the storm for Nathan, Sarah, and the camp host to clean up the mess that had been left when the huge tree branch had fallen onto their tent in campsite 4.5. Once they had cut up the branch into moveable pieces and cleared away most of the brush, Nathan and Sarah were finally able to go through the wreckage of their tent. The tent was ruined of course, but they were able to pull out their bedding and clothes, and most importantly, find the truck keys. Steve and Jana offered to let Nathan and Sarah spend an extra night with them, so rather than heading out late in the day with a bunch of wet stuff, they had a chance to dry their clothes and bedding and leave the following morning.
Now that they were on their way again, they discussed where they might stop next.
"Well, we're definitely going to stay in a really nice hotel tonight," Nathan declared.
"Really? Where?"
"I have no idea," he admitted. "But the only way we're going to get wet is if it has a swimming pool!"
After consulting the trusty road atlas, Sarah suggested excitedly, "Do you think we could make it to New Orleans? It's a little out of the way."
"I don't see why not," Nathan said. "That would be a fun place to stop."
"Yeah, I've never been there before!" Sarah agreed.
"It's a really neat city. But I don't know how much fun you'd have there, being too young to drink and all," he teased.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well, there's a lot of like, jazz music there, right?" she asked. "I'd totally go for some live music."
After a leisurely drive down to Jackson, and a few hours further on the interstate, they found themselves crossing the last few miles of the massive causeway that leads into the city. The skyline of the Crescent City was visible off to their left. "So where shall we go first?" Sarah wondered.
"Why don't we get something to eat?" Nathan suggested. "I'm starving!"
"Hmm, me too," Sarah agreed.
"How do you feel about Cajun food?"
Sarah laughed. "Well, it's not really big back home. It would be fun to try some, though!"
They found a nice restaurant downtown, and placed their orders. Sarah ordered grilled fish, while Nathan opted for crawfish, a Louisiana classic. It took a while for the food to come, but they happily chatted, without any concern for the time. Nathan couldn't help but smile at the beautiful girl who sat across the booth from him. It was a priceless feeling just to look into her eyes and know that she was his.
Nathan and Sarah had been dating off and on for a couple years now, so of course they had been out to eat together countless times. In the past, though, their time together always felt temporary. Whether it was making the long trip to or from Saint Louis, getting back to the ballpark for a game, or even just getting Sarah home at a decent time, there was always something about to come between them. Today, for the first time since they left on this unplanned expedition, it really sank in to Nathan that he and Sarah really were inseparable now. It was just the two of them against the crazy world and all the adventure it could muster, and he couldn't have felt more ready. Sure, he had made some mistakes in the past, but he had paid his dues. How much heartache had he gone through during their months apart, when Sarah's golden necklace was the only piece of her he had left? How many mornings had he had to drag himself out of bed after spending half the night on the phone with her? How many times had teammates mocked him for staying true to his small-town high school sweetheart back home while they were out chasing tail? Now, all of that only made being with her that much sweeter.
Never had a Cajun meal been more enjoyed than Nathan and Sarah's. "If we spent a whole week down here, I'd probably gain fifteen pounds!" Sarah exclaimed when they finally left the restaurant. "That was so good!"
"Great food, and even better company," Nathan added with a grin.
"Aww," Sarah giggled.
"I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why..."
To Sarah's surprise, Nathan got them a room in one of the nicest hotels in the city, located right downtown. It was quite an upgrade from the past couple nights! Having gotten checked in and settled into their room, they soon ventured out again to enjoy the evening together.
"Did you get the key?" Sarah asked as Nathan stepped out of their hotel room.
Nathan patted the back pocket of his jeans, where he kept his wallet. "Got it." Sarah playfully slapped his back pocket too as they started down the hall.
Walking hand in hand, the two weren't even halfway to the elevator when Sarah was rocked by a sudden, unexpectedly loud hiccup. It seemed to reverberate in the long, empty hall. Sarah's hand flew to her mouth, and Nathan grinned. "That was a good one!" he commented.
"Oh my word," Sarah whispered back, her hand still partly guarding her mouth. "I hope no one is *huck* sleeping yet!" The sound of her second hiccup was tempered somewhat, but it was still clearly audible.
Nathan laughed. "This early? In New Orleans? If they are, they deserve to be woken up!"
Sarah tried to giggle, but instead she hiccupped twice in quick succession.
"You would get the hiccups as soon as we go out," he teased. "Good thing you're pretty hot with them."
Sarah winked. She lowered her hand from her mouth as the surprise of the abrupt onset of her hiccups faded, but she held it to her chest now. "I know, r-*huck* right?" she giggled. "They came on so *hic* suddenly!"
At the elevator, Sarah wandered over to the window while they waited for the elevator to arrive. Their vantage point on the 15th floor provided an excellent view of the city around them. "Come *hic* check out the v-*huck* view!" she beckoned. Tall buildings stood here and there around them, silhouetted against the dim sky of dusk. Cars on the streets below slowly snaked along in little lines, like trains of ants searching for food.
Nathan came up from behind and put his arms around her. "Pretty, isn't it?"
His embrace felt good. Sarah leaned back a little and nodded. "I'll *huck* always love th-*huck* the country, but some-*hic*-times I *huck* think it would be c-*huck* cool to live i-*hic* in a big city," she commented. "There's *huck* always so m-*huck* much going *huck* on; always s-*hic* something to *huck* do."
Nathan nodded. While the view below was beautiful, it couldn't begin to compete for his attention with the girl in his arms. Her beauty, her adventurous and playful personality, her devoted love: even on a normal day it was amazing to think that she was his. But this - this took it to another level completely. It felt so wonderful just to hold her close. Alas, he should probably be coming up with something coherent to say! Fortunately, Sarah saved him from having to compose an answer by continuing, "I think *huck* I'd want an ap-*hic* apartment w-*huck* way up in a *huck* building like this, *hic* with a nice bal-*huck* balcony. The *hic* balcony would *huck* be an absol-*huck* absolute must!"
"Definitely," Nathan agreed, paying a little better attention this time. "The view from up here is amazing."
There was a chime as the elevator arrived and the doors opened. Sarah and Nathan both stayed fixed by the window until the elevator finally gave up and went on to a different floor. Sarah turned, still in Nathan's embrace, to face him, and they kissed. Even while they kissed, her chest still convulsed against his every couple seconds.
Nathan held her even closer. "I love you, Sarah," he whispered.
Sarah smiled. "Aww, *hic* I love y-*hic* you, too!" As soon as she said that, five or six hiccups hit her hard, in quick succession.
"You really have them bad!" he commented. He'd seen and felt her hiccups dozens of times, but somehow these felt even more violent than usual.
"Yeah, *hic* this should b-*huck* be fun!" she laughed. Noticing that the elevator had moved on without them, she suddenly suggested, "Hey, do you *hic* want to g-*huck* go down the *hic* stairs?"
"Fifteen floors?" Nathan asked with surprise.
"It's *hic* down, not u-*huck* up!" she laughed. "This is *hic* why I'm not *hic* wearing heel-*huck* heels!"
"True, you never know when you might have to walk down fifteen flights of stairs," Nathan joked, opening the stairwell door.
Sarah's hiccups reverberated so loudly in the quiet, concrete stairwell that she laughed as she skipped down the stairs. "Do you *huck* think these a-*hic* are loud en-*hic* enough in *hic* here?"
If Nathan's mind wasn't blown before, it certainly was now. Sarah's hiccups seemed to echo from the very top of the hotel clear to the bottom. The two of them had only made it down to the eleventh floor before he stopped her on one of the landings. "You sound incredible," he breathed, taking hold of her from behind.
Sarah laughed. "I *huck* know, *hic* I l-*hic* love it!" Even the mild exertion of walking down the stairs seemed to be making her hiccups even more extreme.
Nathan hugged her tightly, feeling each hiccup roll through her body. After a minute or two she turned to face him, still held close in his strong arms. Now her stomach and chest pressed even tighter against his every time she hiccupped. She looked up at him with a mischievous grin. "You *huck* know what's f-*hic* fun to *hic* do when you ha-*huck* have the hic-*huck*-cups really *hic* bad?"
"Just about anything?" Nathan teased.
"Try-*huck* Trying to sing!" Sarah giggled. Given the loudly echoing acoustics, she suggested, "I feel *hic* like I should s-*hic* sing someth-*hic* something really *hic* dram-*huck* ooh… something *hic* dramatic!"
"Hmmm," Nathan puzzled. Singing hadn't exactly been his first thought, but he wondered where this was going to lead.
Sarah straightened and took a deep breath between hiccups. "Say you'll *hic* love me ev-*huck*-ery waking mo-*huck*-ment," she sang, just about as tenderly as possible for someone with a wrenching case of the hiccups. "T-*uck* Turn my h-*hic*-ead with talk *hic* of summer-*hic*-time…" Often when she sang with the hiccups, many of them would be reduced to periodic interruptions in her words. Today, each one rang out as clearly as ever. Nathan watched and listened breathlessly, somehow finding Sarah's hiccupping song both incredibly sexy and downright hilarious.
She started slowly down the stairs as she continued, "Say you *hic* need me w-*ilk* with you now-*uck* and always; *hic* prom-*huck*-ise me that *hic* all you say i-*hic* is true."
Sarah stopped and gestured over-dramatically as she slowly sang, "That's a-*huck*-ll I ask--"
A loud bang shivered through the stairwell as one of the entry doors closed. Sarah and Nathan heard footsteps and voices from far below them. She abruptly stopped singing and grabbed Nathan's arm, trying not to laugh out loud. "They are *hic* totally go-*huck* going to th-*hic* think I'm *hic* drunk!" she whispered between giggles.
"I was starting to wonder that too," Nathan teased. Nonetheless, when the unexpected intruders had left the stairwell on another floor, he restarted the singing himself. "Past the point of no return, the final threshold," he began, in a surprisingly melodious voice. They had sung together many times before, but Nathan's voice had never sounded as powerful to Sarah as it did tonight. It must be the stairwell.
She joined him on the climactic line, "The *hic* bridge is cr-*hic*-ossed, so *huck* stand and w-*uck*-atch it burn!"
Nathan smiled at her as she took on the slow, plaintive final words, her eyes closed: "We've *hic* passed the p-*hic*-oint of *huck* no reee--*huck*" An unruly hiccup interrupted her mercilessly. "Awww!" she exclaimed, her mock dismay belied by her impish grin. "That *hic* ruined it!"
By the time Sarah and Nathan reached the lobby, her hiccups had worked themselves up to the point where she could barely even catch her breath. Every now and then her hiccups would go absolutely crazy like this, but Nathan had never seen her with them this badly before. "Are you ok, honey?" he asked, a little concerned.
"I'm *huck* ok," she assured him. "Th-*huck* They're j-*huck* just a l-huck* little bit cra-*huck* crazy right *huck* now! *huck* Give m-*huck* me a mi-*huck* minute."
"Do you want to sit down for a little bit?" Nathan suggested, gesturing toward a couch in a more secluded part of the hotel's expansive lobby.
Sarah nodded. "Y-*huck* Yeah, why d-*huck* don't we?"
They sat together for a few minutes, with Sarah's insistent hiccups coming nearly once a second. While Nathan was still a bit worried for her, he enjoyed every moment of it, holding her close and kissing her repeatedly. As long as it wasn't bothering Sarah, her hiccups going "a little bit crazy" was totally ok with him!
After several minutes had passed, Sarah finally spoke. "We can g-*huck* go now; *huck* they'll c-*huck* calm down soo-*huck* soon." They had made plans to meet up with a friend of Nathan's and catch some live music at a bar several blocks away, and Sarah didn't want to be late for the show!
To her surprise, her hiccups maintained a frantic pace throughout the walk to the bar. "Do you have any idea how hot you and your hiccups are right now?" Nathan asked when they stopped at a crosswalk.
Sarah just laughed.
"We really should have just gone back to the room!" he added with a grin.
"N-*huck* Nathan!" Sarah exclaimed. But she still smiled playfully, and gave him a kiss.
"No backward glances..."
Sarah felt a bit more self-conscious about her crazy hiccups once they reached the bar. "Are you s-*huck* sure we won't *huck* get in *huck* trouble?" she asked nervously. She hadn't really thought about having to sneak into the bar, but she was only nineteen, and she looked even younger than that. And then there was the little issue of having her worst case of hiccups in months! They had subsided a little bit, but were still pretty extreme.
"Don't worry about it," Nathan assured her. "I know the guys here; they'll make sure it's not a problem. And you'll love it; the music is always great."
Sarah did like the idea of live music, and it was kind of exciting to go somewhere she wasn't supposed to be; even if she wasn't going to drink.
The entrance was simply a nondescript stairwell which opened right onto the street. Nathan confidently approached a burly man who stood at the base of the stairs, while Sarah hung back slightly. After they spoke for a moment, the two embraced as if they were friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. Sarah stepped a little closer to them. "Where you been, brotha?" the man asked with a big grin. "I seen you made it to the show."
Nathan laughed. "Yeah, I've been hanging out with the big boys in Saint Louis."
The bouncer looked at Sarah, and she gave him a shy smile. "Who's the pretty lady?" he asked Nathan with a wink.
"This is my girlfriend Sarah," Nathan introduced her. "Sarah, this is Donovan. I got to know him and the other guys here when I had road trips down here with Memphis."
"Nice *huck* to meet yo-*huck* you," Sarah said with a smile, trying to ignore her hiccups.
"Can you do me a solid and let her in too?" Nathan asked. "She doesn't drink; she's just here for the music."
Donovan chuckled. "She doesn't drink? What's the dang hiccups for then?"
"I g-*huck* get them *huck* a lot," Sarah tried to explain. "They're e-*huck* extra bad to-*huck* tonight." She hated trying to keep her hiccups quiet, but under the circumstances, she closed her mouth tightly around them. "That b- better?" she asked.
Donovan eyed her for a moment. Then he laughed, the kind of big jolly laugh that makes you instantly feel at ease. "Keep it down, ok? And by the way, you're twenty-one, aren't you sweetie?" he laughed.
Sarah looked at the ground while stifling another hiccup.
"And I'm Barack Obama." He grinned and shook her hand with a firm grip. "Now you keep my bro in line, you hear?"
Sarah laughed. "I'll *hmk* try my b-*huck* best!"
Nathan grinned and shook hands with Donovan too. When Donovan took his hand back, he found a couple tightly-wrapped bills in it. "No no, I can't take that," he protested.
Nathan shook his head. "I told you when I came back I wouldn't forget y'all. If you don't want it, I bet your family can find a use for it."
Donovan said nothing; a tear started to form in his eye. He and Nathan embraced again. Finally Donovan spoke, in barely more than a whisper. "Thank you."
Walking up the stairs, Sarah asked quietly, "Did you *hic* just bribe him *hic* to let me in h- here?"
"It didn't hurt, did it?" he chuckled. "But no, it wouldn't matter if you were here or not. He needs it more than I do. He's got like six younger brothers and sisters back at home that depend on him."
Sarah frowned. Who knew sneaking into a bar could be so complicated?
Inside, they were greeted by a young man named Robert. "Robert plays for the Marlins' team here in New Orleans," Nathan explained in introducing him. The three of them sat together at a small table close to the stage where a local jazz trio was performing.
Sarah quickly began to feel comfortable as she and Nathan chatted with Robert. A friendly, humorous guy, he easily kept the conversation going. He razzed her about her hiccups a little at first, but after a few minutes it seemed like he hardly noticed that she had them anymore. Eventually a couple more guys joined them at their table, but they too paid Sarah's hiccups little mind.
Of course, Nathan still noticed! Sarah would grin at him every now and then after an especially strong hiccup.
"So what are you doing down here anyway, Nathan?" one of the other guys - a tall, imposing pitcher named Terry who looked older than the others at the table - asked.
"You didn't tell him?" Nathan asked Robert.
"Hey, your secrets are safe with me," Robert joked.
"I got assigned to the Mexican winter league for some rehab work," Nathan explained. "So we're on our way down there."
Terry's eyes widened. "Mexico?"
"Yeah, Sarah wanted to come with me so we're driving out there."
"Are you crazy, man?" Terry asked. "It's a f---ing mess down there! People getting kidnapped and murdered and stuff, you know?"
Nathan shrugged. "I don't know; it can't be as bad as they make it out. Plus, they've arranged a place for us to stay so I'm sure it will be safe there."
"I guess." Terry was unconvinced. "Why didn't they send you to Arizona?"
"Something about the schedule, I don't know exactly."
Terry shook his head. "I'm surprised; you know what the Mexican league is, right?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "Some sh---y prospects getting in a little extra work, washed-up guys who think they still have it, and a bunch of Mexicans hoping to impress someone. That's it."
"The Cards wouldn't be sending him there if there wasn't a good reason," Robert argued. Nathan nodded in agreement.
Terry rolled his eyes. "I know, I know; the ‘model franchise' and all that crap," he mocked, punctuating his sarcasm with air quotes. "I'm just telling you, I've known guys who went to Mexico. You know how many of them are in the big leagues now? One. And he's actually Mexican."
"Did the-*hic* they all *huck* survive at le-*huck* at least?" Sarah asked with some concern.
Terry laughed. "Yeah, as far as I know, none of them got abducted. But then again, none of them took a pretty girl down there with them! What are you going to do while he's working out and traveling to games and all, anyway?"
Before Sarah could attempt an answer, their conversation was interrupted by a waiter, offering them drinks.
While the guys ordered their first of many drinks, Sarah just asked for a Sprite. The waiter chuckled when she made her request. "It sounds like you've had a few drinks already!"
"I d-*huck* don't even *hic* drink!" Sarah protested. "I just *huck* get the cra-*huck* craziest h-*ulk* hiccups!"
Although she enjoyed the evening immensely, what Terry had said about Mexico stuck in Sarah's mind. She wanted to ask him more about it, but he ended up so drunk that she figured he wouldn't be much help any more. When she and Nathan finally headed back to their hotel room, Terry slurred, "Have a woooonderful time in Mexshico, Sarah!" She just laughed and waved good bye.
Nathan was pretty out of it as they walked back to the hotel, too. What a sight the two of them were! Nathan dazedly stumbled down the sidewalk, with Sarah beside him, still hiccupping as if she'd been the one drinking all night.
Much like the night when she had gotten the hiccups so badly during the rainstorm, Sarah found herself trying to go to sleep with them yet again. This time, exhausted from the long day, she somehow drifted off to sleep without the hiccups even stopping.
"Past all thought of if or when..."
It was late the next morning when Nathan finally woke up. For her part, Sarah had already woken up, gone downstairs for breakfast, spent some time in the workout room, showered, dressed, and nearly finished doing her hair by the time he groggily looked up at her. Only half-awake, he didn't even notice at first that she still had the hiccups.
"Crazy *hmk* night, huh?" she asked with a chuckle.
"No kidding," he growled. "Boy, do I have a headache."
"Well that's *hic* your own fault," Sarah pointed out, without too much sympathy. "You guys were pr-*hic* pretty hilarious, though!"
Nathan laughed. "Good times!" Finally he looked up at her again with surprise. "Have you had the hiccups all night, sweetie?"
"I don't e-*huck* even know," Sarah said, shaking her head. "But I still h-*hic* had them when I fell asleep, and I w-*huck* woke up with them this *hic* morning. They're not *hic* nearly so bad today but I-- *huck* I don't know, it's just so weird that I still have th-*hic* them."
"I guess last night wasn't enough," Nathan teased.
Sarah smiled. "Apparently not!"
They had only been driving a couple hours when Sarah noticed signs advertising tours of the factory in a nearby town where one of the country's best-known brands of pepper sauce is made. "Want to go check out the *hic* sauce factory?" she asked.
Nathan shrugged. "What's the point? You already have the hiccups."
"Oh, true!" Sarah chuckled. "I w-*uck* wonder if people who work there *hic* get the hiccups a lot?"
"I doubt it," Nathan guessed. "They're not all awesome like you!"
"Aww!" Sarah grinned. "You know, *huck* sometimes I wonder if the hot sauce was ju-*hic* just like one of those pills that doesn't real-*hic* really do anything; what do they c-*huck* call that again?"
"A catalyst?"
"No," Sarah was sure that wasn't it. "A placebo!" she finally remembered. "Like I thou-*hic* thought the sauce would give me hiccups, so I *hic* got them, but it wasn't really the s-*huck* sauce."
"That could be," Nathan agreed. "If so, that's the best placebo ever!"
"No kidding," Sarah agreed.
Although they didn't have time to stop and take the tour, they did decide to stop at the gift shop and get a gift to send back to Chris. There was a sandwich shop there too, so they decided they could have lunch as well.
There weren't very many people in the gift shop, but after just a minute inside, Sarah got the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. She quickly identified a well-dressed woman who was giving her an intense, disapproving stare. Sarah just ignored it at first, but the woman's eyes seemed to follow her everywhere. "That lady is *hic* staring at me as if she's *hic* ready to kill me," she whispered to Nathan.
Sarah looked back at the woman again, and this time their eyes met. "Could you stop that?" the woman asked in a condescending tone.
Sarah looked at the woman in surprise. She almost apologized, but then she straightened up confidently. "Uh *hic* no, actually," she replied.
"Deal with it," Nathan added.
The woman just scowled and walked away. Nathan looked at Sarah with a big smile. "You go, girl!" he encouraged her.
"I can't believe she *hic* talked to me like that!" Sarah commented.
Over the sub shop, the young man at the counter was sympathetic to Sarah's hiccups, but unlike most people, he didn't offer a host of cures. "None of them things they tell you to cure hiccups really work," he commented. "They go away after a minute, anyway."
Sarah nodded absentmindedly as she pondered what to ask for on her sandwich.
"But they sure do interrupt your life while you have them!" he continued.
"That they do," Sarah agreed, proceeding with her order. It wasn't until she was filling her drink at the fountain that she really thought about what the friendly guy had said. She really didn't agree at all, besides the part about cures not working. Her hiccups didn't feel like they were going away in a few minutes, and they weren't really interrupting her life. If anything, they were her life today!
They didn't make eating her sandwich particularly easy, though. Multiple times she found herself coughing after she hiccupped in the middle of a bite. "I'm gonna have to *huck* eat more carefully!" she exclaimed after the third or fourth such choking fit.
"Well maybe this will be good practice for supper," Nathan suggested.
Sarah laughed, "Seems like I m-*hic* might be needing it."
Despite Sarah's struggles, the meal didn't seem to make her hiccups any worse. Walking back out to the truck, they were just as measured and regular as they had been going in. "I'm surprised my hiccups aren't tw-*huck* twice as bad now after *hic* all that!" she said.
Sarah's hiccups continued unabated the rest of the day. Getting ready for bed at their next stop that night, deep in the heart of Texas, she commented, "I have se-*huck* seriously had the hiccups all *huck* day today! That's never hap-*hic* happened to me *hic* before!"
"That's entirely too much hotness for one day, you know," Nathan joked. "I'm pretty much dying here."
"Oh, poor y-*huck* you," Sarah giggled.
"Are you feeling ok?" he asked.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, my *hic* chest is pretty sore b-*hic* but I'm ok. I'm *hic* sure they'll be gone tomorrow *huck* anyway," she said. Yet she spoke with more confidence than she felt. They'd always gone away before; everyone's hiccups do. Why did this feel so different?
It was a lot more difficult getting to sleep that night. Having spent much of the day simply driving, she wasn't as tired as she had been the previous night, so the hiccups kept her up for a long time. She spent more than two hours lying awake before finally drifting off.
"Past the point of no return..."
Only the slightest tinge of twilight was beginning to gild the horizon out their window when Sarah awoke with a start. She rolled over to cuddle closer to Nathan, only to feel herself hiccup immediately. She had them again. Or had they ever really stopped?
She just lay there close to Nathan for a while. Her hiccups didn't faze him; fortunately he was a very deep sleeper! More than she had the previous day, she seriously wondered what was going on with her hiccups. There had been a number of times recently that she'd had the hiccups a few days in a row, but they'd always been intermittent. They would come and go, seemingly brought on by anything but eventually fading out, even if it sometimes took a couple hours. This felt different somehow. It was puzzling, but strangely exciting. They weren't crazy like they'd been the first night; indeed, they didn't sound or appear particularly different from her usual hiccups now, other than how sore she felt. Maybe they were even a little slower and gentler. They just felt – she couldn't even really put her finger on it. They were just different. They weren't getting worse; they weren't fading away; they just - were. She imagined that maybe this is what it felt like when Hannah had the hiccups for a week nonstop a couple years ago, or when Juliana had her infamous case a while back.
Finally she pulled herself from the bed. Taking her phone from the nightstand, she stepped out onto the balcony of their motel room. The cool morning air made her shiver slightly. It was just before 7, which meant it was almost 8 back home. Hannah would be up, but she wouldn't be at school quite yet. Sarah decided to get the expert's opinion.
"Hey Sarah!" Hannah answered the phone as cheerily as always.
Just hearing Hannah's voice made Sarah smile. "Hey Hannah! *huck* How are you d-*huck* doing, sweetie?"
"I'm good! Sorry, I'm just finishing getting ready for school so if I'm a little distracted, that's why."
"Do I need to let you g-*huck* go?" Sarah asked, feeling a little self-conscious. While she somehow didn't feel like she had to apologize to Hannah for having the hiccups, she did feel a little awkward calling her so early in the morning.
Hannah was reassuring. "No no, it's fine. What's up? You doing ok? Are you in Mexico now?"
Sarah laughed. "Let's take *hic* those one at a time. We're not *hic* in Mexico yet; we're still in Te-*huck* Texas. We've been taking our *hic* time. And yeah, I'm doing really *hic* good. I'm sorry about it being so early, *hic* I just really wanted to a-*hic* ask you something."
"What's that?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Well, um," Sarah hardly knew how to begin. "Like, how did it f-*hic* feel -- what was it like when *hic* you had the hiccups for *hic* a whole week that time?"
Hannah giggled. "Oh my gosh Sarah, you do have the hiccups, don't you?"
"Mhm," Sarah admitted the obvious.
"I don't know, I guess it was just like they always are except that they wouldn't..." Hannah suddenly interrupted herself with the question, "Wait; how long have you had them?"
"I got *hic* them two nights ago in N-*huck* New Orleans. They were *hic* really crazy, you know *hic* how mine get sometimes. *hic* And they've calmed down bu-*huck* but they haven't stopped at *hic* all since then."
"Nathan must love that!" Hannah exclaimed with a laugh. Yet she was clearly concerned. "Are you feeling ok? Having them that long can make you feel kinda sick sometimes."
"I feel ok, just *hic* really sore!" Sarah answered.
"Aww, I know what you mean," Hannah said sympathetically. "But yeah, I don't think it felt any different having them that time than they usually do. I always figured they would go away, they just took a week to do it!" she explained simply. "It wasn't all dramatic like it is when Juliana gets them."
"Hey, watch it!" Sarah heard Juliana say in the background.
Sarah laughed. "They weren't *hic* any different than *hic* normal?"
"You mean other than having them for seven days without stopping?" Hannah teased. "I don't know, my hiccups are always pretty much the same. They definitely didn't let up at all, I do remember that. One night I stayed over with Juliana and she said I even had them while I was asleep!"
"Did you ever st-*hic* start to think that they *hic* were--" Sarah still struggled to explain what she was getting at. "That you were just m-*huck* meant to have them?"
Hannah was confused. "You mean, like, they weren't gonna go away?"
"Well kind of, but more *hic* like it was just natural that y-*huck* you'd have them."
"I, um, not really," Hannah tried to answer. "I mean, it's pretty natural for me to have the hiccups but I always know they'll go away eventually."
Sarah could tell that Hannah wasn't catching on at all to what she was getting at. But that was ok. She herself understood now, and that's all that really mattered.
Abandoning the awkward discussion, they chatted for a few minutes longer before Hannah and Juliana had to leave for school. Then Sarah just sat on the balcony, deep in thought, with nothing but her hiccups to keep her company.
Hannah knew what it was like to have the hiccups for days on end, but she could never understand what Sarah was feeling now. Hannah had gotten the hiccups practically every day of her life; to her they were just a mild, unavoidable annoyance. Sarah, on the other hand, hardly ever got them growing up. Then it had all changed. She thought back to that evening several months ago when she had first given herself the hiccups using that little bottle of Chris's favorite pepper sauce. She had figured she would induce them every now and then, to enjoy with Nathan or even just by herself. And now look at her! It was like she had crossed a line and touched off something way more powerful than she could have imagined.
Now she felt like she finally understood what was happening. For the first time, her bizarre enjoyment of her own hiccups made sense. This was what she had been meant for! Just thinking about it made her shiver with excitement. These hiccups weren't just something she had: now they were part of who she was. To cure them would have felt as foreign as removing a limb. Sure, they'd probably go away eventually, but only temporarily; they'd always be back. She'd loved the hiccups for as long as she could remember; today they had finally become a part of her very identity. Hannah would always be the adorable girl who gets the hiccups all the time, but Sarah: she was something beyond that. She was the girl with the hiccups. Sure, there would be some annoyances along the way - for one thing, her chest was really killing her! - but she couldn't wait to find out what lay ahead.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she felt. She had to tell Nathan! Barging back into the dark, quiet motel room, she managed with some difficulty to at least partially awaken Nathan. "What is it?" he asked groggily.
"I *hic* have the hiccups!" she announced with intense excitement.
As much as Nathan loved Sarah's hiccups, this wasn't exactly an earth-shattering revelation. "Yeah, I noticed," he droned.
"No no," Sarah exclaimed, "I r-*huck* really have the hiccups."
Nathan slowly sat up in the bed, looking at her quizzically. "What do you mean, 'really'?"
"Like, *hic* they're not going away. This is me n-*hic* now." Just saying that somehow felt exhilarating.
"Are you sure? I mean, how do you...?"
"I just *hic* know it," Sarah explained simply.
After pondering for a moment, Nathan finally looked up at her. "Well this should be interesting!" he said with a grin.
Sarah bent down and gave him a kiss. In the middle of it, she hiccupped. Of course she did.
Back at home, Hannah was still a bit mystified by her conversation with Sarah. "There's something weird going on with Sarah," she confided to Juliana as they took the short walk to school together. "She was talking really strange about her hiccups."
Juliana guffawed. "Stranger than usual?"
Hannah had to giggle as she clarified, "Yeah. Stranger than usual."
"The bridge is crossed..."
That afternoon as Nathan and Sarah approached Laredo, with Sarah driving this time, her thoughts had drifted from her persistent hiccups to that other unknown frontier that lay before them. Looking at Nathan, she finally asked, "So is everything *hic* that guy Terry said *huck* about Mexico true?"
"I don't know, I have heard of it being dangerous."
"I guess I'd h-*hic* heard about that too," she admitted. "But isn't that all *hmk* drug stuff? There's nothing they'd wa-*hic* want from us, right?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine," Nathan said hopefully.
"At least we'll be toge-*huck* together, that's what *hic* counts!" Sarah added.
At that moment, Nathan's phone began to ring. "It's the GM," he said just before answering it with a businesslike "Hello, this is Nathan."
There was a short pause. "On the way to Mexico," he answered.
In answer to another apparent question, Nathan explained, "No, I didn't, but that's ok because we're just driving down there. We'll be there in plenty of time for --"
Even Sarah could tell that the general manager was not pleased. Nathan held the phone slightly away from his ear as the man on the other end of the line berated him.
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize... No, we'll be fine, like I said we have plenty of time to get there."
The GM was unconvinced, but Nathan argued on. "I can't! We've got my truck and all my stuff; we're already halfway across Texas now."
Sarah easily understood the GM's next question: "Who is 'we'?"
"Uh, me and Sarah," Nathan answered hesitantly.
The phone was silent for a long moment. Finally the GM spoke again. "Just be there on time. And if anything happens to you on the way, don't call me."
Nathan started to answer, but the line went dead. He looked at Sarah sheepishly. "I don't think he was too happy," he commented.
Sarah put her right hand in his. "Sounds like we still *hic* have some more adventures ah-*hic* ahead of us."
Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I guess there's no turning back now."
"But we'll make it, r-*hic* right?"
He looked at her. "We always have."
She smiled back. "We always will."