His voice is soothing. He is the stillness after a violent storm.
“They’re gone,” I whisper because that’s about all the voice I can summon.
As I listen to distant sirens that grow louder as they get closer, I release a sigh of relief as I empty my bladder. I don’t even care if Jester hears me peeing.
“I’m almost there, Fizzle.”
“Okay.” I force back a sob because I won’t cry. Idon’tcry. I’m too strong for tears. And yet, here they come, flowing down my face when I glance at myself in the mirror. God, they destroyed my face. All of it. Swollen. Already bruised. I lift my shirt and see massive contusions already forming over my ribcage, which would explain why it feels like I’m sucking in razorblades every time I inhale. I limp back to the bedroom, still clutching the phone to my ear. “Hurry.”
“I’m trying.” He sounds too controlled. Too calm. It’s very un-Jester, and right then, that’s how I know he’ll rip the entire world apart to find the bastards who hurt me. Good. They deserve a reckoning for doing what they did. “I’m almost there. Only two blocks away.”
I drop to the floor, my back against the bed. Tears roll unchecked down my cheeks. Shaking and nauseous, I struggle to breathe as the room whizzes around me. “I don’t feel well.”
“Hang on, Fizzle.”
There’s now a frantic edge to Jester’s voice. It makes me cry harder. “You’re going to be mad when you see what they did to me.”
“I’m already mad.”
My body relaxes, the pain easing. “I’m okay, Luke. I’m just tired.”
Don’t know why I call him that. Just feels right. God, I’m so dizzy. And thirsty.
“Don’t fall asleep, Faith.” He sounds so frantic. “I need you to talk to me. Come on, Fizzle. Yell at me. Tell me what an asshole I am.”
“Youarean asshole,” I confirm, half laughing and half crying. “But I need you.”
The admission falls from me as sirens suddenly become too loud. Red-and-blue flashing lights flood my bedroom. There’s too much noise coming from downstairs. I squint my eyes against the glare and slap a hand over my exposed ear. “The police are here.”
“So am I.”
But I don’t have time to see Jester, because the police and EMT arrive and it’s a riot of activity. I lose my cell phone in the commotion, and although Jester shoves his way to my side when he comes charging in my room, I’m taken away in an ambulance moments later. The ride to the hospital is a short reprieve from more chaos. As soon as it stops at Wayne County Community Hospital, I’m rushed into the emergency room. Then comes nurses, needles, and doctors. Blood and x-rays are taken. Insulin is administered. Pain meds are given. And all the while, Jester and Havoc hover in the background because no one can get them to leave. They are barely controlled rage, overseeing everything. Like two furious angels hovering in the background.
Sometime during all this, I drift off to sleep, because the lights fade. The chaos disappears. The shooting pain in my abdomen? Gone. I’m in a lovely dream where Luke and I are teenagers again. Back to a time before he broke my heart. To when we were at Devil’s Peak, and he kissed me for the first time.
Oh my God, how he curled my toes. It was like flying while my feet were still on the ground. And even now, that’s what kissing him is like.
I wanted the moment to last forever. The two of us, in each other’s arms, under the setting sun with the Appalachian Mountains on one side and Mayhem on the other. My first kiss, and the one that’s still the most vivid in my mind because it was when I fell in love with Luke.
I’m still waiting, even after all the heartbreak, to fall out of love with him.
Every girl at Neil de Grasse Tyson High hated me because they were jealous. They were infatuated with him, but he wanted me.Onlyme. We were the perfect couple. High school royalty. Until he ruined us.
But this wonderful dream isn’t going there. I’m staying right here, in the beautiful moments where I was happiest.
So, seriously. Everyone needs to stop calling my name. Yes, I hear them. Yes, I’m holding on. Where do they think I’m going? I’m right here, with Luke. He’s holding my hand. See? Here are his fingers wrapped around mine as we walk the halls.
Even Caleb is here, my tragic best friend, with his secret…affliction. He swore me to secrecy, and I won’t ever tell. My lips are sealed, right to the grave. I’ll never whisper a word of it to another living soul. I promised I wouldn’t even tell his creepy little brother, Jacob. I wish he’d stop doing it. Pretty soon, he’s not going to have enough skin left on his arms to—
I swear, if one more person pokes me, I’m going to beat the hell out of them.
And why does every part of me kinda hurt but kinda not? It’s like there’s pain hovering somewhere off in the distance, but my foggy mind can’t focus on it long enough for it to take hold.
Someone is shouting at Jester.
Oh, Lord. What did he do now? His mouth always gets him in trouble.
I listen for a second and realize someone is demanding that he leave, but of course, he won’t listen. Don’t know where they’re kicking him out of or why, but they’re insane if they think he’ll comply. He’ll disobey strictly for the shits and giggles, because he’s, well, Jester.
