"Why are you still here, little darling?" His voice is sluggish and raspy as he sways, seeking my gaze. "You should be long gone by now. Far, far away from me."
The words come out barely audible and are drenched in the smell of alcohol. Jules’s words immediately come to mind. It makes me infinitely sad, but I pull myself together and push these thoughts aside.
"I’m not leaving," I reply with a firm tone, though I’m not sure he even understands me.
But Cole grimaces and shakes his head. "You shouldn’t be here," he mutters, taking his arm from me and stumbling to the bed.
Before I can even follow him and flip the blanket aside, he drops onto the bed and closes his eyes. Silently, I go to him but remain standing next to the bed because I don’t know what to do. I have no idea if he has more injuries that I can’t see. Heavens… I don’t even know what happened to him!
I briefly squeeze my eyes shut and take deep breaths until I’ve calmed down a little. Then I go to the bathroom, wet a wash cloth, and return to Cole with it. I kneel next to the bed and carefully try to wipe the blood from his chin, but he turns his head away.
"Stop it," he mumbles as he throws his forearm over his eyes.
I hold back the tears that want to well up inside me again, while my chest tightens painfully. "You’re hurt. Please let me help you."
He pushes my hand away as I try to approach him again and twists his face into an almost ugly grimace. "You can’t help me. You’ll only end up like her if you try."
I can’t stop the tears any longer, so they spill over as I sink to my heels. "Cole, please. I just want to?—"
"No. Go. Go while you still can."
"But—"
"Fuckingleave!"
His harsh tone makes me wince. Sobs want to fight their way up my throat, and as much as a part of me wants to run away, I just can’t do it. Instead, I remain sitting on the cold, hard floor, looking at Cole while I cry.
When his breathing has become calm and steady, I take his hand in mine and gently wipe the blood from his knuckles under tears. Then I walk around the bed, reach for his other hand, and repeat the procedure. The skin has split open, and where it hasn’t, it’s bruised. My heart tightens at the sight, but I don’t let myself look away because looking away would feel like leaving Cole alone in his pain.
After carefully wiping the remaining blood from his lip and chin, I stare at him for a long time before getting up and going to the sofa. I throw the bloody wash cloth carelessly onto the coffee table and reach for my phone. Then I head to my room, close the door, and dial Jules’s number. When I hear her voice after just a few seconds, a sigh of relief escapes me.
"Hey. Is everything okay? It’s already?—"
The sob that has been stuck in my throat breaks free. I just can’t hold it back anymore. It hurts too much.
"What happened?" Jules wants to know with sudden concern in her voice.
"It’s Cole. He…"
"What about him? Is he okay? Where are you?"
I force myself to answer her even though fear, worry, and helplessness threaten to take my breath away. "He’s here. In bed. Jules… I don’t know where he was, but he… he’s bleeding. His lip…"
Jules takes an audible breath before she speaks to me in an urgent voice. "Calm down, Sophie. Breathe. And tell me exactly what happened."
I try to. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Because that’s the only thing left to do when nothing else works. Breathe. In and out.
When my throat no longer feels constricted and the tightness in my chest slowly disappears, I tell her everything. She listens to me patiently until I fall silent, and she takes another deep breath.
"He’ll be fine," she then explains. "He probably… I don’t know… started a fight or something."
Although her tone now sounds calmer and almost somewhat annoyed, I gasp, which does not escape her notice.
"Sophie, it’s all right.He’sall right, do you hear me? I know him. He does that all the time. He’s a dumbass, but he’s fine, okay?"
"I don’t know, Jules… He looks really bad," I say in a brittle voice, then sniffle loudly.
"Was he still able to walk?"
