“The hospital,” he repeated. He struggled to sit up and hissed in pain at the effort.
“Seriously, you should wait and let me call the nurse—”
His eyes flashed in my direction and the cloud of confusion lifted as he speared me with a look that I felt in my bones.
Recognition.
His eyes widened and his mouth parted in disbelief.
I wanted to say something—anything—but my tongue felt frozen behind my teeth.
Yoss shook his head and closed his eyes. He let out a noise that sounded a lot like a sob and my heart knew the sound of pain when it heard it.
When he opened his eyes again, they were wet. Long, dark lashes spikey with tears that refused to fall.
A hundred memories arched between us. A thousand words spoken softly in the dark.
A dozen promises never kept.
His lips curved upwards into the shadow of a smile that I remembered and loved so much.
“Imi,” he whispered.
I nodded, still otherwise paralyzed.
“Imi,” he said again, a tear traveled the length of his cheek and dripped off his chin.
“It’s me, Yoss,” I said finally, forcing myself to speak.
Our eyes met. They held.
They clung and they devastated.
Fifteen years had passed but none of that mattered.
In that instant we were kids again. Remembering a time when, to each other, we were everything.
Fifteen Years Ago
The first morning was the worst.
I woke up on my back, the floor hard beneath me, shivering in my borrowed sweatshirt and tiny shorts. The room was still dark, so I knew it was early.
The first thing I noticed was the noise.
It was loud, even though the sun hadn’t come up yet.
People were talking and there was music playing. It was surprising that I had slept through any of it. But I had collapsed in an exhausted heap with Yoss’s reassurances that I’d be safe.
Safe.
That was a word I’d never take for granted again.
Suddenly the sound of screaming filled my ears and I bolted upright in a panic. It was frightened and full of pain. It went on and on and on and no one else seemed to care that a woman seemed to be in very serious trouble.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and pressed myself against the wall, terrified.
I almost screamed myself when a hand grabbed mine in the darkness. I jerked backwards, my head smacking against concrete as I let out a yelp.
