“I’m sorry, Liv. I’m fine, though. No need to worry anymore.” Shrugging my shoulders hurts.
A sharp pain shoots up from my neck to the back of my head, and I hide it with a tight-lipped smile. Ere’s eyes narrow into slits as I glance at him. He doesn’t miss anything.
Slapping my arm playfully, Katie rolls her eyes. “What were you thinking being out there alone in the woods? You do realize you’re much too clumsy to go on adventures without someone watching you, right?” She laughs, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest.
What? That’s not what happened. My adventure was when I made my way up the bridge, and the nightmare was everything following which led to me ending up in the woods and ultimately here.
“You could have died out there, Nor.” Olivia sighs, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb.
She’s the happiest person I’ve ever known. Her smiles and laughter are contagious and make it nearly impossible to be sad or down around her. She always knows what to do or say to make every situation better, or at least the best it could possibly be. Guilt eats away at me for putting her through so much already, and more so now seeing her pained expression full of worry for me all over again.
Tears trickle down my cheeks, and before I can reach my hand up to wipe them away Olivia’s arms are around me and her head is on my chest. The wires connecting me to the heart monitor and the IV lines pumping fluids into me make it hard, but I carefully hug her back.
“I love you so much, Liv.” Burying my head in her hair, sobs rack through my body, the guilt becoming too much to handle. “I’m so fucking sorry. I don’t…”
Ere stands, the muscles in his chest flexing beneath his black button up shirt as he tenses. “Everything is fine, my love. Accidents happen.” He lifts my hand, bringing it to his lips and presses a soft kiss against it. “I’ll give you some time with them and then you should rest.” His smile is full of sadness as he meets my eyes, then Olivia’s and Katie’s, before quietly slipping out of the room.
He doesn’t like it when I feel guilty or bad about things I’ve done or mistakes I’ve made, even though I’ve made plenty. The past should remain in the past, he says, and guilt is the harbinger of pain. He tries his best to keep the pain away.
“Hey… it’s okay.” Olivia pulls away slightly to look at me, then brushes away her tears. “I’m glad you’re safe. I can be mad at you later. I’ll yell at you later. But right now, I am just so damn thankful you’re alive.”
Letting go of me, she stands up straight, glancing over at Katie. “I’m thankful that guy found you in the woods after you fell. You passed out and he just happened to come across you while hiking. You got so lucky.” She places her hands on her hips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and then shakes her head in disbelief.
I sit upright immediately at her words, and though my head throbs and the world starts to spin, I ignore it. There was a man… a man with wings, I remember. He saved me… I think.
“Did you meet this man, Liv? What did he tell you, exactly?” I scan the room then stretch my neck to peek into the hallway, wondering if the stranger is still nearby.
The cardiac monitor hanging on the wall begins to chime, loudly ringing out and it barely registers what’s happening until a nurse comes rushing into the room.
“Honey, you need to relax. Your heart rate is extremely high right now, and you’ve been through a lot. Maybe it’s time for your visitors to let you rest.” Dark brown eyes narrow in Olivia and Katie’s direction. The nurse’s long braid sways behind her as she silences the monitor above my head, keeping her eyes locked on me.
“No! I need them here. Please? I’m fine, I promise.” I lie, leaning back in the bed casually.
“Fine. Your pain medication is due around midnight, so maybe ask your visitors to leave soon so you can rest. I’ll see you then.”
As soon as she shuts the door behind her, I sit up, throwing my legs over the side of the bed to face Olivia. Katie comes around to stand next to her, placing a perfectly manicured hand on my shoulder to help steady me.
“Tell me everything you know about the man who brought me here.”
I don’t care if I look crazy or if they don’t think I should concern myself with these things now, I need to know.
Olivia’s lips form a thin line as she takes a seat in the emerald green recliner beside my bed. She looks me up and down once before glancing at Katie and then back at me. “I didn’t see anyone. He used your phone to call the first number he could dial, which ended up being Katie. She got here first.”
I’m fine. Everything is fine. I’m not falling apart.
“Okay then Katie, what did he look like? Does he have a name?”
She smiles, her pale blue eyes radiating only positivity my way. Her calm demeanor helps me relax a little. She doesn’t seem scared of him at all. “His name is Kairos.” She shrugs her shoulders, looking over my shoulder at the window behind me. “He was wearing all black. Black pants and black boots. He had tattoos… like… a lot of tattoos. I don’t know what else I can say. Sound familiar at all?”
It doesn’t because none of it’s true. He was wearing a black robe and had unmistakable black wings, which apparently, she didn’t see.
“Why does this matter right now?” Olivia stands, placing her hands on her hips and watching me carefully.
“What color were his eyes?” I whisper, remembering the mesmerizing bright green standing out in the darkness right before everything faded to black.
“Green. Your favorite color, right?” Katie smiles, twirling her hair between her fingers. “I think he was a blonde, too, but I was quite distraught when I got here and met him, so it’s hard to say for sure really.” Graceful as ever, she glides to the other side of the room as if she’s walking on air, closing the blinds and keeping her back to me. “You need rest. That’s all you should worry about doing right now, resting as much as you can.”
“Yea, they thought you might have a concussion, and I think they’re right. You’re being a little weird.” Olivia sits beside me in the too small bed, leaning her head on my shoulder.
