DANIELcoma.The doctor is telling us that Krew is in avegetative state. He’s saying things about swelling in the brain due to the impact and that he might wake up in the next few days, weeks, or never.This hotshot surgeon spent hours working on my friend with his people, and yet he still couldn’t bring him back.He was in the operating room for hours, just to tell us that King might or might not wake up. I do not miss the fake sympathy or his attempts not to give hope.But even if I grab and shake him, then punch him in the face, it will not bring King back, and it sure as fuck will not serve any purpose. Except for maybe getting rid of some of my pentup frustration.Genevieve listens to the doctor’s words with her lips slightly parted. They are lifeless and pale, like the rest of her face. She clinks the nails of her thumbs and forefingers together in a frantic, almost manic type of way. It is a nervous habit she’s had since she was a kid—since she learned the truth about her moth
She shakes her head again, but it is meek, weak, just like she is beneath my touch. Until now, I have never noticed how small she actually is compared to me.How fragile.Actually, I did once. When she was pressed up against me with her lips on mine.But I should not be thinking about that. I should not be thinking about how small my best friend’s daughter is or how she feels in my hold when we’re in front of his hospital room.A muscle clenches in my jaw and I loosen my hold on her shoulders, starting to step away from her.I am unprepared for what she does, though.Completely and utterly taken off guard.Just like two fucking years ago.Genevieve lunges at me and wraps both arms around my waist. And as if that is not enough, she stuffs her face in my chest—her damp face.I can feel the moisture clinging to my shirt and seeping onto my skin. But it does not stop there, no. It is like acid, melting away the flesh and bones and reaching for an organ I thought only functioned to pump bl
DANIELwyneth falls asleep.After so much struggle and standing for hours infront of Krew’s room, she lost the physical battle and slumped over on one of the chairs in the waiting area.I told her that she could go home, but she vehemently shook her head, pulled her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes.Which is why she’s about to fall forward.I place a finger on her forehead and push her back so she does not hit the ground. It is light contact, only a damn finger, and yet it feels as if my skin has caught fire and the flames are now extending to the rest of my body.In hindsight, I should not have let her hug me. Or I should’ve pushed her away sooner. Because now, even a mere touch brings back memories of her body pressed up against my chest.Her slender body that I can not stop thinking about how small it is compared to mine.I clench my fist and close my eyes to chase away the haze. It does not work. Because even though she’s out of view, her scent clings to me as stubbornly a
GENEVIEVEhen I was a kid, I had a problem learning words. I do not know why. I have a high IQ, and I can figure out my way around things, but memorizingwords was a bit difficult.The professionals my dad took me to thought I had some form of dyslexia, but it is not like I couldn’t read or recognize words. It is not that they all appeared the same. They just appeared alive.You know that feeling when you are reading something and it nearly jumps off the page at you? For me, it was literal, and that is exactly how it felt. As if the words were coming after me.Turns out, I did not have a problem with all the words. Just the negative ones. The words that make my skin itchy and my vision turn hazy. The words that I felt instead of only reading them.Anxiety made my skin crawl and my nose tingle.Cruel turned my cheeks hot and my body tight with the need to defend the one who was subjugated to it.Fear made my teeth clench and my heart shrink in anticipation for what was to come.Sad era
The man whose shirt I probably messed up.He did not touch me back, did not console me, but having him there, even immobile, was enough for me.He still had his body tight and rigid like the day of the kiss. He still refused any contact with me, just like back then, but that is okay.He covered me with his jacket. And maybe I can keep it like I have kept a lot of him with me.Like his notebook, his shirt when he once forgot it, his hoodies from when he runs with Dad. Most of them were my father’s, but if Dan wore them even once, then they became his. Do not ask me why. It is the law. Then there is a scarf that he gave me because it got cold. A book about law. Make that plural. A pen. Okay, pens, plural again.And no, I am not a stalker. I just like collecting. And by collecting, I mean the things that belong to him.But he’s not here now.And there is a hole the size of a continent in the pit of my stomach because now I am thinking he’s abandoned me and I need to deal with these jumbl
DANIELecessity.I have never liked that word. It is because ofnecessity that my brother decided to leave the country, and that got him killed.It is because of necessity that people vote for the likes of my father to represent them in spite of the fact that he only cares about himself.In a way, necessity is the root of all evil. Decisions based on it are a bit impulsive and almost always have dire consequences down the line. Ones that could be dangerous, lethal even.Of all people, I am well aware of the dangerous repercussions of hasty actions. I never decide anything unless I have a 360-degree view of the entire situation as well as all of its possible results. This is the first time I have taken a step into territory that hasn’t been carefully plotted. It is like walking through a minefield with a blindfold on.But just like earlier, I do not think about the possible repercussions. I shove them to the back of my mind and focus on the now. On the present and its own sets of cause
“I can.”She purses her lips, a frown creasing her forehead.“No touching, Genevieve, I mean it.”She lifts a shoulder. “Fine.”“Really?” For some reason, I do not believe that she’d give up so easily. She has the frustrating type of determination that is impossible to break.“Yeah. It is not like you will not change your mind.” “Genevieve,” I warn.She jumps again, startled. And I realize I do that a lot to her. Scare her by being strict and firm and generally harsh. But she’s the foolish one who does not stay away.She takes a step back. “I…uh…I am going to ask the doctor if I can go inside.”She turns around and runs as fast as she can from me. Her shorts ride up her pale thighs and her top stretches against her back. I try to look away, but I can not.I tell myself it is to see what she’ll do as I openly watch the swish of her hair down her back and her legs that do not seem so short now that she’s not standing in front of me.She’s not a small person. Just small compared to me.M
“You do not get an opinion on this since you are his accomplice, Aspen. Hello? Conflict of interest, anyone?”“Then do you suggest we let go of our work and focus on Krew’s thousand pending cases instead? Do you want to lose your job at the firm, Sebastian? Right, that would not matter since you are a rich boy from a prestigious family and your senator grandpa can find you another job, maybe even help you open your own firm. But how about the hundred others whose living depends on us, huh? Do we send them to your granddaddy, too, or do we take the most logical route with less hassle? Come on, you are supposed to be smart. Which choice makes more sense?”Sebastian does not move a muscle at her calmly spoken words. It is like she’s delivering a closing argument. She’s always precise and to the point. Scathing, too. Which is the reason she’s a lonely soul; no one can handle her.I expect Sebastian to come back with his own retort, because my parents raised him to always have the last wor