by Jd Huber
Chapter 12
A day of true sadness
It’s at least three days after Rider got out of the hospital and I have been taking care of him. I should be going to school but I have been skipping school to take care of Rider. In all truth and reality I wasn’t going to school when I was supposed to anyway. “Arrai?” Rider said. I looked at him and tilted my head. “Yeah? What is it?” He smiled and held my hand. “You want to know what I haven’t had from you in a while.” I looked at him confused. “What would that be?” He laughed a little and tried to sit up. I helped him upright and looked at him even more confused. “Rider what's going on?” He put his hand on the back of my neck and kissed me. I leaned into the kiss. I lost all track of time. I didn’t think of much besides the fact that I missed Rider’s passionate kisses. They were the kind of kisses that make me feel like we are the only people in the world.
I pulled away and smiled at Rider. “Let me guess that is what you haven’t had in a while?” He nodded and started blushing. I grabbed the washcloth and bowl of warm water and took it to the kitchen. “Hey Arrai?” Rider called. “Yes Rider?” I answered back I was still in the kitchen getting clean water. “Do you think we could go back to the main world for a few days?” He asked. I was shocked to hear him say that. I didn’t really know what to say to him asking if we could go back. He was somewhat excited to get out of that world last time I checked. Although his brother is there. He probably wants to see how he is doing. “Yeah. We can go back for a few days. I mean my parents won't mind now that I am 18 and moved out and all.” I heard a small cough and dropped what I was doing and ran in to see what was wrong with Rider. “Are you alright?!” I asked. He nodded and I reached for his water and handed it to him. “When do you want to leave?” I asked him watching him drink the water like he hadn’t drank anything in a few days.
I knew that his answer wasn’t going to be anytime soon since he was barely even strong enough to sit up by himself let alone walk. “A few weeks. I should be able to walk by then. “Ok. Do you want to try to stand up today?” I said. Rider nodded in reply and placed his feet on the floor. I took his hand and helped him up. I helped him walk a little bit. That way if he fell he wouldn’t hit his head on the coffee table if I was unable to catch him. I slowly started to let him go. Little by little I moved my hand away from his back. I wasn’t about to let his hand go just yet. I was finally able to take my hand away from his back completely. He was standing without any support! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “Do you want to sit down now?” I asked. I figured that he was getting tired. It takes a while to get your strength back after being shot in the shoulder. “No I actually want to try to walk a little. I want to be able to use my legs so that we can go back sooner. I have a surprise for you.” I sighed and nodded in agreement.
I wasn’t about to argue. He was the one who was ready to start walking so I figured that he would start arguing if I said no. I held both his hands in mine and slowly took a step back. He lifted his foot and took a step towards me. “Arrai?” I looked up from his feet and into his caring eyes. “Yes?” I didn’t know what he was planning on asking me but I decided to give it a chance. “Didn’t the doctor say that when I was able to stand on my own I was going to be able to walk too?” I nodded. “Yes I do believe he said something like that. He let go of my hands and stood in place for a little bit before he did anything. I was on alert so that if he fell I would be able to catch him. Slowly he started to walk. And slowly I started to relax. He walked from the couch to the wall. Which was about 13 feet away from each other. He turned around and looked at me.
“This is insane!” He said. “Well we are wolves. We do heal pretty fast.” I said. “So I guess that is a never mind on the long wait to go to our world.” He smiled and walked over to me to give me and kiss. The moment his lips touched mine it felt like time stopped. I couldn’t believe that he was starting to get better after 3 weeks of being home from the hospital. After he pulled away from the kiss I looked at his shoulder and seen that it wasn’t as big of a hole as it used to be. “How do you feel?” I asked. “Honestly not that bad. I haven’t felt this good since the day I laid eyes on you.” I started blushing and at that moment I knew exactly why I fell in love with him. It was because he was so caring and sweet. I trusted him and he trusted me. We were meant for each other and just then, I realized that I was meant to be with him forever. I looked into his eyes and seen that he was happy. He didn’t have that look in his eyes since the day I said yes to marry him and since the day we met.
There was one thing that I didn’t understand though. I didn’t understand why he never really looked at me the same way since we got here. I didn’t understand why he was acting different around me. It seemed like he didn’t want me around. But if he didn’t want me around why would he proposed to me? Was it because he didn’t want to break my heart? Was there another girl? If so, who? There was a lot that I thought he was hiding from me. I didn’t really understand most of what was going on around me since I said yes to marrying him since I was too busy planning the wedding and taking care of Rider’s wounds. Rider sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. I walked outside and sat on the porch. I looked over at my car and seen that there was something on the window. I got up to it and walked over to my car. I seen a note taped to the windshield of the car.
I know what you are planning… And I know what you are… Go back to where you came from… Or else.
I grabbed the note off of my car and ran inside. “Rider!!” I choked back my tears. He got up and walked over to me. “What is it?” He knew that something was wrong. I handed him the note and he read it. He froze and looked at me. “We need to tell the others!” Rider nodded in agreement and grabbed his phone and called Luna and Braylie. I ran to our room and packed our stuff. “Luna! Is Braylie with you?!” Rider said. “Yeah? Why what’s going on?” Luna said. Clearly she had no idea what was going on. “Meet me and Arrai at the forest we will explain there!” Rider said and hung up. I finished getting our stuff together and put it in the back of my car. We got in and I started the car. “How did they find out?” Rider asked. “I don’t know. But whoever it is. They must have connections.”
Rider took my hand in his. He knew that I was worried and scared. “It’s going to be OK. I promise you it will be alright.” I looked over at Rider and smiled. I wasn’t focused on the road, I looked back at the road and seen that I was about to be broadsided by another car and slammed on my breaks. Rider forced himself backwards while I flew forwards and my head hit the steering wheel. The car was at a complete stop. Even though I was unconscious I could still feel what was going on around me. I couldn’t move my right arm and I didn’t have any feeling in my left leg. Rider was trying to get me to wake up. He was starting to cry. I couldn’t come back to reality. I was seeing a perfect, beautiful world. The grass was soft and green. There were roses and other flowers of many different species everywhere.
Wolves, rabbits, deer and other animals were all living together in peace. There was no fighting. And there was no war. No blood being shed. It was like a utopia. I looked around for a while. Then, I seen the humans. Playing together, living together with the animals. I was one of the humans. In a white dress. I had no shoes on. That was when I realized I was dead. I no longer felt Rider shaking my shoulder or yelling my name so I would wake up. I no longer felt any pain and I no longer knew what it was like to suffer. I wasn’t scared anymore. I looked around a little longer and I seen my mother. She was standing before me as a human. She smiled and walked towards me. “Mother?” I ran up to her and hugged her. “Arrai my dear. What are you doing here? You should be alive living your life.” She said. I started crying. I didn’t want to be dead. I wanted to be in Rider’s grasp. I wanted to feel his warm touch for the last time. “I was in a wreck. Rider is still alive but the car hit my side of the car.” I said.
“You must go back. You have yet come to complete your destiny.” She sai
d. “But how do I go back?” I asked. “You must simply close your eyes and wish to be alive again.” She explained. I closed my eyes and wished to be alive. I wished to be with Rider again, back at the accident. I woke up in the driver’s seat of the car.
13
Farewell is a long ways away
I smiled when I seen Rider still in the passenger’s seat of the car. I closed my eyes. I was starting to wonder if help was going to come. Although the car did get hit about a minute ago. I heard Rider on the phone with 9-1-1. I couldn’t say anything and I could barely even move. It’s a good thing that I had one free arm. I reached over and touched Rider’s arm. Rider looked at me and said something I didn’t really hear. I tried to move my head more so that I could get a better view of Rider but as soon as I moved my head a bolt of pain shot through my neck and the side of my face. Rider hung up the phone when he was done talking and turned towards me. He was trying to talk to me but I didn’t understand anything he was saying. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain.
I felt Rider’s hand on my back. That is when I started to hear what he was saying. “Arrai! Please wake up! Please! I can’t lose you again!” Rider said. The pain was starting to disappear. I was starting to feel my leg again and my arm was starting to feel like it wasn’t broken. “Rider.” I said. Rider looked at me. “My arm… It doesn’t feel broken anymore.” I continued. Not long after that the ambulance, cops, and firefighters showed up. They got me and Rider out of the car and got me into the ambulance. They did a few tests to see if I needed to go to the hospital or not and asked Rider and the other diver questions. The driver sat there answering the questions while Rider stubbornly refused to say anything until he could see me. They finally gave up on asking him questions and let him do whatever. Rider ran over to to ambulance. The doctor stepped outside the vehicle and started talking to him. “Sir will you please get her to talk. She won’t talk to us.” They said. He looked at me in worry. “Arrai. Please talk to them. They are trying to help you.” I tried to talk but I couldn’t. I pulled out my phone and started typing on it.
“I can’t talk. I want to I just can’t.” I said and showed the message to Rider and the doctor. The doctor froze. “Sir, may I talk to you for a minute.” Rider looked at the doctor and Rider nodded his head. They went a little farther away, thinking that I couldn’t hear them. Well I could. “That girl, who is she to you? Your girlfriend? Friend? Sister?” The doctor said. “She’s my girlfriend.” Rider said with a puzzled look on his face. “Why do you ask?” He said before the doctor could answer. The doctor looked at him, “Well I was asking so that I know a little bit more so that I can help you both. I also seen that you didn’t want to be away from her and I seen the ring on her finger.” The doctor explained. “Well we are getting married so there isn’t really a big explanation there, sir. So what is wrong with her, why can’t she talk?” Rider said, he was worried and I could tell even though I couldn’t see his face. “Well, telling how hard her head hit the steering wheel I am surprised that she is still alive. But from trauma and shock of the accident and her side of the car being hit and everything she won't be able to talk for a few days, maybe a week or a week and a half.” The doctor said. Rider looked back at me and then back at the doctor. “OK, well other than that is there anything wrong? Something that I should look after or look out for?” Rider said concerned.
“No. Other than that it looks like everything is going to be OK. She is ready to go after you talk to the cops.” Rider’s fists balled and he looked down. I got down off of the back of the ambulance and walked over to Rider. I hugged him from behind and just then he started to calm down. “I’m not talking to the cops. I am taking Arrai and going to my house. After that we are leaving this place and never coming back.” The doctor looked at Rider with a blank look. Rider turned around to me and seen that I was trying not to cry. “Arrai, it’s ok. It’s going to be ok. I promise. Once we get out of here we are going home.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Arrai, I love you.” I smiled and kissed him back. I wanted to say that I loved him back. But I couldn’t. I looked down at the ground and started crying.
I admit. It wasn’t bad. Rider talked to the cops and when they asked me a question I gave them a simple nod or a shake of the head. I kept looking over at the road where the accident happened. The cars were already towed away. My car was totaled it wasn’t much of a car after the accident. The other car only had a smashed hood. And the windshield was shattered but that was because of the force. “The driver turned out to be drunk,” The cop paused converting his attention towards me, “You are very lucky that you survived Ms., I wouldn’t have figured that you survived.” I looked down and nodded. Rider put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I smiled and leaned against him. The cop started to stand up. “You may go now.”
Rider helped me up and we started walking to his house. I have to admit that I am a little scared since I don’t know what Beka will say to me unable to talk. I looked down at the ground as we walked and choked back the tears that otherwise would have let Rider know that I was upset. We walked up to Rider’s house and he ran inside to grab his keys. I sat on the front steps of the porch. I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. I looked at Rider’s car and couldn’t help but cry. I rose my hand to my head and felt the gash on my head. I looked at my hand and then put it back in my lap. “I don’t care right now.” I thought to myself. I was in deep thought when I heard the door open. I swung around to see Rider standing in the doorway with his keys. “You ready?” He asked. I nodded my head and stood up.
Rider placed his arm around me and hugged me. “Arrai, please don’t ever forget that I love you. Please.” He said kissing the top of my head. I smiled and nodded my head again. We walked to the car and got in.
