Goddess Sacrifice

by M. W. Muse

  Adin wasn’t back because he’d been in a car accident, and she didn’t know where he was…if he was okay…if he was alive. It immediately started raining as Legacy tried to stand up as she clung to the phone.

  “Legacy?”

  “A-Adin left this morning to go to the store. I don’t know what time he left.” She cried.

  “Have you talked to him?” Lissa asked.

  “No. I was asleep when he left. He, um, left a note.”

  “Come home,” she ordered.

  “No, I have to find Adin.” She started running down the stairs.

  “I’ll go talk to Rose. You just come home.”

  She ran to her car and peeled out of his driveway. She was crying hysterically as she drove home. The rain was relentless, but she didn’t care. She just needed to find Adin.

  When she got home, Lissa was in the living room, purse in hand.

  “Rose wasn’t home. She’s at the hospital.”

  Legacy cried harder because she knew what that meant. Rose was at the hospital because that was where Adin was.

  “Let’s go,” Lissa whispered.

  Lissa walked her to the passenger door of her car and drove her to the hospital. When they arrived, they rushed into the waiting room. Rose and Myrha were sitting down and talking when she walked in. They both looked up at her and got up, walking over to her and hugging her as she cried.

  “W-w-where is he?” she asked.

  “In surgery,” Myrha said. “He has some internal bleeding.”

  “What else is wrong?” she whispered.

  “He has some cracked ribs from the seatbelt, burns and bruises from the airbag, and cuts from the glass. They’ve stitched him up already.”

  “H-have you t-talked to him?”

  “Yes, dear,” Rose said.

  “Is he h-h-hurting?”

  “He’s banged up pretty bad, but they have him doped up. He’ll probably be really loopy when he gets out of surgery.” Rose chuckled lightly. Legacy figured she was trying to ease her concerns, but it didn’t work.

  She sat down and waited for news from the doctors. She continued to cry periodically, but she was a little relieved that Myrha and Rose seemed to be taking this better than she was. They’d seen him already, so she tried to take comfort in their calm demeanors.

  When the doctor came out, she jumped up and walked to him. Lissa, Myrha, and Rose followed behind.

  The doctor looked at Myrha. “We stopped the bleeding, and he did really well. He’s in recovery now.”

  “When can I see him?” she asked quickly.

  “After gets out of recovery. His room is ready, so you can wait in there if you’d like.”

  “Thanks,” Rose said, and she placed her hand on Legacy’s back to guide her to the room.

  They sat in this tiny room waiting, and it seemed as if it were taking forever for them to bring Adin in. When the door finally opened, she jumped up and watched them push the bed in and up against the other bed. The nurses and orderlies were around him, so she couldn’t see. She waited until they transferred him from one bed to the other and pushed the other bed out of the way before she walked over.

  When she saw Adin, she started crying again. He had bandages and dried blood everywhere. Lissa stepped up to her and held her shoulders while she tried to cry softly. She didn’t want to wake him.

  She heard him groan, and he turned his head to the side. “Mom,” he murmured. “Call Legacy.”

  “She’s here,” Myrha whispered as she stroked his arm.

  He glanced around the room with heavy eyes. When he saw her, he lifted his head. “Hiii, sweetheart.” Then he sighed, and his head fell back. He lifted his hand, though it seemed as if it took great effort. “Come here.”

  She tried to control her crying, but she wasn’t doing a very good job. She walked slowly to his side and stroked his arm.

  “Don’t be upset,” he slurred with his eyes shut. When she didn’t stop crying, he opened his eyes and looked into hers with determination, wobbly determination, but determination nonetheless. “I’m going to be fine, princess,” he whispered.

  She nodded and turned to the side to pull up a chair. She sat right beside him with her chin on the mattress, watching him as he fell back asleep.

  She stayed the rest of the day, watching him as he slept most of the time. When it came time to leave, she understood for the first time how difficult it had been for Adin to leave her alone after her accident last summer.

  “I don’t want to go,” she whispered as she cried to Rose.

  “I’ll take care of it, dear,” she said as she stroked Legacy’s hair.

  Rose left the room while Lissa and Myrha talked amongst themselves. When Rose returned, she had a smile on her face.

  “It’s all taken care of. The nurse on duty knows you’ll be staying, and they’ll call us if anything happens.”

  “Thanks,” she breathed.

  After they left, she leaned over as far as she could, put her arm gently around Adin’s upper chest, and rested her head on his pillow beside his head.

  And she cried herself to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  It was early the next morning when Legacy awoke, but it wasn’t because of the nurse checking on Adin again or because she had another bad dream. Adin was stroking her hair.

  She looked up at him and fresh tears formed in her eyes.

  “Hi,” he whispered.

  Her breathing hitched, and her eyes shut while she leaned her forehead against his. “Hi,” she murmured as her tears leaked over.

  “I’m sorry you’ve been worried.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “I have to worry about you because I love you.” Adin turned toward her and winced.

  “Please be still,” she said as she sat up.

  He looked up at her and sighed. “If you want me to be still then you need to come back down here by me.”

  She half-smiled at him as she leaned her head back down by his.

  “Thanks, sweetheart.” Adin kissed her head, and he fell back asleep.

  It was late that morning before he woke up again, and Myrha and Rose were already here. When they wheeled Adin away to run some tests, she called Calli. Being the best friend that she was, she quickly came up to the hospital to give Legacy moral support. When she got here, Legacy asked her BFF to go for a walk outside to get some fresh air.

  When they were outside, Calli asked what happened, and Legacy told her about the snakes, almost having sex, and Adin leaving to get breakfast. Adin had been out of it the majority of the time, so she didn’t know anything about the accident itself.

  “I saw River this morning,” Calli muttered.

  Legacy flashed her eyes over to her. “Did you see his mother?”

  “Yeah, she’s here too.”

  “I wonder if River knows what she tried to do?”

  “I don’t know. Do you want me to talk to him?”

  “That’s okay. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Right now, I just need to be with and focus on Adin.”

  They walked back up to Adin’s room and waited for him to return. When he got back, he visited with Calli while she held his hand. He seemed to be doing a little better and was able to talk more than he had before. As they all visited, a knock sounded on the door.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Sheppard,” a man said, walking into the room. “I’m Officer Jones. I’d like to ask you some questions about your accident.”

  Legacy looked at Adin, and he shrugged as he inclined the bed.

  “Can you tell me what you remember?”

  “Sure. But it’s not much. I, er, was coming back from the store. I remember rounding the last corner, but that’s it.”

  “So you didn’t see the guy who hit you?”

  “No. Well, I don’t remember.”

  “We’ve interviewed him, but they couldn’t get much out of him. He’d been drinking. We’re running some drug tests too. We think he was high on so
mething when he hit you.”

  Legacy’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Adin, and he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.

  “Why do you think that?” Rose asked calmly.

  “He said he took his eyes off the road because there were snakes crawling on him.”

  Legacy gasped, and Adin’s eyes cut to her. He watched her carefully as he talked to the officer. “Will you keep me posted?”

  “Sure thing, Mr. Sheppard. And if you remember anything else, please let us know. I’m leaving you my card.”

  “Okay.” Her panicked eyes searched Adin’s while he continued talking. “Can you all excuse us for a minute? I’d like to speak with Legacy alone.”

  Everyone left, and she immediately started crying.

  “Shhh…” Adin wrapped his arms around her. “We don’t know for sure if Medusa was behind my accident. Drugs can cause all kinds of hallucinations.”

  She shook her head against his chest. “We both know that this isn’t a coincidence.”

  He sighed, pulling away from her. “It doesn’t matter. She’ll never get to you.”

  “But she can get to you,” she cried.

  “Sweetheart, we only have a little over six more months until your ascension, and then we won’t have to worry about her anymore.”

  Legacy sniffled as she pulled away. He leaned closer to her and winced as he moved.

  “We have to worry about her now. She already hurt you, and…and you’re in pain.”

  “Legacy, listen to me. We know she’s going to try to attack us. We just have to be careful. I don’t want you worrying about it. You need to focus on your change.”

  She sighed and nodded. No matter what he said about this right now, she knew how bad this was, but she also knew he was in no condition to be worrying about her.

  Adin put his arms around Legacy. “Are you ready for the others to come back in?” he whispered.

  “Yeah, I’ll go get them.”

  She walked to the door and opened it, telling everyone that they could come back in without looking at anyone. Then she walked back into the room and sat next to Adin as his guests came back in.

  “Calli left and said to tell you she’ll call you later,” Myrha said as she sat down.

  “Um, Dinny, you have another guest,” Rose said as she came into the room.

  Who else could be here? Had they called his father?

  Legacy looked up and stifled a gasp when Venus walked in. She gritted her teeth, looking away from that vicious bitch, and Adin rubbed Legacy’s hand. He couldn’t see his guest, but Legacy knew he understood who was here by her reaction.

  As Venus walked around the corner and saw Adin’s face, she gasped, but Adin wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Legacy.

  “What happened?” Venus whispered.

  “I was in a car accident,” he responded, still watching Legacy.

  She stepped closer to him, and Legacy’s stomach turned. She couldn’t help but think about that skank kissing Adin. She tried blocking it out, but that image kept flashing in her mind.

  “Are you okay?” she asked as her voice cracked.

  He sighed, shutting his eyes. “Yes,” he answered, and then opened his eyes back to look at Legacy.

  She felt tears forming, so she looked at the wall behind Adin. But he didn’t want that. He reached up and put his other hand on top of theirs. “Look at me,” he whispered.

  She looked at him again, and his eyes locked onto hers. She was trying to breathe slowly to keep from bawling, but her tears were leaking over. “I-I think I’m going to step out for a minute,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to go anywhere,” he said softly.

  “I know.” She leaned over and gently kissed him before standing up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said a little louder, so there’d be no question that she was leaving the room.

  Legacy walked out of the room without even looking at Venus. When she got out, she kept walking. She went down the hall, down the stairs, and outside while she tried catching her breath.

  When she got outside, she slumped against the hospital wall and cried as she sat down.

  After she cried for several minutes, she felt someone’s hands on her shoulders, and her head shot up. It was Calli.

  “Did something happen?” she asked.

  She nodded, and Calli gasped.

  “No, Adin’s fine. Venus’s here.”

  “She’s not the only one,” Calli murmured.

  Legacy looked up at her to ask, but she didn’t have to. She saw River standing across the walkway, watching her with sad eyes.

  She got up and stormed over to him. “You being gone didn’t stop her!”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry? There were snakes all over my yard, and the man who hit Adin said there were snakes in his car!”

  “I heard.”

  She looked over at Calli, and she shrugged. “He saw the rain water everywhere and knew you were upset. He wouldn’t leave me alone until I told him what happened.”

  She looked back at River. “You said you would watch out for him,” she said as she started to cry.

  “Baby,” River started as he stepped closer to her, “I’m sorry he got hurt.”

  She kept crying, and Calli put her arms around her.

  “You know, maybe there’s truth behind the prophecy after all,” she whispered as she cried.

  River’s breath caught.

  “Because if anything happens to Adin, that means you let it happen, and I will never speak to you again.” She sobbed. “So for your sake, you’d better hope he stays alive.”

  “Please calm down. I can’t stand seeing you like this,” River whispered, agony in his eyes.

  “Then maybe you should leave.”

  She turned around and headed back into the hospital, and Calli was right beside her. But she heard River walking behind them too. When they got back to Adin’s floor, she turned around and looked at River. “You should go. I don’t want Adin under any unnecessary stress. He already has to deal with Venus,” she whispered through her teeth.

  “Okay… Just call me if you need anything.”

  “The only thing I need from you is your mother’s wicked head severed from her dead body.”

  River sighed and turned around, and Legacy and Calli walked back into Adin’s room.

  When she stepped in, she saw Venus beside Adin, sitting in her chair, but at least Adin had his arms crossed, not letting the ho-bag touch him.

  “You’re in her seat,” he said to Venus when he saw Legacy come in.

  Venus stood up and walked back, and Legacy took her seat back.

  “I’ll see you at school,” Venus said with a sad voice.

  “Okay,” he said to her while he looked at Legacy.

  After Venus left, Adin leaned over. “I’m sorry she showed up. She already felt bad about what she did, so finding out I was in an accident just added to it.”

  “I’m fine.” She shrugged.

  The look on his face showed he didn’t believe her. “You’ve been crying,” he whispered.

  She nodded as more tears developed.

  “Come here.” Adin leaned up and put his arms around her.

  “We’re going to go, Dinny,” Rose said.

  “Yeah, Legacy, I need to leave too. I wasn’t expecting to come right back,” Calli said, standing back up.

  Legacy pulled away from Adin and nodded at her BFF as she wiped her tears away.

  After Adin’s guests left, he put his arms back around Legacy and held her. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

  “I love you too.”

  He leaned away from her and scooted to the side of his bed. He winced as he moved.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, sitting up straighter.

  “I’m making room for you.”

  “Oh, no. I can sleep like I did last night.”

  “No, sweetheart. I know you couldn’t have been comfortable. Beside
s, we’ll both sleep better if you’re in this bed with me.” Adin spread out his arms and smiled at her. “Now, come snuggle with me.”

  She barely chuckled as she crawled into the bed.

  Adin gently wrapped his arm, wires and all, around her. She fell asleep against him, and they slept all night.

  * * * * *

  The next morning, Adin was released, and Legacy rode with him to his grandma’s house.

  She stayed with him all day. They talked and laughed while Adin was awake, but his pain medication made him sleep a lot. She lay down beside him whenever he slept, and a few times, she dozed off too.

  When Adin was awake, he was looking up cars. Since his car was totaled, he was trying to look at the bright side of things. She’d never understand what men saw in cars, and Adin was no different from other men when it came to muscle machines.

  “What do you think about a Porsche 911 Turbo?” he asked as he looked at car models on his laptop.

  She shrugged. “I liked your Camaro.”

  “Yeah, but a Porsche is sportier.”

  “It’s also much more expensive,” she said, glancing at him.

  He smiled crookedly, not saying anything. He kept playing on the Internet, glancing at her periodically through the corner of his eye. She wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she figured he was still eyeing the Porsche.

  She smiled at him. “Didn’t you tell some story about your family not flashing their money?” she chuckled.

  “Yes, but I really don’t care what other people think. I only care about what you think, princess.”

  He flashed a smile at her, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she smiled back. Honestly, it didn’t really matter if he wanted it. She knew he could afford it anyway. “As long as it’s blue,” she conceded.

  Adin gazed into her eyes. “Blue is a beautiful choice.”

  Throughout the rest of the day, Adin had several visitors, but luckily, Venus didn’t show up. When Lissa came over, she brought Legacy some pajamas and a change of clothes since she knew she’d be staying again. By the end of the day, everyone had left, and she and Adin had eaten dinner.

  After he fell asleep again, she decided to take a shower and change into the clean pajamas Lissa brought over. She left the door cracked so she could hear if Adin woke up.