by Rue Volley
“What!” I yelled as I sat up quickly and touched his forehead.
“Are you serious?” I asked him.
He swayed on the bed and then fell over and I screamed and jumped up, leaving him laying there… me in a complete panic.
Suddenly Theo was in my doorway and he looked in at me as I stood there in shock, I jumped on top of Josh and tapped his face. Theo yelled out as he so famously does and ran in, pushing me aside and staring into Josh’s face.
“What in the world happened?” he said to me as his eyes got wider.
“I don’t... I mean we, I mean he…” I tried.
Theo leaned in and felt his breath.
“He is breathing, but shallow. Did he eat something strange?”
“No… no, we were ummmm…”
“What the hell?” Sam yelled as she ran in and grabbed Josh’s wrist and felt his pulse.
“Theo?” she said as she held her chest and stared at him.
“Call 911.” Theo said and he pounded on Josh’s chest and then started to blow air into his lungs. Sam pulled out her phone and almost dropped it as she fumbled to press the numbers. She looked at me and it was then that I realized that I was standing there in my bra.
“Put some clothes on.” Sam said as the call connected and she started to tell them the address. I stepped back, holding my chest, trying to make sense of how something so fantastic could go from awesomeness to shitty in seconds.
“Rue!” Sam yelled at me and I snapped out of my stupor and ran to my shirt on the floor and grabbed it, pulling it on and buttoning it up crooked.
I watched the lights from the porch and saw them push Josh’s gurney into the back of the ambulance and I sat there… completely stunned and feeling like an ass. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, the medics had arrived in record time and started CPR on him; I felt numb and had no idea how to process anything. I sat there as the ambulance pulled away, sirens screaming and Theo got into his car, Sam jumped in and Kai followed and I stayed behind, although I should have gone… I should snap out of this. I should, but I just couldn’t seem to. I clinched my fists and started to talk to myself.
“Get up… get… up.” I said and I rose.
Then I looked up and there was Johnathan, looking as if he had run and was out of breath. I found myself running to him and hugging him as hard as I could. He stood there, holding onto me and then he grabbed my arms and pulled me back to look at him.
“Sam called me, everyone is gone… why are you here?” he asked me as he looked around.
“I don’t know.” I said.
“Come on.” He said and he pulled me along with him, making me do what I should have done to begin with… followed him to the hospital.
***
Michael sat in their living room and started to rub his palms and then he stood up and grinned.
“Oh… that is interesting.”
He walked to the window as his reflected image vibrated and blurred. He took a breath and looked at his hands as he raised them to his face and grinned again. Jessica stepped in, with her robe half open and he turned and smiled at her. She tilted her head and he smiled as he held his hands out and flexed his humming fingers. A slight buzzing noise started to fill the room and Jessica covered her ears and lowered to the floor as he took a deep breath and touched his chest.
“It would seem that someone is starting to awake as he should be, this could be interesting.” He said as he walked past Jessica and to the door. He opened the door and looked up at the sky as the stars started to shift slightly.
“Or perhaps the glamour is shifting.”
He narrowed his eyes and watched as several stars moved in the sky and formed a constellation.
“Curious.” He whispered and Jessica stepped up behind him and he looked back at her.
“Get dressed, we need to go out.” He said to her and she turned, as if against her own will and walked to the bedroom. Michael looked back at the sky and grinned.
“Rue Volley, what have you done?” he whispered.
***
I sat in the waiting room of the ER with Johnathan as he held my hand and we waited… which by far is my least favorite thing to do ever. We both looked up as Theo came rushing down the hallway and stared at us both. I stood up, a bit dizzy and disoriented and Johnathan steadied me. Theo clapped his hands together once and smiled and it lifted a heavy weight that had my heart in a strangle hold.
“Is he?” I asked and Theo grinned.
“Oh he is fine, come see for yourself.” He said.
I started to walk quickly and Johnathan stayed with me, I stepped into the room and Josh sat there on the bed, rolling his eyes and grabbing at the IV attached to his arm. He seemed to be in a power struggle of sorts with the attractive nurse who was shaking her head and swiping at his hand. Josh looked up and spotted me and immediately his eyes lowered and I looked down and let go of Jonathan’s hand quickly. Johnathan glanced at our hands and then back to Josh, who then received Jonathans grin… not the “hey glad to see you” one… but the “haha” one.
Josh looked at the nurse and shook his head.
“Seriously, stop it.” He muttered.
“Now listen to me, it is always the same. EMT’s think they are just fine and need no attention, I suggest you shut up… lean back and let me do my job!” she said. I giggled, hearing her get so sassy with him. Josh leaned back and mumbled, but it was inaudible to anyone. I stepped forward and then I ran to his side and leaned down.
“You scared the shit out of me.” I whispered to him.
He looked at me and raised his hand to touch my face and then stopped himself and I narrowed my eyes, but the awkward moment was interrupted as Sam & Kai entered the room.
“I swear to God… you eat like a pig.” Sam said and Kai fumbled with his sandwich and took a huge bite, catching some meat as it fell and popping it into his mouth.
“What?” he muttered through his food filled mouth and some dropped out, hitting the floor.
“Oh good lord.” The nurse said as she grabbed a paper towel and cleaned it up. She rose and rolled her eyes at him and left us all, completely disgusted.
Josh watched her leave us and I turned to see her nice butt in her dress. I looked back at him and he cleared his throat and grinned at me.
“You know her?” I asked him and he shook his head.
“No… but she is bitchy.” He laughed and Kai came running up and smacked him on the arm, almost jerking the IV out. Josh laughed and smacked him back.
“What the hell dude?” Kai asked him.
Sam stepped forward… “I second that. What did the doctor say?” she asked him.
Josh leaned back and smiled.
“There is nothing wrong with me, nothing at all.” He said.
“Bullshit.” Theo muttered and we all looked at him and started to laugh.
“Theo.” I said, knowing that to hear cussing from him meant that he was upset.
“Well, one does not just stop breathing.” He added.
“This is true.” Sam added.
Johnathan stepped up and stared at Josh in his nice hospital gown.
“Nice dress.” He said.
Josh waved his hand at him.
“Fuck off.” He said and we all laughed again.
“Seriously… what happened?” Sam asked again.
Josh sat there in awkward silence and I took a breath and stepped back.
“It was my fault.” I said.
Everyone looked at me and I raised my eyes and stared back at them.
“Oh come now…” Theo said as he stepped to me and rubbed my arm, taking my hand into his. “There is nothing you could do to cause someone to stop breathing.”
“Well…” I said as I stood there and bit my lip, glancing at Josh, who was not helping at all.
Sam started to laugh and covered her mouth and then Theo laughed to.
Kai looked at both of them and raised his eyebrows. “What is so funny?” he as
ked.
“Nothing.” Josh said and Johnathan started to laugh so hard it echoed in the room for a moment.
“Oh hell no.” he said as he looked at Josh and shook his head.
“What?” Kai asked again.
Johnathan looked at him and smiled.
“They were doing it and Josh had a stroke.”
“What?” Kai asked him.
“No! No, we were not doing it.” I said.
“Holy shit.” Johnathan said as he looked at Josh again.
“You can leave anytime now.” Josh said and Johnathan raised his hand to his stomach.
“Dude… seriously?”
Josh rolled his eyes again and then looked at me and raised his eyebrows.
“Johnathan…” I started to say.
He turned to me and grinned. “What the hell did you do?” he asked me.
“Nothing, I did nothing! I mean, I took my shirt off and there was kissing and maybe some grabbing! But nothing else, I swear!” I yelled out and the room went silent.
Theo rubbed his neck and Kai stood there with food falling out of his mouth. Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.
“Everyone get out.” She said.
I started to move with the rest of them and she pointed at me.
“You stay… talk.” She said and I stopped. Johnathan was the last to leave the room and he winked at me as he closed the door and I rolled my eyes and then looked back at Josh, who sat there looking deflated. I stepped up to him and cleared my throat.
“IV huh.” I said.
Josh glanced at it and then back to me.
“Evidently, it is protocol, I really don’t need it.” He said as he waved his hand and jiggled the tube attached to him.
“You stopped breathing.” I said.
“So I’ve heard.”
“I mean… why?” I said as I reached towards him and he adjusted on the bed. I lowered my hand and looked at him, wanting to hug him but feeling like he didn’t want or need it. I crossed my arms nervously and waited for him to talk to me.
“This is so ridiculous.” He said as he looked towards the window.
“I agree and raise you a ‘what the hell happened’?” I said.
He looked at me and smiled.
“Sometimes things happen that you cannot explain and they found nothing wrong with me, except…” he said.
“Except what?”
“I seem to have an abnormal level of iron in my blood.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing really, I mean I can get dizzy from it, so maybe that combined with your exquisite boobs sent me over the edge.”
I laughed at him and glanced at my shirt, I started to unbutton it realizing that it was all crooked and crazy looking. Josh raised his hands up to me.
“Don’t do that.” He said.
I looked at him and laughed.
“I am not getting naked Josh, my shirt is crooked. I buttoned it up crazy.” I turned my back to him and undid it, ready to button it back up the right way.
Johnathan stepped in, with my shirt all open and turned his back to me quickly.
“Seriously?” he said and I quickly buttoned up my shirt and adjusted it.
“It was crooked.” I said as he turned back and smiled at me.
“I thought maybe you were going to kill him once and for all... doing us all a huge favor.”
“Screw you, you ass.” Josh said as Johnathan smiled and stepped up to us.
“Well, I have to say this is priceless and…” Johnathan turned to me.
“You now make me nervous.”
“Oh shut up.” I said as I smiled and looked back at Josh.
“Are they keeping you?” I said.
“Against my will.” He said.
“I can stay.”
Johnathan opened his mouth and interrupted us.
“I think that is an awful idea.”
I sighed and hit him on the arm and he laughed. I looked back to Josh and he grinned at me.
“You should go home.” He said and I tilted my head.
“I can sleep on the couch there.” I said as I pointed to it.
Josh hesitated and then it hit me. I made him feel uncomfortable…me, oh this sucks. I nodded and stepped back from his bed.
“I will just go home… I can come back in the morning.” I said.
“They are going to release me early I am sure, sleep in… I can manage.”
I stood there for a moment and had nothing to say really. I mean, he was trying to get rid of me, and that was the worst feeling in the world, it really was.
“Well, try to survive the night… no cable.” Johnathan said and Josh shook his head at him.
“Do me a favor, get hit by a car on the way home… cool?” Josh said and Johnathan laughed.
I started to walk out and Josh called out to me.
“I will call you tomorrow, okay?” he said and I nodded, not sure what to think of this new distance between us.
Chapter 7
Broken
“Oh this is just perfect.”
Gracie sat up in thick grass and raised her hand to shield her eyes from the blaring sun in the sky. She stood up and looked around… nothing but fields of waving grass stretched out from her on all sides. She placed her hand on her hip and looked down. Elijah lay there, on his back, with his arms resting at his sides. He looked like an angel, with flawless skin and slightly wavy hair. She kicked him on the foot and he moved a little and then she kicked him again and he started to blink and just as Gracie had done, he shielded his eyes and started to sit up; swaying a little from a deep sleep that perhaps should not have been interrupted. Gracie looked down at him and shook her head.
“Get up.” She said and he started to rise and then he looked in all directions and saw nothing but deep green grass and blue sky.
“What the hell?” he muttered to her.
“It is memory; we are stuck in freakin’ memory.” She said.
“Huh?”
“Memory… it’s a place for lost things… or better yet, forgotten, in our case.” She said to him.
“Like no one knows us?”
“Well, that would define ‘forgotten’.” She said as she started to walk and he decided to keep up with her.
“Wait.” He said and she turned and looked at him.
“What?”
“We need a mirror.”
“Well, duh.” She said as she rolled her eyes and started to walk.
“How the hell did we get here?”
“My Mom… who else?”
“You’re Mom?”
“Yes, she must be all messed up right now.”
“You mean she put us here.”
Gracie stopped walking and turned to him, tugging at the tall grass that whipped around her knees. She plucked some and started to play with it.
“My Mom is a keeper of time.”
“A keeper, like she controls it?”
Gracie sighed and dropped the few blades of grass she had in her hand.
“Yes, a ‘recorder’, she has this talent for changing things.”
“How does she do that?”
Gracie started to walk again and Elijah walked alongside her, he kept staring at her as the wind blew her long hair around and when Gracie looked at him he looked ahead nervously.
“Well, with books… she writes it, it happens.”
“Like a “creator”.”
Gracie laughed.
“Well, kind of… she is not the creator, just an instrument. My Mom was a reaction to an action.” She said.
“You are losing me.” Elijah said and Gracie smiled.
“Okay… look at it like this. If a stone drops into a lake, a ripple forms… it travels outward until it reaches the banks of the river.”
Elijah nodded.
“Well, my Mom was a ripple, from a stone dropped in the lake. The stone was dropped by the creator; my Mom was a reaction to the fact that the stone was droppe
d. But… the thing is, the ripple never really stops affecting the water, it continues to move and change things and once created… things are never the same, the water has changed forever.”
“Huh.” Elijah said and Gracie looked at him and laughed.
“Do you understand me?”
“Yeah… I understand… so, are we here because she changed things?”
“Yes, she placed us in memory by adjusting time and circumstance.”
“Well that sucks.”
Gracie continued to walk until she reached the top of the hill and she looked out across the field and smiled as she spotted a house. She looked at Elijah and grinned.
“I agree, but she did not do it on purpose. I have to guess that something happened that was so terrible, she felt as if she had too.”
“Or maybe she just didn’t want us around.”
Gracie stared at him and narrowed her eyes. “Do not say that, that is not true, she is a protector… and this is her way of protecting us.”
“You don’t know… you just said you are guessing. What if she traded us for someone else?”
Gracie stood there for a moment and then shook that idea off.
“No, she was placed in a situation that did not allow her to make any other choice.”
“If you say so.” Elijah said and Gracie left him standing there and headed for the house at the bottom of the hill.
She stepped up the door and stared at it; Elijah stepped up next to her and stared at the door too. Cobwebs criss crossed their way across the door and she rubbed her arms and sighed.
“I don’t know why I am even hanging out with you… you are a demon.” She said to him.
“Ouch… you don’t need to get all nasty.” He said.
She laughed and turned to him.
“I am an angel; normally angels would not hang with things like you.”
“I am half human, remember? And you are not full angel anyway; your Mom is a vampire.”
“She is the first vampire, and my Dad is Gabrielle, a warrior and the most powerful angel that has ever existed.”
Elijah started to mouth her words and mock her as he brushed the cobwebs away, then he turned to her.
“Your Dad is a vampire.”
“My Dad transformed himself, but he will always be an angel.”
