A Common Language

by Caitlyn Bogart

Chapter six

  Interpretation

  Kalli was ready, she felt herself coming out of the water. She was ready to break out of her captors grasp. She was ready to fight. She planned to suddenly jump up and run out (wherever ‘out’ may be). Ready? 1…2…3…! She thrust her upper body up and attempted to get off the bed, but a strong pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and gently and pushed her back onto the hard, cardboard bed beneath her. She cursed in her head. There was no turning back now that they knew she was awake.

  “Kalli, Kalli, it’s okay. No one is trying to harm you,” A soft, sweet, caring, familiar voice whispered in her ear sending warm trills down her spine. Kalli’s eyes blinked open. Blinding light slowly faded into colors. The small room was painted hospital blue and dimly lit with lamps. She relaxed and Percy’s hands carefully removed themselves from her shoulders. She looked at him, his hair was all in his face and his normally bright blue eyes were somehow dimmer and fringed with red as if he had been crying or hadn’t slept, or both for that matter. Her heart sank, what had happened? Had someone died? He looked upset behind the mask of trying to be strong for her. Why would he be trying to be strong?

  “Per…Percy?” her voice cracked but his face lit up with true happiness.

  “Kalli,” His voice relived. “You’re okay. Thank the Lord,” His eyes were watering up. She realized, he had been crying for her. He was worried about her and it made her chest ache.

  “How long was I down?” Kalli’s hand went to her hair. It was thick with grease, gross.

  “Just 24 hours.”

  “Golly!” She said and tried to sit up again, but Percy’s firm hands prevented that. She had never spent more than half a day on bed rest, and that was when she had broken her ankle playing tennis and her doctor didn’t want her walking on the cast yet.

  “The doctor says you can’t get up yet. Maybe tomorrow, so he says. Don’t underestimate your trauma,” Kalli winced at the thought of staying in bed that long and she was reminded of the nasty pain in the back of her head. She must have bruised it when he had her against the wall. “What hurts? I’ll call the nurse.” Percy said quickly, picking up on anything she did. He was hypersensitive about her pain.

  He reached out his hand for the call button and Kalli grabbed it. She was surprised how warm it was, “Percy, I’m fine. Really,” she assured him. “I’m just not fond of bed rest,” He relaxed and nodded, sitting back in his chair that he had pulled up right by her bed. He looked at his hand that she still held fast to. “Sorry,” she quickly pulled it back to her side.

  “No. It’s fine, just surprised me is all,” He clasped his hands together and put his elbows to his knees.

  “I just didn’t want you to call the nurse needlessly.”

  He looked down at his shoes. “I am so sorry Kalli, none of this would have happened if--if I could control myself.”

  “It’s not your….”

  “Do. Not. Tell. Me. It’s. Not. My. Fault,” he defined and articulated each word clearly. “It is. And I know it,” he closed his eyes and brought his hands to his face ashamed of what he had done.

  “Percy….” Kalli didn’t know how to fix this. This guilt was in his head and if his head was anything like hers, it was stubborn once it got stuck on an idea.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No you’re not. You look like you haven’t slept more than an hour in two days,” he smiled shyly--it was true--he had never left her side. “Percy!”

  “What?”

  “Did you leave here at all?” He shook his head. “Why?”

  “Did you expect anything different? I couldn’t sleep without knowing you would be okay,” his blue eyes flitted back and forth. Too much caffeine on top of everything, perfect.

  “That’s sweet,” She said and he smiled.

  “Now go back to sleep.”

  “Why? I just woke up,” Kalli protested.

  “Because, 1. You need to rest, and 2. I need to rest.”

  “Oh,” she paused looking at the dark circles under his eyes that were shaded even darker with his black hair and pale skin. “Okay, go to sleep.”

  “Sleep well Kalli,” he said and leant onto her bed and laid his head down next to her shoulder.

  “You too Percy,” She watched him as his head sunk into the bed in a deep sleep. He looked so peaceful, so young. People always look younger when they sleep. There is no wall, no attempt to keep secrets close. Though, at least to her, Percy seemed to always be honest.

  She lay awake and thought about him. He had changed so much in her eyes from when she first met him. At first he was an arrogant, self-assured flirt out to get foreign girls. Now she knew him better and his original mask had fallen away a bit. He was a truly nice guy and a good friend. She was happy that he had been so determined to work his way into her life because now that she looked back, if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been friends with him and that would have been a grave loss. He sat by her side for two days just out of concern for her. Guys back home wouldn’t sit by her side for more than 30 seconds before moving on to the next new thing. His black hair hung over his eyes and nose. In a weird way, she had to admit, he was good looking, cute even. The more she thought about the argument they had in town, the more she thought perhaps he was right. Perhaps she should let Drake go. Maybe she wasn’t being fair to him by dragging him along. Maybe it would be best to end things happily than in a blazing fire. There was a pay phone in the dorm. When she got out of the infirmary maybe she would call him. Break it off? Could she do it? Her head hurt from thinking. The pain killers were starting to wear off. The pain made her eyes fuzzy. But it was new, different, she could feel it. It was real. She fell blissfully back into unconsciousness.

  “Well now that you are allowed to move about, would you like to go for a walk with me?”

  “Definitely, just let me go back to the dorm, change and take a shower, I feel disgusting,” Kalli said running her hair through her fingers. It was greasy and clumpy. She was amazed that it didn’t bother Percy. Maybe it did, but he did a dang good job of hiding it. Besides, her arm looked disgusting and she wanted to wrap it but she had to clean it first.

  “Okay--uh--I’ll meet you in the west gardens in 45 minutes. Fair?”

  “Thank you,” Kalli walked to the dorm quickly only to find the twins waiting for her at the door. “I’m on a schedule,” she said quickly, trying to push through them but it was no use. They were over a foot taller than her, with testosterone to boot.

  “Excuse us, you were on bed rest for nearly two days and Percy wouldn’t let us see you so we deserve some Kalli-time. We’ve come to collect.”

  “You deserve nothing. You may want ‘Kalli-time’ but, I already have plans for today.”

  “What about tomorrow night? Are you free then?” Sasha asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said checking her watch. She only had 35 more minutes. Why did it take her so long to get to this side of campus?

  “It’s a date then,” they said. They strolled around her and kept going never turning back.

  “Wait what?” They continued walking. She rolled her eyes and ran up to her dorm. She couldn’t worry about stupid twins right now. She looked around, the dorm seemed empty. “Good, I don’t have time for conversation,” She muttered to herself, though she really could use a girl to hug her and say it’s not ridiculous that she is shaken up by the attack. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a black tank top and ran to the showers.

  She pulled her wet hair into a bun. It hurt her head but the pain subsided after a few moments. The cut on her face had healed up pretty well, most of it had sealed, which was more than she could say for her forearm which was now covered in gauze. She checked her watch; she was already 5 minutes late.

  “Stupid twins!” Kalli ran down to the west gardens. She saw Percy sitting on a stone bench wearing black slacks and a black button down shirt; she smiled and ran up to him. He looked up startled as she said, “I am so sorry! The twins ambushed me and--�
�� he stood over her and put his hand over her lips.

  “It’s fine. I didn’t really expect you for another 15 minutes.”

  “What?” She checked her watch. It had been 55 minutes. “But you said…”

  “I know. I said that so you would hurry, but I anticipated you being late,” he smiled understandingly. He was clever.

  “Oh. I see,” Kalli was a little embarrassed that she didn’t give him more credit.

  “Shall we?” He said, motioning towards the narrow sidewalk beneath their feet.

  “We shall,” she tried rather pathetically to imitate his accent. He smiled and they began walking slowly through the brightly colored flowers of the gardens. “So what have I missed in the past two days?”

  “Not too terribly much. Apparently Dragen arrived the day before the disastrous shopping trip and no one bothered to introduce us. I got to speak to him briefly when you were being patched up. They refused to let me in the room while they worked.” He was regretful of that, but she smiled putting his worries at ease.

  “His name is Dragon? Did he seem nice?”

  “I thought that at first too, but apparently it’s pronounced ‘Dray-gin’. It is hard to say about his temperament--he didn’t really talk back--he just nodded at everything I said,” Percy shrugged.

  “Really? Did he not like you?” Kalli was confused. Percy was an easy person to talk to. Even she, who does her best to keep walls up, fell for his easy charm.

  “According to Masashi he found me ‘acceptable’.”

  “Interesting,” Kalli’s brow furrowed. “Maybe it’s a cultural difference, where is he from?”

  “Romania.”

  “I don’t know anything about Romania. I know where it is on a map but the culture is a mystery to me.”

  “Same.”

  “Interesting,” Kalli’s eyes glazed over as she went into deep contemplation.

  “Yeah,” Percy changed the subject; he didn’t want her stressing about silly stuff if at all possible. “So are you excited for classes to start in a few weeks?”

  “Yes, actually. I am.”

  “Me too. Maybe we will get lucky and have some classes together.”

  “Hopefully,” Actually pretty likely, she added mentally, considering one of our majors is the same. It will be nice to have someone to be lost on campus with.

  Percy leaned towards a nearby bush and plucked a white rose from it. “For you, my lady,” he said and handed her the flower with a flourished bow.

  “Well thank you, good sir,” She said giggling and curtseying to take the rose. He smiled brightly and they continued walking in silence. The rose smelled wonderful.

  “There’s Dragen. Do you wish to meet him?”

  “Of course. Will you introduce us?” Kalli was a little nervous about meeting the mysterious Dragen.

  “Sure,” Percy read her thoughts and smiled reassuringly.

  They walked over to a tan man with neck-long black hair. He was lying on a stone bench with his long legs hanging off the edge. He looked like he was sleeping or tanning in a full black ensemble.

  “Dragen?” his eyes popped open and he gracefully stood, straightening his shirt. His eyes were a piercing black and attentive. They obviously were trained to observe his surroundings. “This is Kalli,” Percy said politely gesturing towards her, Dragen nodded.

  “Kalli,” She said, out-stretching her hand.

  “Dragen,” He said taking it. “It is good to see you are alright. Are you well?” Percy was shocked. Not only had he talked to her but he had asked her a question.

  “Yes. I am much better. Thank you for your concern,” Was this the same guy who refused to talk to Percy? He didn’t seem talkative but not silent either.

  He nodded. She gave herself a little mental pat on the back for having a somewhat normal interaction.

  “It was very nice to meet you, Dragen. I think Percy and I should continue our walk. Doctor says light activity will help,” She laughed.

  Another nod. “Until we meet again,” He bowed his head and to her surprise actually gave her a half a grin.

  Odd.

  “He talked to you? I have known him for a year and he has said maybe a total of 5 words to me. Never a full sentence, and especially never a question! How did you do it?” Lupe was sitting cross-legged on Kalli’s bed; she was hugging her own pillow in anticipation. She looked like a young child waiting for desert to be served.

  “I don’t know,” She said sitting across from Lupe similarly grabbing her pillow. “I just introduced myself and he asked me if I was ‘well’,” Kalli shrugged. She didn’t think it was this big of a deal but apparently this was behavior never expected, and rarely received, from Dragen.

  “And you said?” Lupe’s eyes grew even wider.

  “That I was much better and I appreciated his concern.”

  “Oh my, dear Lord,” Lupe mouthed. “So this could be big? Like, Apatosaurus big.”

  “Apato-what?”

  “Proper name for a Brontosaurus.”

  “How do you…never mind, I don’t want to know. Anyway,” Kalli shrugged. “I don’t know. I still have to figure out the Drake situation.”

  “You mean the Percy situation,” she said as a statement of fact, rather than a question. Her old eyes stared into Kalli.

  “Percy? What are you talking about?”

  “Masashi told me how he completely flipped on you thinking about Drake. One can only wonder.…” She let the sentence complete itself.

  “What? No! Ewe!! He’s like my brother! Besides, that was him not me,” she denied just a little too quickly for Lupe’s taste.

  “Okay,” She put her hands up in surrender. “Why so defensive? I wasn’t saying you like him. But if you are so defensive…who knows?”

  “Okay. Off my bed,” Kalli pushed at her with her feet.

  “What? We were finally getting to the good stuff!” Lupe protested.

  “Goodnight Lupe!” Kalli said pushing her off the end of the bed.

  “Okay, fine. I will get to the bottom of this though,” She promised.

  “Whatever. You think that as long as you like.”

  “Goodnight, lover girl.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! ‘Lover girl’?”

  “Goodnight,” Lupe began to breathe deeply; Kalli sighed and drifted off and dreamt of…

  ***