Page 99 of Encounter

“Good job,” Chast whispered, clearly exhausted, but there was still warmth in his voice. “I’ve... got to lay down.” Standing sharply, I barely managed to jump up to support him when he staggered. It was a surprise my jelly legs didn’t betray me. “Shit,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s okay; it’s okay, just— Come!” I blurted out, helping to lead Chast to the bed. Confused and distraught, Kitty annoyingly intertwined between our legs as we tried to walk, meowing and rubbing against us. “Shhh... It’s alright, girl,” I whispered, but hardly believed those words, and she probably knew.

It was straight up bizarre—being the one holding the strong and mighty Chast up, being the one in control. I hated seeing him like this. My heart felt like it was being torn apart and smothered.

Finally, Chast sat down with an audible sigh of relief, sinking into his mattress. “I’ll be fine.”

You won’t, You’re barely keeping yourself up!

“W-What do I do, Chast? There must be someone... someone to call, right?Whodo I call? What should I do?”

Squeezing my shoulder, he stopped my desperate rambling. “Hey. Breathe. Calm down.” Barely keeping them open, he fixed his eyes on me, and had this strange, loving smile on his face—one that only made me think he was going to die. When he let go, Chast carefully lowered himself onto his back and exhaled, pain flashing over his face. “C-Call Gregory and tell him what happened. But I’ll be fine, understand?” he assured me firmly.

Clearly struggling to even move his hand, he finally got his phone out of the pocket of his pants and handed it to me.

As I accepted it, Chast’s fingers wrapped around my wrist to get my attention. Breathing shallowly, he smiled. “Shoulda kissed you much earlier,” he whispered, and I would have felt overjoyed if he didn’t look feverish, exhausted, and barely there.

Drawing my brows together, I squeezed his hand and smiled back, quickly trying to find Gregory in the contact list. My irrational phone anxiety and fear of meeting new people were completely overshadowed by the need to make sure Chast was okay, so I called Gregory without hesitation, putting the phone to my ear. As it rang, I watched Chast like a hawk as he clearly fought not to doze off.

Please, be okay. I beg you, don’t let me lose you.

I don’t think I can take that right now...

“Chast?” Raspy voice came from the phone. “You done with the gig? Been takin’ you longer than it should, I was starting to worry.”

Oh god—he knows about me, right? What did Chast tell him?

About me, about...us?

“I... It’s... It’s Galen,” I finally pushed those words out, but my voice was so shaky and quiet I wasn’t sure if he could hear me. “Chast is— He’s in trouble, he... He’s hurt.”

“I’m fine,” Chast mumbled drunkenly on the bed.

There was a pause—a gut-wrenching silence—until Gregory inhaled and finally spoke again. “Galen? Listen closely. I need you to tell me clearly and concisely what the wound is and how’s he doin’ right now.”

“I-It was a cut on his back. I don’t think it was t-too deep, didn’t look like it.”Why can’t I calm down.I thought the shock of him coming in like that and treating his injury would be the worst part, but now I found myself even shakier, more scared, and completely losing my shit. “I stitched it up like Chast told me,” I continued, glancing at him to make sure he was still breathing. His hand was only warm-ish as I held it, making me worry. “I-I think he lost a lot of blood, he— He didn’t even realize he’d been gashed.”

“What’s he doing right now? Is he... responsive?”

“I think he’s falling asleep.” I could barely contain the tears. All of those pathetic, desperate emotions swirling in my chestbeggedto be let out—to transform me into a blubbering, whining mess. I did all I could to stop it, but the pressure kept rising. “I-Is he going to be okay? Should I not let him fall asleep?! Can he die if I—”

“Galen, he doesn’t have brain damage, so you can let him sleep, OK? I’ll pick up our doc and be on my way. You're in his apartment, right?”

“Ye-yeah.”Don’t cry. Don’t cry, don’t fucking cry!

“Good. You did really well, alright? We’ll be there soon.” Before I could reply, he hung up. How could he have sounded so calm about it?! Like Chast, he spoke to me like I was a frightened child, panicking for no reason.

“He’ll be here soon,” I told Chast, partially to make sure he was still conscious.

Without opening his eyes, he smiled. “I heard,” he whispered. As he squeezed my hand, I couldn’t help but draw my brows even lower and bite my lip to stop it from quivering. “I’m fine.You’refine.”

Doing all I could, I took controlled breaths, nodding to myself.Think of Chast’s kiss, I told myself in a stern voice. Even if he did it because he was delirious from loss of blood.

Think about how it felt. Think about how much it meant to you.

It felt like a few minutes—though it must have been more than that—before someone knocked on the door, pulling me out of the numb, out-of-it state my brain probably put me in to protect itself. Carefully slipping out of Chast’s hold, I jumped up and nearly stumbled over my feet as I rushed out of the room.

The door was already open when I got there, and two men paused in front of me. One balding, wearing a gray jacket, a large medical bag in hand, while the one was much younger, with long-ish hair curling along his face and tied back into a ponytail. His facial hair and overall expression stupidly gave me a Jack Sparrow vibe.

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