Page 100 of Now and Forever

That surprises me, right?

“Your name is?” the doctor asks.

“Judith Flores.”

I close my eyes so as not to look at what he’s doing. Then I hear Flyn.

“This is Uncle Eric’s girlfriend.”

I open my eyes. I’m surprised to hear the boy admit that.

“Well, Judith, I’m going to give you some stitches,” the doctor tells me. “Don’t worry, when they heal, you won’t even notice them. But I’m afraid your face will be swollen tomorrow and for the next few days. You took a hard fall, and I’m already seeing some bruising.”

“OK ...”

I squeeze Flyn’s little hand. Suddenly, his energy is my energy, and I calm down. It’s over quickly. The doctor puts a huge bandage on my chin, applies some cream to my lip, and tells me to come back in a week. I agree. And when I ask how to pay for the appointment, he tells me he’ll talk to Marta.

Since I don’t much feel like talking and my face hurts, I accept. I take the report the doctor gives me, and, when I walk out, I run into a very distressed Marta.

“My God! What happened to you, Judith?” she asks, evidently horrified by the way I look.

Not wanting to give many explanations, I look at Flyn, who hasn’t let go of my hand. “I slipped running through the snow, and, unluckily, I landed on my chin,” I murmur.

“Leave your car here,” Marta says with urgency. “Norbert will come back for it. Come on. I’ll take you home in mine.”

I need to close my eyes and forget the pain I’m feeling. It starts raining while we’re on the road, and, when we get home, it’s pouring. When we go inside, Simona and Norbert are waiting for us with fear on their faces. When they returned from the supermarket and saw blood on the floor, who knows what they imagined. They settle down when they see the kid and me, although they still look scared. Flyn doesn’t leave my side. It’s as if he were glued to me. I like it, but it makes me mad at the same time. Everything that happened to me was because of him.

My head is killing me, so I decide to go to bed. I take the medicine the doctor gave me, remove my bloodstained clothes, and fall asleep. Marta tells me she’ll sleep in the guest room in case I need anything. In the middle of the night, a clap of thunder wakes me. In pain, I turn over in bed and touch Eric’s empty side. I miss him.

I close my eyes again and relax, and thunder crashes again. I open my eyes. Flyn!

I get up and, in pain, walk over to his room. On entering, I see his night-light is on, and he’s awake, sitting in bed and shivering. His face is pure fear. I ask him, “Can I sleep with you?”

The kid looks at me, shocked. I must seem absolutely crazy.

“Flyn,” I insist, “I’m afraid of thunder.”

The look on his face tells me yes, and I get into his bed. He puts the pillow between us. As always, keeping his distance.

“Close your eyes and think of something nice,” I tell him after I get him to lie down. “You’ll see how fast you go to sleep, and you won’t hear the thunder.”

For a while, we’re both lying in silence while it storms furiously outside. Another clap of thunder crashes, and Flyn jumps with fright in the bed. At that moment, I pull out the pillow between us, grab him by the hand, and pull him toward my body. He’s frozen, shivering, and scared. When I bring him close, he doesn’t protest. What’s more, I notice he covers himself up even more. With care and affection, making sure not to bump my chin, I kiss him on top of his head.

“Close your eyes, think of nice things, and sleep. We’ll protect each other from the thunder.”

Ten minutes later, both of us, exhausted, are sleeping in each other’s arms.

A bump on the chin wakes me. Flyn was moving around and knocked into me. I sit up in bed and touch my chin. The rain and thunder have ceased. I look at the clock on the nightstand. It’s 5:27 a.m.

God, it’s so early!

In pain, I’m about to lie down again, when I see Eric sitting on a chair at the side of the room. Eric! I quickly get up. His eyes look worried, and his grimace is serious. He gives me a kiss on the forehead, then takes me in his arms and out of the room.

I’ve been dozing so hard, I don’t know if this is a dream or reality, until he lays me down on our bed and murmurs, obviously concerned, “Don’t worry about a thing, darling. I came back to take care of you.”

Surprised, I blink. He gives me a sweet kiss on the lips.

“But what are you doing here? Weren’t you coming back tomorrow?” I ask.

---