Page 48 of Script Swap
“Indira went to the hospital,” Keme told Bobby.
Bobby nodded.“Terrence is in surgery.”
And that was it.Because they were boys.
Millie, on the other hand, was still emoting.“We were so SCARED.Were YOU scared?EVEN KEME WAS SCARED.”
Keme gave a vigorous shake of his head to the contrary.
“Did you CRY?Do you want to cry NOW?OH MY GOD, YOU’RE STILL SHAKING!”
I mean, Iwasshaking, but it was mostly because of the sonic waves.
Bobby gave a boy nod to Keme, and Keme disentangled Millie and me.(Somehow, in the process, Millie’s earrings got caught on my hair, and then Millie’s hair got caught on the zipper of my jacket, and you should have seen that feral wolf-boy’s blood pressure literally rising by the second as he tried to separate us.)
“Let us know if you hear anything,” Bobby said, hand to the small of my back and already steering me toward the stairs.
Keme nodded, hugging Millie to him as she pressed her face into his shoulder.
When we got into the bedroom, Bobby took off my jacket and turned me out of my T-shirt in one quick movement.
“What’s happening?”I asked.
“Not what you’re thinking,” he said dryly.And then, like some sort of—I want to say commandant—he barked, “Pants.”
So, I dropped my pants.
I was still yanking off my socks as he propelled me into the bathroom and started the water.
The shower was hot, and I spent a long time in there.Yeah, I wanted to make sure I got all the blood off me.But also because it was like this empty white space of the right amount of stimulus—the warmth, the water needling my skin, the sound filling the small room—to let my brain disengage.
Someone had tried to murder Terrence.
And no matter what the sheriff said, I didn’t think it was Milton.At least, not by himself.
I dried off, padded out to the bedroom, and started fishing for something to sleep in.I was trying to decide between a sensible, responsible, mature pair of trunks (plain black, ugh) and acuterpair that had the Kool-Aid Man on them.(But then I remember one time that Bobby said it felt like the Kool-Aid Man’s eyes were following him.) Bobby came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.He was solid.(He’s, like, all muscle, and he never has cheat days where he’s allowed to eat an entire bag of Cheetos because cheese is a good source of protein.) He smelled like the clean, sporty scent of his deodorant and a hint of the day’s sweat.He drew me against him, my back to his chest.And then he kissed the side of my neck.
Okay, I’m not big on talking about tingles and flutters or goose bumps, but boy howdy, that man knows how to kiss a neck.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that tonight.”
“It’s okay.I was upset; I wasn’t thinking clearly.You were right that it’s important to document everything.”
His pause only lasted a second.“I meant with Terrence.”
“Oh.”
He nuzzled into me, the words brushing my skin.“I hate when this happens to you.I hate that you have to see this kind of thing.I wish I could keep it away from you.The only thing I want is to keep you safe, and I can’t ever seem to do it right.”
“Bobby, it’s okay.I’m okay.It was a shock, sure, but I’ll be okay.”
He was so silent that I wasn’t even sure he was breathing.And then he said, “This wouldn’t happen if we lived somewhere else.”
I ran my hands up and down his arms automatically until the words sank in.“What?”
