Page 87 of Just Breathe

I moved to the end of the bed, extending out the towel he could lie on. I felt Nathan’s eyes on me, making me more nervous. Why wasn’t anyone saying anything? Were they trying to intimidate me? I put two towels on the bed just in case and walked in front of Callum, finally looking him in the eye.

“Can you please lay down?” I asked as nicely as I could.

He looked back at me like he was angry with me. I tried not to look shocked at his expression or show that it hurt me at the way he was looking at me.

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “I just want to shower, eat, and go to sleep.”

“Dude, just let her look at you.” Nathan finally joined the conversation.

“Oh, for fuck sakes, Callum, did you not understand anything I just said? You could die of a fucking infection. Now I’m not asking you anymore. I’m telling you to lay your ass down and let me look at the fucking wound.”

I felt Aiden come into the room while I snapped at Callum. Callum and I stared at each other. With each second that passed, I felt more and more anger coming from him.

“Lay the fuck down, Callum, you can shower afterwards.” Aiden laid out supplies on the table by the bed, not giving a shit that Callum was glaring at him.

Callum clenched his jaw as he pulled his shirt up. I helped him pull most of it off, then helped him lay back on the towels I laid down. I got on the bed on the other side of him and inspected the wound. It was still bleeding slightly, but small enough that I knew he would not need a transfusion. I put gloves on and got the things I needed.

“Do we have any numbing agents?” I asked Aiden while I put the saline solution on the wound.

“I won’t take anything,” Callum growled out. “I’ll deal with the pain.”

I pursed my lips, debating whether I wanted to make this a big deal or not. I looked up at Aiden, and he shook his head like it was a lost cause.

“Fine, but this is going to hurt like a bitch.” I continued working on cleaning out the wound, making sure it wasn’t too deep. At this point, I was driving blind. I only knew so much about stab wounds and how to treat them. I silently prayed it was much shallower than I expected it to be. It was only a small one-inch width wound, but I was still scared.

I took a deep breath, going to work, not letting me doubt myself. I worked quickly, only stopping when Callum hissed at the pain or squirmed too much. It was surprising how much pain he tolerated, but apparently everyone had their limit. I finished putting the last suture in, realizing he had passed out.

I looked up to see Aiden in a chair, watching me. His gaze was unreadable but made me squirm at the intensity.

“I think I repaired everything that needed to be repaired.” I cleaned the wound off again before I bandaged it up. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”

“I’m sure it is.” Aiden got up from the chair to help me clean up everything I used into a big trash bag.

I clenched my jaw at the onslaught of emotions that barreled through me. What the fuck happened? A few hours ago, we were all joking, laughing, getting ready for some food and now I was being treating like I was intruding in their lives. I looked at Callum one more time, feeling hurt from him the most. It was like he was angry at me for being here with them and I do not know what made him flip his switch.

I cleaned up in silence, feeling Aiden’s stare occasionally. After I was done I walked into the attached bathroom to wash my hand and came back to an empty room. I looked over at Callum, seeing him still passed out as I sat down at the chair Aiden had been sitting in, relaxing for just a minute. It only took a minute before my brain caught up and the seriousness of the situation dawned on me. The adrenaline left my body, and I was going into shock.

I clenched my jaw as the need to cry overwhelmed me. What the hell had I gotten myself into? What the hell just happened? Was this my pay back for moving on too soon? Was I being punished for my choice in Callum? All these awful thoughts invaded my conscious, it was too much for me and before I knew it, I passed out.

* * *

“Can someone just get her out of here?” I heard a voice snarl through my sleepiness.

“I’m going. Just calm the fuck down,” another voice snapped.

“I can’t believe we are doing this. Talk about being fucking assholes. I mean, can we just all sit down and fucking talk about it like adults do?” This voice was the closest to me. I tried to wake up, but I felt too fucking tired to open my eyes.

“What’s there to talk about? You saw what fucking happened. What could have happened.” The snarly voice sounded closer. “Get her out of here.” A door closed as I felt myself being lifted. I struggled to wake up but gave up when someone laid me back down, letting sleep drag me back under.

* * *

I woke up with a start, straining my neck at the awkward position I slept in, and I winced at the pain as I rolled on my back. I dragged myself to sit up, looking around at the room, forgetting for just a moment that I was back in Mountain View. The night’s events came back to me, giving me a killer headache. I rubbed my eyes, then pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation.

Soft footsteps passed my bedroom, and I shivered at the thought of having to face the guys. So much happened last night, throwing our dynamic through for a loop; I didn’t even know where we stood. My luggage was by the bathroom door, and I knew I needed a shower to feel better. I was still wearing the clothes from last night that still had Callum’s blood on it. I slowly got out of bed, feeling a little sore from the being man handled and leaning over to stitch Callum up.

I opened my luggage on the floor, getting out my toiletries and a fresh change of clothes. I looked around for my phone but didn’t see it anywhere, so I went to take a hot ass shower to erase the memories of last night.

I quickly stripped my clothes off, turning the water as I got in. The blast of cold water woke me up, but it quickly warmed up, enveloping me in some hot ass water. It was just shy of being too hot, but it felt like it was washing away all the awful shit that happened last night. Even though I knew when I got out of this shower, I would have to face it.

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