Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“Thea,” Kyler whispers reverently, closing his eyes once more, as if he’s committing the moment to memory. He inhales deeply and when he opens his eyes again, I can see they’ve dimmed slightly as the pain of his injuries takes over. He hisses out a breath as he clutches his side and I step back a little.
“Can you lift up your shirt?” I ask him and he does so without question. There are red marks on his ribs, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that whatever happened, it’s caused some kind of injury. At best it’s some bruising; at worst a cracked rib. I gingerly press the skin and he hisses again, this time more sharply.
“That fucking hurts,” he says, biting his lip to prevent himself crying out in pain.
“Sorry,” I say quickly. “Your ribs look badly bruised. I can clean them up and put some ointment on to help with the bruising, but you should really have them checked out.”
Kyler is shaking his head before I finish my sentence. “No, no hospitals. I’ll be fine.”
“Ky, you may have cracked a rib—”
“No, Thea,” he interrupts vehemently. “Besides, what happened to you being a trained first aider? I’m sure you can fix me up just fine.”
I sigh and nod, before reaching into the first aid kit for some camphor. My mom always used this on any bruises myself and Jude used to get through various scrapes and falls when we were younger and swears it helps reduce the bruising better than anything else. I apply a little to Kyler’s injured ribs, rubbing each one gently until they are covered with the ointment. He watches my every move, sucking in a labored breath when I hit a particularly sore spot. This time, the goosebumps appear on Kyler as my fingers graze his skin and when he can’t take the pain any longer, he slowly takes a hold of my hand and lifts it up, causing me to look up at him. This time his eyes are no longer the meadow-green of earlier, they are wide, molten pools of black lava.
“What happened tonight, Ky?” I ask once more, hoping after trusting me enough to tend to his injuries, he’ll trust me enough with an explanation.
“Thea, please, it’s nothing for you to worry about. I don’t want to lie to you, so please don’t ask any questions.”
“Why don’t you trust me?” I ask, almost pleading with him to give me some kind of breakthrough.
“I do. More than I should,” he says quietly.
“What do you mean ‘more than I should’?”
He doesn’t answer, instead shaking his head once before slowly standing up, leaning on the table for support. I move to help him, but he steps back so he’s out of my reach, and I instantly know whatever connection we tentatively had is now lost.
“What do you want from me, Thea?” he asks, pain lacing his voice.
“I want us to be friends,” I quickly tell him.
“I can’t be friends with you,” he replies and once again, I’m left with confusion I can’t comprehend. Why not? Why does he insist on keeping his distance?
The sound of movement on the stairs causes me to step back, putting more distance between me and the tortured man standing in front of me, sadness mixing with the pain in his eyes. Whatever just happened between us, whatever connection we just shared, is dissipating before my eyes and I know Kyler will do everything he can to ensure it never returns, building those walls up again. Jude walks into the kitchen and stops suddenly when he realizes he’s not the only one awake. He looks from me to Kyler and upon seeing the state of Ky, moves quickly toward him.
“Shit, man, what the hell happened?” he asks him.
Kyler shrugs as best he can before replying, “There was a fight at work and it got out of hand. I stepped in as best I could, but pretty much got the brunt of it. Stupid kids opening a tab and drinking more than they can handle.”
I can’t believe in less than a minute, Jude managed to get more out of Kyler than I had in the space of an hour, and the frustration builds inside me. How dare he grace Jude with an explanation and me with nothing when both of our intentions were to make sure he was okay.
“You gonna be okay for practice tomorrow? Cap will be pissed if not.” Jude continues as he opens a cupboard and grabs a bowl for some cereal.
“I’ll be fine,” Kyler reassures him. “It’s nothing aspirin, ibuprofen, and a couple hours sleep won’t fix.” He turns to me before continuing. “Thanks for the help, Thea,” he says as he walks out of the kitchen without a backward glance and makes his way up the stairs, leaving Jude and I alone.