Sawyer

I blinked open my goopy eyes a split second before the pain in my head decided to show its ugly mug. It was still dark out, and I had no idea how much time had passed. I groaned and tried to roll over, but didn’t get very far. The debilitating pain in my head said, “No.” So I laid there for a bit, contemplating my near future. It was easier than getting up since I didn’t have the mental fortitude to actually get to my feet, because from prior experience, any shift in position now meant a whole new wave of pain for me. And my housemate, Kyle, wouldn’t be up for another couple hours. That left me with... lying here on the floor ‘til someone found me. Which was fine. It was actually quite comfortable.

As the wakefulness of my brain caught up with my situation, I realized the carpet behind my head was damp, dare I say soggy. Not only that, the wetness spread past my drooling capabilities to the top of my head. I let out a weary breath. I musta cracked my head open on that brick, when I rolled out of bed, and in the agony of my sinus pain, didn’t even notice. Goodbye sweet rental deposit, I’ll miss your triple digits. This mess was above my skill level.

A door slammed somewhere in the building making me jump. Damn neighbors, I thought through a new jolt of pain. No way that was Kyle. Somehow a twenty-something-year-old college student had a bedtime of 8 pm; I don’t know how he did it. I didn’t want to share a living space with a boy, but I was a last minute addition to this apartment, and Kyle’s advertisement asked for a quiet, clean housemate. I checked half of those boxes and sent in my application. I was in a desperate need to save money on living expenses in my senior year and he was in desperate need to cut rent in half. I barely ever saw the guy, though, and that suited me just fine.

I wished my phone were within reaching distance, but alas, it was on the other side of my room, gleaming in the moonlight and miles away. As I got my faculties back, the sinus pain seemed to be receding, so I peeled my ear away from the carpet, taking some fibers with me. I felt my hair matted to my head. The brown rat’s nest was probably atrocious. I gently rolled to my stomach, ignoring the nausea with gritted teeth, ’til I pushed to a kneeling position. My breaths came in heavy pants as if I’d just finished a hard workout. That medicine vacationing in my cupboard in the kitchen couldn’t come soon enough.

I eased myself ever so slowly to my feet to set off for it. I stumbled to the door, tripping over scattered items and muttering curses all the way. Kyle was right, I really did need to clean my room. But I’d chosen to ignore his opinions on cleanliness since the pumpkin incident. Who knew a guy could be so squeamish.

I made it to my door, and my internal cheerleader shook her pom-poms and did the splits.

In the hallway, I gave it my best effort at staying upright. Thank Grandma’s cows the wall was there. Finally, I arrived at the moonlit kitchen... where my housemate was already occupying our one chair at the table.

Shocked, I stopped my lumbering. Kyle always went to bed super early and was adamant about getting the appropriate hours of sleep. So much so, that I pretty much stayed in my room when I worked on class stuff late so I wouldn’t disturb the pompous prince. The cranky turd was never shy in chewing me out, and I, for one, neither had the energy nor patience to deal with it.

I squinted into the dark to make sure he was still there and I wasn’t hallucinating from, what I assumed to be, a concussion and a fever. Yup, that was his silhouette framed in the moonlight.

“Kyle? What’re you doin’ up?” Confusion laced through every syllable, my words tired and slurred.

He didn’t seem perturbed to see me this time of night. Morning. Whatever. He sighed and leaned back in the chair, holding tight to a steaming Batman mug of what smelled like strong coffee. “Let’s just say it’s been a rough night.”

I shrugged, and instantly regretted it, the effort making my head pound. “Sure thing, man. I’ve been having some issues myself.”

I shuffled over to my cupboard and pulled out my box of drugs in the darkness, knowing where the cold medicine and ibuprofen were without looking. My eyes were starting to leak from the sinus pressure, making my already hindered vision even worse. Crap. I really didn’t need this. I have practice tomorrow, and if I tell anyone I got a concussion, Coach won’t let me run. Again. I grabbed the jug of juice from the fridge, the light flooding the room as I popped some pills, hoping they’d eventually do something.

“Hey, I think you’re bleeding,” Kyle said.

I put the juice back and shut the fridge door before I turned towards him in the dark. Between the blurry vision and bright light from a moment ago, I couldn’t see a thing. “Yeah, probably.”

He sighed again. “I’m not even going to ask what happened. Come on.” He stood, and his dark form approached me. “I’ll walk you to the bathroom and help you clean up.”

“I’m fine. I walk just fine on my own.” I cast an arm his direction to deflect the oncoming help.

Pausing, he crossed his arms and tapped a foot. “Humor me for once, would you?”

I really didn’t want to. Since when did he want to help me anyway. “Why?” I asked. “Looking to do some charity work?”

He scowled, tired eyes narrowing. “Do you want my help or not?”

“No. I don’t.”

I turned back the way I’d come except I misjudged the distance between me and the wall and walked right into it, nailing my forehead on doorframe. I was too dazed to even say “Ow.”

Kyle surged forward with purpose. “Well, you’re getting it.”

He put a bracing arm around my shoulder, walked me to the bathroom, and sat me down on the closed toilet seat. He hit the switch, the light flickering on and temporarily blinding me, making the headache even worse.

“Jeez! You could have given me some warning!” My eyes squinted into slits.

He didn’t say anything, just continued rummaging through the drawers, taking his good ol’ time looking for something to clean the blood off me. I looked down at myself and realized what a mess I really was. Even my pajamas had new and old blood caked, though I’m sure the back of my shirt was even worse. I must’ve gotten it all over myself during the process of getting off the floor.

My whole skull was pulsing now, but it wasn’t distracting enough for me to miss the blood on Kyle’s dark clothes.

“Hey Kyle?” I asked squinting in the bright light.

“Hm?” He fiddled with a washcloth in the sink.

The words were out of my mouth before I could think. “What’s with the blood on your clothes?”

“Uh.” He paused. “Obviously from you. You’re the one bleeding here.”

“Oh... yeah. That makes sense.” I did have a lot of blood on me, which I’d slowly realized might be a tad concerning. Head wounds. Am I right?

He turned toward me with the damp cloth and began wiping the blood from my face and neck. I could barely make out his pale hair, standing a little askew in some places, and focused blue eyes with my wonky vision. I think some of the girls on my track team might’ve been jealous of this, not sure why, because I was not having a good time.

After what felt like an eternity, he leaned back. “There. All done.” He rinsed the cloth off in the sink, blood staining the white porcelain for an instant before disappearing down the drain. “It’s all over your hair. You should probably take a shower. You look pretty awful so maybe it’ll help you feel better.”

“Wow. Thanks for the compliment,” I said, watching as he finished placing the first aid supplies back beneath the sink.

“It wasn’t one,” he replied.

I hated this guy.

After a few silent moments he asked, “You sure you’ll be okay?” I’m not sure he cared either way.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I said, waving him off. “If you hear a thud, you’ll know it was me.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of. Well, I’ll be around if you need me.”

“Okie dokie,” I replied as he turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

“Huh,” I muttered. “That was weird.” He’d never done something like that for me before. Heck, he wouldn’t even wash a cup that was mine let alone take care of me because I was injured. Nighttime Kyle was weird. He must’ve had a rough evening.

With that I peeled off my clothes and climbed into the shower.

The hot water worked wonders, cleansing body and mind to the point where I was almost able to produce a coherent thought. I was perplexed by the amount of red swirling at my feet and what that might mean. There was no way a textbook did that, musta been that brick. I should’ve left it on the curb where I found it.

I got on with the shower, musing over the night’s mysteries, the steam creating a thick haze over everything. It took me a moment to realize that, nope, that haze was my vision. I let out a dazed giggle. And here I was blaming the water.

One huge whump later, my face was smooshed to the ground for the second time that night. ‘Cept I was devoid of a soft carpet and was instead stuck in the slippery tub. I’m surprised I didn’t hit my head again. Or maybe I did. I blinked a few times in an attempt to focus. Even a simple cold was known to knock me down hard, but this felt worse. This was getting ridiculous. I fumbled at the sides of the tub, struggling for a decent grip, but my fingers kept slipping. Why was there so much soap? I was tempted to grab the shower curtain, probably ripping it down in the process. And then there was a knock on the door.

“Hey, you alright in there? I assume that thump I just heard was you falling down again.” Kyle paused for a moment. “Hello? Sawyer?”

He actually sounded worried. Huh. And there I was thinking he never felt anything. This continued to be a weird night. I heard the bathroom door handle jiggle.

“I’m coming in.”

That penetrated the fog of my brain. I flopped around in the soapy tub like a fish out of water. “Wait, no. Don’t! I’m still in the shower!” Let’s not make this night any weirder.

His steps came to a halt. A few seconds passed in relative silence. “Well, from the sounds of things you’re alive. You sure you don’t need help? I could close my eyes or something.”

This was not happening.

The panic was setting in. “Uh... umm... well.” I tried to get up again, but everything was so slippery I couldn’t get a decent grip, the water wouldn’t stop pounding my face, and I was so dizzy. I swear I had tunnel vision and it was making everything that much worse. I sighed and leaned my head back against the tub arms shaking from the exertion. So much for my dignity. I couldn’t believe I was about to say this. “Kyle?”

“Yeah?”

I closed my eyes and grimaced. “I, uh, I... I can’t get out of... the tub.”

“Okay.” The door clicked open. “I’m coming in. I know this is a little weird but, I’ll turn the water off then throw a towel in your direction. You can cover yourself up and then I’ll help you out.”

“Kay,” I answered back with a wince, really not sure about all of this, especially since he was a guy, but the effort was too much in my fatigued state, and I needed help. Maybe I lost more blood than I thought.

A hand popped through the gap in the shower curtain, fumbling only briefly before the water stopped its falling with a jolt. Finally.

A moment later, a towel plopped across my face. “Here,” he said.

“Thanks,” I grumbled, embarrassed, and maneuvered it slowly, and awkwardly around my body, the towel getting soaked within seconds.

“You ready?” He asked through the curtain after a few moments had passed.

I quieted my unsure thoughts as I said, “Yeah, go ahead.”

The curtain moved aside revealing Kyle’s tall figure. There he stood, hands on hips and eyebrows raised, not quite looking directly at me. “You really are pathetic. How are you this dysfunctional, yet still be in college?”

My blood started to boil, and I stuck out my chin. “Hey! I’ve got a 4.0, mister. I just have a few problems going for me at the present.”

“Yup, pathetic.”

I humphed, blinking away the pulse in my vision.

“Not only do I have your blood on me, I’m going to get wet too,” he sighed. “If I get you sitting on the edge of the tub, think you can get dressed?”

I nodded. “I think I can do that.”

“Kay.” He didn’t look like he quite believed me, though.

He bent down and put an arm across my back while the other went behind my knees. I tensed. I didn’t like this. It made me feel so vulnerable. I was against his torso for a few seconds, and my hand flew to my chest to hold the towel there.

He placed me on the edge of the tub. “There. Now please, no more falling down. I do actually need some sleep tonight.”

It’s like 4 am by now, does it really matter? I thought, but just nodded instead.

With that, Kyle closed the door with an annoyed ‘good night’. My shoulders slumped forward, tension evaporating from my body. Yeah. Let’s never do that again. Sounds like a great plan. Yup.