𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲

Chapter 49

— Chapter 49 —
The Sacrifices Necessary for Success

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E L L I O T

I'd washed my hands five times, but the phantom feeling of Noah's blood beneath my fingertips still hadn't faded away.

There'd been an uneasy feeling in my stomach all morning. I had no idea if I'd made the decision by choosing to stitch Noah up myself instead of taking him to a hospital like I wanted to in the first place. My stitches weren't as neat as Angela's, but they'd at least hold up Noah's side.

I'd done my best to remove any broken stitches. Leaving them in would have been a nightmare to deal with later, so I could only pray that I hadn't missed any strands of snapped thread.

Noah had to take his sedatives to be able to fall asleep, which he didn't do often in an effort to avoid developing a tolerance. And he was hopped up on painkillers to numb the pain in his side.

I'd called Angela at some point in the night, once Noah had finally passed out.

It probably wasn't up to me to make that decision, but my worry had gotten the best of me. I needed her advice, because having Noah sedated, on medication, and recovering from blood loss didn't instill much confidence in his safety.

It was a weird conversation.

I'd explained everything to her so that she could understand it as best as she could. But her responses afterward seemed... oddly somber.

It was the same feeling I got down at the bar, too, when I'd asked what had happened to Noah's father. It was as if she knew something I didn't. Her words didn't seem to relate to what I was saying.

She kept repeating that she should have known, and that it was happening again. That no matter what, I had to keep my eye on him.

"I'll be over tomorrow," she'd told me. "Thanks for telling me, Elliot. I'll take care of it."

I'd already left the apartment when she'd come to check up on Noah.

My admissions meeting with the college was today.

The last thing I wanted was to leave Noah when he was so unwell, but I figured that I couldn't be of use to him to begin with. Angela would be there, anyway. The most I would do is take up space.

So I didn't cancel my meeting. Instead, I found myself hopping on a bus to the city, sinking myself in one of the back seats while music played in my earphones. Considering the mid-day traffic, I could only hope I showed up to the college on time.

My phone buzzed with text messages. Picking it up to read through all of them, I smiled at a message from Noah.

His text read: Good luck at your meeting.

And, surprisingly, a few texts from a group chat that someone had invited me into. I couldn't help but chuckle at the name of it.

The Fantastic Five
Today at 12:21 pm

Lucille:
Housewarming party.
My place. 10 pm. Saturday.
Be there, bitches :D