The Tortoise and His Sunrise | ✓

24. Raw

"I'm sorry," I said, tears rolling uncontrollably down my face. "I never meant to hurt you. I just—"

He shook his head. "No, I get it. I know you didn't do it to hurt me. If I were in your shoes, I'm not sure I'd have handled it better. But that's the problem. Maybe there isn't a way to handle it. Maybe that just means we can't handle it."

I knew in my gut what he was implying, but I couldn't accept it.

"What are you saying—"

"You asked me not to do anything without you. I've been wanting to test something."

He stood up and came a little closer, grasping the corner of his black curtain.

Alarmed, I grabbed his wrist.

"No. Don't."

"You haven't even seen for yourself," he said in a monotone voice, "what happens when I get exposed to sunlight. You just took my word for it. What if I've been lying all this time?"

"The bat was proof enough. And I trust you. I don't need to see this to know I don't want any harm to come to you."

"I'm doing this whether you're here or not. I just didn't want you to think I was hiding it from you. You don't have to watch if you don't want to."

Nolan waved towards his door.

"The door's there, if you want to leave."

Nolan didn't have to say it aloud. He was offering me an out. I knew that if I stepped out of that door, I'd miss out on being here for him. The idea of missing that I would be missing out on an important part of Nolan's life kept my feet firmly planted to the floor.

"I'm not leaving!"

"Fine."

He paused, then rolled up his right hoodie sleeve to expose his forearm. My breath caught in my throat as he shifted the curtain aside with his left hand, allowing a thin ray of sunlight to spill into the room.

He moved his hand, palm up, out from the shade.

The instant the sunlight met his hand, the surface of his skin grew red and began bubbling. A horrible sizzle filled the air.

My stomach churned. I had to bite down on my lower lip to keep from retching.

The numerous blisters grew larger at a rapid rate until the first one popped, all within the next few seconds. I expected blood to spurt out, but it didn't. Instead, the skin burst open and a black smoky substance rose from the opening, almost as if there was an unseen fire inside and the smoke was rising up from it. The black smoky substance swiftly dissipated into the air, leaving behind what appeared as a reverse blister, the ragged edges of the broken skin caving into the emptiness under it.

I covered my mouth with my hand, unable to scrub the horrified expression I was sure had taken over my face.

Rather than the bloody mess I'd been expecting to witness, this was more like some kind of essence from inside him was being torn out of his body and vaporized. The same happened to the rest of the blisters forming on his hand, which was beginning to take on the texture of an air ripple mattress, albeit a red and overly bloated one.

Nolan let out a hiss. My gaze flew up to his face.

I hadn't thought it possible, but he looked even paler than usual as he stared down at his hand. Copious droplets of sweat trickled down his forehead, over his eyebrows, past his cheek and dripped down his chin. It was the first time I had seen him so strained. He always appeared so invincible in the face of physical danger or challenges.