Complicated People, Complicated Love

On The Curb

Lucas

I call a cab for us as we exit the hospital. It's 4:30 in the morning and we've been up for at least two hours. I'm tired and she's tired, but I am too curious to sleep.

"Please, Maya. I know that it's your life, but I need to know about this. When did it start?" I ask her, but she keeps quiet. She's sitting on a curb in front of the hospital. I take off my sweater and place it on her shoulders over the t-shirt she's wearing which offers her close to no protection. She looks so small sitting there.

I sit next to her. She takes off the sweater and tries to give it back to me. "Here, it's not that cold, I'm fine," I give her a scowl having just told her to never tell me that she's fine. She sighs and puts the sweater on.

"Fine, you don't want to talk?" I say after another minute of silence. "I'll go first. I broke my thumb when I was four trying to lasso a thousand pound cow."

"It won't work," she says stubbornly.

"And when I was nine, I swallowed the eraser from my pencil and it still hasn't come out," she laughs. It gives me an actual warm feeling in my stomach to see her smile. She should look like a zombie having woken up at three in the morning and just gone to the hospital, but she doesn't. Her golden hair is perfect, her eyes glowing in the darkness.

"And when i moved here, I met you my first day on that subway car, you flirted and I wasn't even able to get a word in. You walked away, I thought that was the last time I would see the Blonde Beauty, but we ended up in the same class. From the moment I sat behind you that day, I knew my life would be changed for the better," she unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile and then sighs reluctantly.

"You know that car accident I told you about?" She looks down and plays with her finger nails.

"Yeah," I say.

"Well I lied, I did get hurt." She's started bouncing her leg, like I've noticed she does in class. "I hit my head. Hard. Ever since then, I occasionally get these major pains in my head. Every time I get them they get worse. I've only gotten it while sleeping one other time, and my mom says that that time in my sleep was the worse she's seen, so I guess when my brain's off duty it causes more damage. When I woke up I couldn't remember if it was triggered by a dream or if it just happened, I don't know about tonight either," after a while she looks at me.

"How much does it hurt you?" I ask.

She scoffs. "A lot." I try not to look sympathetic, knowing that she hates that, but I can't help it. I care about her and this kills me inside, knowing that she's in even more pain than I thought.

"Well at least now you know how to try and stop them," she shrugs and then sighs again.

"I guess. But that also means that the hospital knows about me now. And with my dad back in town that just makes it more possible for him to find out that they know." Her leg is shaking again.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, if he tries anything, I'll kick his ass," she laughs and then her face turns to something that looks almost like fear.

"I'm sure you will cowboy," she leans her head on my shoulder, and I can feel my heart race. I pray that she can't feel or hear it beating as I put my arms around her shoulders to hold her in place.