Part-Time Griffin

Complicated

Faint glimpses pass by me. My foggy mind can't discern if the visions are real or only conjured up. They... seem real.
One moment I see Diesel. The next moment I'm being given some type of medicine. Sometimes there's a stranger with Diesel. These things are shrouded by a blurry outline, recognizable but not truly clear. At times I see Diesel walking back and forth as if nervous or worried. He's in human form though. That's unusual.
But these visions aren't real, are they? Why would I need medicine in the first place? I feel fine. Plus, why would Diesel be here anyway?
Finally, after a long time, the cloudy sleep leaves me. Slowly, my eyes open. What I think is my bedroom shifts into a strange, alien environment. My eyes widen as I try to focus on my surroundings.
The room I'm in is considerably large. The sides of this room appear to be covered in polished wood. No furniture at all fills the space. Light filters in through one of the windows. The place appears to have either just been built or is currently being renovated.
I smell fresh cut wood. It reminds me of Diesel. This fact isn't unusual since it looks as if I'm inside a modern day log cabin.
Wait... where am I? I've never seen or been here before.
My eyes slide to the opposite side of the room. A teenager is leaned back against the wall as he sits on the hard floor. Earbuds are plugged into his ears. His eyes are closed, and his head is slightly tilted forward.
I stare up at the ceiling confusedly. My mind searches for answers anxiously.
Okay, we went to Roxanne's house and... the brothers started shooting at us. I tried saving Diesel who was about to get shot. Then...
The rest comes back to mind easily. The memory seems like it was a dream yet so real at the same time.
Suddenly, I notice that I'm lying on something soft. Even though I'm on the floor, something like a thick blanket or mat had been placed underneath me. A warm quilt is wrapped around me as well.
I need to leave. I don't know where I am, but I shouldn't be here.
It's one of the first things that pops into my mind. My parents think that I'm at Roxanne's house right now. I have to get home as soon as possible before they suspect anything.
Sitting up, I push back the comforting quilt. Just from that single simple movement, breathtaking pain rushes through me. I gasp and then hold back my cry.
Out of the corner of my eye, something moves, but I ignore it as I twist my head around to stare at my back. Part of my shirt has been ripped open around my right shoulder. The whole entire back of my t-shirt is stained with a rusty red color that almost looks brown. I can see where the bullet made its mark on my back right below my shoulder.
Footsteps come toward me. My eyes are locked tightly onto the sight on my back though. It's all I can see. It's all I can think about.
"Olivia, you need to rest. You've been through a lot." Diesel speaks to me softly.
I turn to look at him. My eyes lock with his. In their depths I see concern.
"Did you get the bullet out?" I stutter, my voice cracking like a tree branch.
Diesel magically pulls a bottle of water out of nowhere and then says, "Yes, but not without help."
Without rebuke, I take the water and drink it deeply. I don't stop gulping until it's all gone.
"What do you mean?" I ask and attempt to sit up again.
"Lay back down." He gently commands.
"No, my parents will be worried if I don't show up at home soon. What time is it by the way?" I ask quickly.
He sighs, "It's ten a.m. You've been asleep for ten hours."
"What?! Ten hours! I- I haven't slept that long since I was nine years old. That's impossible!" I scoff, but it brings a wave of pain though me and I grimace.
Shaking his head, Diesel tells me, "Seriously. Take it easy, Olivia. You were out for a long time."
"I have to get home." I mumble weakly.
"You're staying here whether you want to or not. You are in no condition to do anything active." Diesel tells me.
"Now I can say that I've been kidnapped twice within twenty-four hours, because I'm telling you the truth Diesel. My parents will freak out when I don't arrive at home before noon, if they don't hear from me soon." A growl mixed with annoyance and pain escapes me.
Diesel rolls his eyes, "I've got everything covered. Let me explain everything..."
He goes on to tell me about how he brought me here. This place is apparently a cabin that him and his family are currently building. Diesel continues by saying that he was afraid of what to do when I was shot. So he called his friend who, after a short argument, helped take the bullet out of my back. After they did that, Diesel left the friend with me at the cabin. Diesel then went to get the blankets, which are currently wrapped around me. Later on, Diesel left once again. This time he went to Roxanne's house. By this time it had been four in the morning. Diesel remembered how I told him where the spare key was. With that in mind, he slipped inside, found my cellphone and the keys to my family's jet ski. Those two items had been taken off me when I had been drugged by Roxanne. The note which was our only evidence against her was not found. When Diesel placed the spare key back under the rock, he returned here. His friend then left once Diesel returned.
This all sinks in slowly, and then I ask for my phone so that I can text my parents. Diesel hands me my phone, and I quickly send a text to my dad saying that I'll be staying at Roxanne's a while longer.
"Well, that fixes that problem." I mutter when my parents reply with a simple okay.
I sit up in a better position, and Diesel instantly helps me.
I guess I'll have to tell my parents that the jet ski ran out of gas, because I'm definitely not going back to Roxanne's dock in order to ride it back to the house.
A sudden weariness settles over me. I just want to slow down. Finding out that my friend has been the enemy the whole time, getting kidnapped by that same friend, and then being shot by the friend's brother all happened at once. So fast that I couldn't grasp anything.
Not to mention how a quarter of town hall now requires expensive repairing as well.
I need something to talk about, so I say the first thing that comes to mind, "So you asked your friend to help you...? Then you left him here with me twice? Both of us being complete strangers."
Diesel laughs a little as he settles down, "Sorry about that. My friend, Ash, is the one person I trust the most, besides you. I wouldn't have asked for his help if I didn't trust him. I knew you'd be fine when I left Ash here when I went out those two times."
He sighs then gets more serious, "It wasn't easy trying to explain to Ash how you, a girl he'd never heard of or met before, got shot. Plus, he didn't understand why I needed his help when you obviously should have been in the hospital. I made a bad mistake by not doing that. I should have taken you to the hospital. The risk of losing was too huge, but... I wasn't sure what to do... I probably shouldn't have brought you here."
I put my hand on his shoulder, "It was the right choice. If the hospital saved me, they could have possibly found out that I wasn't fully human too."
Diesel nods his heads as if still unconvinced, "Anyway, the only way I could get Ash to help me was by promising him an explanation... which still hasn't been provided yet."
We both remain quiet for some time. My mind begins to wonder how they managed to pull the bullet out, but I regret thinking about it. I'd rather not ponder about that.
With a quick glance at Diesel, I notice that his hands are shaking uncontrollably.
"What's wrong?" I ask worried.
He runs his fingers through his hair as if the action may help some, "Well... it was hard for me last night. I had just figured out your real name, and then the first time that I see you in human form you're shot. I thought you were going to die. A few times I actually thought you did die."
I immediately understand. In human form, I am a random girl who goes to his school. It must've been hard trying to help someone he knew but at the same time knew little of.
There are too many questions floating around in my head at the moment. Question such as: How did Diesel get inside Roxanne's house without being detected? How did two teenage boys get a bullet out of my back? How am I not dead from tremendous blood loss? How would this affect me?
...What now?
"Can you help me up?" I ask Diesel timidly.
He narrows his eyes, "You need to rest-"
"I'm fine, okay? I have slept three times the amount I normally need." I shoot back.
He then grudgingly helps me stand. When I'm finally on my two feet, I breath in deeply as if it is a relief.
I twist my neck to look at my back. My shirt is both stained and partially torn. I'm suddenly glad that just part of my shirt is torn instead of the whole entire thing.
"How are you feeling?" Diesel asks me slowly.
I grind my teeth as I take a step forward. Somehow the small movement hurts the wound on my back. I try to ignore it nonetheless, but I end up slumping forward from the pain. Diesel catches me just in time.
After many long seconds of recovering, I finally answer his question with a simple answer, "I'm hungry."