Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 61: Confusion

Chapter Sixty-One: Confusion

One second, Xaphile was sleeping like a log.

The next, he woke up in a panic since his blanket had gotten stuck on his horns and had started smothering him.

Letting out a muffled gasp, he struggled to sit up, but he couldn't move.

Terror engulfed him as he lay frozen on the ground, breathing rapidly and irregularly with the pressure of it crushing his chest.

His pulse beat against his throat, hands twitching, unable to do more than shift his eyes, and for what seemed to be an eternity, he tried to get his breathing under control.

As he calmed down, lucidity crept back into his awareness. 

The moment he realized where he was, he was suddenly able to move.

Bolting upright and jerking the blanket off of his face, his eyes wildly combed through the dark.

Nothing was there.

Breathing heavily, he pressed a hand against his forehead and tried to calm down, but to his confusion, even though everyone was still sleeping, Ella was still nowhere to be found.

Brow furrowing on reflex, he gently flopped back down onto the furry bed with a stressed sigh. None of the guys stirred, nor did Amelia: the sounds of soft breathing let him know that they were all asleep, and he, feeling oddly resigned, decided that it was probably wise to join them.

His pounding heart and whirling head, however, gave him no such luck. 

It was only after a few minutes of lying on his back that he recognized it for what it was.

Sleep paralysis.

He lay there, heart pounding rapidly, staring up at the ceiling with glazed eyes.

All the craziness taking over his life was beginning to take its toll on his mind. He hadn't had issues with sleep paralysis since he'd been a little kid... the fact that he was having it now, at seventeen, was a really bad sign. 

Rolling over on his side, he pulled his knees to his chest with a shiver, planning on burying his face in them... but as he did so, he felt the bandages around his foot unravel with a pop.

Sitting up, he carefully tossed off his blanket and set about re-winding the strip of cloth, but when he did he realized that the sticky salve had dried into a crust on his skin.

Shit, he silently cussed, reluctantly crawling out of bed. I have to fix up my leg again.

Gus stirred once or twice when he got up, but he either didn't care that Xaphile was sneaking off or didn't deem it important enough to discuss. Blinking at his surroundings, he grabbed the medicine box before heading outside towards the hot springs as quietly as he could.  

Lifting his pant leg, he gently set his limb into the water and carefully rinsed the dried salve off, trying not to focus on the ugly scabs and general grossness of his mangled limb. 

Then he hopped over to where he'd dropped the medicine box and dug around for some more salve and bandages.

Unfortunately, his hands were still shaking, and he couldn't get the salve jar open because his fingers weren't steady enough.

His arms felt like jelly.

"Dammit," he muttered, struggling mightily with a furious scowl; his muscles trembled even further from the strain of heaving at the stupid jar. "Stupid night terrors... I can't even move right."