The Waiting Room

Chapter 8- Cut of the Wounds

I screamed until I hit the ground, and I landed on my stomach. I groaned in pain, butr luckily since I had had to retrieve James from the bottom, I was close enough from the floor. Maybe it had only been a few feet away. I looked up and I saw James breathe heavily and he held his stomach. I rushed over to him. I didn't have a limp anymore,actually now that I noticed, the wounds on my arms and his were gone. Yet, the one on his stomach was still new and fresh as ever. Sure, the water cut down the amount of blood, but there was a huge gash straight through the middle of his stomach.I swallowed loudly at the sight of all the blood. I really was never a medical person. I tried to touch it to see how bad it was when he winced,

"Don't," he said with great pain laced in his voice. I trembled from the fear that racked me. Was he going to be alright?

"James, give me the bandage," I realized, after seeing his condition, that he was in no state to go into his back pocket and fetch it.

"Nevermind," I dismissed, embarrassed at the thought. I reached in his pocket and pulled it out. I unraveled what it seemed like enough to wrap around his stomach. I cut it and put the rest back in where I found it. Then I wrapped it tightly around his stomach and he winced a couple of times. I did the same as he had done to me. I didnt even know if the monster had a disease. He could get sick. I suddenly felt extremely tired. I kissed him on the forehead and murmured,

"I'm going to sleep, goodnight."

"Goodnight," he whispered back, smiling weakly. I curled up next to him for comfort. But I wasn't prepared what was going to hit me. Once I closed my eyes, I was pounded with vivid nightmares. The image of the rhino sea monster appeared and it tried to attack me. I remembered its beady red eyes glaring at me. Then, Death hovered over him. I've had many nightmares on Death. And he is always a skeleton in a dark black cloak. Almost like an angel of death. He probably was. Suddenly, the sea monster was no more, instead I looked at a giant pair of crimson colored eyes.

I bolted right up out of my dream and I looked around. All I could see was images of him. Everywhere. I closed my eyes and I saw him once more. It took me a while to realize that James was sitting up next to me.

"What happened?" James asked sleepily. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and looked up at me.  

"Death," I replied. I closed my eyes together trying to straighten things out; trying to erase my nightmare; trying to erase the fact that he ever existed in my life. But, he kept coming.

"Sorry for waking you," I murmured guiltily, sneaking a quick glance at his direction. He just stared back at me, and shrugged. It seemed weird that I could see him better in the dark, or maybe it was the blood that now had soaked his shirt, but I seemed to notice every detail in his crinkled shirt. There was a giant, bloody stain smack in the middle of his abdomen. His shirt was also crusted with dirt and sweat. I was afraid mine wasn’t any better.

“Phae?” he asked in a quiet, reserved tone. I glanced up at him, his silent voice scared me.

“Yeah?” I answered, ready to hear what he wanted to ask. He seemed to hesitate over his next choice of words; his brow furrowed, and his lips pursed.

“Do you think we should explore more here? I mean, the wall broke down. All we can see is darkness, but what if there’s more?” he asked eagerly. I bit my lip, I mean I guess there could potentially be more in this room. It seemed quite large, and useful. I had a disturbing feeling that he was not telling me all that was on his mind.

“James?” I asked him, almost mocking the way he said my name. He seemed to catch on to my little game.

“Yeah?” he asked, grinning to himself. I pondered of how I could phrase the next question. I mean, what if he, in fact, didn’t want to tell me what was bugging him. It could be personal. I didn’t want to intrude on personal affairs, yet on the other hand he could be in need of a release. And a release I would give him.

“What’s bugging you?” I asked him, I carefully watched his quick emotions as they slickered in his eyes before he hid them. He was embarrassed? Maybe I had gone too far in asking him. I shook my head,

“You know what, nevermind,” I stated, making a sweeping hand gesture across my face to show him that it was already out of my mind. It wasn’t. I was sure it was going to be there for a while. He finally opened his mouth, but I never actually got to hear what he had to say before we heard a piercing scream, tearing the gentle atmosphere apart like a knife.