Black and Blue

14 - I Worry Myself Even More, As Usual

One of my arms had gone numb. Outside was completely silent, at least from where I was laying. I groaned and fumbled for my phone on the coffee table, almost falling off the couch. 4:56.

Even falling asleep at midnight, this was the best I could do.

My several attempts to sit up were fruitless. There was no point, anyway; I didn't have classes for many, many hours. Jack probably hadn't woken up yet, and even if he had, it wasn't my job to greet him at the door with a smile and a cookie. I took a deep breath and fell back down onto the couch, hitting my head on an armrest.

"Shit—ow, actually, that really hurt!" I hunched my shoulders and hugged my knees, shivering. "...and now I'm talking to myself. Amazing. I'm having a great time."

I can't even think up a good sarcastic quip. This is definitely an off-day.

The front door started to creak open.

I sat up and shifted back, trying to make out a silhouette in the half-dark of morning.

"Jack...?"

The stupid guy let out a sigh of relief. I noticed he'd found his mask again, somehow. "I thought you went off to class, or something."

"It's 5:00. I'm not completely insane."

"I got possessed again, didn't I?"

How forward.

"...yeah."

I jumped in my spot when he made his way towards me, and quickly started praying that he wouldn't notice. No luck; he switched on the lights, lifted his mask and wiped an oncoming drop of tar from his eyelid, concern etched into his face. "Is everything okay? Did I do something?"

"N-no, it's fine. I'm just...recovering, I guess." I muttered the last part to myself, hoping he hadn't caught it all.

"From what?"

"...something. I-I just don't think you'd want to know—"

"Well, if it's not me, then why aren't you—?"

"You're not the only thing I have to deal with in my life! Get over yourself, would you?"

I almost flinched after saying that, all too aware of how mean it came out. He raised his eyebrows in a moment of pure surprise before glaring.

"Okay. So it's like that."

"Jack, I'm—trust me, that didn't come out how I meant it to."

"No, no, I get it. I mean, why feel concerned for you after being possessed and stripped of all rational thought for a night, right?"

"Come on, man, that's not—"

"You can take care of yourself just fine. Doctor Rafael, healer sensation, gets by on her own without anybody else!"

"I'm sorry. Hey, wait—!" I stood up and grabbed his arm as he started walking towards the front door. "Don't leave. I'm sorry, I really am. I shouldn't have said that, I just don't want you getting mixed up in stuff you shouldn't be."

"But it does have to do with me. Doesn't it? Hiding your feelings won't make this any better, you know that."

"I—yeah, I do, but this could really..." I lost my train of thought the moment I glanced down at his hand. More specifically, the tar on his hand. My eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"It was cold."

"...what?"

I sighed and let go of him, collapsing back onto the couch and effectively backing myself into a corner. "Last night," I muttered at the wall straight ahead, "while I was patching you up...actually, it was mostly after. Everything was set, I just had to get you to fall asleep. You kept trying to sit up, and I knew you were going to hurt yourself doing that, your wounds would've opened up again. But then you...um, I touched your face. Don't really know what led up to it. But the tar was cold. I-I don't know if it's because of the weather, or if that's just what happens when you get all messed up like that, I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind because then a bunch of even weirder things happened—"