Sacrifice for a Dream

Chapter 15

We ate dinner on the back deck. The boys made a simple salad, some grilled chicken and they rounded out the meal with a warm loaf of sourdough bread. The whole mean was simple but delicious.

I let the conversation flow around me, I was so tired, and my back throbbed in pain. I tried to sit up stiffly so that my back wouldn't press against the back of my chair but the longer I sat the stiffer I felt. I must have sighed because Stone looked at me with a frown on his face.

"Are you tired?" he probed quietly.

"A little but mostly it's my back," I responded quietly, I didn't want the other boys to think I was whining.

Saint stood and walked into the kitchen, minutes later he reappeared with two tablets in his hand. I stared at them blankly. They were larger than acetaminophen.

"Please take these, they will help with your back," Saint urged.

"What are they?" I continued to look at the proffered pills.

"Some pain killers, everyone has a stock of them in case something happens. It's not like we can rush to a hospital. There's a doctor in town if those don't work."

I sighed, taking medicine not prescribed by a doctor made me nervous. Anne had always discussed with me the importance of not taking drugs unless prescribed by a doctor. Not only was it illegal, but I didn't know anything about my birth parents. Drug abuse was genetic. Could my birth mother have left me because she was a drug addict?

"Don't you trust us," Phoenix asked, he was smiling but I didn't understand why. I looked to Stone, and he gestured towards the pills. I grabbed them, put them in my mouth and swallowed them with some water.

I sat still and waited for the effects.

Saint laughed, "It might take a few minutes for them to kick in. Finish eating and then we'll go get you ready for bed."

I turned back to my plate, there were a few more bites left but I was exhausted. "I can't eat anymore, I'm too tired."

Luck and Legend started to clear the table and take the dishes to the kitchen. When I stood to help, Saint caught my arm and pulled me inside. "No, you have had enough excitement for the day. It's time for you to go to bed."

I watched as Stone started the dishes, Phoenix put the food away and Luck and Legend brought in all the stuff from the table outside. They joked and played around as they worked, and I could tell they were happy to be around each other. They might not have been born as siblings, but the curse and the lives they lived had turned them into more than friends.

Saint walked me up the stairs, he steadied me when I got lightheaded.

"Are you going to take a shower?" he asked thoughtfully.

"No, I did this morning and I'm afraid it will sting on the cuts." I hated to get cuts wet.

"Alright, I'm going to stand outside the door, while you change into your pj's. If you get dizzy, or need help, call out."

I was surprised by how kind these boys were being. I had never met anyone who treated me like I was that special. Even Anne, who loved me, acted like I was an adult who could do everything on my own. The Lost Boys knew I could do everything on my own, but still wanted to take care of me.

I entered my borrowed room, gathered everything I would need and headed into the ensuite. I didn't want to put my dirty clothes in with my clean clothes, so I folded them up neatly and put them on the bathroom sink. I would ask for some sort of laundry bag or basket tomorrow. I brushed my teeth and tied my hair back and left the bathroom.

I eyeballed the bed. How was I going to get up there? It was two feet taller than me! I looked around the room for a chair or stool or something to climb. I decided the only way up was to grapple the side of the bed. I anchored my foot to the bedframe and holding onto the poster, pulled myself up. Instead of hoisting myself up, something terrible happened and I fell backward, landing on my butt. Thankfully, I didn't hit my back, but a sharp pain went up my spine, causing me to let out a yelp.

The door was thrown open and I saw a worried looking Saint in the doorway. The other boys were behind him, and their heads peeked in. They reminded me of the meercats I had seen at the zoo the one time my school had taken everyone for a field trip.

The giggles began and I couldn't stop. "What's so funny?" Saint asked with his hands on his hips. He glared down at me.

"You all look like meercats," which started me on another peel of laughter.

Saint hefted me up. "How did you fall?" He looked me over.

"The bed was too high," I mumbled into his shirt and cuddled into his chest, he smelled so good.

"Alright up into bed." Saint pulled out a small set of steps from underneath the bed and helped me climb them and get situated until I was laying comfortable in the bed on my stomach.

"We should stay here tonight," Luck exclaimed.

"She needs to sleep," I heard Phoenix's gruff voice above me.

"Yes, that's true. But what if she rolls over and falls out of the bed? Like we told her before, it's not like we can rush her to the hospital. We have to take care of her until we can figure out what is going on or until she leaves." Legend's voice a copy of his brother's.

"Alright, the twins can have the left side, Saint and Stone, you can have the right." Phoenix explained.

"Where are you going to sleep?" Luck jumped into the bed, knocking into my back and causing me to groan.

"Oh sorry!" Luck moved the hair out of my face and kissed my cheek close to my lips. It felt nice, but I was glad it wasn't a real kiss. I wanted to be up and awake for that.

"Be careful." Legend whispered loudly and punched Luck in the shoulder. I giggled again.

The boys settled in around me, each of them touching me in some small way except Phoenix. l couldn't see where he was from laying on my stomach. I then felt the bed dip at my feet and could feel Phoenix stretch out at the foot of the bed, his hand wrapping around my ankle.

I lay there basking in the warmth and affection radiating from them. I could feel it seep into me.

"Phe, we have to find a way to end the curse," Stone ran his fingertips up and down my arm causing goosebumps to pebble my skin. "I don't know how we are going to survive losing her."

I knew this must be a dream, of course they could survive, while they were under the curse they couldn't die.

"I know, man," Phoenix sighed out the words. I wanted to ask questions, but I was already asleep.