Creepers
Chapter
12
I hear the soft humming again and
it brings me back to reality. I keep my eyes closed and listen to
Everett humming as he strokes my hair. We are just as we were
when he had gotten sick, except that our roles are now reversed;
my head in his lap and him looking over me. I open my eyes and
blink a couple times, looking up at Everett, the moon casting a
shadow on his face.
He looks at me and breathes, “Riley...” He looks
absolutely relieved to see me awake.
“Hi to you too, Everett.” My voice is hoarse, but I
managed a smile.
He looks like he wants to hug me tightly, but I think he is
afraid I will break. My breathing is slightly more shallow than
usual from my ribs. Someone set my fingers and put them into
splints. I’m not sure if anyone has seen what is left of my
skin under my shirt between the burns and the shredded skin from
the whip, but any time I shift, my face contorts in pain.
Everett notices right away and he tries to put me in a position
most comfortable for me. “I’m so glad to see
you,” he says, smiling ear to ear.
“I didn’t think I was coming back,” I whisper
to him, my eyes getting wet when I think about how I may have
never seen Everett again, but here he is right in front of
me.
“I could never let that happen, Riley. I was so worried
about you. I-I thought we weren’t going to get you back. In
that house you looked like you were part of the living
dead.”
I roll my eyes. “I feel like I’m part of the living
dead.”
He gulps. “What did they do to you, Riley?” He
caresses my cheek, his touch light and soft.
I bite my lip and feel tears run down my face. They scared the
shït out of me that’s what they did. Living people
working for the zombies! Who ever heard of such a thing? Are
there others like them out there that are helping the
creepers?
Everett wipes my tears away.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell
me.”
I nod and shift so that my head is buried in his jacket and I
start to cry. I feel Everett’s arms around me, his touch
barely there, so gentle that I almost don’t feel him, but I
know that he’s there. I sob into his jacket. So many
feeling are consuming me; anger, sadness, pain, confusion and I
can’t do anything about them. I can’t move; I
can’t walk it off. I can only lie where I am and cry, so
that is what I do.
Everett strokes my shoulder, but I only cry more in pain. Everett
seems to realize this and he pulls down my shirt slightly to see.
He gawks a little at my bright red angry skin, which is starting
to scab and peel. He lets go and lifts my shirt from the bottom
to look at the welts and heated flesh of my stomach. He lays a
cool hand over the welts and I sigh, holding his hand there with
mine.
Everett reaches for his bag with his other hand and takes out the
first aid kit. He takes out a tube of medicine that hasn’t
ever been opened, squirts out some of the liquid inside and rubs
it over the welts on my stomach. I sigh in relief, the medicine
seemingly drawing the heat right from the welts. As much as it
feels good, I know we should probably save the medicine for
something more important than me.
“Everett, just put it away. I’m fine.”
“Are you kidding, Riley? You’re in pain. Anyone can
see that.”
So he can tell?
“I really am fine. You don’t need to waste that
medicine on me.”
“It’s not wasting it if you need it! Have you seen
yourself, Riley? You’re lucky your skin hasn’t all
flaked off. You need to use this if you want it to
heal.”
I nod. “Only a little more though, okay?”
He nods and rubs more my stomach and chest. I sigh with relief
and it feels a little easier to breathe now. “Is your back
like that too?”
I shake my head, which is technically not a lie. It does not have
blisters on it; it is only singed from the burns.
He gives me a look and carefully rolls me onto my stomach,
knowing that I am lying. He lifts the back of my shirt and I hear
him gasp. “Are… Are these burns?”
I nod and let out a short groan
when he touches me. He puts more of the medicine on my back and I
whimper as he rubs my back, the meds helping, but the skin on my
back is still very delicate. When he is done he sits me up,
careful not to disturb my injuries, and hugs me as tightly as he
dares.
I smile and hug him tight, sniffling. It feels good to know
Everett is always here for me.
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