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The second thing is the dull ache that runs through me, though it’s significantly less than the pain I’d been in before passing out in the woods.
“I’ve heard this story before,” I mumble, as Kinsley launches into the tale about her beating up some bully on our playground. That had been how we met, actually, and a smile touches my lips at the memory.
“You’ve lived it too,” Kinsley replies crisply, but I can hear the tremor in her voice and the creak of the chair she’s sitting in. “Holy shit, Summer.” When I’m finally able to open my eyes, Kinsley has moved to hover over me, her eyes wide in a pale face. “You almost died.” She whispers the words like they’re a secret.
“Yeah, I kind of got that when I was passing out in the ambulance,” I tease, though my voice is hoarse and I know I sound awful. “How long’s it been? Any news for me about, well…” I lift my arms as much as I can, which isn’t much given they feel like they have lead weights attached to them. “Anything.”
“Okay. News. Yes.” Kinsley falls back into her seat, eyes closed as she collects her thoughts. “Well, Fink showed up right when the police and paramedics did. That’s about when Kayde carried you out of the woods all heroically and dramatically.”
I snort softly, my eyes sliding closed. “Where is Kayde? And Liza?”
“One question at a time.” Her tone is reprimanding, but she doesn’t mean it. Not when I can hear the teasing under the words. “Kayde, Liza, and your mom went to the cafeteria. She was ready to murder someone on her own. I think she might’ve slipped Kayde a twenty for the public service of dispatching Shawn.”
I can’t help but crack a smile at that, and my fingers curl into the sheets. For some reason, I hadn’t even considered that my mom would be here. But now that I know she is, I’m aching to see her.
“The ambulance took you. Kayde wanted to ride along, but uh, that didn’t go well. Liza did, though. Since she’s the closest thing to a doctor and could explain to them what happened.” She stops talking and is silent long enough that I crack my eyes open to glance her way.
She looks…awful.
Kinsley’s shoulders are hunched, and she seems to be trying to fold in on herself. With her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed, I’m starting to think I really am dead and hallucinating this whole thing.
“You died in that ambulance,” Kinsley whispers, looking up at me mournfully. “You died. Liza told me they had to get you back twice, and you were rushed into surgery when you got here. He just barely nicked an artery in your leg.”
Oh. Well, so much for me thinking he hadn’t.
“Well, as I’m not dead now…” I look myself over, as much as I can. “Seems to me this worked out okay.”
Her watery chuckle is reluctant and humorless. “What were you thinking?” she demands, leaning forward in her chair toward me. “Why didn’t you run away from him? He was crazy, Summer. He was insane.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of why I couldn’t. He was going to hurt you guys. And you know, I am the one with more in-the-bed hospital experience. I figured I’d take one for the team?—”
“You shouldn’t be joking about this!” She gets to her feet quickly, tears shining in her eyes. “You were dead, Summer!” Belatedly, I think that if she keeps screaming at me, she’s going to get a nurse called on us.
“You can yell at me all you want.” My eyes drift closed again. “But I’m going to do the same anytime you’re in trouble, Kins. It’s not in me to let you get hurt.” Her, the kids, or anyone else I care about.
“You can’t self-sacrifice your way through life,” Kins mutters, and I grin at the words.
Self-sacrificing has been the name of the game this summer. Starting with Kayde and ending here. Had I suspected I’d get murdered, or almost murdered? Yeah, I had. Every time Kayde had come to play with me that first week, I’d been sure that was it. That I wouldn’t wake up the next morning.
So there’s definitely something ironic about the fact it was Shawn to almost do me in, and Kayde being the one to save me.
“Can I…talk to you about Kayde?” Kinsley’s words are slow and deliberate, and they send alarm bells ringing through my tired brain. “For a minute, if you aren’t too tired?”
Tremors of nervousness ripple up my arms and down my spine, but I open my eyes to look at her again. Explanations and excuses roll around my brain like bowling balls, but I bite my tongue until she speaks.
“Is there something, uh, off with him?” She sounds…polite. Like she’s trying not to offend me or be rude. “Because I don’t know how awake you were, but he kind of stomped Shawn’s face to a bloody mess.”
“Oh, I was so awake for that,” I assure her drowsily.
“I think your boyfriend is a little fucked up.”
My snort is softer than I intend, and I hate that I’m falling back asleep. “Does it bother you if he is?” I find myself asking as the excuses and explanations drain right out of my brain.
“What? No, not at all.” I hear her shift again on the chair. “I think it’s cool as hell. So long as he’s with you, who in the world could ever fuck with you, huh? Seems like the best remedy for that hero complex shit you’ve got going on.”
“I’m a self-sacrificer,” I remind her, my words slurred.
“You’re an idiot.”
