“I think you have a concussion. You can’t go to sleep,” Summer tells me softly. “You’re losing a lot of blood.” I can see the fear rising on her face.
“I once read head wounds bleed a lot,” I tell her. “I’ll be fine. I won’t leave you.” I don’t know if that part is true or not. Right now, I’m not feeling so hopeful.
“You have a fucking call to make, so if I were you, I’d keep your ass awake. You don’t want me waking you up to make it,” I hear Stein say from somewhere in the room. I don’t bother to look for him and keep my eyes on Summer. I can’t find the will to care about his threat, and I’d rather not look at him as much as possible.
“Are you okay?” I reach up to touch her face. She winces in pain. The place where that bastard Michael hit her is already swelling. God, I wish I could have watched him go through that window. I feel my lips pull into a little smirk thinking about it. “You got the last laugh on him, didn’t you?” I whisper the last part, not knowing if that will set Stein off.
She shakes her head, but I see a small triumphant smile tip her lips. “I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about.” She makes a move to stand, and I grab for her arm, not wanting her to leave my side.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Stein asks, beating me to the question. Summer stills for a moment.
“I need to stop the bleeding from her head or nothing you did will wake her up!” she yells, and then turns to me and whispers an apology for being loud.
“There’s a fucking towel over there.”
Summer runs off to where he must have pointed.
“She’s lucky I don’t let her bleed to death after everything she fucked up. Stupid bitch.” There’s so much anger in his voice, and I’m terrified of what he might do in this moment.
He appears in front of me, glaring down at me. I want to look away from him, but I stare up into his cold eyes. They look wild, and I wonder if he’s losing it, or if maybe he’s on something. He leans down, getting into my face. He smells like he hasn’t bathed in a few days. I’m sure I’m not any better, but at least I have a reason. “I’m not going to die because some stupid bitch couldn’t keep her nose where it belonged.”
I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying something smart back. The problem is that I had my nose exactly where it belonged.
I swear his eyes go darker right in front of me. I can feel the evil pulsing from him. “Maybe when I’m done here I’ll pay your boyfriend a surprise visit. He’ll never see me coming.”
I feel the cold steel of his gun pressed to my temple. I close my eyes, thinking of Jordan and Summer, and pray for help.
“Stop it,” my sister says. Her voice is shaking, and it breaks on a sob.
“Pop,” he says loudly, making me wince. “He’s dead.”
A tear slides down my cheek. I hate how scared I am, and I hate that I gave him any sort of reaction. But I’m only so strong, and this is overwhelming.
“Look at that. The Osbourne ice queen has feelings. Who fucking knew.” He stands there, not moving the gun, still holding it to my head. I can’t bring myself to open my eyes. I know if I do, I’ll want to lunge at him and claw his eyes out for what he said about Jordan.
“Move,” Summer says, and I feel the cold metal leave my temple as Stein steps away. I finally open my eyes, and Summer is in front of me. Looking up, I watch Stein smile at me, then walk to the other side of the room. He sits down in a chair, leaning back and resting the gun on his lap. Summer sits next to me, putting the towel to my head.
My eyes start to close again, and I hear the worry in Summer’s voice. “We need something to drink. She’s going to pass out.” She sighs, and her hands tremble. “You need her for something, and I know she needs to be awake for whatever it is.”
Her voice is firm, and she uses a tone I’ve never heard her use before. While I seem to be weakening, she seems to be growing stronger.
I’m surprised when Stein stands and walks out of sight and a few moments later comes back with two bottles of water. He tosses them on the sofa next to Summer. She picks one up, opens it and hands it to me. I grab it with my free hand while she grabs the other for herself. We both start to drink but Summer tells me to slow down and not drink it too fast or it will make me sick. I want to chug it down but I know she’s right. I had no idea water could taste this good. As I slowly sip it I already start to feel better.