May 27, 2019 - 7:19 PM

Leo Kelly

I opened the door to Eury’s bedroom after raiding the linen closet for the newest load of blankets. Golden rays of sunset peeked around the loose drapes, landing softly on Eury’s sleeping face. Despite everything that had happened to her, all the pain that she had gone through, even in this coma, she still managed to look beautiful.

I was placing the pile of blankets at her feet when Eury stirred suddenly.

I jumped at the small movement. She hadn’t so much as wiggled a toe in days. But this was good though. I rushed to her side immediately.

“Eury?” I said as her eyes slowly opened. Dehydration had done a number on her, but the worst of it was her eyes. Slightly sunken, and ringed in a faint bruise. Just opening them looked painful.

She opened her mouth and said something too quiet for me to hear.

“What? What did you say?” I leaned in closer to hear her, but again her mouth moved and no words came out.

Another few inches closer, and now, I could feel her faint, hot breath.

“I can’t hear—”

“I said, get over here.” Eury wrapped her hand around the nape of my neck, pulling me in close to her, then the unthinkable happened.

Our lips met, in a wonderful, sweet, dry, wonderfully dry, kiss.

Frozen by shock at first, I barely moved. But, it only took a moment for my body to catch up. I leaned in a little deeper, savouring the moments and the taste of her lips. I hadn’t known it until that very moment just how desperate I was to know exactly how her lips felt. And the satisfaction I felt at that moment was almost too much for me to handle. A second later my heart was already beating so hard I could smell the faintest hint of blood in my nose.

Holy shit, are you seriously going to have a nosebleed right now?

My ears got fuzzy as Eury’s hand slipped away. Like I was locked in place, I stood hunched over the bed—a particularly unsexy position I’m sure—and I stared at her dumbstruck.

After a few seconds, she coughed. I stood up straight as a board after I got the cue.

With a sheepish smile, I broke the silence. “That was unexpected.”

“Yeah,” she said, suddenly too bashful to make eye contact. "I just… didn't want to miss the opportunity."

It wasn’t like I was staring, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. It was probably all the oxytocin—or whatever—that was flooding into my brain, keeping me slow and stupid.

Yeah. It was totally the oxytocin.

As our eyes met again, I couldn’t help myself. I dove back in for another kiss, and for another few moments I savoured her completely. But this time, with a single light hand she pressed me back.

“Don’t get too hasty, just yet. I probably look as bad as I feel.”

“You look beautiful. I mean you also look like you’ve been running for your life for a week.”

“And yet, I’m here now.”

“Yes, yes we are.”

Getting to the Morriessy’s house was nothing short of a miracle. But, just as amazing as it was, I was nothing but embarrassed. I was weak, physically, mentally. Just at the thought of it, my bruised and bandaged stomach stabbed at me.

Eury’s smile was nothing but a knife twist further. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Because you were there when I needed you. You were strong when I needed you to be. That’s why.”

“But I wasn’t. I… I was too weak.”

“Weak? No you were—”

“No, I mean, I couldn’t carry you. Davis had to. I was too weak.” And there it was. Plain as day, no half-truths to make myself sound better. Just another thing that—

Eury’s dried and cracked lips slowly widened until I felt too embarrassed to even continue thinking.

I hesitated to ask, but I couldn’t wait, “what is it?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather have you than Davis. But you were already so tired, even before the forest. There’s no way that you could’ve carried me. Not without hurting yourself.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t get it, do you? The reason you couldn’t carry me for that last little bit, was because you’ve been supporting me this whole time since we left Alaska’s. I don’t care who brought me through the door. Without you, I would still be waiting at Alaska’s.”

“It’s not like I carried you all the way here.”

“Did I say that you did? I don’t need you to be my packmule, Kelly. You’re my... partner.” She continued while looking at the window. “And trust me, I really would’ve hated it if you did carry me the entire way. I don’t think I could forgive you for treating me that badly.”

“Badly?”

“I’m not some damsel in distress, despite my recent performance.”

“Damsel? Careful what you say, I might have a hard time forgiving you.”

“Oh? Please, feel free to explain.”

“If how you were acting, pulling us through that rotten nightmare, dragging me back to reality, shooting that pistol like it was the O.K. Corral, if that was how a damsel acts? God, I don’t even know what that makes me. The jester may—”

“The heroic parasite maybe?”

We shared a chuckle. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” Eury glanced past my legs. “I thought I told you to drop that thing.”

I looked at the beat up O2 tank I had carried with me the rest of the way up the mountain.

“I’m glad that I didn’t,” I said, looking back to Eury. “Those things don’t grow on trees.”

“I can’t really explain it but, just being there when I needed you most… how easily I came to rely on you… I think that—”

The words kind of came out on their own. “Did you want a grab a coffee or something? You know, like a date?”

“I don’t think any coffee shops are open right now.”

“I know that. I mean like, do you want me to make you coffee or something and we can sit down and talk about whatever it is that people talk about on first dates? Like the weather, or what you do for a job?”

“How about you get me some water, and we can start there.”

"I can do that."

May 27, 2019 - 10:57 PM

Eury Morrissey

It took me a while to leave bed, especially with all of the blankets and Kelly nursing me. But, eventually, I knew that I had to. He was cagey with the details, but I gleaned from him that everything wasn’t exactly hunky dory here.

Every inch of my old bedroom seemed to be painted in a layer of nostalgia. Like sure, it had only been ten months since I was last here, but in that time, and after everything that had happened, it was like stepping into a time capsule where the world went static in here compared to the one outside.

Or maybe, it was the subtle differences between the real place and that place—the one in my nightmares—that were making the slight-unfamiliarity too intense.

Kelly helped me out of my room, and down the hall to the kitchen. The both of us needed a break once we got to the table. Most of the power in the kitchen was used to keep the fridge humming away, so there wasn’t enough to power the lights as well. We had to use the flashlight in order to find the chairs.

The moment we sat down, the back door opened.

“Thanks for helping me figure that out, I never did—” It was Alaska, talking a bit too loud for how late it was, but I couldn’t blame her. It was who she was after all. Seeing me she instantly went in for a one-arm hug. “Eury! Oh my god! Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Lask. Thanks.” Her other arm was covered in a makeshift cast, a reminder of what it took to get here. “How are you?”

“This?” She said, nodding to her arm. “Your dad did some really good work. It ain’t perfect, but it’s better than nothing. I guess that’s the benefit of having someone like him around.”

“He’s a real swiss army dad, all right. Problem is it’s a bit annoying when the world isn’t falling apart,” I said with a sarcastic smile.

“I thought you enjoyed all the daddy-daughter time we’ve had over the years.” The moment I heard and saw him—the real him, not some kind of figment or disembodied voice in my mind—I couldn’t hold down the tears.

My father was like a cast in his own way, when he wrapped his arms around me. It felt like he was one of the only things keeping me together at that moment.

“Of course I loved it,” I said between difficult breaths and my tears, “I loved every moment of it.”

He tried to say something, but all that came out was an ugly, mournful sob.

I was crying too, I couldn’t even put into words how much I wanted to be here, for real, and be held by him like this. But when he finally was able to get out a single word between all of his tears, did I realize that these weren’t tears of joy.

I opened the door to my parent’s bedroom. The room was dark except for my flashlight, and filled with the familiar stench that caused my nose to wrinkle. In spite of the Pavlovian response to turn around and retreat, I took the step in. I wanted to do this alone. I needed to see this, and understand this all on my own.

When I levelled my flashlight at the bed though, I had no words.

The heavy wooden bedframe began to rock like a possession when the light landed on her. Her black and bloodshot eyes slitted to a knife’s edge, instantly peeled her gaze away. I wanted to look away too. Avert the beam of my flashlight, miring her in darkness as if nothing was wrong. But I couldn’t. She was bound to the frame by thick rope tied around each of her limbs. Her jaw dropped open, unleashing this animalistic screech that I couldn’t imagine would come out of my own mother’s mouth.