The Stars Will Catch Me

Chapter 4

The room is both noisy and quiet, a paradox that doesn't exactly make sense but is true nonetheless. In the hospital, there is the constant beeping from the monitors and the buzzing from patients summoning their nurses or the doctors running down the hall to help someone in desperate need. On the other hand, Charlie sits beside me as silent as ever. I can't get him to utter a single word which kind of defeats the purpose of him coming to visit me.

I scoop up the last bit of pudding with the plastic spoon, licking it clean afterwards.

"This is kind of better than the ones from school."

"I hate you," he shoots back immediately, his words overlapping with mine.

I shrug, using my spoon to point past the thin curtain that is supposed to give us privacy and towards the door behind it. "If you really feel that way then the exit's over there."

He doesn't move from his slouched position, arms crossed over his chest and legs propped up on the edge of my hospital bed. He refuses to meet my eyes. I almost laugh at his resemblance to a child about to throw a fit.

"You're absolutely unhinged for jumping off those crates. What did you think would happen? It's a miracle your not paralyzyed!"

My head is still bandaged up, the side of it shaved because the doctors had to closely inspect a wound. My ribs are braced in wrap but don't ache like they used to. My wrist is in a brace, making good progress in healing. My leg, which hangs in a sling, doesn't hold as much promise. The doctor's said it broke at a strange angle. Part of the bone shattered off and the ligaments of my knee tore. They're pretty certain I'm going to have a noticeable limp for the rest of my life.

I try to imagine what Charlie must have seen when I went splat on the deck of the ship. I was broken and bloodied. Maybe it was selfish for me to do - I would be pretty pissed at Charlie if he pulled something like that - but it's not like I knew he was going to be there to see it. I was thinking of holding up a big, metaphorical middle finger to the researchers and my parents. I was thinking of finally escaping the ship the only way I knew how.

I try to smile, hoping it will be contagious. "I'm not that big of an idiot though, am I? I've bought myself time."

It's been several weeks of hospitalization. It's not exactly freedom but it's also not being held in a torture chamber of a ship.

His mood is unchanging. "Well, now you're all out of time, aren't you? You're due out of here in a couple weeks."

"It was worth it -"

"I wish you would have trusted me."

I stare at him hard. "Trusted you to do what?"

He shakes his head, leaning back into his seat again. "Nevermind."

I sit up, waiting for a further explanation but it doesn't come. His eyes flicker back up to me and he starts to rub his lips with the back of his thumb, a fidgety move that reveals there's something he isn't telling me.

"Promise me you're not going to further involve yourself." I lower my voice, keenly aware that the curtain is not a sound barrier and at any second my parents can walk back into the room. Charlie already went through enough to time his visit so he wouldn't be caught by Nakpuna or my parents. "I already told you there's nothing any of us can do. There's no point in getting mixed up in things. You shouldn't even be here considering who your uncle is."

I shiver. It haunts me to know Charlie is so close within his grasp. His uncle always sounded like a bad guy to me but now I know he is definitely an evil person. The idea that Lizzie shares a bed with him, that Charlie shares a home with him, that Nakpuna could get to them whenever he wants, it feels like a threat. It is a threat.