Weighted Silence (Complete)

Chapter 20: Saylor

20Saylor

My headache felt better, and the throbbing in my arm had reduced to a dull ache when I sat up. I'd had no intention of falling asleep, and I regretted having done so. Even if I was in a little less in pain than I was before.

Dion had left a note on the table saying he'd be back soon, but I'd been awake over an hour and he still hadn't returned. His car was in the driveway, but knowing how much he tended to walk, it wasn't a foreign idea to assume he'd hoofed it to wherever he'd gone. Pushing back the curtains, though, it felt a little unlikely. The snow and wind were like the inside of a snow globe, shrouding everything in cold, white fluff. If Dion had walked, he was going to make himself sick.

Considering the look on his face before I'd fallen asleep, I had greater reason to worry than just the weather. Whoever had called him on the phone had said something terrible, be it in the form of insult or bad news I wasn't sure, but Dion had looked horrified when he'd hung up. I wished he would have just told me what was wrong. I knew it wasn't any of my business, but he'd done nothing but help me and take care of me since the day he met me. All I wanted was a chance to do the same for him.

I sighed as I pushed back the curtains and looked out again, the quiet of the house behind me interrupted only by the blowing wind and scratching of dry tree branches against the roof. I didn't see Dion coming, and considering the house was empty, I assumed he'd taken Maggie with him. I could barely imagine both of them trudging through the snow out there, and had I been anything other than injured, I'd go out and look for them. But, as it was...

My hand clenched to my broken arm, and I winced as I wiggled the fingers of my left hand, felt pain shoot all the way to my elbow. Scrunching my face, the bruise around my eye and forehead was stiff and sore, making me immediately relax it as I sighed and turned away from the curtain.

The sound of jingling drew my eyes upward, and I moved across the room to see Maggie round the banister upstairs, where she trotted halfway down before pausing to cock her head at me. Frowning, I stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her.

"Maggie? How long have you been here? Where's Dion?"

She pranced her front paws, her head swinging back toward the upper level before she faced me again, as though she wanted me to follow. A sudden dread I couldn't describe sank to the pit of my stomach as I slowly climbed the stairs. She darted up ahead of me and around the railing, ducking into the first door on the left just as I reached the top.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stood in the hallway, then slowly rounded to stand in the open doorway. Dion was sitting on his floor, back against the bed, knees drawn up. Maggie had already returned to him and was pushing her head through the gap in his arms that were wound around his legs. He didn't move, not even to pet her.

Worry narrowed my brows as I slowly approached. "Dion?" He didn't look up at me, didn't move, didn't acknowledge my presence at all. Swallowing hard, I moved until I was right by his side, then sank to sit on my legs and touched a gentle hand to his arm. "Hey... are you okay?"

Very slowly, he lifted his head, and my lips parted at the sight of his blotchy face, and red, swollen eyes that were wet and leaking fat tears down his cheeks. Immediately, my right hand reached out to cup his face, my thumb catching tears as they fell.

"What's wrong?"

He choked, a single burst of noise escaping him as he shook his head. With my heart breaking, I eased off my legs to sit on my butt, then scooted as close as I could get and wrapped my good arm around him. At first, he hesitated, as though he hadn't expected me to comfort him, but when I didn't move away, he sank against me. I parted my knees to allow him to crawl right into me, the same way he'd held me after my nightmare, and he wound both his arms around my middle, hanging on for dear life. His entire body shook as he cried, but not another sound escaped him save for his heavy breaths.