May we always meet again

Chapter 33

Clarke's POV

I experienced the next scare when I discovered a new piece of jewelry on my ring finger. "Raven?" I tried to whisper as softly as I could while still being loud enough to wake her, but it didn't help. So I stepped up to her and whispered her name again, when that didn't help either, I shook her until she woke up. Hopefully without a concussion, but even that I accepted. The only thing that mattered right now were answers and that as soon as possible before I suffered a panic attack. I didn't feel like breathing into a bag.

Tiredly she blinked her eyes, but I didn't give her time to wake up properly, instead I stuck my ring finger right out at her reproachfully. Confused and completely sleepy, she looked at me. "What's that?" I wanted to know directly without beating around the bush and raised my eyebrows in a prompting manner.

She scratched her head, still confused. "It's a ring," was her incredibly insightful response to the question. You don't say, Raven....

"I can see that, too. But what's it doing on my finger?" My nerves were stretched to breaking point and Raven didn't help one bit to calm them back down. If I were an old engine, she would throw any amount of coal on the fire with alacrity, whether it was actually necessary or not. The speed at which she threw my patience over the cliff with it increased many times over, the fact that no smoke was coming out of my ears yet was probably one of the most amazing things.

"Damn, what do you expect me to do when I'm not even fully awake yet? My brain is still in a drunken coma and my memories are still all fuzzy! As far as I can remember, you wanted him bad and I tried to talk you out of it, but you know your thick skull." She shrugged her shoulders and made me even more furious. Be helpful for once!

"Raven, you make me desperate. Do I have to scream until you give me a decent answer or do I have to beat it out of you?" In my panic, any means would do to get what I wanted to know, or rather, needed to know! Well, almost any means. Murder would be then perhaps nevertheless somewhat exaggerated. Although I was less and less sure about that the longer this conversation with her went on.

"Woah Clarkey, calm down. What's wrong with you?" Defensively she raised her hands, presumably hoping to calm me down that way. That this was unsuccessful I don't think I need to mention at this point.

"I have a huge headache, a hangover, no memories, and there's some woman in my bed who I don't dare look up because I don't know if I want to know. In addition, I'm wearing a ring that I don't know and that I don't know what could mean..." The more I spoke, the louder I became, until finally I looked anxiously at the sleeping woman. Had I woken her up? But no, there was no movement to be seen. Phew, I was just lucky again, but could you even call it that? It didn't really feel like luck at all.

"Stop fucking with me." If I were Raven, I wouldn't believe that either, but at least she looked a little more awake now due to the shock she had suffered.

"Go look for yourself then." I pointed somewhat frantically to the bed and instantly she turned pale, as if she had just seen a ghost.

"So this isn't some macabre joke I don't understand?" The hope in her eyes was visible and all too gladly I would have thrown a pillow at her now, laughing, but no, it was true, so I shook my head.

"What happened last night? I can remember next to nothing. Do you?" Now I was the hopeful one, but I too was disappointed.

Raven seemed to think and then shook his head. "I don't either. Individual things, yes, but at some point there's just nothing. Did we really drink that much?"

"Apparently." My impulse was to shrug, but somehow it didn't fit. After all, this wasn't some trivial matter that could just be dismissed out of hand. Definitely not and I would love to bang my head against the nearest wall. It almost couldn't get any worse. It just COULDN'T get any worse.