Simple as Hello

Part Four

   I am sitting in his truck with some napkins from the glove box pressed to my eye which will not stop watering as Calvin is running into the gas station to grab a little bit of ice. I think to myself what just happened. I pushed another guy away. Some creeper saw him leave and immediately came over to me. He was trying to take me somewhere. He was probably going to rape me. He punched me, twice. Calvin beat him up and saved my life as I know it. How can I ever repay him? Ever? These thoughts are muddled in my brain when he comes back with a cup full of ice which he immediately pulls out and wraps in a napkin. He pulls my hand away, using his pointer finger to push my hair out of my face, and lightly presses the ice onto my eye. I flinch and he apologizes by simply rubbing my shoulder with his unoccupied hand. Tears are still dripping from my other eye and I can't blame it on the pain this time. He wipes the tear away and I swear I see one form in his own but I can't tell because he turns away to look out of the windshield. My hand clutches my jaw which hurts from the punch and me clenching my teeth, my comfort for when I'm nervous. 

     "I should have waited." He says, suddenly breaking the absolute silence.

    "What?"

     "I should have waited for the cab to come." He says obviously upset.

     "Well I understand not wanting to stay with me, I was being kind of jerkish."

     "No, I should have stayed and I'm sorry." He replies, finally looking back at me, with tears streaming down his face. "I got you into this mess and I brought you there, then I left you there. And that creep-" His voice cuts out, the same way mine did earlier when I was crying too hard. He clears his throat. "I'm sorry, you mind coming back to my place? I've got a first aid back there."I nod, taking the ice from his hand and this time touching it to my jaw, the pain instantly subsiding. 

    We pull into a driveway and I have no idea what to expect, does he live with his parents? Alone? With a bunch of other guys who chip in for rent? I decide to let these thoughts subside when he picks me up again. "I can walk, it's okay." He sets me down and I instantly feel my legs stumble down, he catches me by my left arm and picks me back up, wordlessly. I let myself put my head into his chest and sniff in a scent of pine and woods, it's probably the most comforting scent known to man, so close to nature, so far from real life. He opens the door with one hand, shifting me into one arm, and then shutting it behind him. I feel him lower me down onto a bed and that's when I finally open my eyes, but the one that got punched doesn't open at all and it sorta freaks me out, which I confirm when I see my hands shaking. I slide them under myself and lay back on the pillow where the softness somehow amplifies the pain I am in. 

     "You're really swollen, eye's not opening, and jaw; bruised." He's saying all of this as if he's listing it as bullet points on a piece of paper to remember. Then he runs into another room and returns with a white box with a red cross on it, first aid, and a Dixie cup. "Okay, so let's get this taken care of Mae, I'm sure you're in a lot of pain. I've been there. How about some Advil?" I nod, feeling my head move up and down as my hair sort of sticks to the pillow. I sit up as he hands me the pill and the cup with water. I quickly down the pill and he motions for me to lay back down. "This might be more comfortable if you are laying down," he says chuckling, trying to keep my mood lighthearted. I feel myself start to become sort of light headed, all of the color seeming to fade from my face, and I lift my hand up trying to tell him, and he grabs it. "I had a feeling this was coming. Mae, you've gotta stay with me. I know you've gotta feel like absolute crap right now and I'm sorry. Just keep your eyes on mine. Wow Mae, you've got some seriously deep blue eyes, I love that. It reminds me of-" Everything shuts of for a second going black as a midnight sky and now that I mention it there are some starts too, then it all comes back on. "Reminds you of what?" I say. Relief flushes into his face, "of the ocean," he says smiling.

    He reaches back into the first aid kit, pulling out some Band-aids, "Now I know you scraped your hands up when you fell, how about we start with that?" I shake my head no, still thinking about how they're shaking underneath of me. "Alright, then let me see that jaw." I turn my head and he rubs it with his thumb, tears begin stinging my eyes. "Sorry Mae, got to assess the damage. I can't really do much for that or your eye, they're both just going to have to heal with time. Now can we get to your hands?" I sit up slowly, trying to calm my nerves. I pull them out from underneath of me, still shaking. He immediately pulls a wet wash cloth out and steadies my hand, blotting the minimal scrapes and blood, looking up at me. "Ya know, it's okay to be afraid." I nod, looking down. He uses his hand to lift my chin only to see me crying again. I keep his gaze and feel his arms enveloping me into a hug, our first one, at that. I sniff in his scent again, immediately taking me into the woods. "Oh my, what happened to your arm?" I almost completely forgot that guy clawed me. "That guy, uh, scratched me. Hard." "Wow, I'd say so. We'll take care of that after I finish up your hands." They still haven't steadied, but he holds me still enough to bandage up the cuts from the gravel and then moves onto my arms. Wiping away the blood dripping from it, he wraps up my arm with gauze and medical tape because he couldn't find a Band-aid big enough. When he's finally done, I lay back down and my heart finally starts to head towards a normal pace. I feel him lean over me, turn off the lamp, and whisper, "goodnight."