The Sleeping Girl

Chapter Nine

And then suddenly Mike takes in a sharp breath, wincing, his body contracting with pain beneath mine. But his aura is back, and he is breathing, and he is alive, and that is all that matters.

"Oh!" I exclaim, and my tears and coming harder and harder. "You almost died Mike! I thought you were going to die! I thought you were dead! I thought we were going to lose you! That I was going to lose you! I thought... you... I was... oh, oh, oh!" I'm not making any sense. Even I don't know what I'm saying. I'm crying and Mike is nearly dead and there's still darkness in the air from the sprites and life is looking so bleak and I just don't know. Anything.

"Kiki," he gasps, and then he's coughing up blood and hacking and wheezing and I'm crying and I don't even know what's happening. His clothes and mine too are splattered with blood and the air smells like copper and everything is going crazy and I don't know now to help him. In the end I help support his back so he can sit up and just cough up all the blood. And all the while I'm thinking that he still might die, still might leave us, leave me.

"Call...Amanda," he wheezes finally, suddenly making me feel very foolish to not have thought of this before. Mike drove us over in his car but he's quite obviously not equipped to drive us back. And Amanda and the rest of society can help him. Heal him. Make him live.

He'll live. 

He has to live.

Fumbling through my bag, not caring about the inevitable blood stains that I know I am creating, I grope around blindly for my phone. Upon feeling its distinct shape, I pull it out and turn it on, squinting my eyes are rubbing my thumb on the cracked screen in an effort to see through the smeared blood stains. I tap on the icon of Amanda's face that she put in for me yesterday. Keeping one hand on Mike's stomach, I press the call button, relaxing only the slightest amount as it starts to ring.

"Keela?" asks Amanda. She picks up on the second ring, sounding anxious. "Are you alright? Is everything okay? Did you find out anything about the next Girl? Did you find her?"

"No," I choke out. "We were attacked. Mike's dying. Six sprites. Six! I can't... I am... It's so... We're... " I'm not even sure myself what I'm saying anymore. My mind isn't working right. I'm sobbing into the phone, sobbing, crying, wailing like an infant. Pull it together, Keela, I think. But I can't.

I can't.

"You're at that outdoor mall you said you were going, correct?" asks Amanda, taking charge if the situation quickly. I can see the leader in her coming out right now.

"Yes," I say. I can manage that much. "Behind the buildings. No one else saw the fight... sees us... no one... we're... I'm... Mike..."

"Hold on," says Amanda. "We're coming. Hang in there Keela. Don't let Mike die. We'll be there soon."

"Hurry," I say. Once she hangs up I let the bloody phone slip from my hands, not even caring when I hear a loud crack on the ground. Why should I care if the phone is broken? Mike is broken!

"Hold on Mike," I whisper, leaning over him again, taking in his pale, drawn, sweaty face. He looks horrible. He looks dead. That alone is enough to start me sobbing even harder again, sobbing, crying, like there's no tomorrow.

"Kiki... Keela," he wheezes.

"I'm here," I say. "I won't let you die. We won't let you die. You're going to live, Mike, live. Just don't die."

He smiles faintly. "I'll try not to die," he whispers. "I don't want to die any more than you want me to die, Kiki." His right hand reaches for my hands on his stomach. Without hesitation, I grab it. His palm is moist and sweaty, cold and clammy. But however unpleasant that is, it doesn't bother me at all. This hand is alive and that's all that matters. I squeeze tightly.