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Days blurred into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years.
Life moved forward all around me, but I stayed still, stuck in a place that time seemed to have forgotten. While the world spun on, I felt lost, left behind.
Ekko was the only one who visited me regularly. He came by in the stretches when my father wasn't home or during the hours when he was too drunk to care.
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, cupping my hands to splash cold water on my face.
The droplets clung to my skin, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand before drying it on my pants. With a deep breath, I opened the door to my bedroom-and immediately shrieked, stumbling back in surprise.
Ekko was sitting casually on my nightstand, smirking like he owned the place.
"What if I was naked?" I threw my hands up in exasperation.
He shrugged, utterly unbothered. "Wouldn't be a first."
I glared at him, shutting the door behind me. "All the more reason you should knock."
"Fair," he said, moving to the edge of my bed and plopping down. "I brought you some painkillers. How's the wound?"
I shrugged, hesitant. "Feels like it's getting infected."
"Let me see." He motioned for me to sit.
Reluctantly, I perched on the bed's edge and lifted the hem of my shirt, wincing when his fingers brushed the scar on my side.
"It doesn't look infected. Just needs time to heal." His voice was soft, but his eyes were sharp with concern. "Want me to clean it for you?"
"No," I said quickly. "I can handle it. It just... hurts."
He knelt down, his gaze unwavering as he looked up at me. "You know you can come back with me, right? Genesis says she misses you. She wants to see you for more than a couple of minutes this time. You can stay with us."
I stared at the floor, my sock tracing lazy patterns on the hardwood. "I know. I just... I can't leave him. He's sick."
Ekko's voice hardened. "And you're not?Every time I come back, you've got more bruises." He reached for my arm, pushing up my sleeve to reveal a half-healed cut.
"I'm fine," I said, pulling away and yanking my sleeve back down.
"Fine?" His fingers brushed the hair away from my face, exposing a smaller, deeper cut near my temple. "Then why didn't you tell me about this one, B? An inch deeper, and it could've hit bone."
