Ashes to Ashes (BDTW #3)

Chapter 5

Sorry for not updating... Summer, and school, and California, things get a little busy during the summer time, but I'm back with pumpkin spice lattes and hot chili chocolate chai teas. I'm telling you, the good stuff is coming soon. Just hang on. 

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Chapter 5

I woke up to white crisp walls. I faintly felt a hand covering mine, offering warmth and reassurance. My head ached and my wrists stung, causing me to wince. What the hell happened? The last thing I remembered was seeing Jackson. Jackson and the blood coming out of his eyes...

I bolted upright in the cot. Mistake. My head felt like it was hit by a sledgehammer, and I let out a little whimper. I hated headaches. I could tolerate all types of pain, but headaches really pissed me off.

"Take it easy, Cath." Warned the voice beside me. My brother. Where was Jackson?

"Where's Jackson?" I snapped.

"Not my concern right now." He deadpanned. "Lie back down and answer some questions for me."

"No, answer my question now. Where. Is. He?" I demanded.

He looked so frustrated. "He's in buttfuck nowhere, Candor. He's fine. Wasn't affected by the blast. Now sit back down."

Confusion struck. "But he had blood coming out of his eyes?"

Now Bass just looked desperate. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"But... I saw, before I passed out..." I trailed off and touched a hand to my forehead. Had I imagined it? Well, I mean, I did hit my head pretty hard, and I was probably delirious. Maybe it was all a hallucination.

"You had a minor concussion Cath. You probably saw some weird shit."

I slowly laid back down and my head felt a little better. "Yeah, I know just..." I shook my head, dazed. "It looked so real."

"Mhm." He crossed his arms. I took a long deep breath and closed my eyes for a bit.

"How long have I been out?"

"A week."

"Jesus," I muttered.

"Your brain was haywire. It needed sleep to repair itself." He explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, doesn't help I haven't slept for a week before that." I mumbled, running my hands through my hair.

"Anxiety getting to you?" he murmured, his face instantly softening.

"Yeah. Anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia, you name it."

He didn't say anything for a few moments, just looked away like he had a bitter sour taste in his mouth. "You should talk to me about it. I can get you some help. There's always pills."

I shook my head. "Anti-anxiety and anti-depressants make you emotionless, sleeping pills mess with your sleep patterns, blah blah blah," I explained.

"I know," he seemed defeated. "I just hate seeing you like that. You're my sister. My responsibility."

Something within me just ached so bad when I saw my brother like this. He always did so much to help me and protect me and keep me safe, it killed me when he thinks he's failed. He hasn't failed, I'm just generally messed up.

But I grabbed his hand anyway and said, "Don't worry about me Bass. I just complain a lot."

He laughed a little and nodded. "Doctors said you can leave whenever you want, and we should go soon anyways because Candor are having an announcement. And they have pills for headaches, cause you'll be getting them a lot."