The Peace Offering

TWENTY

Maxine

My eyelids fluttered open and I attempted to shift in bed when I felt a weight on my right arm. Right, I had invited River to nap with me in my arms in my feverish stupor earlier. I glanced up at the clock. It was three in the afternoon and I woke up feeling hungry again. I reached up and felt my forehead with my free hand. My temperature was cooling down and my headache was also subsiding.

River tossed in bed and she was now laying on her back, her left arm stretched out over the blanket. I carefully pulled my arm from under her, trying my best not to wake the girl. My shoulder and upper arm were aching from the pressure of River's head earlier, but trust me I wasn't complaining one bit about it.

After stretching and lightly massaging my sore arm, I leaned in to give River a gentle peck on her cheek before I stood up and walked into the bathroom to pee. After I flushed I went over to the sink to wash my face and brush my teeth, with the intention of taking a shower right after.

I hummed softly to myself as I brushed my teeth. As soon as I finished rinsing the toothpaste out of my mouth, I felt a sudden contraction in my chest that made my heart physically ache. I found my breath shortening, as though there was some sort of hindrance in my windpipe. In hopes of regaining some oxygen, I forcefully let out coughs but as I did that I only felt my heart tightening.

I gripped the sides of the sink and I looked up to the mirror as I struggled with my own breathing. My face was as white as paper and blue streaks of veins started to surface. I saw my own pink lips slowly fading into blue as well. My gasps for air became more audible and as I looked down on my own hands, I saw the same blue streaks of veins showing on my now pale pair of hands.

I looked up again at the mirror and now the blue veins were spreading down to my neck. I stumbled back in horror and felt dizzy suddenly. My heart felt as if someone very strong was squeezing it in his hand. I lost my balance and fell to the checkered bathroom floor. Still fighting to breathe normally, I was on all fours when I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Hoffman? Hoffman, are you okay?" River called.

I wanted to answer her but all I could afford was a whimper. I managed to crawl to the bathroom door and reached out for the knob with my left hand. I grunted and pushed myself up. With a quick turn of the doorknob, I unlocked it and yanked the door open.

"Hoffman, what's wrong? What happened? I heard you coughing so hard and then I heard a loud thud, I had to get up to make sure nothing happened to you," I expected River to look terrified at the sight before her, but instead she only appeared a little concerned.

I glanced back at the mirror and saw that my skin had gone back to normal. It was far from pale, and there were no blue streaks on my face or neck. My gaze shifted down to my hands and to my surprise, they looked normal as well. I inhaled deeply and noticed that my breathing had recovered, my heart not even aching one bit at the intake of oxygen.

I felt River's hand shaking my wrist lightly. "Hoffman. Hoffman."

"I'm fine," I looked up at her. Instead of sounding like I was assuring her, my reply sounded more of like a surprised remark. River gave me a questioning look. "I, uh, I choked on some toothpaste earlier. And I didn't realise the floor was wet so I slipped. It's nothing, River."

"I was worried," River held my hand, before she broke into a grin.

My eyebrows knitted together. "Wow but I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong facial expression there."

"You called me River."

My eyes widened at her reply. I did not even realise that I had called her by her first name, for the first time in my life! My mind and my heart didn't know how to react, but my cheeks were already one step ahead. River chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm starving. Tell you what. I'm going to take a quick shower and when I'm done I'll take you out for lunch," I didn't wait for her answer and just shut the bathroom door in her face. I heard River laughed as soon as I closed the door.

What just happened? I needed answers for everything that just happened. I just didn't know where I was going to get them. Things just got horrifying and confusing at the same time. And truth is, I wasn't liking the combo.