Broken Wings

Chapter 14

  It was a dreamless night. I was neither well-rested or exhausted; just numb. I woke up around six, still in my clothes from the day before. It was already light. My parents were probably sleeping in. I could smell coffee wafting into the room. 

  I walked mechanically into the sitting area. There was a pot of coffee on top of the mini fridge. Janet was sitting down in the leisure area; a mug of coffee nestled in her hands.

  "Merry Christmas." I said grabbing some coffee. Taking a sip of the plain drinn I plopped down onto the sofa beside her. Colombian medium roast, my favorite.

  "Merry Christmas to you, too." She responded. She rolled her neck, cracking it twice. "Emily will be ok to leave today. I'm going to have her take an oxygen tank though." I nodded, then frowned.

  "Wait, what are you doing for Christmas?" I asked. I didn't want her to be alone. Not after everything she has done to help us.

  "I'm going out to my brothers place. My family always tries to spend Christmas together." I nodded.

  "That's nice. They must be proud of you." She smiled into her mug.

  "Yeah." She muttered under her breath. She put her mug down on the new coffee table in front of us. "Whenever you want to wake Emily up I can drive you both home." She offered.

  "I can fly her. I've done it before. She's spending the day at my house anyway." I took another sip of my coffee.

  "It would be hard to carry her and the oxygen tank. I'll drive you." It was a statement now. I put my coffee down and raised my hands in mock surrender.

   "Alright, alright. I'm going to go wake Sleeping Beauty up." I got up and walked towards the infirmary.

  "Wait, since when had you seen Sleeping Beauty? Aren't you ignorant about most culture." Jen asked me, an eyebrow raised.

  "Jen dragged me to her house to watch it." I replied, then sauntered into the infirmary.

  Emily was sleeping peacefully, her chest was rising and falling slowly. Only the hiss of the oxygen tank could he heard. It was serene. Time to ruin it.

  "Hey, wake up!" I yelled while shaking her. She rolled over, or at least tried to as the tube feeding her oxygen restricted her movement. "Hey, stop trying to ignore me!" I tugged on her arm and she swatted me away and mumbled something. Once she settled I slowly took the oxygen mask off of her, then I pushed her off the bed.

  She hit the floor with a large thump and let out a shout of surprise. Her head popped out over the other side of the bed. Her hair was a mess and she had her face scrunched up I'm childish anger.

  For a moment we were just teens. No pressure, no danger, nothing. She was beautiful wothout the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  She threw her hands in the air. "What was that about?!"

  "It's Christmas and you wouldn't get up. I resorted to waking you up biolently." I shrugged and went over to help her up. I pulled her up toward me. Our faces were inches from each other. Her hair fell around her eyes. Her eyes sparkled with mischeif, a smile painted her face.

  "What're you thinking about?" She smiled and brushed a strand of hair aside.

  "How I'm going to exact my revenge." She dropped and swung her her leg at mine, causing me to fall on my side. She ran out of the room before I could get up. I ran after her into the other room.

  Dread filled my chest as I saw Emily collapse onto the sofa in a coughing fit. Janet rubbed her back in soothing circles.

  "Try to not so anything athletic or strenuous. It will just make it harder for her to breathe." She gestured to Emily.

  "I-I can t-take care of myself." Emily rasped out. Janet merely nodded.

  "Go get dressed. I'll drive you home." Janet said. Emily's breathing evened out. I pulled her up off the couch.

  "Let's go home." I said.