Finding Lena | ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Two

He strikes Caleb again, who cries out in pain. I put my knuckle into my mouth, biting down as hard as humanly possible. After a moment, the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth but I bite down harder.

It's the only way to stop myself from screaming.

He does it again, and again, and again...

Eventually, Caleb stops crying out in pain, he stops responding to the agony altogether, and instead drops to the floor.

Michael turns on his heel and storms out of the room. And just as Caleb instructed me, I tumble out of the closet when I hear the front door slam.

His car drives off into the distance.

I fall to Caleb's motionless body, blood staining his carpet and back. There are fresh marks, bright red and painful-looking.

I shake him, but his eyes don't open, and so I press my ear to his chest, listening for his heart beat.

When I hear it, I breathe a sigh of relief.

I pull him to my chest, letting the tears come out in full force, and rock his unmoving body to and fro.

Finally, his eyes flutter open, and he squints through the light to see me.

He smiles slightly, and I press my lips to his, as if that could take away his pain. "Caleb, Caleb... I need to take you to the hospital."

"No, not the hospital, they'll ask questions," he mumbles in a croaky voice, looking deep into my eyes.

Thinking it over, I know what I need to do. "Okay, I'm not taking you to the hospital, but I'm gonna take you away from here, all right?"

He nods uneasily. I run to his closet, find a duffel bag and shove as many clothes as I can inside.

Then, with the bag over my shoulder, I lift Caleb to his feet, straining under his weight.

I place his arm over my shoulder and half-drag him out the room.

Blood still streaming down his back, I heave him down the stairs, doing my best not to make us both fall.

Trying to support him and open the door at the same time proves to be a difficult task, and when I eventually do it, I sigh, relieved, and drag him down the steps to the car.

I bite my lip to stop my legs giving way beneath me, and place Caleb into the passenger seat as gently as possible.

He is still wincing in pain, moaning slightly, as I make it to the driver's seat.

Once I'm inside, I stop, and Caleb releases through another painful groan, "You don't know how to drive, Lena."

"Shit." Giving him one last look, I say, "Well, there's a first time for everything."

Not caring that what I'm doing is highly illegal, and recklessly dangerous, I know that to help Caleb, I need to take him away from this house.

"Tell me how to do it," I instruct.

"Lena, I don't want you to kill yourself," he mumbles, blood still dripping in waves down his back onto the seat.

"Tell me! He's going to come back and we need to be gone by the time he does," I snap.

"Okay, okay. Put your foot on the break pedal, the first pedal, and push it down."

I do as he says, while he continues, still wincing in pain, "Now twist the key in the ignition."

As I do so, the car jolts forward, and Caleb grumbles, "Keep your foot on the break."

My foot slams down on the break pedal, while the car engine starts. "Now move the gear into drive."

I stare at him as if he's speaking in another language.

He groans and leans forward with excruciating pain, and pulls on the gearstick. "Put your hands on the wheel. Good, now take your foot off the break pedal slowly, and press down on the accelerator, the next pedal."

As I press my foot down, the car moves gradually around the gravel loop.

It begins to quicken in speed, and then starts to soar down the drive as if we're ready to take off into space. Caleb exclaims, "Take your foot off the accelerator!"

I quickly do so but we're still racing down the road. "Use the breaks!"

I ease my foot onto the break and then lift it so the car is going at a steadier pace.

Caleb breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he mutters.

And there I am. Driving without knowing how to drive.

"Now look who's teaching the unteachable," he tries to joke, but it only makes him wince more.

I press down the accelerator slightly. Thankfully it's late so the roads are deserted. Keeping to the speed limit so I don't crash, I reply, "I'm driving a car!"

He chuckles, but then groans at the pain it causes.

"Where are we going?" he asks, trying to make sure his back doesn't touch the seat.

"The drug store," I respond, turning a dodgy left. Boy, I hope we don't get pulled over.

"I don't think now's the time for a shopping trip," he grunts.

"I'm buying you medicine, bandages, bandaids, anything to help you."

And through the darkness of the car, the stars hanging overhead, I can see him smiling the softest of smiles.

I drive faster.