Sparrow's Song | ✔️

Chapter Seventeen

<> <> Sparrow <> <>

I watched the door silently and anxiously. He isn't home yet. He should be home by now, right? Why isn't he home? Millions of thoughts raced through my mind, possibilities of what might've happened to him. A car crash, a mugging, a murder... each one worse than the last. I closed my eyes and quieted my mind. He was going to be okay. Any minute, he was going to walk through that door and we were going to embrace.

I looked at the clock. I closed my eyes, groaning and putting my head back on the couch. It had been four hours since the police station. About 8:30. If he didn't come home soon, I was probably going to wither away in worry.

Eveline walked into the room, but I didn't really notice her until she spoke to me. "Hey, quit worrying. Even if anything bad were to happen, Jayson can take care of his own." I sighed and sat up.

"I know, but I can't help but worry!" Lately, I had been getting more and more comfortable talking to Eveline like a normal person. Well, as normal as you can get by just whispering. Eveline chuckled.

"You ought to be resting. Maybe a hot bath?" she suggested. I knew she was just trying to help, but I still shook my head. Eveline rolled her eyes. "I know you don't remember but -"

"Jayson told me to rest, yeah you keep saying that." I got up to lay down on the couch.

Eveline sighed. "I keep telling you because no one can relax while worrying as much as you are." I remained silent. "Besides, you said yesterday that the hot bath helped you take your mind off things." That's what I'm afraid of... I didn't want my mind to go back to the thoughts I had at the police station. I've felt those feelings before, but... they were stronger then. I felt like... no. Don't think about it. There's no point in... I closed my eyes as the word echoed in my mind. Suicide...

I hated that word. At the same time, when it appeared in my mind calm washed over me. It's strange, the effect death has on someone who is suffering... I opened my eyes and bolted upright when the door opened. Jayson?! I sighed and lay back down again.

"What's up Sparrow?" Steven walked in, carrying groceries.

"Jayson's not home yet," Eveline explained as I lay in silence. Steven nodded, walking into the kitchen.

"You know," he said, calling out to us in the living space, "Jayson's a good kid. You shouldn't worry so much." I rolled my eyes and sat up. And yet I can't shake this feeling that something's wrong... very wrong. I shook my head and got off the couch. I might as well go and take that hot bath. It's obvious he's not coming home any time soon.

I walked down the hall to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I looked at myself in the mirror. My face was streaked with trails of dried tears. I hadn't even realized them. As soon as I wiped them off, I took off my shirt. My scars startled me. My scars... I had almost forgotten about Brian and what he did in just the past two days. It was scary how easily you could forget things that easily.

I traced my scars absentmindedly. Even if I could get rid of them, I wouldn't. They remind me where I come from, and who I am; a shattered, scared girl who just happened to find a family willing to care for her.

I still couldn't quite understand why Jayson cared about me. I was ugly and irreparable. I traced a finger over the scar on my face. And I will forever remain so... I fully undressed and started the bath. The water flowed like a raging river. I closed my eyes and listened to the steady roar. I lost myself in my thoughts, my mind going to a faraway place where nothing else mattered.

Pain shot through my head. I got up, rubbing it. I had fallen while lost in my thoughts. A knock sounded. "Sparrow, you alright?" I knocked twice. "Alright..." I shut off the water but didn't get in. Instead, I looked at the shaky surface. What if I just let it all go? What if I did lose this battle? What if...? I closed my eyes and plunged my face into the warm water.

<> <> Eveline <> <>

I was worried about Sparrow. She had been in the bathroom for a long time, and I wasn't sure if she was okay. I should check on her. I walked to the door, but before I could knock Jayson stumbled into the house. "What-"

Before I could finish what I was saying, he said, "Sally... she..." He collapsed on the floor. I ran to him but looked back at the bathroom. Who should I help? I looked back at Jayson, then thought about how upset he'd be if anything happened to Sparrow.

"Steven!" I called out for Jayson's dad. He was in the hall in an instant. "He... he just collapsed. He said something about Sally, but I couldn't-" I cut off as I realized there was a peel of blood steadily growing under Jayson. Steven noticed it too.

"I'll take care of him." He glanced at the bathroom, then looked to me. I nodded, then went to the door and knocked. No response. I knocked again. Still nothing. I tried the handle. It was locked.

"Steven, do you have a key?" I pulled as hard as I could on the handle. As if that would do anything... 

He nodded. "In the kitchen. It's on top of the second cabinet." I nodded and ran into the kitchen. Clara came downstairs, probably curious about what all the commotion was about. "Jayson's hurt, and Sparrow isn't responding." Clara gasped and ran into the hall towards the bathroom.

I grabbed the key and followed her. She was tugging on the handle hard. "Here..." I said, pushing her aside and inserting the key. I twisted, hearing the lock click, and I pushed the door open.

Clara let out a cry that sounded like a mixture of surprise, shock, and sobbing. I stood rooted to the spot. Sparrow was as white as a ghost on the floor. She wasn't breathing. "SPARROW!" I cried, falling down and trying to pick her up. Tears were falling down my face. Why? Why did it have to be both of them? 

<> <> Jayson <> <>

I first regained feeling in my eyes. I tried opening them, and slowly they obeyed. I immediately closed them again. Why is it so bright? I groaned, but the noise sounded strange to me. It scraped my ears. I tried opening my eyes just a little to look around me. I was in a hospital. A doctor stood above me, checking a monitor to my left. She smiled when she noticed I was awake.

"About time. I was thinking that maybe we pumped you with too many meds." Meds? What's going on? What happened to Sally? And the officer? An echo of a memory came to the surface of my mind. "Sparrow isn't responding..." My eyes opened wide. "Woah, take it easy there. It's going to hurt for a while but you'll be fine."

"Sparrow..." I managed to rasp out. The doctor's eyes widened a little slightly, then she looked past me to my right. I turned my head. There was Dr. Winters. She was here again? Dr. Winter's was looking behind her at me. And beyond her...

"Sparrow!" I tried to get up, but pain shot along my leg and my chest. The doctor next to me put her hands on my shoulders and pushed me back down.

"Woah! You might split your wounds open! Your chest was slashed, and your leg was stabbed. That crazy girl almost killed you, but luckily an officer walked in on you two."

"What? What do you mean by that?" The doctor looked at Dr. Winters

"You mean you don't remember?" I shook my head. She sighed. "The pain must've been so bad your brain blocked out that memory."

That was when I remembered what happened. Sally... she couldn't have. No, there was no way. "Is Sparrow alright?"

Dr. Winters came over to me. "Sparrow almost died. She inhaled a lot of water. Her sister says she was alone in the bathroom the entire time... She had tried to kill herself."

I stared at her. My eyes darted to where Sparrow lay. Her skin was almost as white as a piece of paper, no exaggeration. Only a slight pink in her cheeks and the slow but steady rise and fall of her chest told me she was still okay.

Dr. Winters spoke again. "She'll live, but there's nothing to say that she won't try again."