Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Twelve

A few minutes passed as I tried to get myself to fall back asleep. I would've much rather slept the day away than spent it crying, remembering the day the best person I've ever known in my life dying. I had a bit of trouble, but I was getting there. I was on the brink of sleep when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

No, no, no!! I just want to sleep! Why can't I just be left alone?!?

"Wren?"

Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone!

I was so overwhelmed with the need to be alone and the feeling of sadness looking back at the picture of him and I, that the water works started again; I hugged the photo close to me for comfort. "Baby?" Shit. It sounded like he was right in my bedroom doorway. I did everything I could to make sure I didn't move a muscle. I tried to let the tears fall as quietly as possible and just this once, I hoped he would go away.

My luck wasn't that great though. I heard his footsteps move closer to me eventually stopping right next to the bed. He rested his hand on my shoulder, "Birdie?" When I didn't respond he moved my hair out of my face. I'm sure he could see the tears and their tracks running down my face, but I didn't bother to look towards him.

Eli climbed over me and lay on the bed facing me. He wiped the current tears from my face, even though they were about to be replaced by more, then mindlessly rubbed his thumb back and forth across my cheek. "Hey," was all he said for a few minutes. He continued caressing my cheek in silence until he spoke again, "what's hurting you so bad today?"

And just like that, the dam broke; I began sobbing so loudly, and I couldn't stop it. He wrapped his arms and legs around me, and pulled me as close to him as possible without squishing me. He ran his arm up and down my back, "oh, Birdie. I gotcha. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about whatever this is about." He continued repeating himself every once in a while; alternating between "I gotcha" and "I'm so sorry."

I wasn't sure how long we lay like that, me sobbing and Eli trying to comfort me. After I calmed down a bit though, he got up from the bed and pulled me up into his arms. If I had the energy, I would have questioned what he was doing. He walked me into my bathroom and sat me on the counter, then turned towards the tub, started running the water, and added soap.

He asked if I could strip down myself, and when I didn't respond he did it for me, leaving me in my bra and underwear. I set the picture on the counter as Eli lifted me up again and moved me to the bathtub. I left my arms outside the tub, so the wraps on them didn't get wet and ruined. I stared blankly at the photo as tears continued to stream down my face.

Eli left for a minute and returned with a glass from the kitchen. He dunked it under the water, then dumped it over at my hairline. When my hair was fully soaked he pumped shampoo into his hands and began to run it through my hair until there wasn't a spot on my head missing it. He massaged it into my scalp and rinsed it. Then he repeated the process with the conditioner all without saying anything. I was extremely grateful for the silence.

Then Eli reached for my body wash and gently grabbed my leg from the water. He put some of the body wash into his hands, rubbed them together, and massaged it into my skin. He did this for both legs, my stomach, neck, collar bone, and back. When he went to unwrap my arms, I flinched a bit, considering stopping him from doing it but ultimately backed down because I didn't have the energy to do so. He was going to leave me after this fiasco anyways; why not make it even easier on him?

He apologized and said he would be more gentle. As the wraps came off, I gauged his reaction from the corner of my eye. His eyes widened as he removed them and when they were gone, he took a deep breath, but again he didn't say anything. He repeated the process he did with the rest of my body to my arms, only gentler. Within that time, my gaze refocused on that picture on the counter. This time I couldn't look away.