Being Butch Green || ✓

Chapter 24 - Hunted and Found

Somewhere in the night I fell asleep. It wasn't great either. I woke up continuously, and my dreams were filled with the whole shake up with Jack. I was beginning to think this was my body's way of telling me I'd been tipped over the edge and wasn't going back. I groaned as the dawn light hit me and a new wave of searing hot pain rushed through my shoulder.

Grimacing through it, I rolled over to spot the aspirin sitting proudly several meters away.

"Crap," I moaned, wincing as I grasped at the bed of pillows. Eventually, through much pain, I sat myself up on my pillow mountain.

Being shot was definitely not going to be one of the hardest things to hit me – pun not intended. The wound greatly limited my mobility and I huffed in annoyance as I managed to scuttle myself over to the shelf and pick up the pill bottle with my good hand. I fumbled with the container, trying to unscrew it. When that didn't work, I tried opening the bottle with my teeth, but it fell, smashing against the bench. The container rolled off it and crashed to the ground, splitting; the pills bouncing across the floor like jumping fleas.

I sighed. "Well at least it opened," I mused, staring down at them and wondering how on earth I was going to feed myself the powdery white ovals now.

"Do you need some help there?"

I swivelled around, running my good hand through my hair and down to my neck where I scratched it nervously. "Yeah-yeah," I concluded, nodding.

Hailey smiled from where she rested her delicate head on the doorframe. Her dark skin shimmered in the early light as she stood up straighter in her pink pyjamas. She brushed a stray bit of hair behind her head as she walked barefoot over to where I stood.

"You really aren't all that co-ordinated, are you?" she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she bent to scoop up the pills.

"Not as much as I'd like to be," I told her, scratching my chin.

She stood. I let her eyes search me for a moment, before I nudged her hand and she let the medicine fall into my cupped palm.

"You know Jack really does care about you."

I scoffed. "You really believe that?"

She nodded. "He's like the brother I never had to me. And he wants to be the brother you never had to you. All you have to do is let him in."

"I wish I could."

"Why can't you?"

I shrugged. "I don't think I'm ready to forgive him in that way yet."

She nodded. "These things take time."

She cruised back through the doorway, brushing air past me. I followed after her as she pulled out a cereal box from the cupboard around the corner and dryly stuffed some of it into her mouth.

"You want some?" she asked as crumbs fell from her mouth.

I shook my head. "I'm not a fan of Coco Pops when I've been shot," I narrated, leaning on the doorway.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself," she stated as she placed the box back where it'd been living and moved across to her room.

I smiled after her, letting my eyes wander over the secluded home.

The small hallway was filled with sentiments. Picture frames of a young Hailey dotted the walls. There were awards for spelling bees and Maggie's famous vegan cheese spread between the photos. I spotted one of Jack proudly holding up a certificate at what looked like a graduation. Guilt coursed through my stomach, tying it in a firm knot. I turned away, scowling. Jack with his perfect little new life.