Carlton ✔

46| The Scathed Wits

"I like your hair," I heard myself say.

Immediately, as if someone had grabbed me and yanked me back forcefully, the darkness curved in on me. Just like that, my wounds began to hurt again, the chilly atmosphere bit me painfully again.

"Carlton?"

I groaned, shifting to shake the stiffness from my bones. My eyes struggled to open, but when they did, I saw a figure in front of me.

The cold touch of her hands on my face were unmistakable. It was her.

"Breanna?" My voice sounded way more hoarse than normal.

"Yes..."

My heart came up to my throat. I opened my eyes wide and sure enough, I saw Breanna's auburn hair strands falling from her bun, swaying with the wind.

Her voice was breaking regretfully. "What have they done to you...?"

How could this be? Why was she here? A fountain of questions were on my lips, but nothing came out. My vision was still blurry, but I saw her shuffle into a satchel and remove a bottle of water. She brought it to my lips, very gently lifting my chin to angle my face. The water burned my sore throat as in went down. It was gut-wrenching. Perhaps because of all the screaming and crying.

I chugged the whole bottle, and the churning pain in my belly reminded me that it had been too long since I had eaten something.

She touched my forehead to hers, caressing my face lovingly, crying.

Oh what I wouldn't do to see her clearly right now. But my vision was all over the place. Nothing was visible enough.

She brought her lips to my ears, her warm breath licking my sensitive skin there. "Carlton, listen to me carefully," she whimpered, "Your fight will be tomorrow evening. Now, I want you to hold Augustus in the fight as long as possible. Can you do that for me?"

When I didn't respond, her head fell with misery. I endeavored to look at her, my wounds twisting in the process. I hissed in pain, but she ran her fingers through my hair, calming me down.

"I love you so much." She touched her cheek on mine as she cried. "It hurts to be stand here and still do nothing. It hurts so much to see you like this..."

I was trying so hard to say something, anything. Either my mind was too clouded or my throat had surpassed its vocal limit.

She backed away slightly, wiping her tears fervently. Was she leaving?

She touched her forehead to mine again. "We all love you so fucking much, you have no idea. We'll come for you, bad boy," she chuckled through her tears, "Wait for us. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Just like that, she backed away till my vision blurred completely. I couldn't see any further than a few feet, and my body wouldn't budge, my tongue wouldn't speak.

I was left alone again. I was beyond the point of comprehending what just unfolded in front of my eyes. It felt like a distant dream, almost like a scenario I made up to assure myself. That was the thing — my mind was eating away itself in these chambers, driving me mad in every way. Every minute was torture.

The cold gale was back, penetrating through my clothes and making my body shiver again. Surviving the fight seemed far-fatched when surviving the night was beginning to feel impossible.

*****

"Wake up!"

My heart jumped as I opened my eyelids. Bright sunlight shined into my eyes, making me wince. It took me a while to adjust to the radiance.