"Carter, come on, wake up," begged Sia, gently smacking his pale cheeks with her dark hands. The contrast was huge.
They had dragged him out of the lake and lay him on the ground. His wet black hair was falling in front of his shut eyes, brushing his silky skin, which was so white it almost looked transparent, his cheeks and nose red from the cold.
Maddy was pacing a few meters away from him, refusing to take another look at his face. She was scared, and she didn't like it. She had been scared many times before. She had been scared when that girl died in the detention class, when the cops were chasing them, when FROST were shooting at them, when the decking had shattered beneath her feet, when she had to drive the car...
She had been scared ever since she had woken up that god damn morning in her kitchen and was late for school.
But this was different. This was the same kind of fear she had experienced years ago, the same kind of fear she had been trying to bury ever since. She was scared like when her brother had-
When he died.
A shiver ran down her spine, and she gulped down the lump that rose in her throat.
"He's breathing, right?" she asked, trying hard to disguise the worry in her voice.
"Yes," answered Sia. "But he's bleeding. Bad. I don't know what to do." Sia's voice was barely more than a whisper from her panic.
Maddy finally looked in his direction. Sia was pressing a piece of cloth on his left biceps. Maddy was too much of a coward to get closer, but knew she would eventually take that step.
Just not yet.
"We should get him to the car," stated Mia, her hands on her hips.
"He should come to his senses first." Sia gave Carter another soft slap on the cheek. "Carter, wake up, damn it."
This isn't going to work.
Maddy blew out a breath and strode towards Carter. If Sia kept on being so easy on him, he would never get his ass up. Maddy knelt down next to him on his other side, opposite to Sia, and her hands gripped his shoulders. She shook him vigorously, his entire body going up and down, his head tapping against the solid ground. He didn't even budge.
Okay, you asked for it.
And she slapped him. Not gently or softly like Sia had. This was a real slap. This was a head turning slap that left Maddy's fingerprints tattooed on Carter's red, sensitive cheek.
She yelled at him. "Wake the hell up, you selfish little-"
Carter's eyes popped wide open, and he almost jolted upright from the shock, as if he had been electrocuted. His dark and hot eyes narrowed into a heavy-lidded glower. "Did you just slap me?"
Maddy couldn't help the little sigh of relief that escaped her lips. You idiot. "I did. And I found it very enjoyable, too."
"You're lucky he can't even move right now," laughed Sia, looking relieved as if a hundred-pound burden had been thrown off her shoulders.
Carter only growled in reply, weakly, but still viciously.
"Welcome back from the dead, sunshine," mocked him Maddy, taking advantage of the lifeless shell he was.
He opened his eyes only enough to send her a scathing glare, but she had grown to be used to it already. "We're taking you to the car," she informed him.
He nodded once, closing his eyes again. Sia didn't let him. "No no no, hey. Open your eyes. You need to stay awake."
Carter groaned, but let Sia lift his head slowly. He looked dazzled, as if black spots were spreading on the edges of his vision. He blinked them away and shook his head slightly.
Logan hooked Carter's right arm on his shoulders and lifted him up on his feet. "Man, what do they feed you?" he groaned as the only half-conscious idiot stumbled on his feet.
Maddy got up next to them and went to take her first step back towards the direction where the car was parked, when she felt a masculine hand clasp the crest of her bare shoulder.
"Help me stand," murmured Carter, his voice weak and husky. Logan seemed to be struggling to carry Carter's heavy weight on his own.
Maddy felt a bit taken aback, but then Carter's legs gave up on him, and she reached out for his waist right before he slid off of Logan's grip. His weak body slammed against hers, and she grunted as she fought to stabilise him in her arms. He nearly knocked her down, but she scrambled to hold him until Logan came to the rescue, taking some of Carter's dead weight back on himself again.
Logan was holding Carter's right side, which left Maddy on his left side. His bleeding side. Despite the now soaked cloth Sia had wrapped tightly around his biceps, a hot crimson liquid was still flowing down his arm. It fell in plump drops on Maddy's bare shoulder, rolling down her upper arm and collarbone in little streams.
She felt nauseous. But even though it cost her, she still pressed her other hand on the piece of fabric for extra pressure, to stop the bleeding. Peeking at her palm, which was now coated red with blood, she wanted nothing more than to pull away from him, scream, tear her own flesh off of her hand. This scene reminded her of a memory she had been trying to forget for so long. A memory that haunted her even in her sleep.
This is real, Maddy. It's not a nightmare, she told herself, forcing her palm to push harder against Carter's wound, and her other arm to tighten around his waist as they carried him towards the car. She glanced at his handsome, wary face. His eyes were nearly closed shut.
"Hey." She jabbed his thigh, and he gingerly opened his glazed eyes. "A little help on your part wouldn't be too bad."
He grunted, but pushed himself to walk a bit so they weren't just dragging him.
"He looks high," commented Logan, who seemed to be studying Carter's spaced-out expression. He let out a little laugh, and Maddy followed his example.
"Shut up," mumbled Carter, his lips barely opening enough to speak the words.
"You shut up. Save your energy for walking," Maddy said flatly.
He scowled, but kept walking, or rather tottering on his feet like a drunk.
Who's a grandma now? thought Maddy mockingly. She felt a bit childish for having such a thought, but couldn't help a low giggle as they dragged him to the car.
When the black pick-up Ford entered her field of vision, Maddy almost cried from relief. She and Logan threw Carter inside, and Sia got to work immediately, pulling the first-aid kit from the car trunk.
Maddy washed the blood off her hands and body, then grabbed a blanket she found and went to cocoon her wet body in it - she was still only in her soaked, plain black undergarments, and could really use the warmth of a nice blanket. But then she remembered there was a certain black-headed asshole inside the car, shivering from the cold, and bleeding badly.
Damn me and my thoughtfulness.
She pushed her way next to Sia, who was treating Carter's wound with extreme care and meticulousness. She leaned on top of him and enveloped him warmly in the blanket, leaving his left arm exposed for Sia to do her magic.
He was so weak he couldn't even open his eyes and notice her, but Maddy thought it was better that way. She drew away from him and his personal doctor with the curly hair and approached Mia and Logan, who seemed to be discussing something, a few meters away, only in their underwear as well.
Maddy was so frozen she had gone numb. Drenched by icy water, and attacked by the wuthering wind.
Yeah, not exactly the best combo.
Mia and Logan were standing really close to each other, and Maddy didn't miss the way Mia's fingertips were caressing Logan's messy, wet hair on the nape of his neck.
"Where are our clothes?" asked Maddy as she joined them. Even her teeth were clattering.
Mia instantly pulled her hand back at the sound of Maddy's voice, looking around awkwardly. She pointed at the car. "I washed them in the lake, they're drying in the car trunk."
Drying? With this cold? Yeah, as if, Maddy thought, but did not say. Her clothes were filthy anyways, so it was better that Mia had washed them.
For a few seconds, no one spoke. Then, a sigh.
"I can't believe they actually gave away our possible location to FROST. They might as well have given them the guns if that was the case." Logan's hands intertwined behind his neck as he looked upwards.
"It's okay, Logs," whispered Mia.
A dangerous glint flared in Logan's navy blue eyes. He threw his hands up in the air. "No, it's not! None of this is fucking okay!"
"Maybe they were just scared for you and thought they were helping."
"Don't get me started, Mia. They always think they're helping and fuck up. I'm sick of them."
Maddy was shocked at the amount of hatred overflowing from Logan's cup. She kept quiet.
"That was-It happened long ago, Logs... When are you going to forgive them?" Mia patted Logan on the shoulder, her usual sarcasm replaced by understanding.
What was long ago?
"Never." Logan's eyes flashed with so much hate Maddy cringed. His voice had grown lower, menacing and colder than the lake they were swimming in a few minutes ago. "Ever."
What had his parents done to him?
"Guys!" shouted Sia from the Ford. Maddy turned around and fixed her eyes on her, worried and expectant, a twist of panic overtaking her stomach, even against her will.
Did something happen to Carter?
"Come here! I turned the heater on!"
Maddy relaxed, and then looked away, feeling stupid for worrying in the first place.
Toughen up, Maddy, she thought to herself and winced as she, Mia and Logan made their way towards the car.