My phone vibrated against my bedside table, causing me to stir in my sleep. "Mmmph." I dragged a pillow over my head and held it to my ears. The phone buzzed again. "Go away." I spoke into my pillow. The phone stopped. Good, I thought, I allowed my mind to drift back into the terrible nightmares I'd been hosting for days now. Then phone vibrated, again. I threw the pillow off me and into the wall. Snatching up the phone, I squinted at the light that radiated from it. I blinked and adjusted so I could read the texts that had popped up. The most recent ones were from Bex.
"Cammie, please get out of your bed! It's been three days and you haven't moved!"
"Don't make me come over there. I know you're just ignoring me. You need to talk to someone about this!"
"That's it, you leave me no choice. I'm coming over. RIGHT NOW. You need help my friend."
I moaned. Why couldn't they just leave me alone? I didn't want to talk to anyone. Talking about it would lead to crying about it. I didn't want to cry anymore. I was trying to keep Zach off my mind. He was gone. I couldn't save him now. It was eating me up inside.
I threw on some grey sweat pants and a pale green tank top. Bex was right though. I hadn't left my bed in three days, except for food and the bathroom. I just wasn't ready to face the world without him. My hair had a severe case of bedhead. I sighed. It looked incurable so I pushed it back into a frizzy bun and put on an elastic headband to hold it down. The face I saw in the mirror looked like a zombie. So what? It's not like I had a Blackthorne Boy to impress. I didn't need to look good. There was no point. I proceeded to brush my teeth and wash my face. I tried to stuff as many used tissues as I could into a waste basket. They were littered across the room, like sprinkles on a cupcake. There was a knock on my apartment door. Before I could even make my way out of the bathroom, I heard Bex picking the lock. Eh, might as well leave her to her business. I continued to try to make my room more presentable. Bex was going to be appalled by what she found. I should try to lighten the load.
"Cammie!" An exasperated British accent called from the kitchen. "We need to talk!"
Okay, so you probably think Bex is being a very insensitive best friend right now. Well, you can't really blame her. You see, after Zach's uhm… 'accident', I took a leave from work. I asked the director not to inform my friends of Zach's mission. I didn't want them to see me like this. He just told everyone I caught a cold. Bex must have detected my lie though, because she was storming through my apartment, right into my room.
"Cammie!" She yelped as she took in my appearance. "What happened?" Her eyes scanned the room. It was a total pig sty. My food wrappers were strewn about the room along with the tissues I hadn't gotten. My bed sheet were tangled up and thrown around in a wild looking manner on my bed. Several of my drawers were pulled open, clothes hanging out over the edges. I could go on, but I don't see why. Let's just say, it was messy in there.
"Zach's mission happened." I squeaked. I hadn't realized how hard it would be to say the words until the moment actually arrived. I fell back onto my bed.
"What?" Bex kneeled in front of me, her dark hair falling over her shoulders.
"He's dead." I broke down turning my face into my pillow. My cries were muffled, but they were obvious. I felt Bex sit next to me on the mattress. She rubbed my back soothingly, but it didn't help much.
"I'm so, so sorry Cammie," I could hear tears coming over her, too. But I peaked and saw that she was holding them in. Ugh, I feel like a wimp.
"It's ok Cam." She said as if reading my mind. "You need to cry. It helps. Just let it go." So I did. I let it go for about an hour before I sat up and was able to reduce my sobs to sniffles.
"Tell you what Cam, I'm gonna go get some donuts and then I'll be right back." She grabbed her purse and headed out the door. "Just hang in there."
I nodded and rubbed my rose with the back off my hand. Donuts were m back off my hand. Donuts were my favorite breakfast food. Bex was a good friend. At least I still had my friends. I sniffled again and reached for another tissue.
There was some clicking coming from down the hallway. I stood cautiously. I had heard Bex close the door behind her. She was already out of the building. I slowly stalked out of my room and eased into the living room. A torn up sneaker peaked through the dark brown curtains hung around the window. A body started to slip through. I grabbed the nearest weapon, a lamp, and walked silently towards the man. His body was half way into the room when I grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto his back. He landed on the ground with a thud and a grunt. I pounced and raised my lamp over my head, ready to attack. Then I gasped.
"Ouch." Two slightly swollen lips mumbled.
"Zach!" I yelled it, not caring about my grouchy neighbors. I collapsed into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You were dead." I kissed him quickly. "I'm gonna kill you." Kiss. "Where have you been?" Kiss. "Oh my gosh." Then I just clung to him like I would never let go. I probably wouldn't.
He laughed lightly. But then he moaned from me crushing him under me. (No, I'm not fat! He was just extremely sore. Well, that's what I assumed.) I pulled away and kneeled next to him, leaning over him.
"Zach," I gasped. I examined him for wounds and got more than what I was hoping for. One side of his face was a painful –looking purple tint. A dark circle outlined his left eye. The other side of his face had a scarlet red cut that ran from his cheekbone to his jawline. His shirt was stained red from blood. There were several deep cuts that crisscrossed up and down his legs. His left arm was burned. Several of his fingers were bent in odd angles that signaled they were broken. I felt myself start to cry. He looked so beaten and miserable. He barely looked like Zach.
'Gallagher Girl," He croaked. He sounded so weak. Another wave of pain hit me. I let myself lie down on the ground next to him and cry onto his shoulder. He struggled, but reached out and took my hand in his. He smiled at me weakly, and I realized that barely alive Zach was better than dead Zach.
"Let me clean you wounds." He nodded slightly. I propped him up against my couch and went searching through drawers. I came back with a bottle of alcohol (the medical kind!), a box of bandages, gauze, an icepack, some paper towels, water, and a rag. Zach smiled at me again. I could tell that he didn't have much strength for talking, so I just smiled back at him through my tears.
I started on his face and rubbed the cut with alcohol. He winced but held in any cries of pain that could've escaped. I bandaged that cut carefully and gave him an icepack for the nasty bruise that decorated the other side of his face. I continued on, speaking soothing words to him and try my best to be gentle.
"You're home now. You're safe. That's all that matters. I'll fix you up and you'll be good as new. Don't worry. Everything's alright baby." He just grimaced at the painful parts and smiled when he could at my words. Eventually, I finished. "There." I said as I wiped some dirt away from his forehead.
"Thank you Cammie." He whispered. His beautiful emerald eyes held happiness and I smiled at him again.
Like I would ever give you any less I kissed his forehead gingerly, careful not to put too much pressure on his bruise. "Well, they always say you should kiss it to make it better." I shrugged and kissed his lips slowly. I pulled away and saw Bex standing in the doorway with a Dunkin' Donuts bag in her right hand, Her left hand rested on a cocked hip.
"And to think we finally got rid of you." She glared for a teasing second and then allowed her lips to break into a toothy grin.