Page 16

“Lia, what are you…”

That’s all I hear before shock strikes me just as fast as I hit the ground and everything goes dark.

You know what they say, be careful what you wish for—or in my case, be careful who you hope isn’t dead, because you might just get it…and risk a concussion from passing out.

5

RENNIX

FINALLY THIS GUY

DECIDES TO JOIN THE FUN

She’s just as I remembered.

Curious. I don’t need much more confirmation than her being here to know that still to be true.

Impulsive. Again, her presence here, where it absolutely should not be, backs that up with implied certainty.

Another thing I’m confident hasn’t changed, despite her need to continually test boundaries and push limits, is that anxiety still has its hold on her, which saddens me. She wouldn’t be laid out on the floor with drool rolling down her chin, passed out, unconscious from fainting if that wasn’t still the case.

Then again, nothing can prepare a person for this place. So I guess fainting from the shock is a reasonable response. If I didn’t know what this all entailed, I probably would have too, but that’s neither here nor there. I accepted this reality willingly. She did not.

I realize I sound redundant. Forgive me. I’ve had—well, I have no idea how long I’ve had since the concept of time is one of the first things to go out the window when you are, how do I put this? Ah yes, trapped.

Have been since I…

You know what? That’s not important.

But what is important is getting her out of here. Now.

In order to do that I need to wake her up. I kneel onto the ground in front of her legs. Unfortunately, before I ended up here, I had a lot of experience in knowing what to do when someone fainted due to my mom’s chronic health condition. It became routine. Even more so when she began to drink after my dad left us. I switched up my approach when she drank, focusing on turning her onto her side so in the event she vomited upon waking she wouldn’t choke. But since Natalia is, from what I can gather, sober and seemed to have fainted from shock, keeping her flat and being able to elevate her legs slightly is my goal.

I’m about to grab hold of her calves when I realize the state she’s in.

Shit.

I rise to my feet, looking around frantically for something to cover her with. The last thing I need is for her to become conscious and see me again for the first time in who knows how long and think I’m being a creep.

Realizing there’s nothing I can use to conceal her I go with the next best option…taking the shirt off my back, literally.

I unbutton the black button-up that has become my lifelong uniform at this point and meet her back on the floor. I get as far as inching my hand closer to her, just about to drape it over her lower half, when she stirs slightly, rendering me frozen.

She winces. Her nose scrunches like she’s in pain. Her eyes remain shut.

I drop my shirt and crawl over to where she’s thrashing her head side to side.

“It’s okay.” My voice is barely above a whisper. I don’t want to scare her again. Instinct kicks in as I lift her head up enough to slip my leg underneath it for her to rest on.

“Where?” is all she gets out before reducing her voice to a hum.

“Ssh.” Nostalgia hits my nervous system as I inhale her signature scent. It’s the same fruity cherry blossom and floral perfume she always wore. It’s all I can focus on, that is until her eyes shoot wide open and her deep honey irises steal the show. Same way they always have.

Here I am, supposed to be helping her ease back into consciousness, and I’m now the one who feels like they are going to faint.

The air in my throat becomes trapped. The saliva in my mouth evaporates as does the ability to string together a coherent sentence.

“Rennix? Is that you?”