Spiraled ⚪⭐⚪⭐ (A Brollins Novel)✔

EPISODE SIXTEEN

Pamela's House. Los Angeles, California.

Mercedes can't recall when Colby awoke. She'd overestimated her ability to stay awake all night. The lure of sleep was too strong for her to hold out. She can't recall when her eyes fell closed or when her self consciousness snuffed out completely, drowning her into a deep slumber. She only remembers the piecing sting of Colby's fingernails as they dug into her arms—–shoving her off his chest—–and her startled squeak as her head banged against the hard wood of the headboard. She neither register the pain at the back of her head nor does she allow herself a moment to wallow in it. She only registers Colby's fuming gaze as he stares at her and the lack of concern on his face. His expression is more of confusion at first than anything else. Recollection then sets in, followed by regret and then a fiery flare of pure rage. She almost bolt out of bed in fright at the look, considering backing out of the plan she'd formed last night.

But she can't give up now. What is done is done. She has to face it. There's no turning back.

Pulling in a deep breath, she sits up and regards Colby with a look full of pain and incredulity as she rubs at the ache at the back of her head. "Colby, what's wrong? Why did you push me away like that?"

He doesn't answer her. He sits on the bed, his back to her, holding his head in his hands as he groans and moans pitifully. She doesn't move to get him a cup of water; even if she should. She has a tiny fraction of idea of what exactly he's going through but she has to follow her plans. It's the only thing she still has. Her plans. "How did I end up here," he mumbles softly, glancing uncomfortably around the room as if he hasn't been here a million times before. When a response doesn't sound in the quiet atmosphere, he glances back at her over his shoulder, his face set in grim lines. "How did I end up here?"

"I brought you here," she replies. "Don't you remember anything that happened last night?"

He flashes her a look which says she has gone mad, shaking his head frantically. He whisks away the blanket around his legs and jumps to his feet, snatching up his shirt on the floor nearby. He mutters something over and over while he shrugs into his shirt. "But how?" He doesn't spare her a glance as he asks, too busy searching for his remaining clothes.

"Colby, what's wrong? Why are acting like this?" She hugs the blankets around her shoulders, pulling every sort of innocence and fragility she can muster into her voice and face. His back and forth pace in her room momentarily makes her dizzy. "Colby, what's wrong?"

He turns around to face her, causing her to shrink back at the icy look on his face. Truth be told, she'd never expected he'll get this angry. "How did I end up here," his voice is dangerously low, "how did I end up here Mercedes?"

She hopes her look is as puzzled as possible, "That question again? What do you mean by; 'how did I end up here?' You're in my room Colby and I'm your girlfriend. You slept in my room last night and I don't think that requires any explanations from me. It's not like you don't remember what we did."

'What we did.' His mouth hangs open at the last words, jaws working but struggling to get a word out. He immediately takes his pants and starts pulling it up his legs, all the while shaking his dejectedly, as if he's just woken up to find his entire family died of a car crash. "What happened to me last night? Why is it. . . . that I couldn't feel anything in my body? Why did I get so weak all of a sudden? Why. . . . why did I feel so numb?"

She shrugs in bewilderment, "How would I know? I thought maybe you were tired so. . . ."

"You thought I was tired?" He shouts this time and if it weren't for the fact that he's staring daggers at her in this moment, Mercedes would've smiled. Exactly the reaction she wants in him. "I couldn't move. I couldn't do a thing. I couldn't walk. I couldn't move my hands. I couldn't even speak. I felt so dizzy and so numb and you didn't think something was wrong with me? How could you? How could you take such advantage of me?"