Syn's Deep In My Blood - Book 2

Meet the Parents

My hands were aching from spending the last hours trying to clean the bloodstains from Jess' bedroom floor. I couldn't stay in the hospital; her mom chose to stay even when Jess wasn't talking to any of her parents. She still needed time to heal her wounds. Her soul wounds mostly.

When Zack brought me home by 4 am, I didn't have a single drop of sleep on me. That house haunted me now. All Jess' demons and mine united in one place. I could see them all around me, watching every step I made, just waiting for me to slip again. If I didn't spend at least that night there, I wouldn't have anywhere else to go. So if sleep wasn't an option, clean should be a good one.

I thought about calling Brian a hundred times as I mopped the floor. It was so hard to step inside her room and remember how I found her again. I thought I wouldn't be able to get in, so I almost called him. But no, I had to start being strong by myself. I had to do this alone. Brian wouldn't be here every time to save me, and that's something I had to get used to. He had his own problems, his own life. I needed to stop getting in his way.

I ended up falling asleep from exhaustion on the couch after I finished cleaning and only woke up when my doorbell rang. I looked at my phone. It was 9 am. Who could it be?

I fixed my clothes and my hair as I could and paced to the door, opening it slightly.

"What are you doing here? It's early..." I squinted my eyes from the sunlight annoying my irises.

"It's 9 am. You need to take your pill." Brian showed me the bottle, and I nodded. I completely forgot I had time to take those.

"Oh... yeah, come on in. I'll make some coffee." Damn it, have I just invited him in? It was kind of automatic, but I instantly remembered I needed to stay away from him. I needed, and I wanted to. But I couldn't just throw him away now. He brought my pills here. I should thank him somehow.

I opened the door, and he stepped inside, coming after me to the kitchen, passing through the destroyed piano in the living room.

"Wow... she did this?" he asked while we walked, but I didn't stop in front of the pieces of wood and black and white keys spread over the floor. I hated to look at it.

"Yeah... she was bad, Bri."

"Zack told me everything. He's still pretty shocked too. How are you holding up?" he picked up a chair and sat down as I set the water to boil.

"Trying not to think about it, I guess." I shrugged, gazing at him.

He was looking pitiful at me, so before it could get more awkward, I turned my back, got a glass of water for myself, and asked for my pill.

"How are the symptoms? Are you still feeling ill?" I sat in front of him and placed my hand on the table. He looked pretty worried about me.

"No, not really. I just... spent the night cleaning... Jess' bedroom and... only slept a few hours, so... I might be a bit slow today." I tried to smile, but it didn't come out.

Suddenly I felt his hand landing on mine, caressing my fingers with his soft ones. God, his touch... I need to resist him. I need to...

The noise from the water boiling invaded our ears and made me pull my hand out from his swiftly. Thank god...

I prepared the coffee, and we stood in silence for a long time. Then I served us two cups, and I sat back there to face him again.

"I have an idea... about what we should try to wake up Jimmy. I couldn't sleep, so I researched a lot about music stimulating the brain in comatose cases with the use of Music Therapy and... I think that's the key. He's deeply connected to music like we are, so... what if we play some songs for him today, you know his music taste, I know it too, we should get his favorite songs and play for him. It's worth the try."