In Twain (BoyxBoy)

41 - r o o m

Isak

I opened my eyes and gasped in horror. My eyes took in the dark wood paneling of my childhood room. I froze in disbelief. No, no, no! Not now! Not after everything! Tears filled my eyes. Why was I cursed to come back now? Just when I started to believe in the possibilities of happy endings, I was sucked back to my own world, away from Charzaphir, away from Ghimizar, away from the people I cared about. Why the day after I got married did I suddenly get brought back here? I stifled a sob and looked around. The sound of beeps reached my ears. I looked down at myself. Wires ran inside of my pajamas. IVs were in my arms. My hands and feet were bound to the bed. What the fuck? Why was I here?

Jess slept in a chair next to the bed. She didn't look very comfortable, but I couldn't understand how she came to be sitting next to me when she never believed me in the first place. Why was she here now? Why wasn't she in her own room? What happened to change things so drastically? I cleared my throat softly and watched her slowly her open her eyes. She glanced over at me and bolted upright in her chair.

"You're awake!"

I stared at her confused. "What is going on?"

"What do you think is going on, Isak?"

"Am I under observation?"

"In your own home? That'd be a little strange don't you think?"

"But this is my old bedroom. I am at home. There are IVs in my arms! What is going on?"

She put her hand over mine and clutched it lightly. "What were you thinking, Isak! Did you think that we'd be better off without you? You're my brother and you'll always be my brother, even if we don't always agree." She picked up her phone texting someone.

"What's going on? Who did you just text?"

"I let Hayden know you were awake."

"Where are mom and dad?"

"They're in the kitchen." She stood up. "I'll be right back." She rushed from the room. I pulled halfheartedly at the bindings as I waited for her to return with the family. How and why did this keep happening? I struggled not to cry when I thought about Charzaphir. The last time I was gone for a day here, it was months there. What was he thinking now that my worst fears were realized? Would he wait? He said he would, but people always say they'll do one thing, but they end up doing another. Besides, how would I get back to him now? Bindings and IVs? They trapped me here whether they realized it or even cared. I jumped in surprise as she hurried back into the room.

"They'll be right in."

"Sure they will. Paul is always thrilled when dealing with me."

"You don't give them many options, Isak. I told you what Mom and Dad planned, what they wanted to to do. I did everything I could to stop them from going this route, but after you tried killing yourself I couldn't convince anyone, including myself that you didn't need to be admitted." I scoffed at her. "It's true, Isak. You won't take your medications. You keep disappearing-"

"Stop trying to sound like Mom," I snapped.

"-and then when you reappear you're worse than before. You don't know how you got those whips and cut marks."

"That's not true! I didn't try killing myself and I told you," I replied flatly, attempting to extract my hand from her grasp. "You just don't believe me. No one does. Why does no one pay attention to the fact that some are healed and just scars? You can't do that in a matter of days."

"You disappeared for weeks, Isak. Who knows what you went through? Nothing you told us made sense. Maybe it's how you made it bearable." I stared at her saying nothing. She took a deep breath and clutched my hand tighter. It made my skin crawl. I wanted to rip my flesh away from hers, flee from this house, this horrid awful place, but she wouldn't stop. She continued on and on. "After you took all of those sleeping pills, Detective McMillan said you passed out in his car while he stopped to get gas. He didn't even know you consumed them. He just thought you were drunk. When he came back to the car and couldn't rouse you, he realized you were in the middle of an attempt and ran inside for help. When they came back outside to the car, you'd already run away." I scoffed at her again. "Stop being so defensive. You woke up and took off to who knows where."