The Firefly

52°

***

He felt his breath catch as the Brat moved away from him going straight against the danger.

So he hesitated no further.

He remembered the stabbing pain in his nose and his body falling uncontrollably onto the girl's.

A gasp had escaped his lips as blood had begun to spill uncontrollably.

He had felt compelled to reassure her; he dared not imagine her expression.
She must have been disgusted by all that blood.

He gritted his teeth as he felt his nose throb and his throat go dry.

He heard her crying, a few tears falling on his forehead.

He wished he could have reassured her, told her the police would be there any minute.

She took his bleeding face into her lap and Jake, for a moment, no longer felt the pain.

As he fell he had lost his reference points, he had no idea where Vince was, and at the thought that he might now be mad at Amber he felt terror growing in his gut.

He couldn't let that happen.
But his body was heavy, the bleeding intense.

The best he could do was smile when he heard police sirens approaching.

He was proud that he had managed to protect her; he felt confident for the first time in a long time.

That feeling vanished as soon as his head became leaden and his body let go in her arms.

The memories that followed were muffled, he remembered only the great headache and the ice that burned his forehead.

The only thing his attention resided on, however, was her voice.
Soft-spoken, pained.
She was worried, worried about him.

Perhaps it was a hallucination due to the heavy blow, but it seemed to him as if her lips suddenly rested on his forehead.

He felt her breath inches from his skin and felt her freeze when he decided to open his eyes just a little.

***

When the ambulance also arrived Vince had already been taken away by the police while Nathan was loaded into the large red and white vehicle and quickly taken to the hospital.

I was sitting on the stretcher aboard the second ambulance, by my side a nurse was carefully dabbing Jake's nose.

After about fifteen minutes they had managed to stop his bleeding and now he was looking really bad.

I held his hand, stroking the back of it with my index finger while a man checked my knee that I had banged up when I fell to the floor.

-Will he be all right?- I asked for the nineteenth time to the woman who, looking at me exasperated, finally decided to give me an answer.

-I cannot explain how, but he has no fractures. However, it would be best to avoid nose-blowing and other actions that could damage him further.- She recommended and then returned her focus to the boy lying helpless on the stretcher.

She gave me a gentle look when she noticed how I didn't take my eyes off his face. -He will wake up soon, he has lost a lot of blood and just needs to rest.- She explained.

The man in front of me returned to his feet, observing his colleague at work, then walked out, going to report our condition to the policemen who were jotting down everything so they could make the report, as Leda had requested.

Jake's face was expressionless, gaunt, his lips pale.

Motionless except for the slight movement of his chest when he breathed.

I shuddered as I looked at his white shirt now covered almost entirely with bloodstains. -You were an idiot.- I muttered.

Approaching him cautiously, I stroked the contour of his face feeling tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.

With an instinctive gesture my lips rested on his cool forehead.

I clenched my jaw when, in retreating, I noticed his two nive pearls gazing into the void.

-Is that you?- His voice was a very faint whisper.

His breath was inches from my skin.

I didn't have the strength to answer, wide-eyed I was lost in him.

I swallowed hard, I knew I would have to pull away.

But his lips had something magnetic about them, his scent even more so.

Everything about him was mischievous.

His fingers stroked faintly over the back of my hand, grazed his ring.

A grimace of a smile bleached the scar on his lips, but a twinge of pain crossed his face.

-Does it hurt that much?- I squeezed his hand in mine and he seemed fleetingly to relax.

-Nothing unbearable.- He huffed and his snowy pupils disappeared behind his tired eyelids.

He had to rest.

-You had been a fool.- I began and sat down beside her. -You had moved away from me and closer to him, what else could I do?- I made to speak but he was quicker.

-I'm glad he beat me and not you.- He added in a low voice.

-Don't say that.- I tried to brush his cheek, but I withdrew my hand before performing the act.

Leda hesitantly stepped inside the vehicle. -How is he?- She looked like a beaten dog.

-Better, don't worry.- I smiled reassuringly at her, she must have been really scared.

The boy raised his hand slightly in greeting.

The nurse climbed into the driver's seat as the woman closed the tailgate, intimating that we should remain seated during the ride.

-It was all my fault.- Leda muttered without looking me in the eye.

-Bullshit.- Jake snorted. -It was only that lunatic's fault.- She smiled at his words.

For the rest of the way there was no chatter, just silence.

It was all so surreal.

Leda, at my side, was looking at her cell phone still sniffing up her nose, and Jake seemed to have dozed off.

My heart still hadn't calmed down and an anxious feeling kept pounding my insides.

I had been too reckless and had risked a lot in challenging that crazy Vince; it had been my fault that Jake had been beaten.

-Thank you both.‖ Leda murmured thoughtfully.

-You were brave and stood up for us.- She pointed out.

-Nervous model, I had misjudged you.- Jake hinted a small satisfied smile, but said nothing.

He kept his eyes closed while breathing through his mouth.

-I heard the doctor speak before Nathan was taken to the hospital.-He then whispered in a low voice without ever opening his eyes. -He will recover.-

I felt relieved.

The girl let out a long sigh and then curled up on the second stretcher and closed her eyes.

Jake's hand let go in mine as he fell asleep.

I took advantage of his sleep to enjoy that contact, as if doing it while he was unconscious made me feel a little less struggling with myself.

-Amby.- Leda watched me from the gurney beside her, her eyes still red from crying.

She pointed to Jake with a faint nod of her head.

-I think I understand.- She murmured.

-You like him, don't you?- I didn't answer her, tightening my lips before any affirmative thought escaped my lips.

-I can see it, the way you look at him.-

She sought my gaze in every way, but I made sure not to meet hers.