Broken World

Chapter 31

       I awake some time later to the quiet peacefulness. Kellin is sitting next me, his hand in mine, and his head is on the bed. He's fast asleep, and drool is pooling by the corner of his mouth. The lamp is on providing the only light in the room. I yawn quietly so I don't wake him and shift just the tiniest bit because I was laying with my back at an awkward angle. He groans and shifts in his sleep. I want to laugh at him because he's mumbling something that I can't decipher. His free hand is twitching, and I'm struggling to hold back my laughter because I don't want to wake him. I rub my thumb on his hand, and he doesn't even seem to notice.

       "Don't touch my..." he exclaims jolting awake from his dream. He cuts himself off before he says what he didn't want something to touch his something.

       "Well, you're awake now, so I can laugh," I say bursting into laughter.

       "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he says, and I see a blush coming onto his face, which causes me to laugh even harder. He starts laughing as well because of this situation. My ribs feel like they are breaking because the scratches on my side, but I don't care. Someone is approaching my room, and Kellin and I look towards the door. When the door opens I see Warren standing there. He smiles at me when he sees I'm awake.

       "Well, morning. How are you feeling?" Warren asks.

       "I'm okay. I'm in a bit of pain, but I'll be fine. Pain doesn't really bother me any more since I've felt so much," I say with a smile.

       "I'm glad you're okay. I heard about your incident, and I wanted to see you sooner, but I knew you'd need sleep. Pretty much everyone is worried about you. You know they really care for and respect you, right?" Warren asks.

       "Really?" I ask almost breathlessly.

       "Yeah. Why do you seem so shocked?" he asks.

       "Because there's like thirty or more people here, and I've never had that many people respect or care for me at once," I say while smiling.

       "Well, those that didn't are morons because you deserve everyone's care and respect. Oh, Magic told me to tell you that if he could get up he'd be in here talking to you. He also said, and I quote, 'We are both in crappy shape and blaming ourselves for what happened, so I think we could have an amazing conversation.' When he said this I laughed because we all feel that way about something at this time," Warren says, and I begin laughing again.

       "You've not known me very long, and yet you seem to know a lot about me. That's kinda terrifying," I say trying to control my hysterical laughter.

       "Why's it terrifying? You are so easy to read when you want to be. Like I've already gathered you're a good leader, you care about everyone, you want to protect everyone you know, you consider any person you've met a friend even if you don't know their name, you stick up for people when they need it, you comfort people when they're sad because you hate seeing people hurt, you listen to people's opinions and decide what's best, you are smart, you are nice, you are strong, you are cunning, you are shy but can get yourself to do things when needed, and there's so much more, but I can't say it all without taking up a whole day," Warren says, and I can tell he's telling the truth by the look in his eyes.

       "Wow, that's so sweet. But I'm just going to say that's just what I let people know. I have a lot of things people don't know," I say looking away from him.

       "You mean things like you have emotional issues, you have what you call breakdowns when something goes wrong, you blame yourself when something bad happens, you worry almost constantly about anything important, and you hurt when your friends hurt? That's just some deeper things I've noticed," he says, and I stare at him in horror.

       "H-how'd you g-get all th-that?" I stutter. This is truly scary because no one has learned so much about me in this short of time.

       "I pay attention to things in the world. It just seems I've been hanging out with you enough to pick that stuff up. Also you both might want to shut your mouths before you catch flies," he says with a chuckle.

       "It took me several months, hell a year at least, to learn all of that about her," Kellin gasps.

       "I hide everything almost so even though you say you pay attention it's creepy as I'll get out," I say still staring in horror.

       "Don't worry everything I know shall be kept secret. I know you don't like people knowing a lot about you because you know that they could overtake you or hurt you easily if they did," he says.

       "Okay, buddy boy. Stop with the 'read in between the lines' crap and tell me how you know all of this," I demand while staring in horror.

       "As I already said, I watch people and learn how they work, especially my close friends. I then store all of that up, and if they ask about themselves I can tell them. If they are hurting I can have an idea of how I can help them," he says, and I stare into his eyes to see if he's lying or not. He's making eye contact as well, and the truth could not be more evident in his eyes.

       "As creepy as that sounds, I'm glad to know I have someone to know people's innermost secrets, and someone who can tell me anything important about a person. Between your electric ability and knowing a lot about people, you are seriously going to be a useful person to have on our side," I say.

       "Thanks, I think. That was a compliment, right?" he asks.

       "Yes, it was a compliment," I say. I look at Kellin who's been awfully silent for all of this and realize he's asleep. I smile at how he's sleeping through this. I wonder how long he's been up and how he could sleep so easily.

       "Well, it appears he crashed some time while we were talking," Warren says with a chuckle.

       "Yeah. I honestly don't know how he did it. If I slept like that I'd wake up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck," I say. We both start laughing, and Kellin still manages to sleep through it. I pat his shoulder, and he still doesn't move. He groans and slaps at my hand in his sleep.

       "Well, I better go. The boys are probably wondering where I went and why I have been gone so long. See ya tomorrow, Delilah," he says.

       "Okay, bye," I say. I watch as he leaves then hope Addison would come through the door with pain meds. I lay there staring at the door with an intensity of craziness that if I had telepathy or telekinesis the door would move and every medic would be in here. After a few minutes Addison actually walks in and gives me pain meds. I instantly take them, and I feel an almost instant relief. I let out a sigh and shift my weight to a more comfortable position.

       "You okay?" Kellin asks while rubbing his eyes.

       "Yeah, sorry if I woke you. If you want you can go sleep in a bed in the other room," I say.

       "Nope, I'm going to stay with you. I refuse to leave," he says.

       "What if you get hungry, thirsty, or have to use the bathroom?" I ask.

       "Then I'll cross that bridge when I get there," he says. Then he yawns and lays his head back down.

       "Okay. I'm going to sleep, too," I say. I lean back, and I shut my eyes. I start dozing off, and I find Kellin's hand before I begin to fall asleep completely. Right as I drift off a loud crash comes from somewhere out in the hallway, and Kellin shoots up upon hearing it.

       "What the hell was that?" I ask.