Broken World

Chapter 36

       "She'll be fine, guys. She just overexerted herself and needs rest," I hear Addison say from far away.

       "You swear she won't die?" I hear two very familiar voices say at the same time.

       "She won't. Remember her power will save her. She will just sleep a lot until her body recovers," Addison says.

       "Okay, but I'm not leaving her," one of the familiar voices say.

       "And neither am I," says the other followed by several other voices.

       "Okay, just don't bother her," Addison says. I hear receding footsteps before falling back into my deep sleep.

       I pry my eyes open after God only knows how long to see the crowd of my friends around my bed asleep in various positions and places. Kellin's on his knees with his head on my bed; Zoe's on the floor curled in a ball; Max is reclined in a chair; Calvin is leaning against the wall with Alex, Warren, and Red along the wall beside him; Dylan is laying on the floor with his arms under his head; and Jim is leaning on the door frame. I smile at the fact that all of my friends are here just for me. I lift a shaky hand and pat Kellin's arm that's under his head, and his eyes flutter open.

       "Babe?" he asks while turning his head towards me.

       "Hi," I say croakily as I smile.

       "Oh my-" he starts to exclaim, but I cover his mouth.

       "Hush, now. No one needs to know I'm awake, okay?" I ask in a hushed whisper.

       "Okay," he mumbles past my hand.

       "I don't know how I understood that," I say with a quiet giggle.

       "Delilah, why'd you do what you did? You scared everyone. Max thought he'd killed you," Kellin asks.

       "I did it because I didn't want to lose my friend. No one could've stopped me either way," I say.

       "Okay, fair enough. At least now I have a reason for you almost killing yourself," he says.

       "Don't ever worry about it. All you need to know is that I'd kill myself for a friend any day," I say.

       "Well, that's a reason for me to worry. I guess I just have to make sure no one gets hurt then," he says.

       "What about Magic and the other two people from the battle?" I ask.

       "Well, Magic's almost completely healed, and the other two are hanging in there," he says.

       "Well, then, I know where I'm going as soon as I stand up," I say.

       "Don't you even think about it. You almost died from this. If you did three people you'd definitely be dead. Addison said you got lucky this time. Hell we were all saying it. I had an idea of why you did it, but I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure if I was right. Max knew, but he was too traumatized to say anything. I instantly thought of your loyalty and knew that was why you did it. I wasn't surprised when you said that was your reason. Do you have any idea how much I freaked out when I found out you almost died?" he asks.

       "Nope. How much did you freak out?" I ask.

       "You should've seen the cafeteria. It looked like a bloody tornado went through it twice!" he whisper yells. Our voices have stayed at a whisper/whisper yell volume, and I intend to keep it that way. I giggle.

       "Do you think it's still like that?" I ask.

       "It'll probably be like that when you get out. No one has any idea what to do, and most people have been praying for you. They might not know God, but it sure as hell sounds like they do. I heard someone preaching earlier when I was heading up here from the cafeteria. I guess there's not a better time to do it, right?" he asks.

       "Not really. I should've tried that before I went down, but nope I didn't even think. I'm so horrible," I say a bit upset I let God down.

       "No you aren't. You've just been busy watching over people. I would've forgotten," he says reassuringly.

       "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Night, baby, I love you," I say.

       "Night, babe, I love you," he says. I fall asleep with my hand in his.