Beasts

47: Asleep. Not Asleep. Asleep. Not Asleep.

  It felt like a hundred pounds was attached to my eyelids. Still, I managed to open them and got a blurry view of Danny. "June, can you hear me?" He asked and held my face. I wanted to say yes but how could I if I couldn't even keep my eyes opened?

"Where's Phoenix?" I said in a croaked voice quiet as a mouse.

"He's here but-"

"He's dead. And I'm going to be dead soon. I'm sorry I started all this." I breathed and closed my eyes.

"No. You aren't. Stay with me!" He shouted before lifted me up bridal style. I heard muted voices before exhaustion came back and I went back under.

  I woke up in a bed. With a fleece blanket and a comforter on top. Where am I? You could hear a pin drop in this silence. I turned my head, realizing that tubes where coming out of my wrist and I had on a breathing mask. I felt the stream of cool oxygen when I breathed. It was dark. The only light came from above. I shifted my arm and pain shot up. I winced and waited for it to settle itself. Then pulled off the blanket with mu tube filled hand. My right arm was covered in bandage wrap. What happened?

  There was a sound of a doorknob turning. I turned back to the right and saw the lower half of someone. "June." A voice said happily then the person walked closer to me. I turned my head back so I was facing up. Danny looked down at me with a joyful smile. "I can't believe you're awake." He looked like he could cry any moment. He carefully took of the mask and I breathed in the fresh air, immediately wanting the mask back.

   "Danny?" I croaked out. My voice was so hoarse and Danny had to lean closer to hear me. He knelled down at my side and smoothed down my hair. There were a few scratches on his face that would heal, unlike my arm.

"Yes?"

"I'm tired. Really tired." He looked a little shocked.

"Go back to sleep. I promise I'll be here when you wake up." He grabbed my blanket and pulled it back over me. "Sleep well." He kissed my hair and I went out like a light.

  It was dark when I next woke up. Maybe the late evening. I was less tired than before but I was still confused and hurting. I was also sitting up now with a pillow at my back. I could now clearly make out the fact that I was in the private infirmary. Just as Danny had promise, he was beside me in a chair. I nudged his sleeping head and he jolted up. "Do you feel better now?" He asked and took off my mask that was put back on.

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Halloween." Halloween? I've been asleep for a week.

"Oh. Trick or treat." I tried to smile through the exhaustion.

"I have some treats for you here." He reached for my nightstand and grabbed a medicine bottle. "Open." He commanded. I opened my mouth and he put in two of the tablets. I swallowed then he handed me my water bottle. I gulped it down and hydrated my dry, dry, tongue.

  "What happened after?"

"I don't think you should know yet." He said and placed back the water and medicine.

"How are the others? Are they hurt badly?"

"No." He paused. "My dad is though. He's in a catatonic state. You remember what that means, right?" I nodded.

"He's awake but doesn't really move and will hold whatever pose you put him him. He also won't speak or will only repeat certain phrases." I recalled from reading it somewhere.

"Exactly." He nodded as he rubbed my arm soothingly. "Everyone else is just scratched up and bruised. There's some broken bones and burns as well." Burns...

"Where's Phoenix?" I quickly asked.

"He's..." He trailed off and looked past me. I turned my head to my right and I couldn't believe my eyes. Phoenix was there in a bed that was moved in. All I could see was the tuft of his rust hair but I still knew.

"Phoenix?" I called out but he didn't budge. "Danny is he-" I stopped when I could see the sadness in his eyes. Tears pricked my eyes and all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball. Which is what I did. Only, my right arm had to sit limp there so it wasn't much of a ball.

"He's not dead. He's just...asleep. And we don't know when he'll wake up." I turned my head to see him. "Phoenix is still breathing and his heart is beating. He's just burned, scratched up, and won't wake up."

"So he's like my mom now. In a coma and will most likely stay like that until death." I said in a cold voice.

"He'll be okay."

"No he won't! Just end his suffering now. You think he wants to be in that state forever?" I yelled. "If you love me, you'll end my as well..." My voice broke at the end as tears stared to run down my cheeks. Danny leaned forward and held me. He was carefully not to touch my arm as well. "Why? Why him? He's done nothing wrong. He didn't deserve any of this. It's my fault. I should of just stayed quiet or let Eddison kill me. I just didn't want them to lose what was so important to all of them."

"June," He held me by the shoulders and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "That would be you. They don't need their magic as long as they have you. Phoenix was also important, but he wanted you to keep going. To keep making people smile with your smile. Plus, in that situation, it was either him or both of you. What's the right decision?"

"Both." I said with a pout.

"Wrong answer." He lowered me back down on the pillow. "Do you think you'll be able to eat anything if I get you some food?"

"Most likely no. I might be able to have some soup or juice but there's no guarantees I'll be able to eat it."

"I'll see what I can get you. I'll also tell the others that you're awake." He stopped at the door. "Unless you don't want to see them."

"I don't want to disturb them if they're resting. At least get Charlie, I want to talk to him."

"Alright," He nodded. "Don't try going to the bathroom unless you really have to. I don't want to come back to see your dead body on the bathroom floor." He smiled before leaving.

  I looked back over at Phoenix. If they were going to keep him around, why did he have to be here? Couldn't they put him in the normal infirmary? Or somewhere where I wouldn't see him every time I turned right? I sighed. He wasn't dead. He wasn't. His heart still beat and blood still coursed through his veins. Still... No one knew when he would wake up or even if he would. He said he loved me. My practically dead best friend said he loved me. I wasn't all too surprised because we had this bond thicker than tar–which is real thick–and there were those moments like the first night we got here. Was I supposed to tell anyone? No. The real question is: did I love him?