EXISTENCE

CHAPTER 14: Standby

Rym couldn't sleep.

She sat in her room, thinking about all that had happened. Adam's house had been damaged. Parts of it were destroyed. Hawa was gone - Eve had come back. Adam had been horribly wounded to the point where everyone thought he must have been killed. And poor Mimi was caught in the thick of it, having personally seen her oldest son ran through with a sword. Adam's brothers were safe - they were in school - but were horrified when they came back. Nadia was still getting over the shock of seeing her closest friend damaged. Gabriel and Juan had their own problems to deal with and came back to find their best friend wrapped up in bandages and sound asleep inside a partially destroyed house. In just two short weeks of high school, their lives had gone to hell.

But amidst all that, she couldn't keep her thoughts away from Adam. How was he doing? When will he wake up? Is he even asleep? Will his scars go away? She looked to the scarlet sash that she kept hung up on the wall across from her bed. The moonlight from her window was striking it at just the right angle, making it seemingly glow in the darkness of her room. That sash was peculiar - despite being around since she was a little girl, not a single scratch could be seen on it, not a single stitch of fabric was loose. The sash was a gift, from Tarek to Adam, and from Adam to Rym. She treasured it and everything it meant to her.

She flipped open her phone. The time read 11:59 P.M. Scrolling through her recent calls, she realised that Adam's name didn't appear on the screen; it had been a while since the two spoke on the phone. She exited the menu and pulled up her contact list, scrolling through her contacts and highlighting Adam's name. She kept the arrow there for a minute, thinking about what her next move would be.

Should I call him? Would he pick up?

After watching her phone's backlight go off from inactivity, she made a decision.

I'll call him. I'll leave a message and tell him that everything's going to be fine. He needs support.

She reactivated her phone and pressed the call button on Adam's already-highlighted name. She carefully put the phone into her ear, working out just what she would say after she heard the automated voice message telling her that Adam wasn't available. As she heard the phone ring, it immediately picked up...

"Hello? Rym?"

Rym froze up. He's awake?!

"...You there? Rym?"

She regained herself, putting the phone closer to her ear. "Y-yeah. I'm here."

"Oh, good." She heard a small sigh. "I was worried about you, you know."

Rym blushed. "You? Worried about me? I wasn't the one who got knocked out!"

"Yeah, I know." His voice seemed distant, as though he had just woken up and was trying to get a little more sleep. "But when I was fighting her, I was worried she'd go after you too."

"What do you mean?" Rym asked. "Didn't you feel like you could beat her?"

The other end of the phone was silent. "No," the reply finally came, "I knew I couldn't win. Not against her. Not the way I was then." Rym detected the hint of regret and defeat in his voice. "She...she was too much for me."

Rym swallowed. "Adam, don't blame yourself. No one could have known she'd be that strong."

The response she received wasn't what she expected. Instead of a solid affirmation, she was met with the sound of soft sobbing on the other end of the phone.

"No...no one could have known?" Adam asked, gasping lightly. "Rym...it's...it's because no one could have known that I feel so weak."

Rym flushed. "What do you mean by that, Adam?" She'd never heard this vulnerable side of Adam in all the time they'd known each other.