A single eye slowly opens. Everything is blurry at first but once my vision clears I see a plain white wall. No, ceiling. I'm laying down? I sit up and look around the dark blue room. I'm in a bedroom? My head throbs as I try to remember what happened when I hear a knock at the door.
"Uh-come in?", I don't even know who's room this is; am I supposed to grant them permission to come in? The door creaks open and out pops Lesley's cheerful face.
"How are you feeling?" Lesley sits on the side of the bed and furrows her eyebrows seeming worried. I go to open my mouth to answer her but it quickly snaps shut when I cautiously watch her hand make its way to my eye that hasn't opened, my right eye. I close my opened eye and await the gentle touch. "I'm sorry he hit you..." I grin as her fingers glide over my eyebrow and eye lid.
Lesley clears her throat and pulls away looking at her hand noticing a small amount of blood. I choose to ignore it.
"So where's Mr. Mighty Man?" I laugh at my own little joke as I watch her move to the other side of the room grabbing a small towel that seemed to be wet. She was wearing tight light blue jeans and a dark red braves t-shirt with some white converse and a black jacket. I direct my eyes somewhere else as she makes her way back to me.
"I...uh...I don't know. He left after he hit you. He seemed really mad and I didn't want to stop him...in case..." She trails off and I nod slowly before I understood and finished her sentence for her.
"In case he decided to beat the shit out of you too." I give a short laugh that sounded more like a scoff. I shake my head and cross my eyebrows. "You know it's not okay for him to hurt you?" I say looking directly into her eyes. She pulls the towel to my eye and dabs it. The cool wetness to it was relieving.
"He doesn't 'beat the shit out of me' he just has an anger issue. A mental problem. He can't help it. And no it's not but why would I leave him? He needs me...and he l-loves me." She exhales strongly out of irritation. I watch her lips the entire time she talks but she doesn't notice because she's so concentrated on my bleeding eye.
"Do you think people with mental issues like hurting the people around them? No one, in the right mind or the wrong one, has the emotional capacity to deliberately hurt the ones they love. If he loved you he wouldn't lay his hands on you unless you asked him to." She pauses and looks into my left eye for a few seconds. I take this time to really analyze her facial features.
She had a small narrow nose that was rounded at the end. Her crystal blue eyes were slightly glossy. As if she were fighting tears. She had longer blonde hair that ended in waves. She was slightly flushed underneath her smooth skin. Her full lips were a pale shade of pink.
I was too infatuated with staring at her lips I hadn't noticed she'd began to cry. I open my mouth slightly in surprise. "Wha-why are you crying?" I ask completely concerned with her well being. Is she hurt?
"I-I just don't know h-how to respond. You're r-right but I can't hurt him. He'll hurt me. A-and-" I cut her off with a small side hug. She was struggling with her words in between sobs. She rests her head on my shoulder. And I close my open eye enjoying her presence.
Her frail body felt perfect next to mine. She radiated so much heat and my hands stayed at a freezing 32 degrees Fahrenheit. She came up to my jaw just tall enough to simply lean to the side and rest her head on my shoulder. My arms came to the curve of her waist like a puzzle piece. It was like finding a long lost limb. She completed my shape like two halves of a circle.
She took a deep breath to calm herself down when I said, "it'll be okay. Do it in a public place where he can't hurt you and I'll make sure he stays away from you."
She perked her head up and looked me in the eyes with some spark in her eye, "Really?" I smile and nod at her sudden enthusiasm. She lets out a small giggle but cuts it off wide eyed and grabs my hand beginning to shake it, "I-I don't even know your name! Hi! My name is Lesley Jane Lewis and you're in my house!" She continues to shake my hand and I begin laughing at her optimism. Sheesh she's nothing like me.
"Uh-hi. My name is Carson Rae Mitchell and um..." I trail off trying to think of something else to say when I spot a guitar in the corner of her room. "Annnnd I play guitar." I get up and walk over to the guitar and put the strap over my shoulder. I look up to her, "do you play?"
She just shakes her head. "No, my grandad gave me that before he passed away. I never learned but I'd love too." She keeps her eyes on me as I play a few chords of a Mayday Parade song I learned about 3 months ago. I begin to feel self conscious of her intent staring and stop the song.
Once I take the strap from around my shoulder off and set the guitar down I walk over to her CD's. "Do you play any instruments?" But when I look over to her, she simply shakes her head no.
I nod slowly at her response as I pass an Elton John CD. I hear her small voice break the silence. "Do you play any other instruments?" I smile at the question and think back to the summer I learned to play guitar in 7th grade. I was fighting my depression then and it helped me kind of over come some of it. Or at least channel it through something other than cutting myself. Then I flash back to 8th grade when I took piano lessons for 4 years. I had finished all my lesson books by the beginning of junior year and so there was really nothing left to learn. Not from a local piano teacher. After that I'd have to take professional lessons. I smile to myself. I enjoyed playing piano.
"Yeah...I play the piano. I took lessons for 4 years." When I direct my eyes to her, her eyebrows are raised and she's nodding. "Maybe you should come by some time and I'll play my piano for you."
She smiles widely and stands up quickly. "I'd love that! Oh my gosh that's so exciting are you good? What do the black keys do? Why are there pedals?" I giggle at all her questions and remember I had promised to go bowling with Jamie this afternoon. Great. More human interaction.
"I'll have to answer those another time. I have to get home soon. I live pretty far from here and my mom's probably waiting for me." I frown slightly. I'd love to stay and talk all day with her but I do need to get home soon before my mom freaks out and my phone is dead so there's no way for me to let her know I'm not like dead or something.
Her smile fades as she nods. She gets up shortly after. "I probably should run you to the hospital for you to get your car." I just nod and smile slightly.
We head down 2 flights of stairs and through many beautiful rooms with chandeliers and shiny black metal furniture and modernized decor before stepping out of a large door. We head down some cement stairs and get into a dodge. I suddenly remember her mother, or realities of some type as I step into the car.
"Hey, is your mom okay?" I ask. She stops fighting with her seat belt and looks at me questioningly before realizing what I'd been referring to.
"Oh...no that was my aunt. She's okay. She was banged up pretty bad and she has some health problems but other than that she'll be okay." She nodded and pulled out of the driveway. After a short ride of quiet humming and small talk shared we make it to the hospital. I look over to Lesley and smile.
"Thank you for you know, taking care of me. I had fun." I gave her a sincere smile and she returned it. Another moment of silence was shared between us before out of no where she leaned over the console and embraced me in a hug.
"I hope we can be friends after all this. I really liked hanging out with you." I smile and close my eyes, ignoring the goose bumps that rises on my skin.
I took a deep breath and said, "me too. And it's no biggy. I can give you my number?" I pulled back from the embrace reluctantly and used her phone to type in my number. I put a ":p" by my name contact. We shared one more smile before I stepped out of the car in the hospital parking lot and watched her pull off with MY number in her phone.
YOU ARE READING
The Lonely Hour
RomanceI was meant to be in the hospital. She was meant to be in the mountains. I fought for breath She fought for freedom. I was sick She wasn't. I listened to her voice She listened to everyone else's voices. I found her soul and saw purity She fou...
