Heart Burns

Chapter 13

"You uncultured swine! What're you lookin' at, ya hockey puck?" The loud TV spurts out Toy Story, and I shift. The blanket is scratchy on my cheek; my eyes won't open. I groan, and a cool hand wipes my hair out of my face. "Hey, you're awake." Shawn whispers in my ear, and brings a straw to my lips. He pokes until I crack my lips a tad so he can help me drink. The water is filled with ice, and the cold liquid is heaven on my dry tongue. "Jayden, go out in the hall and get more ice, alright?" A door slams, and I jump at the loud noise. Pain races throughout my body, and tears escape my glued eyelids. "Brea, I'm so sorry." Shawn moves to my back and is rubbing my shoulder blades with a wet towel. "You bled so much; I didn't know what to do." "What happened?" I whisper, my voice hoarse. "Carol attacked you, and you passed out." Flashes of last night haunt me, and try to curl into a ball. "Hey, you gotta stay straight. There's still glass in your back." Glass? "Carol threw a bottle, and it shattered over you. You had so many glass chips in your back. I've been getting them out for the last two hours." He reads my mind. The door opens, and a bucket is slammed right next to me on the nightstand. "Brea!" Jayden jumps on the bed next to me and wipes my cheek before kissing me. "You're okay." He sighs into me, and as Shawn tries to shoo him away, my fingers slowly find the hem of his space pajamas, making him stay next to me. "Brea, I can't have him bouncing all over the place and making you uncomfortable." Shawn argues, but he lets Jayden stay. Jayden rambles on about the super cool motel Shawn found for us to stay at. He tells me that he had Twinkies and Snickers for dinner, and I make a mental note to scold Shawn at his poor parenting choices. I hear Shawn going all doctor on my wounds, and my pain soon goes to a simmer. Jayden starts feeding me ice ships, and he rubs my eyes with one tiny ice cube, trying to unglue them. Shawn gabs me with the tweezers, and I cry out, a small noise heard throughout the motel. "Brea, shit, I'm so sorry." Panic in his voice makes me all panicky. "Shh, it's okay." Jayden whispers, his breath hot and chocolaty on my face. He stars to plant kisses on my face, and that is the antidote. My eyes flutter open, and I see Jayden smiling a sweet smile at me, stroking my cheek. "Brea!" He throws his arms around my neck, and I press my nose into his tiny collarbone, breathing in motel soap and laundry detergent. "When can I get up?" I say to Shawn, and he gently places a bandage on my cuts. "Soon, just... be careful when you do." He's distracted, so I don't bother him with any more questions. "Shawn bought Toy Story for me!" Jayden says to me, and I raise my eyebrows in shock. "I didn't buy it. We got it at Red Box." Jayden lays next to me, shoves his body as close as he can get to me, and listens to the ongoing movie. "Just...just go on without me!" He mouths the words and his eyes start to swell up with tears. Although he is young, the army toys and their loyalty always hits him hard. "Hey, bud, we're okay." I whisper into his hair, and the tears escape onto his chubby cheeks. "I was scared, Brea," he says, his voice shaking, and my heart breaks. "I'm sorry I scared you, sugar." He leans his head on my chest, his tears making warm impressions on my hot skin. His breath starts to slow. Shawn comes over to move him, but I keep Jayden next to me. "I can't lose him, Shawn." He nods and lays on the bed, his fingertips making circles on my lower back. "Did you take my shirt off?" It had occurred to me that I unclothed from the waist up. He coughs, shifts, and says, "Yeah, I had to." I blush hard, knowing he saw all my scars and bruises. "Don't worry. I closed my eyes when I took your bra off." I laugh, and he meets my laugh with his deep one, and it warms me from the pit of my stomach. "Thank you." I whisper, and his fingers stop, and he sits up. "I told you I wouldn't let her hurt you, and I let you down. I let you down, Brea." "You saved Jayden. That's all I ask of you. Just protect him." I turn my face so my I'm facing him. He is shirtless, and I see the lashes on his back from the times his father had hit him with the belt. He has tattoos running up his spine, and I reach out and trace the designs. A quote is on his shoulder blade. "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains." A wolf sits under a moon, howling to no one. His back is a canvas, skin untouched by the paintbrush, but ruined by the razorblade. He has burns, cuts, and lashes on his back. I trace every one of his wounds, and he lets me this time. "When I was ten, my mother left my dad. She just packed up and left. I was at school, and when the bus dropped me off at home, I remember being so excited to see her and tell her about my day. Of course, my fourth grade school day wasn't her interest. I ran in every room, hoping that she was playing hide and seek. When I couldn't find her, I just assumed that she was at the store. So I sat at the kitchen table and ate Oreos. I remember that I had a chocolate mustache when my dad got home." His voice rumbles under my touch. "He came slamming in, drunk as usual. He kept calling her, over and over again. I was in my room, hiding like she told me to every time he came home like this. Usually, she would be the one who found me later when he was passed out on the couch, holding me and telling me everything was okay. But this time, he found me. He knew she was gone. It hadn't hit me yet. But his fist did. Over and over again in the stomach, face, back. I was taught not to fight back, so I didn't. He picked up my body, and I got really scared. I started to scream for her. He screamed back, telling me she was never coming back because of me. He brought me into the bathroom. He had drawn a bath. I didn't know that the water was boiling." He stopped talking, but my hands didn't stop moving. I pushed my body up and sat behind him. I traced the quote on his back and then kissed his burns. "I'll protect you." I whisper into him, and he turns around, meets my eyes. "I'm not scared of him anymore." He states matter of factly, and I find his hand on the mattress and slide my hand in his. "That's not the point. I will protect you." I whisper, and he pulls me into him.