The Story of Why

Drew - Game Over

I yelled—no, wait— I screamed, dropping to my knees. I put a hand over my ever-bleeding shoulder, gritting my teeth so hard I thought they might shatter. The pain was excruciating, and all I could do was look up. Look up to see my uncle, holding a gun.

His jaw dropped, realizing what he had done. Maybe the gun shot brought him out of his high, and he dropped the gun. "Oh my God," he said, his voice, his hands, and his whole body shaking.

I look up at him, and slowly stand up, wincing in pain. I walked up to him, finally having enough. Enough of his abuse. Enough of his degrading jokes. Enough of the memories...the memories my mom had shared about what he did to her. With my good arm, I took him by the collar of his shirt and glared into his dilated, glossy, horrified pupils.

He gulped. I could feel my teeth grinding against each other, they seemed to do it of their own accord. The room seemed to go silent, up until I heard the door be kicked open.

I snapped my head around so fast, I nearly got whiplash, but kept my uncle's shirt enclosed tightly in my fist the whole time. Keda. Eric.

My heart began to race. They just stared. Their eyes moved from my bleeding shoulder, the gun on the floor, the shattered glass table, and to me, nearly having my uncle in a choke hold. I followed their gaze, realizing the scene in front of me, and in clenched my fists, letting go of my uncle. He didn't make a sound. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing. I felt oddly satisfied with that.

Keda tried to speak, but her voice came out raspy, as if she hadn't spoken in years, "W-what—," she was cut off as a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and half-moon glasses rushed through the door, eyes wide. I recognized him as one of the neighbours.

"What the devil happened in here! The authorities have been called! Why are you all just standing around? We need an ambulance!" He screeched, panicking more than anyone else in the room. I hardly knew how we could do something to make an ambulance come any faster. Plus, I was fine. Just...just a bit dizzy...

***

I guess I spoke too soon. I woke up in the hospital, my shoulder bandaged. Even turning my neck the slightest bit to notice the bandaging was enough to send bolts of pain throughout my entire spine. I started to regain my memory.

My uncle had come home, higher than I'd ever seen him. He was hallucinating me, yelling at me, calling me my mother's name.

"I didn't—I didn't touch you! Fuck you, you're doing this for attention, I'd never lay a hand on you! It's not my fault you're a slut!" He began screaming.

I remember not being able to control myself, getting up, and punching him square in the face. He was hallucinating, but instead of it being a surreal image, he was going back to the day his mother finally gathered enough courage to confront him about the sexual assault.

Images flashed in my head. My mother crying, my uncle beating her, taking advantage of her. My uncle charged at me like a bull. He started choking me, his hands around my neck. I grabbed one of the beer bottles and smashed it over his head, making him collapse. As soon as I started to make for the door, I heard a click. The type of click you hear in movies, at the climax. The type of click that makes your blood run cold.

The sound of a gun being aimed and prepared to fire. What happened afterwards is what got me here, bandaged, and recovering from a gun shot wound and a month's worth of beatings.

Keda walked into the room, my voice caught when I tried to shout out to her, but she wasn't paying attention. Her head was down, and she walked solemnly. She must've thought I was still asleep.

I propped myself up on my elbows, shuffling the blankets around, making a bit of noise, startling her. She looked up, open-mouthed. I didn't say a word, and neither did she.

She took a step closer to me, slowly making her way. She ran the last few steps and jumped on top of me in the hospital bed. I pulled her neck down and started kissing her, our lips moving together in unison, I didn't want it to stop, but she pulled away first.

"You're not allowed to leave me again," she ordered. I just nodded, too tired to make a clever retort. She smirked down at me and kissed me again, not letting go so quickly this time. I cupped her face, and decided to take some dominance, slipping my tongue in the kiss. She responded by gripping my shirt.

I suddenly realized where we were, and pulled away, laughing a bit. She pouted, "what?"

"We're in a hospital bed, having a steamy make-out session. The door's wide open..." I began.

"Who cares?" She said, and I was surprised at how confident and dominant she was being.

She leaned over and started kissing me again, only to be interrupted by a cough at the door. We saw my nurse, and Keda reluctantly dismounted. I had to say, I was a bit disappointed.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," the nurse began, "but I just wanted to give you the good news. The results have come in, and your shoulder is most definitely going to be healed up soon. It'll work as good as new!" She beamed.

"Thank you miss," I said gratefully, glad there wasn't any permanent damage.

"You'll be able to leave tomorrow morning, although I'm not sure where you're going to go, since what happened with your uncle.." She trailed off awkwardly.

The memories came back in flashes, the thought of my uncle's bewildered expression. The gunshot. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. Before I could speak, Keda cut in.

"He'll be staying with me," she explained. I looked up to her, wanting to convey my gratitude, but not being able to find my voice. By the look of her eyes and the sight of her smile, I could tell she knew just how much it meant to me.

"Alright then," the nurse smiled, "I'll leave you to it," she said, winking as she closed the door.

Not a second had passed when Keda had leaped back onto me, peppering my cheeks with kisses. I pulled her down so her head was on my chest and she was laying on top of me.

"I love you," I said.

She cuddled into me and I held her tighter as I felt a warm droplet of water fall onto my shirt.