Lost But Not Forgotten (NaNoWriMo 2013)

7.

I wake up to see Cameron at my bed side, his face worrisome. My head feels heavy like someone had tied a rock to it. I try and sit up but the room starts spinning uncontrollably until I have to lie down if I don't want to throw up all over myself.

I turn to look at Cameron, the moment our eyes lock, my heart starts to melt and turn into mush. His face finally relaxes after I struggle a smile, he is so sweet.

I open my mouth and try to say something but my throat is so desert dry, I can only mutter out one word. "Water... Water..."

Cameron grabs a glass that was sitting on the steel table beside me, I reach out for it and finally get a hold of it. I quickly gulp down all the contents if the glass, it feels like heaven going down my throat. How long have I been out?

I can finally talk "How long have I been out?" I ask.

"You've been in a coma for four days now, you had almost died, the thought of losing you was so hard..." He looked at me uneasily, my jaw dropped. A coma? Seriously, a coma? I only hit my head for gods sake!

Cameron scoots forward and takes my hand, his skin is so soft and warm against my rough and icy fingers from years of rock climbing and other things.

"April, you are so strong, I knew you would pull through and... I really like you..." He paused for a moment and continued, his cheeks slowly growing red "Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

I was so happy I literally jumped out my bed and gave him a big sloppy kiss on the lips, we'll be serious later. "Yes!" I say ecstatically but before I can give him another kiss, my head starts spinning madly again sending the contents of my stomach upward. Cameron seems to see my predicament and lies my safely on my bed again, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, you better stay there, the doc here says you should at least rest for another week, you got a pretty bad concussion, he says you'll recover pretty quick and'll be up in no time!" I smile at the news Cameron had just given me, thank god I won't be bed ridden for the rest of my life. Okay, I was being a bit dramatic but it could happen!

Suddenly Jesse and Bethany come bursting through the door, Bethany starts running towards me with her hands outstretched ready to give me a hug but Jesse heads straight for Cameron, his hand balled in a fist. His face is red with rage and a vein is popping out, this was not good.

"Jesse Thorne!" I screech with all my courage "don't you dare touch my boyfriend". Jesse stops right in his tracks before turning to me, I can easily see the shiny purple bruise resting on the side of his head. He hasn't forgotten.

"boyfriend?! This guy is an idiot! All he has done is brought you bad luck! Don't you see that! I will not let my sister love this monster!" He yells straight in my face, my hair blowfly from all the wind he was making. Jesse has never been so mean let alone so terrifying, he is my brother, can't he just accept I love the guy? I cower on my bed and look at him with great big puppy dog eyes.

"Please Jesse, your my brother, please understand..." But I know he won't fall for it.

He punches my full force in the chest sending me flying towards the wall, I smack into it knocking all the wind out of my lungs. Jesse was strong, strong enough to kill. I won't let him hurt Cameron. I struggle to get up and I just lie there, coughing, paralyzed with fear. I feel so helpless. My chest is pumping from the strike, I know that's a few broken ribs, I'm sure of it. How can Jesse be like this? Hurt me? What would Mama say?

I see Bethany shivering by the door, too frightened to move, she had never seen her brother being so violent. I try to get to my knees but just end up collapsing into a helpless heap all over again, the world just starts spinning just as bad again as if I'm on a roundabout that never stops. I strain my eyes to see Cameron standing face to face with Jesse, Cameron was strong but he didn't look nearly as muscular as Jesse, I was sure he would lose but what happened surprised me.

As if it happened in slow motion, Jesse outstretched his head, sending a fist flying towards Cameron's face but in a split second, Cameron's hand had a tight grip on Jesse's arm, preventing it from moving any more. He twisted Jesse's arm which sent him to the floor, groaning with pain. I wanted to shout to Cameron to stop but I think he stopped realizing what he was doing, he was too angry to notice how hurt Jesse was already. How could he be this strong? He barely had muscle!

Then, while Jesse was still lying helplessly on the floor, Cameron grabbed the metal table and quickly broke all the legs off, only leaving a hard steel bored about five foot long. I wanted to scream but my mouth made no sound, I wanted to get up and run to tell him to stop but I couldn't move, Cameron was going to far.

It was painful to watch, the board came down in an instant, smacking straight onto Jesse's body including his head. There was a small crack and I saw his eyes close. Cameron was losing control. No!

The board hit Jesse a few more times, it was like watching a horror film, my brother being beaten half to death by my boyfriend. Jesse's mouth and head was bleeding now, gushing large amounts of red liquid onto the floor but I could only watch in pain. Cameron dropped the board but he was still angry, he still wanted payback for me getting hurt. I had to turn away or I would throw up but I couldn't avoid the sound of Jesse being kicked that ringed in my ears. But it suddenly stopped. I turned my head again to see Cameron, staring down at Jesse's broken body with shock. He had finally realized what he had done. He looked at me but all I could do was sob and lie there, watching my brother slowly die.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry... I'll get the doctor!" He yelled sadly at the top of his lungs, his eyes were stamped with guilt. How could this small boy if seventeen be so capable of such violence? I don't know if I can forgive him...

Cameron raced out the door as I fight for consciousness but the painstaking throb in my chest swallows me whole until I can only see darkness.

Oh God, why am I so unlucky? Why is Cameron such bad luck?