Shh, Just Kiss Me (18+)

f i f t y - s e v e n

The paramedics arrived. They aided us with medicine and cleansed us out of our misery. All I could think about was hearing the gun go off.

It was like listening to a broken record over and over again. I felt lost, gone, and unworthy. I couldn't understand my memories.

My brain was taking me back to memory lane when Nora said all those 'hints' of her affection for me. I ignored them foolishly. How was I supposed to notice her affection and love as something overbearingly passionate? I thought she was innocent. I thought that's how family bonded.

She had me fooled. The paramedics took her body into the back of the truck. I was struck with sadness and sorrow. I feel weird, guilty. I don't know. I never experienced death this close to me. I don't feel like a human being right now. I just feel nothing. Not even my hunger.

The nurse wrapped a gauge around my thigh where Nora had stabbed me.

"We need to get you stitched. Did you get hit in the head with something?"

"No, why?"

"The scab in the back of your head looks pretty deep."

——

It was a new day, a new morning. Yesterday didn't even feel real. In fact, I can't believe I'd been stabbed. I never thought I'd be in a situation like this.

I've been spending most of my time being interviewed by the police during my recovery. The news broke out. The story was everywhere. I didn't want to deal with the press so I chose to keep my identity anonymous. Audrey, Nazanin, and Jaide did the same. Also, for personal reasons, my family also kept Nora's identity a mystery but her crime was public.

Some media outlets even asked to write a tell-all book about my situation. Some offered me movie deals. Dang, America really feeds off of sex, drugs, and violence.

It was incredibly disturbing so I kindly rejected.

I stayed up all night looking after Jaide when she got out of surgery. She was keeping me calm the entire time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jaide's undisturbed body was resting in her hospital bed. Her nose was broken so she had to get it reconstructed. Her chunky cheeks were swollen up. Even though her injuries were pretty bad, she still looked adorable lying there peacefully asleep.

I prayed to her, for her. I begged God for a speedy recovery. I was never a man devoted to faith but I changed that. I asked for forgiveness and told him to wash my sins away.

As I was holding her hand, her parents walked in. When I locked eyes with her mother I felt even more shitty. I grabbed my crutches and greeted her father first.

"I'm sorry, you are?" Her father asked kindly. I don't know why her parents expected to know of me. I was so caught up in my own fantasy that I wasn't paying attention to reality. I was hidden from the people who birthed her, especially her mother, covering her mouth, shocked by my presence. We meet again, only this time but the power of the universe's funny doing.

"A friend," I said smiling while shaking his hand.

"What happened to you?"

"Got caught in the crossfire," I said.

"Thank you for saving her life." He said. Although he should be saying that to Audrey, I accepted his kind gesture anyway.

I lock eyes with Leila. I know she's hoping that I don't air out her dirty little secret in front of her husband. It was quite intensifying watching her stare at me deathly like that. The tension was so thick and awkward I felt nauseous. I don't know how Leila is handling the pressure. I want to tap out!