Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter Sixteen

-Rye-

The pain wasn't excruciating – At least, not at first. In the beginning, I wasn't quite sure what had happened at all. I didn't feel any different than I had a few seconds before, other than the intense burning sensation that was emanating from my shoulder.

I watched, almost as if I was a casual bystander, as the police got ahold of the man. His eyes spoke of cruelty and fire as they roughly pulled him back and forced his wrists into handcuffs. He didn't fight back – He looked satisfied with what he had done. Before he was pulled away and out of my view, he puckered his lips up and spat at me, leaving a wet plop of saliva beside my shoe.

A second pair of officers visited me next, and they informed me that I'd been shot. They told me not to panic, that help would be on its way soon. It was only then that the pain really hit. I felt myself double over with the force of it, and somebody helped me to the ground.

A girl's hair flickered across my point of view, which reminded me of Liv. I struggled through the buzz in my head to get out, "Liv? Are you okay?" The words came out more stunted than they sounded in my head. My tongue felt heavy and seemed to trip over itself.

"I'm fine," She said, seeming anything but. Her skin tone was a light, translucent pale. She shook like a leaf taken afloat in the wind, and tears were streaming down her face with a reckless abandon. I wanted to get up and comfort her, but the pain nearly paralyzed me, so I stayed where I was. I managed to lift my other arm out and towards her – Partly as a way to get her closer to me, and partly to determine whether or not I was still alive. It appeared that I was, at least for the moment.

I waited until she was crouching down beside me to take a peek at my shoulder, which appeared to be the source of the pain. I immediately knew that it was a mistake – My shirt was soaked with blood, and I began to feel lightheaded and woozy as I watched it pour out. I felt a light pair of fingertips tilt my chin back up and away from it, and heard murmurings of, "Rye, how do you feel? Look at me if you can hear this." It took all of my energy to flop my head towards where the sound was coming from.

"Stay awake for me, okay? Stay awake. Stay alive." Her voice seemed to echo from some place that was far away. My eyelids felt heavy, so heavy...I struggled to hold them up whilst more yelling exploded around me – I caught words like "tourniquet," "losing blood," and "quickly!"

Liv took my hands and squeezed them as I slowly let myself be dragged under the wave that was threatening to take ahold of me.

"Rye. Rye, please try and stay awake. You're okay. You're gonna be okay." It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself rather than me, but I responded to her demands by forcing my eyes back open.

In front of me was a man I'd never seen before. I struggled to cling to consciousness as he took his shirt off and wrapped it around my shoulder. I grit my teeth together to keep myself from screaming as yet another wave of the aching pain spread throughout. Just like when I'd been in the water for too long, black spots interrupted my vision. I thought, with a chilling certainty: I'm going to die.

"Take care of Andy," I muttered, sounding drunk as medical workers finally rushed their way into our small alcove. I was vaguely aware of a stretcher being pulled up and Liv's hands still clutching mine when I finally allowed myself to drift away.