The Catalyst (GirlXGirl)

Chp. 50 "Two-Sided Story"

Chp. 50 “Two-Sided Story”

“Hey,” I sat next to Avery who looked as if she was just waking up from a very long nap. It had been hours since I had seen her, and I was still mentally reciting everything Roger and Henson had told me.

She smiled, replying shortly, “Hey.”

I leaned in, kissing her lips softly, and to my surprise they were extremely hot. I could see the sweat on her forehead, so I walked to the bathroom to wet a towel. I wiped her head softly and then placed it on her skin, hoping that it would cool her down a bit.

She continued to look up at me, “You don’t have to baby me.”

I sat back down next to her, wondering why she was keeping this strong act up. She was dying, but yet she refused to let me see how much she was actually suffering. I knew she was in pain, it was written in her eyes, and her skin gave away her true temperature, and she was burning up. I tilted my head in confusion, “Avery, I know you’re hurting.”

She looked away from me and fixed her gaze on the ceiling, as if she was trying to prevent me from seeing something in her eyes. Her hair was stuck to her damp skin around her neck, so I continued to fix it to where it wasn’t suffocating her. She was a mess, but she wasn’t allowing me to see how bad she was actually feeling, and that made me hurt worse.

But I knew she was doing it for my own good.

“How was today with Henson?”

I couldn’t believe she was ignoring the comments I made about her hurting, but I knew she wanted to know if there was any progress being made. I shrugged, “Yes, but I just-”

“What happened?”

I realized she wasn’t allowing me to speak of anything but today with Henson so I let her have it, from everything we discussed to the pain I had to go through. I told her about the lacerations and the hormones my body produced, and the only way to get a lot of them was through blood that exited my wounds. She seemed a bit mortified when I finished but she wouldn’t let me talk about anything else, so I wasn’t holding back.

Her eyes were locked on me now, and I knew I had upset her, but frankly I didn’t care. I was hurting too, because I was sitting here watching someone I really cared about, die, and I could do nothing about it.

She touched my face, “Andy… how did you…?”

I shook my head, “I thought about you the entire time, that’s the only reason. I know what’s going to happen to you Avery, and I know if I don’t do everything I can you’re going to die. I can’t let that happen, I won’t-”

“Ssh,” she cut me off again, and this time she smiled, “I know you’re doing everything you can. And I trust you and the doctors. I know you won’t let it come to that, ok?”

There was pain in her voice, and I was praying that her tone wasn’t sounding accepting of the fact that she might in fact die from this disease. I couldn’t decipher her attitude but she was right about one thing.