Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 21

I wake up alone and sit up to see Caleb still lying motionless. Let's hope he isn't dead. He can't die. I can't let him die.

I crawl over to his body and take his pulse right under his ear. Slow, but not dead. He is still alive. I kiss his cheek and try to bring him to his bed unsuccessfully. Finally, I give up and just watch his chest rise and fall.

I smile. He looks so innocent. So amazingly innocent. He jerks up into a sitting position, his eyes wild until they catch mine. He tries to stand up, but his legs collapse beneath him. He is weak from trying to fight off Dr. Mákastí. "It's okay. Just... sit there. I'll get some help. I have to tell someone about that lady. Who thinks there are other dimensions." I stand up, but Caleb pulls me down so I fall on his lap. I yelp in surprise.

"No. A) she is probably right about the dimension thing even though it sounds like fiction, and b) no one will believe us if we say that she knocked me out with her look and threw you against the opposite wall."

"Yeah, but we have to try! We can't just let people like that worm their way into our life!"

"Stop being determined for one second! Please!" he says.

"But I just-"

"No."

"But-"

"No!"

"You can't keep me from going!"

"Yes I can." He wraps his arms around me as if giving me a hug, but then squeezes. I laugh.

"What about when you're sleeping?"

"I won't sleep," he answers.

"How will you not sleep?" I ask.

"I have ways," he responds, squeezing tighter.

"Do you?"

"I do."

"What are they?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"My ways."

"What are your ways?"

"My ways."

"But what are your ways?" I ask for the final time.

"I told you: my ways."

I laugh and kind of hug him back. I can feel all the muscles in his arm, tight with tension, every muscle expanding and contracting.

My next breath shakes on the way out.

We sit there for a while. All I hear is the shaking of my breaths that I wish were quieter. All I feel are his breaths tickling my ear. My mouth is dry. All I see is blackness; I am closing my eyes. I say nothing; we say nothing.

And then I don't feel anything. Nothing tickles my ear. I look behind me. His eyes are closed. I feel his pulse. Slow, tentative, but alive. He's alive. I drop his arms and lay him down on the ground. I get up and run as fast as I can toward the registration desk. The person sitting there jumps as I arrive.

"Please get me a doctor! Anyone except Dr. McFaulin or Dr. Mákastí!" He runs away to get a doctor. "I'll be in the same room as always!" I yell after him. I run to Caleb's room and put his head on my lap. I stroke his hair.

I stroke his hair for about five minutes. When I am getting scared that Caleb will die in this hospital, a doctor walks in through the door.

A doctor who confidently strides over to me.

A doctor who has a beautiful tan.

A doctor I have come to loathe.

A doctor who has no mercy, no soul.

A doctor who thinks she came from a different dimension.

A doctor I specifically said I didn't want.

Dr. Mákastí.

Again.