I've never seen it so bad before. Purple, black and blue bruises were in full bloom across Erik's face as far as I could see and above his eyebrow was a gash about two inches long and half an inch wide clotted with dry blood. It looked like his nose was broken as well. Erik's eye was swollen shut and pretty much black, as well as his cheek, from being hit multiple times. His bottom lip was busted and swollen to a ripe size.
I whispered something under my breath that I don't quite remember when I grabbed Erik's arm softly and called for him to wake up.
"Erik.....Erik...wake up, Erik," a tear slipped silently down my cheek as I continued to call for him, "Erik, if this is a joke, I'm going to kill you!" I shook him softly, my voice shaking with anxiety and fear. Erik's better eye fluttered a bit before opening and he turned his head meekly to look at me properly. When I seen the rest of his face, I couldn't stop myself from bursting into tears. Dried up blood and pieces of flesh stuck to his face and underneath you could see the discoloration of his skin. He had a knot on his forehead that looked like the size of a golf ball. He opened his mouth to say something but I placed my hand over his mouth and pulled him toward me, tears slipping down my cheeks and wetting his naked shoulder.
I placed his arms around my neck and began to slowly lift him from his bed. He wasn't the easiest thing to carry, being six foot, two inches and 158 pounds when I was five foot, seven and a half inches and 135 pounds. Once he was on his feet, I slowly turned to give him my back to lean on. He wrapped his arms loosely around my neck and rested his weight on me and I had to struggle to keep from staggering forward but after a second or two, I finally had his legs in my arms and I walked toward the hallway.
"It's okay now....." I whispered to him softly. Not only was I talking to him but I was consoling myself as well. I was going to have a panic attack if I didn't calm down. I headed down the stairs which was quite the task for me but I managed. Three times, though, Erik fought against me to put him down so he wouldn't be such a burden to me but I refused. By the time I was at the door, I was breathing a bit rapidly and Erik knew I was.
"You don't... have to do... this, Sky... please..." He tried speaking but I could hear the pain in his voice from all the facial movement.
"Don't talk. Please, just let me do this. Erik, just let me do this," I whispered to him firmly, "You aren't moving unless it's absolutely necessary." I walked through the front door and into the cool evening and shut the door with my foot and continued my journey by crossing our conjoined lawns. I had to stop once for him to scoot back up my back but other than that, it was a fast migration from house to house.
I reached my hand out to open the door when I hear a familiar truck rumbling at the corner stop sign. I turn a bit to catch a glimpse of the car to realize it was Erik's father. I hastily opened the door to my house and hopped into the house, Erik groaning in pain from the sudden jolt.
"I'm sorry but we gotta get inside, hun." I apologized soothingly. I closed and locked the door firmly making sure to close the two deadbolts before turning and walking up my stairs and to my room. Every step up the stairs was exhausting and my legs shook from the strain but I had to keep up. Erik was barely conscious on my back along with damaged and bruised. This was the worst I've ever seen it and this time it'd gone too far. By the time I reached my room, I was dead.
"Man, I really need to work out..." I told Erik, panting like a dog. He kind of giggled before petting my head lightly and resting his arm back around my neck. I walked into my room and turned around so Erik could slip off my back. When his feet were on the ground, I turned to face him but ended up having to tilt my head back a bit to look at his face. He swayed a bit while trying to sit down but ended up collapsing onto the bed.
