The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Chapter 50 - I Fall To Pieces

"Jess, are you in here?" 

Jess had ignored Doug's knocking on her bedroom door and now he'd opened it. 

"What's going on?" he asked with concern, and she could tell he was walking closer to her.  "Why are you in bed?"

"I don't feel good," she mumbled from underneath her blankets. 

After Marty had walked out of the cabin, she'd collapsed on the floor and cried for a long time, long enough that both fires had gone out.  When she'd finally been able to get up, she'd pulled on her coat and staggered home, barely aware of anything except the terrible pain that consumed her.  As soon as she was in the house, she'd gone straight to bed and pulled the covers over her head.

"Aren't you coming down for dinner?"

"No." 

"But – Jess," Doug said with shock.  "It's your birthday.  We got you a cake."

It was her birthday?  Marty had left her on her seventeenth birthday, she realized, and a fresh wave of tears came as the pain in her heart increased. Had he remembered it was her birthday when he came to the cabin to destroy her life and just not cared?  Or had he lost track of the days like she had. 

"Are you going to get up?" Doug prodded gently, and she swallowed a few times, trying to get in control.

"I'm sick," she finally managed to choke out.  "I'm not coming."  There was silence while she cried quietly, the tears soaking into her pillow.

"Well, if you're sure," Doug said uncertainly.  "I'll be back to check on you later.  I'll bring you something to eat, alright?"  She didn't respond, and after a hesitation she heard him walk away and close the door. 

Turning her head into her pillow to muffle her crying, she sobbed as grief overwhelmed her once again.  She couldn't bear the pain.  It was as if a part of her had been cut off, and everything inside of her was aching from the loss. 

 "Are you awake?" she heard through a haze, and her mind came into focus.  "I brought you some stew from the other night."  Why couldn't Doug leave her alone, she wondered as the terrible pain returned.

"I don't want it," she muttered.

"Jess, you have to eat," he reasoned gently.  "You need to take care of yourself." 

"I'm not hungry."  She heard him sigh.

"I'll leave it on your table, in case you get hungry later.  Okay?"

She kept quiet, knowing there was no point in telling him she wouldn't eat it.  He'd just insist on leaving it anyway.

"Good night, Jess."

She waited until she heard the door close before she began crying again, despair following her into a night of desolate sleep.

"You didn't eat your stew!"  Jess stirred under her covers.  "Why didn't you eat it?" 

"I told you I wasn't hungry."

"Pull the covers off!  I want to see you," Doug insisted.  When she didn't move, she could hear him step closer.  "If you don't do it, I'm going to pull them off for you!"

She uncovered her head, but kept her eyes closed.  There was no point in letting him see how much she'd been crying.

"Jeez, Jess.  You don't look so good."

"I told you I was sick!"   She began to pull the covers back over her head when his hand stopped hers, and she blinked here eyes open in the early morning light.