Repair the Broken

Chapter 2

It could have been minutes or days.  I’ve lost sense of time.  I feel like a vortex opened up and swallowed me whole. I can barely make sense of what’s happening.  My eyes are still closed and the noise around me is barely audible.

“You shouldn’t be here.”  It’s a whisper but loud enough that I can make out the words. 

“She just passed out.  You didn’t see it.”  Another whisper but this time it’s a male voice.  He sounds concerned.  I don’t remember having a guy in my house.  

“She fainted.  You need to go.  Her mom will freak if she sees you here…in her room!”  Lexi’s voice is louder this time.  I fainted?  Why would I faint?  I’m not a fainter. 

I struggle to make some kind of sound so they know that I am awake.  My mouth is dry and it feels like I’ve left my tongue hanging out for hours.  I hope I haven’t drooled on myself if it was.  I’m really struggling to come back to reality. 

“Alayna? Lexi, it sounds like she is coming around.”  I can feel the side of the bed dip down from Noelle’s weight.  She grabs my hand in a light hold.  “Alayna, can you hear me?  Open up your eyes.  You’ve given us a big scare and we need to see those beautiful eyes of yours.”

“Brody, you need to leave now.  I’m not going to ask again.”  I can hear her voice coming closer. 

“I need to know she’s alright.  I just… Please..” His voice breaks and trails off as he walks out of the room. 

“Alayna, it’s Lexi.  Open your eyes.  Alayna, can you hear me?  Open your eyes, please.”

My eyes are heavy and it hurts to open them.  My heavy lids begin to open.  I can see some tendrils of light coming from the side lamp.  I can make out someone’s silhouette.  “Noelle?”

“It’s me, sweetie.  I’m right here.” 

“Water…”  It comes out like a squeak.  I can barely formulate a syllable. 

“I’ve got it.  Hold on.”  Lexi rushes out.  Looking around I see that I am in my room.  They’ve turned on all the lights.  It’s almost blinding. 

“Alayna, here’s your water.  Let me put the straw in your mouth.  Can you open for me?”  My mouth is so dry.  It feels like my lips are going to split open.  After a few seconds, I’m able to separate my lips just enough for her to place the straw into my mouth.  I take a few swallows and the relief is immediate.   

“What happened?  How long was I out?” My mind is in a haze.  “I know there is something that I should remember. It’s just not coming to me.”

“Alayna slow down. You were only out for a few minutes.  We will tell you everything once you are feeling better.  I will tell you this you really scared us.”  Noelle looks like she may cry.  She is still holding my hand.  I reach over and pat her on the arm. 

“I’m glad you are here to rescue me.  I don’t know why I need rescued but thank you.” She is always here whenever I need her.  She never expects anything in return.  I feel a tear slide down my face.  I go to wipe it away.  My eyes feel puffy and hurt to touch. 

“Awe, don’t cry.  I love you and I will always be here for you.”  Noelle croons as she brushes my hair away from my face. 

“Oh, you know I don’t do the touchy feely.”  Lexi tisks and places her hand on Noelle’s shoulder.

“I know you don’t.  Right now, I want to forget that anything happened.  I just want to sleep.”  I’m struggling with keeping my eyes open.

“Go to sleep.  We can talk tomorrow.”  Lexi responds turning off the lamp next to my bed. 

I’m so tired my brain finally just shuts off and I fall asleep. I had a fitful night of rest.  Mostly I had last night’s catastrophe stuck on replay in the form of a nightmare.  It was like Ground Hog’s Day where it replayed the entire event over and over.  Only in my dream, I couldn’t make any changes.  I was stuck reliving the horror show. I finally fall to sleep without the recurring nightmare at about five this morning.

When I awake, light is streaming in my windows.  I look around my room and find Lexi and Noelle asleep on the futon. They stay here so often that we thought it best to invest in comfortable sleeping arrangements.  I know they are worried about me and probably stayed up late last night trying to figure out what could have caused me to pass out.  I will let them sleep as long as they need.  I get up and tiptoe to my bathroom.  

Lucky me, I have the master bed and bath.  I didn’t have this room when we first moved in.  Mom couldn’t stand looking at this room and all the memories that came along with it once dad committed his offense.  So, I inherited it on that life altering day a little more than three years ago. Mom walked into the bedroom and found my dad and Brody’s mom in the throes of ecstasy. That was the day that my family fell apart.  It’s also the day that Brody stopped talking to me and started blaming me for our parent’s sordid affair.  As if I could have prevented my dad and his mom from sleeping together.  It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.  And to know that he was in my room acting like he was all worried about me last night.  What the hell?  I don’t understand him.  He wants to hate me but pretends to be worried about me? 

I take a calming breath.  I can’t let him ruin my day.  He’s done plenty of that to last a life time.   I throw my clothes on the sink and then turn the shower on.  It takes a few minutes for the water to heat up.  Once I’m in there, I turn the spray to as hot as my body can stand.  I’m fully aware of what occurred last night and I’m hoping I can wash some of it away.  After using all of the hot water, I exit the shower. I toss on a pair of leggings and an oversized shirt.  It’s nothing fancy.   

I walk into my room fully expecting to see Lexi and Noelle still passed out on the futon.  They aren’t there.  My bedroom door is wide open.  I can hear noises coming from downstairs. They must be in the kitchen making breakfast. I may as well go face the firing squad.   I know those two, especially Lexi, will start shooting questions at me.  I have questions of my own about what happened last night.  Even though I’m not ready to face this day or the consequences that lay ahead, I make my way downstairs.