Perfect Caina

eight

Diana was sitting in her science class, not paying any attention, when Drake walked in late.

“Ah, Mr. Merwin.” Dr. Claran said sarcastically. “How nice of you to join us.”

Drake ignored the professor and took his seat next to Diana. She kept her composure for an all time record of half a second before she ripped into him.

“What the hell were you thinking? Methadone?” She whispered furiously.

“Well I sure wasn’t thinking Caine would drink it all.” He replied, not looking at her.

She had had it. “So you did want to kill someone at prom?”

“Not especially.” Drake said, still looking at his phone. “There wasn’t enough in there to kill anyone.”

Diana lost it. She dug her manicured nails into his arm, hard enough to draw blood. “Now you listen to me, you fucking psycho.” She said through gritted teeth. “Caine is in a coma and he might never wake up. You should hope for your sake that he doesn’t, because if he ever figures out what you did, he will kill you.”

“And how would he find out?” Drake asked, his shark grin spreading across his face.

“Step one toe out of line, Merwin, and I end you myself.”

“Miss Ladris!”

“What?!” Diana yelled, bringing her attention to the front of the class.

Dr. Claran motioned to her. “Can you please stop the incessant ringing coming from you phone?”

Diana scoffed and picked up her phone. “Hello?” She asked, very rudely. Drake saw her eyes get wide as she ran out of the classroom, leaving all her stuff behind.

“He’s up.” Drake explained to the rest of the room.

 

Diana was dropped off at the hospital by one of the dozen black town cars that sat outside of Coates. She ran in as fast as she could, knowing the way by heart. She entered the room to see something she had not expected. Rather than Caine being the same pale person he was the day before, he was sitting straight up and his skin was much darker (although not nearly as dark as his usual California tan). He smiled as she walked in.

“Pudding?” He asked, holding the container out to her.

Diana just stared. She had no idea what to say. Instead she walked over, took the pudding cup out of his hands, and ate the whole thing. She handed it back to him empty. Caine looked at her like she was the most awful person in the world. He pressed the button on the side of his bed and waited. A few moments later, the male nurse from a few days ago came running in, assuming something was wrong. He relaxed and put on an annoyed expression when he saw that Caine was fine.

“What?” The nurse asked, irritated. Diana guessed this was not the first time Caine had pushed the button for nonsensical reasons.

“Can I get more pudding?” He asked. “My girlfriend ate it all. You should explain that she isn’t supposed to stress me out.”

Both Diana and the nurse rolled their eyes at that. “I’ll get it.” Diana said as the nurse started to walk away. Caine smiled triumphantly. As he sat there and waited for her to return, he tried to recall as much as he could about that night. That had been the first question the doctors asked him when he woke up. He hadn’t answered at first, he had only asked for Diana, but after the confusion had subsided, he tried to remember as much as he could. At first all he could recollect was seeing Diana in her beautiful dress, but as time wore on, he remembered much more. He knew he was missing parts. He remembered dancing with Diana, he remembered Drake in a suit, although he couldn’t recall anything else about Drake. He thought he remembered seeing Diana’s boobs, but that could easily have been his imagination. He decided he would ask her when she returned.

Diana walked in a few minutes later holding only one pudding cup. Caine was disappointed. He had assumed that Diana Ladris, Queen of Manipulation, would’ve been able to snag a few extra cups of pudding. He was about to complain when she walked over to him and dumped the contents of her purse onto his lap. Caine’s face lit up as at least a dozen chocolate puddings fell out. He didn’t think he had ever been more excited in his life. The two of them sat on his bed, with Diana sitting at the foot, and ate pudding after pudding.

“Did we have sex?” Caine asked suddenly.

“No.” Diana replied, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

Caine nodded and went back to his pudding. It was about a minute before he spoke again. “Were we going to have sex?” He specified.

“I don’t know.” She said, emotionlessly.

“What else happened that night?” He asked, interested.

“Can we not talk about this?” Diana snapped. “I just want to forget about it.”

This only made Caine’s curiosity grow. “Why not?”

“Because I said so!” She yelled, got up, and walked towards the door.

Caine disconnected himself from the few remaining machines, causing them to beep uncontrollably, and yanked the IV tube from his arm, causing a trickle of blood to run down his arm. He ran after her and grabbed his wrist, spinning her around so she faced him.

“Hey,” He snapped. He put his hand under her chin and forced her head up so she would look at him. For a moment Caine thought her eyes looked bigger, until he realized it was because they were filled with tears. “What happened?” He asked softly.

At that moment, a hoard of doctors and nurses ran in, looking around frantically. Caine gave them all a look that could make the boogeyman run and hide. The doctors realized everything was okay and left before Diana even knew they were there. She hesitated but eventually spoke.

“I thought you were dead.” She explained, her voice cracking. “I saw you laying there on that table, and… and I thought you were going to die. I never thought I’d hear your voice again.” She laughed through her tears. “Your annoying, sarcastic, rage-inducing voice that makes me want to rip my eardrums out.”

Caine chuckled softly and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on hers. By this time, he was leaning back, gaining most of his support from the wall. “I’m not going anywhere.” He whispered into her ear. After a few moments, Diana noticed Caine start to sway. She wiped her face dry and pulled away.

“Come on,” She said as she helped him back to the hospital bed. The two of them laid down in it and listened to each other’s breathing. Just as Caine was starting to drift off, Diana spoke.

“By the way,” She said, lifting her head to look at him. “I kind of spilled the beans to Nurse Temple.”

She saw Caine’s eyes widen, but only before a moment as he realized it was probably for the best. He put his arms around Diana’s small waist and sighed. “Good.” He said simply, before falling asleep.