“Mom, what?—”
“Help me get him into the kitchen; then call 9-1-1.”
9-1-1?I just got out of the hospital.“No.No ambulance,” I try to argue, but my voice is barely audible.It comes out as a slur of unintelligible grunts.
“We have to get you help,” she says, tone steady as she leads me through what I’m assuming is her apartment.She could be leading me right off a cliff, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
My eyes are burning.
My lungs are on fire.
Is this how I go out?A Navy SEAL and demolition expert taken out by a can of pepper spray wielded by his gorgeous neighbor?If that is who came into my apartment.I can only assume at this point it was her.We didn’t walk far enough for it to be anyone else.
“Head down so I can rinse your eyes,” she says.Her fingers thread through the hair on the back of my head as she guides me forward.I obey, not really having much of a choice.Besides, if she can get me relief from this agony, I’ll take it.Cold water hits my eyes.It stings, burning my already sensitive eyes like tiny granules of glass behind my lids.I grind my teeth together, focusing only on staying upright.
At least the pain in my side is muted, thanks to the agony I’m suffering internally.
Seconds pass, and soon, slow relief creeps in.I groan as the pain in my eyes slowly ebbs.As time keeps on ticking, my breathing becomes a bit easier, but when my head swims and I sway, I know I’m not out of the woods yet.
“Are they on their way?”she asks.
“Yes.A few minutes out,” her son replies.
“I am so sorry,” she mutters to me.“I thought you were dead.They told me you were dead.I thought you were an intruder.When you grabbed me, I panicked?—”
“Death would be preferable at this moment,” I groan, unsure if she even hears me.Did I even say it out loud?I have absolutely no clue.
My legs give out, and I fall over, darkness stealing the small sliver of light that rinsing my eyes gained.I don’t even feel the impact of the floor, nor the pain that should have followed.
The last thing I hear is a woman’s scream before the entire world goes silent.
Light assaults my sensitive eyes as I open them and stare up at a stark white ceiling.Fluorescents hang directly above me, mounted on the tiled ceiling, and the all-too-familiar beeping of machines pulls my attention next.
I’m back at the hospital.Fantastic.
“He’s awake!”A teenage boy I recognize instantly comes into view above me.Thomas Ellis.He spends the occasional afternoon at the center—or at least he has since he and his mother moved in next door to me three months ago.
His wide blue eyes are staring down at me, a relieved smile on his face.“Mr.Holt, it’s good to see you awake,” he says.
“Thank the Lord,” a woman replies, her tone soft but slightly strained.My gorgeous neighbor comes into view next when she steps up beside my bed.Her blonde hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, her hazel eyes focused intently on me.They’re rimmed with red, likely from the pepper spray.
“Are you okay?”she asks.“Thomas, call the nurse.”
Before I have the chance to argue that I just need a moment, Thomas has already pressed the call button on the side of my bed.
My head is throbbing, the pain in my side coming back with a vengeance as each second passes by.
“What happened?”I manage.
“My mom pepper-sprayed you,” the boy says with a smirk at his mother.
Her cheeks turn a deep pink.
“Yup.I remember that.”I try to sit up, but fresh pain shoots through my side.
“No, you need to stay down.”Slender hands grip my right shoulder and gently press me back down.Her touch ignites something else in my blood, despite the lingering pain from my initial injury and being pepper-sprayed.I still beneath her hands and let her guide me back down onto the bed.
“You know, I’d hoped not to see you for quite some time, Garrison,” Doctor Alex Jones comments as he comes into the room.