Arcadia's Gift(67)

Tossing my covers back, I tried to sit up. The effort made me woozy, and I fell back down, waking Monica.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice dry from sleep.
“I have the world’s worst headache.” I moaned.
“I’ll get you something for it. Where do you keep your Ibuprophen?”
I closed my eyes because the effort to hold them open was just too much. “Bathroom.” I pointed in the vague direction.
Monica slipped off of the bed and disappeared. A moment later she returned with four tablets and a Dixie cup of water. I smiled in gratitude for the over-medication. She held my head so I could swallow.
“How are Bryan and Cane?” I asked as Monica crawled back under the covers on the opposite side of the bed.
“Bryan’s sleeping in the guest room. He couldn’t go back to his place all covered in blood and shirtless. Aaron said that your mom would never notice us here.”
“And she didn’t, did she?”
“No. She must have been sleeping when we got in. Anyway, Bryan carried you up here, and I did my best to clean up so you wouldn’t wreck your sheets. Aaron gave him some clothes, and Bryan crashed out. He lost a lot of blood.”
I cringed remembering the sticky puddle spread over the ground. It was amazing he was alive at all.
“It is really fixed, right?”
Monica nodded. “As far as we could tell. Aaron stayed with him for over an hour, but no bruise formed and Bryan said he felt fine.”
The thought of almost losing him made my chest ache. At some point over these past few weeks, he had become something like a lifeline to me, the one bright spot in my otherwise dismal life. I needed him, sure, but I also felt the stirrings of what might be something more in my heart. I sighed. But if I liked Bryan, why had I kissed Cane?
As if reading my thoughts, Monica continued. “We took Cane home. He said if he went in by the patio door, he could get to his bedroom without his parents seeing him.”
“So he can walk?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Good as new, I guess.”
After a moment of silence, Monica asked in a timid voice, “Cady, what did you do last night? I mean, I watched it happen, but I don’t know if I believe it yet.”
“I don’t know if I believe it either,” I moaned, rolling onto my side.
I drifted off to sleep again without really answering her question.
I woke to find Bryan kneeling beside my bed, running his fingers along the side of my face. When my mouth curled into a grin, he stood and sat on the mattress next to my hip.#p#分页标题#e#
“Nice outfit.” I commented.
He wore a pair of Aaron’s sweatpants, too short by a few inches and one of my brother’s zombie t-shirts. His hair stuck up in randomly spaced spikes that somehow worked on him. The warmth of his familiar presence flooded my soul, and I breathed deeply, as if I could suck more of it in.
“Thanks,” he replied. “How are you feeling?”
My migraine was down from a ten to a three on the ouch-o-meter, but I was still weak. “A little better, I guess. I feel like I have a hangover without having had the fun of drinking.”
He raised one of his brows, “Have you had a lot of hangovers?”
I shook my head. “Once. The morning after our sixteenth birthday party. It wasn’t pretty.”
“Sounds like a good story.”
“Maybe another day...” I rubbed the sleep out of the corners of my eyes.
Aaron came in carrying a tray of sandwiches. Monica followed with sodas. Bringing up the rear was Cane. A slight blush spread on his cheeks when his gaze met mine, and I knew we were both thinking about that kiss we shared. I bit my bottom lip to stop it from tingling with the memory. The warmth of Bryan’s happiness burned me with guilt.
Bryan must have sensed something because he glanced back and forth between us with curiosity.
“Thought you could use some lunch,” Monica said. “It’ll help you get your energy back.”
“I went in to see Mom a bit ago,” Aaron explained, setting the tray on my bed and straddling my desk chair. “I told her we were out late after the dance, and Monica and Bryan decided to crash here. She didn’t seem to care.”
Cane cleared his throat. “I just stopped by to see how you’re doing,” he said without meeting my eyes.
He was too far away from me to get a reading, but he looked profoundly uncomfortable. Even after practically living at my house for half a year, I think it was the first time he’d ever been in my bedroom. Cane leaned against the back of my door as if afraid to come too far into the room. I saw his eyes flick to my hand wrapped in Bryan’s.
Rising into a sitting position, I tucked the covers around my lower half. Monica sat down cross-legged on my bed like we were having a picnic or something. Cane waved away her offer to join us.