To Go From There

“Rhys… hold on, alright? Please. I’m begging you, you silly boy. Please! God, you can’t die,” I cried into Rhys’ neck hours later. He wasn’t bleeding but the fact that it was full dark and my Rhys hadn’t opened his eyes yet was scaring the wits out of me.

No response came from the boy cradled in my lap.

I brushed his hair again with my fingers. I looked around, trying to find something or someone. There was no one. I looked around again and lifted Rhys up as best as I can. I dragged him into the cornfield and kissed his lips quickly before racing home. I felt horrible about leaving him there all by himself but I didn’t know how bad he was hurt. I couldn’t keep sitting there. What if no one came by for days? What if his brain was bleeding? What if he was losing oxygen to his brain? What if the man I was falling in love with was dying?
I found Gen playing pool by herself.

“Gen! Thank god you’re home. I need you to drive me to the hospital.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked lazily.

“Rhys, he’s hurt.”

She raised her head and stared at me, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t see him anywhere.”

“That’s because he’s in a cornfield blacked out. Let’s go!” I pleaded. She shrugged and followed me to her car. I got in and gripped the door handle. Gen didn’t notice as she started the engine and backed out of the driveway. She began driving down the road when I put my hand on her arm.

“Pull over here. I’ll get Rhys.”

She nodded and pulled over onto the shoulder. I flung open the door and raced to where I found Rhys’ body. His eyes were fluttering, but not fully open. I knelt beside him and brushed a hair from his face.

“Rhys? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, please. Tell me you can hear me.”

“Why do you sound so worried?” he asked, his voice scratchy and his eyes searching as they opened.

“You’ve been unconscious for hours, babe. I’ve been so scared that you were gonna die. You can’t do that to me.”

“You just called me babe. I must’ve been in some serious trouble,” he chuckled and pushed himself upright with a groan.

“You don’t remember what happened? That you were walking me home? That you were being stupid and jogging backwards? That you tripped on a stick, hit your head and blacked out?” I asked.

“No… I just remember teasing you as we walked somewhere.”

I hung my head and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

“That’s okay. At least you’re not seriously hurt. I still have to take you to the hospital. You know, to make sure you’re a-okay.”

“You love me. Admit it, Kiernan, you want me. Bad,” Rhys teased, playing with a piece of my hair.

“Get up and get in that car so I can get your head checked out. Okay? Don’t be a pain in my ass.”

He stood up and held out his hand. I chuckled to myself, grabbed it and he pulled me up to stand before him.

“I don’t think I’ve told you how adorable you are today. Because that look of pure annoyance is really working on you, baby,” he winked and kissed my nose.

“Please, don’t be so difficult. Let me take care of you before you start flirting, okay? You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, Kiernan. Let’s go to the hospital.”

I smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Rhys. You’re perfect.”