Broken Soul

“I told you, I don’t remember everything about that man,” Dannie said to the police officer that was interrogating her. “I’ve given you all the information I can.” She hated the feeling of the cold concrete parking lot’s surface on her bare feet and wanted to get back inside.

The officer was kind enough to meet them at their next stop. It was still morning and Dannie was exhausted. Evan was still asleep. They had tried to wake him so he could give his side of the story but he didn’t respond. He still had to sleep off what he went through the night before. Dannie didn’t mention Evan’s wound was fatal because the officer wouldn’t have believed her after examining him. Even a doctor had seen him and found nothing wrong except Evan just needed rest. And Dannie didn’t mention the strange woman who had helped them. She didn’t want to sound crazy. The real story didn’t make much sense even to her. And she had witnessed it all.

Dannie yawned as she readjusted her blanket she had draped around her and glanced over at the young, red sunrise. They had to get back on the road. “Alright, well just give us a call when he wakes up,” the officer said, glancing over his notes before heading back inside his car.

Dannie watched him drive away, wondering if they were ever going to find the man who stabbed Evan. That bastard deserves life, she thought to herself. She remembered the terrified look on Evan’s face when he was bleeding and how cold he felt in her arms and her fears for his life growing while she watched him become weaker and weaker. He never did anything wrong to deserve that, she thought, staring over at the sunrise again. She could never understand why bad things happen to innocent people. All he tried to do was protect her. Dannie kept thinking it was her fault. She kept telling herself she should have just given that maniac her purse. Everything inside of it meant nothing to her compared to Evan. She’d rather be broke, have her identity stolen and a trashed credit for the next twenty years than lose him. She’d never have been able to forgive herself if he hadn’t made it. A long sigh escaped her. She felt powerless and her heart overflowed with guilt. He had suffered because of her. She wanted to take away all the awful memories and pain they had experienced from their minds so it was like it never happened. But she couldn’t. The dreadful experience would haunt her and her nightmares for the rest of her life.

Dannie took another deep breath. She felt her emotions suffocating her and restrained from breaking down. While she stood there, enveloped in her regrets, she heard Bryan’s voice ask, “Hey, you okay?”

She quickly turned her head to see he was standing right beside her. She hadn’t even heard him approach her. “Yeah…” she said, snapping out of her thoughts.

“You’ve been standing out here for a while,” he informed her.

“I guess I lost track of the time.”

“You ready to go?” he asked. “We gotta head out.”

“Yeah,” she said again.

“Alright,” he said, putting his arm around her as he escorted her back to the bus. Dannie wanted to go back to sleep so she headed straight to the bunks. She was about to crawl inside her own when she happened to glance toward Evan’s. She stepped over to it and slid his curtain open just a little to see him. Her eyes stared at his motionless face, wondering if he was dreaming. She hoped he’d open his eyes and yell at her to close his curtain and go back to sleep, but he never even felt her presence. Suddenly, Dannie noticed something. Evan’s face looked a little more pale than it had before. Dannie wasn’t sure if it was just the current lighting or what, but it seemed strange. She just closed the curtain and let him be, then went inside her own bunk. It took only a minute for her to fall asleep again.

* * * * *

“Evan, come on, wake up, we have soundcheck now…” Dannie said, gently nudging his shoulder. He wasn’t responding after several minutes of this so they just decided to proceed without him. “I hope he wakes up for the show…” Dannie said, taking a glance back to him as she followed the rest of them out of the bus.

Even after they returned, he still wasn’t awake. They left him alone but Dannie stood next to his bunk and watched him for a while. “If he doesn’t wake up soon, we’re gonna have to get him some help,” she said to Bryan who had just came to check on him. “I don’t want him falling into a coma or something. Those things happen.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” Bryan promised her. “He’s probably still just overwhelmed by last night. He’ll be fine.”

“Do you think he’s going to be mad at me when he wakes up?” she asked, her eyes locked on Evan.

“I doubt it,” Bryan answered. “I really wouldn’t worry about that.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, you know Evan,” he explained. “He doesn’t get mad or stay mad very often.”

“But, he got stabbed because of me…”

“You didn’t stab him though,” he reminded her. “Evan tried to help you. If anything, he’ll just be glad you’re both okay.”

She realized he had a point. Still, she wondered how he’d react whenever he’d see her again.

After a while, Dannie decided to get her mind on other things. They had about an hour before the show. She stepped into the front room to find something to do. Her heart stopped when she thought she heard sounds coming from Evan’s bunk. She turned back to check.

Evan stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Dannie heard him moving, saw him stretch his arms and rushed over to him. “Evan! Are you alright?” She stepped up onto the lower bunk just like the night before. “I’m so happy you-” His eyes looked up at her. Dannie gasped.

Evan read the disturbed expression on her face. “What?”

Dannie stared at his eyes. It was hard to look away. Evan’s naturally blue eyes were still blue, but turned to a much lighter shade that glowed at her, exactly like the woman’s that saved him last night. They gave Dannie chills. His skin was also more pale than it was the last time she noticed it. “Oh, um…nothing.” She didn’t want to scare him. “How are you feeling?”

“Alright, I guess,” he replied. Dannie noticed he looked confused.

“Do you…remember what happened last night?”

He took a moment to think about it. “Yeah. You were getting mugged and I came to help you. And I remember getting stabbed.” He sat up and pulled his shirt’s collar down to check his wound. He expected to see stitches and bandages but saw the fading scab. “What the?-” Suddenly, nothing made sense.