You Had Me at "I Hate You"
20
Linc was slumped back on his bed. Blood had seeped into his pillow, forming a red halo around his head. It was still gushing, and spreading down onto the front of his shirt, soaking his chest. The right side of his face, the side that the cut was on, was drenched in slick, wet, blood.
Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd have said that he'd been massacred.
Red stained the wall, as if he'd used his bloodied hand to steady himself against it, trying to get up.
I broke down. Grasping the back of Jesse's denim jacket, I sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
He didn't answer, he just shook my hands off him, and moved over towards Linc.
"Get a towel!" he barked.
I obeyed, my vision slightly blurred by tears.
I handed him a fluffy white towel, and he began to wipe off Linc's face.
"Jesse, I'm sorry... I - hic - didn't mean to do this... I - hic - didn't know-"
"Sorry?" he interrupted, anger etched into his face. "You're sorry?"
I nodded. My throat had kind of closed up.
"Sorry isn't going to fix this!"
"I know..." I sobbed again. The amount of blood was astonishing...
Blood... Red... All red. Everything was red... The corners of my vision blurred... I struggled for breath.
The white towel was now red.
Everything...
Everything...
"Violet! Violet, did you hear me?" Jesse roared. I'd never seen him this angry in my entire life.
"W-What?" I asked weakly, managing to regain my sanity.
"Call a goddamn ambulance!"
He was slapping Linc gently on the face, trying to get him to regain consciousness.
"Lincoln.. Hey... Linc, buddy, you gotta wake up..."
His eyelids fluttered open.
"I've got a headache, Jesse..." he mumbled.
"I know, buddy, I know... We're getting you some help."
He turned to me.
"Ambulance! NOW!"
I rushed towards the phone in the kitchen with shaking hands. I was trembling so badly that I couldn't dial the numbers correctly. I kept hitting near-by numbers by mistake.
9-8-1-1
Shit!
9-1-2-1
Damn!
9-1-1
I got it! But I pushed the "Hang Up" button instead of "Call" in my excitement.
Jesse emerged from the room.
"What's taking so long?" he snarled and snatched the phone from me, dialing the three digits with precision and accuracy.
"Go keep and eye on Linc," he ordered. "And don't throw something at him this time, please."
I nodded, tears falling now from the bite of his words rather than shock.
I walked into the room, and continued to dab at Lincoln's face with a clean corner of the bloodied towel.
The gash was a deep one, and would have caused anyone, not just people with blood clotting disorders, a trip to the hospital -- for stitches at the very least. I guess I didn't realize how sharp the corners of that cologne box were.
"Hey Dollface..." he croaked. He was deathly pale from the loss of blood, and the contrast made his green eyes glow ominously.
I sniffed. "Linc... I'm so sorry..."
He ignored me. "How are you this fine evening?"
"I didn't know that you would... I had no idea..."
"Me? Oh, I'm fine! The weather was quite nice today..." his voice cracked with the effort he was putting forth at concealing the pain.
And he was purposely ignoring my apologies so that he wouldn't make me feel guilty. It was a nice gesture, but it was getting annoying.
"Jesse's just called the Hospital," I informed him, trying not to let my tears fall on him.
"Why?" he protested wearily in a Monty Python imitating British accent. "It's only a flesh wound!"
"Stop trying to make me feel better!" I shouted.
He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the pillow, which was sticky from the blood.
He raised a shaking hand to his forehead, as if he wanted to touch the cut, but he chickened out. His fingers fell back to his side.
Finally being serious, he asked. "How bad is it?"
"I... I..." I couldn't form a sentence.
"It's throbbing..." he mumbled. "Has it stopped bleeding yet?"
I couldn't bare to answer, so I choked out a small sob instead.
"Hey... What's the matter?" he crooned, his voice going soft and tender.
"I didn't mean to... I didn't know that you would black out, or that you couldn't clot... I just... I was so stupid... I shouldn't have..."
"Hey..." he shushed. His voice sounded sleepy, as if I had decided to wake him up and have a late-night conversation with him. "Don't cry, Dollface! It's okay... Really, I deserved it! Shhh..."
Linc sat up and gave me a small hug, smearing his blood on my clothes. Suddenly, he moaned.
"What!" I cried, thinking I'd hurt him again. "What's wrong?"
"I just got light-headed..." he mumbled... and flopped back down on the bed.
Great! I let a guy who has just lost God knows how much blood sit up suddenly! I'd made him black out again!
"Linc! Linc! You've got to wake up! Please!" I whispered frantically, slapping his face a bit.
"Leave me alone. I'm tired," he responded, and then mumbled incoherently. It sounded something like, "Tell Jesse that the iguanas are on the roof again."
"Open your eyes, damn it! Open them!" I was slightly hysteric. His mumbling scared me.
He noted the panic in my voice and obeyed, lifting his heavy eyelids.
"Happy?" he asked, slurring a bit.
"Yes."
Jesse came back into the room and applied pressure to Linc's gash with a clean towel.
"You're gonna be okay," Jesse reassured his best friend quietly.
"Mmm..." Linc groaned, closing his eyes.
"Don't go back to sleep, buddy," Jesse urged. "Just keep talking to me, okay?"
"'Kay..." he replied sleepily.
"Tell me about your new job," Jesse ordered, refusing to look at me.
"S'good."
"More than a one word answer, mate."
"S'really good."
Linc closed his eyes again.
"Tell me about... about... Zombies!" Jesse was stressed, thinking of the first topics that popped into his head. He was doing everything he could to keep Linc from slipping into unconsciousness.
"Zombies aren't cool..."
"Why?" he urged, sucking in his breath as the wound soaked up another towel.
"They eat people, man," Linc mumbled. His eyelids fluttered.
"Tell me about your family."
"No."
Jesse blinked in surprise. "Why not?"
"Don't wanna talk about them..." he talked like every word was causing him pain.
"Fine." Jesse racked his brain. "Tell me about... uh... Tell me about... Tell me about Violet!"
It was obvious that he was panicking. He was choosing topics that he thought Lincoln would respond to.
"Pretty," was his only reply.
Amidst my fright, I blushed.
"Goddamn it!" Jesse hissed. "Linc, man, I'm trying to keep you awake, okay? You've got to talk!"
"Shut up, Jesse," Linc groaned.
"Linc! You can't go to sleep!" he ordered, panic swelling in his voice. "Lincoln! Lincoln?"
Jesse got up, anxiously checking out the window for the ambulance. I clung to the back wall, slightly afraid of Jesse's new attitude.
He moved back over to crouch down next to Linc, slapping his face.
"Lincoln Flecter! Wake up or, so help me God, I'll tell Violet what you did last spring break with Gavin and the slip n' slide-"
"I'm up! I'm up!"
"Keep talking," he ordered, relief flooding over his face.
"Mmmm..." he mumbled.
His skin was sallow, and his bangs were matted with sweat and blood. The cut had slowed to producing a small trickle.
Jesse didn't look at me. He didn't speak to me.
I heard the sounds of the approaching sirens and sighed in relief.
Nice, Violet. You've almost killed one of your roommates, and the other one hates your guts.
Great job.
Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd have said that he'd been massacred.
Red stained the wall, as if he'd used his bloodied hand to steady himself against it, trying to get up.
I broke down. Grasping the back of Jesse's denim jacket, I sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
He didn't answer, he just shook my hands off him, and moved over towards Linc.
"Get a towel!" he barked.
I obeyed, my vision slightly blurred by tears.
I handed him a fluffy white towel, and he began to wipe off Linc's face.
"Jesse, I'm sorry... I - hic - didn't mean to do this... I - hic - didn't know-"
"Sorry?" he interrupted, anger etched into his face. "You're sorry?"
I nodded. My throat had kind of closed up.
"Sorry isn't going to fix this!"
"I know..." I sobbed again. The amount of blood was astonishing...
Blood... Red... All red. Everything was red... The corners of my vision blurred... I struggled for breath.
The white towel was now red.
Everything...
Everything...
"Violet! Violet, did you hear me?" Jesse roared. I'd never seen him this angry in my entire life.
"W-What?" I asked weakly, managing to regain my sanity.
"Call a goddamn ambulance!"
He was slapping Linc gently on the face, trying to get him to regain consciousness.
"Lincoln.. Hey... Linc, buddy, you gotta wake up..."
His eyelids fluttered open.
"I've got a headache, Jesse..." he mumbled.
"I know, buddy, I know... We're getting you some help."
He turned to me.
"Ambulance! NOW!"
I rushed towards the phone in the kitchen with shaking hands. I was trembling so badly that I couldn't dial the numbers correctly. I kept hitting near-by numbers by mistake.
9-8-1-1
Shit!
9-1-2-1
Damn!
9-1-1
I got it! But I pushed the "Hang Up" button instead of "Call" in my excitement.
Jesse emerged from the room.
"What's taking so long?" he snarled and snatched the phone from me, dialing the three digits with precision and accuracy.
"Go keep and eye on Linc," he ordered. "And don't throw something at him this time, please."
I nodded, tears falling now from the bite of his words rather than shock.
I walked into the room, and continued to dab at Lincoln's face with a clean corner of the bloodied towel.
The gash was a deep one, and would have caused anyone, not just people with blood clotting disorders, a trip to the hospital -- for stitches at the very least. I guess I didn't realize how sharp the corners of that cologne box were.
"Hey Dollface..." he croaked. He was deathly pale from the loss of blood, and the contrast made his green eyes glow ominously.
I sniffed. "Linc... I'm so sorry..."
He ignored me. "How are you this fine evening?"
"I didn't know that you would... I had no idea..."
"Me? Oh, I'm fine! The weather was quite nice today..." his voice cracked with the effort he was putting forth at concealing the pain.
And he was purposely ignoring my apologies so that he wouldn't make me feel guilty. It was a nice gesture, but it was getting annoying.
"Jesse's just called the Hospital," I informed him, trying not to let my tears fall on him.
"Why?" he protested wearily in a Monty Python imitating British accent. "It's only a flesh wound!"
"Stop trying to make me feel better!" I shouted.
He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the pillow, which was sticky from the blood.
He raised a shaking hand to his forehead, as if he wanted to touch the cut, but he chickened out. His fingers fell back to his side.
Finally being serious, he asked. "How bad is it?"
"I... I..." I couldn't form a sentence.
"It's throbbing..." he mumbled. "Has it stopped bleeding yet?"
I couldn't bare to answer, so I choked out a small sob instead.
"Hey... What's the matter?" he crooned, his voice going soft and tender.
"I didn't mean to... I didn't know that you would black out, or that you couldn't clot... I just... I was so stupid... I shouldn't have..."
"Hey..." he shushed. His voice sounded sleepy, as if I had decided to wake him up and have a late-night conversation with him. "Don't cry, Dollface! It's okay... Really, I deserved it! Shhh..."
Linc sat up and gave me a small hug, smearing his blood on my clothes. Suddenly, he moaned.
"What!" I cried, thinking I'd hurt him again. "What's wrong?"
"I just got light-headed..." he mumbled... and flopped back down on the bed.
Great! I let a guy who has just lost God knows how much blood sit up suddenly! I'd made him black out again!
"Linc! Linc! You've got to wake up! Please!" I whispered frantically, slapping his face a bit.
"Leave me alone. I'm tired," he responded, and then mumbled incoherently. It sounded something like, "Tell Jesse that the iguanas are on the roof again."
"Open your eyes, damn it! Open them!" I was slightly hysteric. His mumbling scared me.
He noted the panic in my voice and obeyed, lifting his heavy eyelids.
"Happy?" he asked, slurring a bit.
"Yes."
Jesse came back into the room and applied pressure to Linc's gash with a clean towel.
"You're gonna be okay," Jesse reassured his best friend quietly.
"Mmm..." Linc groaned, closing his eyes.
"Don't go back to sleep, buddy," Jesse urged. "Just keep talking to me, okay?"
"'Kay..." he replied sleepily.
"Tell me about your new job," Jesse ordered, refusing to look at me.
"S'good."
"More than a one word answer, mate."
"S'really good."
Linc closed his eyes again.
"Tell me about... about... Zombies!" Jesse was stressed, thinking of the first topics that popped into his head. He was doing everything he could to keep Linc from slipping into unconsciousness.
"Zombies aren't cool..."
"Why?" he urged, sucking in his breath as the wound soaked up another towel.
"They eat people, man," Linc mumbled. His eyelids fluttered.
"Tell me about your family."
"No."
Jesse blinked in surprise. "Why not?"
"Don't wanna talk about them..." he talked like every word was causing him pain.
"Fine." Jesse racked his brain. "Tell me about... uh... Tell me about... Tell me about Violet!"
It was obvious that he was panicking. He was choosing topics that he thought Lincoln would respond to.
"Pretty," was his only reply.
Amidst my fright, I blushed.
"Goddamn it!" Jesse hissed. "Linc, man, I'm trying to keep you awake, okay? You've got to talk!"
"Shut up, Jesse," Linc groaned.
"Linc! You can't go to sleep!" he ordered, panic swelling in his voice. "Lincoln! Lincoln?"
Jesse got up, anxiously checking out the window for the ambulance. I clung to the back wall, slightly afraid of Jesse's new attitude.
He moved back over to crouch down next to Linc, slapping his face.
"Lincoln Flecter! Wake up or, so help me God, I'll tell Violet what you did last spring break with Gavin and the slip n' slide-"
"I'm up! I'm up!"
"Keep talking," he ordered, relief flooding over his face.
"Mmmm..." he mumbled.
His skin was sallow, and his bangs were matted with sweat and blood. The cut had slowed to producing a small trickle.
Jesse didn't look at me. He didn't speak to me.
I heard the sounds of the approaching sirens and sighed in relief.
Nice, Violet. You've almost killed one of your roommates, and the other one hates your guts.
Great job.