Let Me Save You

(3rd Person POV)

“What happened earlier on the stairs?” CC asked quietly, turning off the TV and DVD player as the movie had ended.

“I’m not sure. I was coming out of the den and saw her on the stairs. She looked really pale, like she was going to pass out, she got over it pretty quickly though.” Andy murmured.

“That all? You looked pretty freaked out...”

Andy sighed softly and tightened his arm momentarily around Jay. “She looked at me for the first time, like actually made eye contact and she just looked so...empty. She had this dull far away look in her eyes, and it just reminded me so much of Aurora right at the end before she sent me away.”

“Does she know about her?” CC asked, fabric rustling as he shifted in his seat.

“Who? Aurora? I dunno, haven’t been able to get much out of her. I suspect not though. Cindy told me that she refused to speak of me, I don’t think she’d bring me up before she died. She did mention though in a letter a while back, that Jay had been acting weird for a few years, more withdrawn and quiet.”

CC was silent.

“I’m worried about her. She hardly ate anything, and she spent the whole day crying... Add to it that she won’t let anyone touch her.” Andy’s voice was quiet as he spoke, sadness lacing his tone.

“She’s just mourning. Give her some time, let her figure things out before jumping to conclusions. She just got here, everything is still new and different. You just have to let her deal with things at her own pace. She’ll come around, don’t worry about it so much.”

Andy sighed loudly. “Thanks man.”

“Anytime. Hey I think I’m gonna head to bed.” CC stood up and walk into the kitchen, dropping his beer bottle in the recycling bin.

“Sounds good, I’m gonna hang out here for a bit longer.” Andy answered.

“Alright, good night.” CC said climbing the stairs.

“Night.” Andy murmured.

Andy stayed in that same position for a while longer, Jay's head resting comfortably against his shoulder, his arm around her shoulders. Eventually he maneuvered her arm around his neck and lifted her carefully before heading up the stairs.

“You’re too light.” He murmured mostly to himself before laying her on her bed. He pulled back the blanket and carefully unzipped her sweater, slipping it off and hanging it on the back of the desk chair. He paused, his fingertips brushing the scars on her wrists. He exhaled loudly and pulled the blanket up over her before leaning down and pressing his lips against her temple.
“I’ll help you heal, my sweet baby girl.” He breathed, then walked silently out of the room and down the hall.
Jay squeezed her eyes shut tighter and pulled the blanket up over her head, hiding.

--

(Jay POV)

I woke at dawn, like always. Early enough that the birds were just starting to sing, and the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, my eyes going unfocused. Footsteps came down the hall, pausing in front of my half open door before continuing down the stairs. A few minutes later the front door opened and closed, then it fell silent. I rolled back onto my side and closed my eyes, forcing myself back to sleep.

--

I woke again some hours later, at a much more reasonable time. I didn’t get up though. My body begged me to stand, to stretch, to move, but I couldn’t. So instead I played with a loose thread on my pillowcase, staring blankly at it.

“Jay? You up?” CC called from downstairs.

I didn’t answer, zoning out instead.

Shortly after the doorbell rang and I heard CC greeting whoever was there. Four sets of footsteps moved through the kitchen out onto the patio. The occasional sound of laughing drifted in through my half open door but I couldn’t get myself to go downstairs, much less roll over, or straighten my cramped legs.

Andy appeared in my doorway sometime later, knocking on the door frame. I didn’t move. “You awake?” He asked softly coming to perch on the edge of my bed.

I continued tugging on the loose string, wrapping it around the tip of my finger and pulling until my fingertip turned white, then letting it go slack again.

“Do you want to come downstairs and have something to eat?” He asked.

I shook my head slightly and wound the string around my fingertip again.

“Alright. A few of my friends are here, they’re all excited to meet you.”

I stayed silent.

He ran his hand through his hair watching me as I pulled the string tighter and tighter around my finger until it started turning a purple-red. Tsking softly he encased my hand in his and unraveled the string from my finger. I stared at my hand as he held it gently, rubbing his thumb across my knuckles.

“The bathroom is across the hall if you want to take a shower. There’s towels on the rack. Whenever you’re ready I’ll be downstairs waiting for you, ok?” He waited for some kind of sign that I’d heard him. I tugged my hand out of his and cradled it to my chest, squeezing my eyes closed and turning away from him.

He sighed softly and stood up, returning to the patio downstairs.

Staring at the ceiling, I tried to decide what to do. Part of my brain told me to get up go take a shower and go downstairs, while the other, more persuasive part told me to close my eyes and let myself drift off once more. The quieter part of me won for once and I slowly crawled out of bed. I grabbed a pair of black sweatpants, a Colca-Cola t-shirt, and my small bag of shower things before wandering across the hall into the rather large slightly disorganized bathroom. I pushed the door closed and locked it before stripping down and getting in the shower.