Threat

“Tyler?”
“Hm?”

That’s all he could get out of me on this trip so far – small hums or grunts in response as I stared out the window of the plane. And of course I felt guilty about it, but there were too many other thoughts going through my head.

“…What do you plan to do when you get back home…?”

I bit down on my lip.

“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”

“I can’t leave her, Michael. Not while she’s still hurt.”
“Tyler—”

I finally looked towards him.

“I’m the only one she has. She’s an emotional and physical wreck right now. I can’t leave her like that.”

He sighed as he shook his head in disbelief.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“…I need to be there for her when she leaves the hospital. I need to help her recover…and …and then…”
“You’ll move out?”

I shook my head slightly.

“…Where would I go?”
“You could always go back home. Or…”

He paused for a second.

“You could stay here…with me…?”

He was blushing slightly, refusing to look at me.
I let a small smile show, but it went away shortly after.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking about still staying with her…”
“I-I…”

“For fucks sake, Tyler! Do I have to repeat myself—”

“No! You don’t, Michael! I am fully aware of what she does to me! Hell, that’s probably the reason why I’m afraid to leave her! I’m still in fear of how she’s going to react and what she’s going to do to me when I get back! Or maybe I’m more afraid of the fact that she’ll kill herself if I don’t stay with her! I’m not a fucking idiot, Michael! I’m just so fucking afraid of what’s going to happen!”

I furiously wiped the tears away, but more replaced them.

“I don’t want to lose her, Michael. Not like that…!”

He places his hand on top of my head, fingers playing with my hair – of course I stopped crying afterwards.

“I’m sorry…I know you’re afraid, Tyler…but…”
“…I-I’ll leave…”

“W-What…?”
“She’s hurt. She’s alone with no one else to take care of her. I’ll help her recover, and when she’s physically okay to be by herself…I’ll leave.”

I rested my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and falling into another nightmare.

| x | x | x |

“Are you sure you don’t need me to stay with you?”
“I’ll be fine.”

Michael didn’t seem to believe me.

We were both standing in front of the familiar wooden door – the same name written in the same tab.
He was staring at the floor, nervously rubbing his arm.

“What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried about you.” – He looked up at me – “If she harms you in any way, I don’t know what I would do…!”

“She won’t hurt me.”

A lie.

“But…”
“She might still be in a coma…I’ll tell her the truth, and she’ll be upset, but she’ll understand.”

A lie.

He didn’t respond.
I came close to him and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer before kissing him.

“Go home and get some rest. I’ll stay with her tonight. I’ll be fine, Micah. I promise.”

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Call me if anything happens, no matter what time, and I will come get you in a second. Be careful.”
He pulled away, staring straight into my eyes.

“I love you, Tyler.”

A l—

. . .

“…I love you too.”

He finally turned and walked away, but not before giving me a small smile.
I turned towards the door, taking in a deep breath before opening it and stepping inside.

I felt my stomach drop when I saw her, sitting straight up in the bed, green eyes piercing into my own.
She flashed a sly smile before opening her arms wide, signaling me to come towards her.

I swallowed thickly, slowly inching my way towards her.

When I was close enough, she grabbed my wrist, forcefully pulling me in closer.
Her smile had completely disappeared.

“This is how you show me that you love me? You left me to go on vacation while I was in a coma. And now you’re telling someone else that you love them?”

She started squeezing my wrist.

“M-Marcia…”
“Who was it?”

Her grip was getting tighter.

“Marcia, please…!”
“Who was it, Tyler?”

Tighter and tighter.

“Please, stop! I-It hurts!”
“You know damn well that I can make it hurt worse. I’m not going to ask again, Tyler. Who. Was. It?”

At this point, tears were rolling down my cheeks. I thought my wrist would break in any moment.

“M-Michael…! It was Michael…”

Anger flickered in her eyes at the mention of his name.

“Do I have to remind you who you belong to again?”
I shook my head.

“You belong to me! Understand?! Michael can’t have you! He can’t take you away from me!”
She paused, letting out a small laugh.

“Did you know that I almost killed myself last week?”

My eyes widened.

“Yeah. Some stupid nurse left a scalpel on a nearby table. I could have sliced the wrong vein and ended it all quick. But I kept myself alive because I had hope that you would come back to me!”

I cried out as she squeezed my wrist tighter than earlier.

“And now you have the nerve, the audacity to be in love with Michael? The man who has been trying to tear us apart since day one?!”

“Marcia—!”
“Well, I won’t allow it?! Do you understand me?!”

There was the sound of a sickening crack! before I cried out in agony.

She finally let go; I fell before curling up on the floor, gingerly holding onto the injured wrist with my right hand.
She moved off of the bed, kneeling down in front of me and gently running her fingers through my hair.

“I told you that I could make it hurt worse.”
She shushed me as she wiped away the tears.

“It’s okay, baby boy. Someone will be in here soon.”
She sat down before lifting my head up so it would rest in her lap.

“I had to, Tyler. I was so afraid that you’ve stopped loving me and…”
She sighed, still running her fingers through my hair.

The pain was unbearable. My head was swimming; I could barely focus on anything.

“Do you still love me…? Please, be honest with me, Tyler…”

I shut my eyes, slowly losing consciousness.

“…I still love you, Marcia…”

A lie.