Origin (Book 2)

Chapter 36

 My eyes shot open. Throwing sheets back from my bed, I jumped up, looking about anxiously for trouble.

It took a moment for me to realize that I wasn't in any sort of danger and that I was also not in my room. I was in a hospital.

Cassie sat in the chair next to my bed, head leaning on her fist. Dad, Dan, and Sage were laying down on the floor in different positions, all asleep. 

I pulled out the IV still attached to my arm. Then, I walked over to the window, pulling back the curtains that obscured my view of the outside.

The night sky was the first thing I saw. Next was the lights of the busy city far below. Life moved on, whether or not I had defeated Adam and caused Jake's death. Two seemingly insignificant lives in the workings of the universe, but I had a hunch they would come back to get me one way or another. 

A flash of blue flared up in my vision on the street below. Just as I turned my head, it disappeared.

"You've healed nicely," Cassie said. 

I watched her reflection in the glass. "I guess I have," I said, not the conversation starter.

I didn't feel the pain of any broken bones or major head injuries, so besides a few bruises on my leg and the side of my face, I was glad I hadn't been hurt too badly.

Now, I turned around.

Cassie's arms were crossed, her head tilted to the side, her hair spilling over her shoulder on one side. When our eyes met, she looked away.

The silence between us said more than I ever could. I tapped my bare foot against the floor, finding an empty movement to lessen the awkwardness. 

"About the dream we had..." she began.

"Nothing happened," I said.

"Are you sure you want to go that way?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

She looked away again, choosing her words. "What I said...there may have been an ounce of truth in it..."

She wanted me to say something, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had gotten so used to blocking out all of my feelings for her. Now that she wanted me to admit them, and return them herself, I was struggling to meet the mark. 

"You know how I feel," I said. 

"I have a complication," she said. 

The words came out of nowhere, and I was expecting her to say she wasn't interested again. 

"I had a boyfriend before I was abducted," she explained. "We had just broken up, but still. I'm not sure if I have feelings for him or not."

I gave her a grim smile. "What are you looking for, then?"

"I don't know," she said.

I had to give her the opinion of someone who was on the outside, which I wasn't entirely comfortable with doing, but she needed someone to talk to right now. We should have been focusing on how I almost got killed, but, you know, she was my crush and all. 

Besides, not technically speaking, it happened all the time. 

"Follow your heart," I said.

As the word, "heart" left my lips, and she heard, her face lit up. 

It was as if she saw me as a new person. I hadn't said anything stupid or selfish, but I gave her advice on her own problem. Sure, it was cliché, but who cared? I felt good saying it.