Energizer

twenty

"I didn't think you would stay this long," Elana mumbled. She rested her head against her hand, while her pointy elbow stabbed into the table in the recreation room.
"I just want to make sure he's okay," I dropped some quarters into the vending machine.
"Ari, it's been 4 hours!" Elana groaned and supported her head with both hands.
"I'm sorry, have someone pick you up if its that painful to support me," I pressed the vending machine's buttons with force, a waterbottle soon hitting the metal bottom with a loud bang.
"I'm a bad friend."
I ignored Elana's voice, focusing on my cold watter bottle. Nothing has ever tasted so good. I twisted the cap on after I drank almost the entire thing, turning to Elana afterwards, who was crying under her two hands.
"Hey, get it together," I threw my arm over her shoulder but she didn't move or speak.
"I'll drive you home if you want. I'm only staying for a little bit longer," She nodded as her face stayed covered.
"I'll hang out here," Elana spoke to her palms.
Her selfish behavior would have gotten the best of me if there wasn't a vending machine with water and snacks.
Back in the hospital room, Marcus was eating his dinner with the TV on, "They found her." He pointed with his good arm towards the TV, where it showed a still image of brunette in cuffs. He smirked and shut the TV off, turning his body to face me, a slight wince appearing on his face, "This soup tastes like piss."
I laughed quietly, and sat down on the side of his bed, sirring his soup with the plastic spoon. "That's not very nice," I looked up into his eyes, admiring the green color, suddenly feeling very grateful.
"Do you know what she did to me?" Marcus asked while taking the spoon from my hand. A weight dropped into my stomach. I shook my head.
"She beat me up,"!Marcus watched the soup swish around the bowl, speaking casually.
"You didn't defend yourself?" I sighed, looking at him with great concern.
"Defend, yes. Fight back, no. I vowed to my mother that I would never hurt a girl. Physically, I mean. I let her have at me, because I deserved it," Marcus took a small spoonful of soup, shrugging with his left shoulder.
"Even after everything that happened at the wedding, you kept that promise?" I smiled slightly, and he nodded while swallowing the wonderfully delicious hospital food, which he still didn't look too fond of.
"But wait, there's more," Marcus laughed quietly before continuing, even though this wasn't anything to laugh about. "She touched me without my consent, to put it gently. Multiple times. She locked me in a closet in the basement. She threatened to kill me. She didn't give me any food for like three days. I'm pretty sure she would have drugged me if I stayed down there one more night. She was drugged," Marcus shrugged. He acted unaffected.
All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. My mouth dropped open, and words started to tumble out unexpectedly, "What?! Are you serious? I'm so glad you're okay. That bitch is in jail now," My answer was so clichè, but I didn't know what else to say about his explanation -- especially the casual way he talked about it
"I knew she was angry, but she totally took her anger out the wrong way," I focused on the floor below me, talking while trying to think about what was going through her mind before doing all of this to Marcus. I was never good at multi-tasking.
"I don't remember too much, my brain sometimes tends to block out stressful and unpleasant situations," Marcus took another spoonful of soup, raising his eyebrows as he turned to me again. I raised my head to listen.
"I also lost 8 pounds," Now, Marcus seemed to be boasting.
"Oh, well I hope you gain that back. You were really skinny to begin with," I smirked and crossed my arms, watching him roll his eyes at me. The TV announced the time, and I frowned. "I think I have to leave, okay? Elana is here waiting. I promise I'll come back tomorrow and we can talk all day," I grabbed his un-casted hand, kissing each bruised finger softly. Marcus sighed disapprovingly, looking over at me with suddenly heavy eyes. "I'll miss you," he slowly spoke, eyes tracing my movements as I stood up. I watched them trail from my cuffed jeans all the way up to the collar on my slightly dirty shirt. "I'll miss you too," I let go of his hand, immediately stuffing my fingers in my pockets. I walked out to find Elana in the vending room, right where I left her. I couldn't help but be happy that he was alright, and the criminal was being charged accordingly.

Three days later, Marcus returned home.
He had a cast on his arm, and a few small bruises left. He was gaining back weight which made me happy, but not so much him. I tried to go over and help him as much as possible, but only when his parents weren't there because they glare at me like they're about to push me off a bridge. His mother is upset about brunette's jail time, when she really should be upset about Marcus.
It was the first time I felt decent in a while, so I gathered my painting supplies from underneath my desk. I dropped my phone onto the floor face down, ignoring every single missed message and call, no matter how important it may be. I wanted time with just myself, to paint and forget everything that recently happened.

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Sorry for the shorter chapters I've been publishing. Time is not on my side.

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