Take Me Tomorrow

Chapter 21: No One Was Silent

Early morning sunshine beamed through the entrance windows. I squinted at the dust floating in the rays as they sprayed over the living room. Argos slept at my feet soundlessly. Glancing around, my eyes took a moment to adjust, and I looked at Noah lying on the couch. His arm was draped beneath him as if it was a comfortable pillow, and his lips were slightly parted as he breathed, his side lifting and falling. I held my breath, struck by the absolute stillness of his expression—calm and relaxed—one that he never wore when he was conscious. It was as if I was looking at Noah Tomery before his last name became public enemy number one. Instead of a criminal or a drug addict, I was looking at a boy—just a boy.

"Were you down here all night?" Lily asked as she came down the stairs. Miles and her had slept in my father's room. By the looks of it, she hadn't slept well. Neither had I.

"I guess so," I said, rubbing my eyes. At some point, I had moved to the floor, and someone had draped a blanket over me. Now that I was awake, I refused to look at Noah.

Lily plopped down on the floor in front of me, cross-legged. She eyed him knowingly. "What was that about?"

"I-I don't know."

Lily rolled her eyes. "If I had to pick up his vomit, I think you can tell me if something is going on between you two," she said, then shrugged. "He's passed out anyway."

Still, my cheeks burned. I couldn't help but feel like he could hear everything we were saying, passed out or not. And even if he couldn't, I didn't know how I felt, or what was happening between us, if anything was happening at all.

"Nothing's going on," I tried.

Lily scrunched up her nose playfully. "Seriously? Him?" She said it like I had confessed.

"I swear." I scooted away from him as if to prove a point.

"Whatever you say." Lily laughed. "But I gotta say, I've never seen him sleep so hard."

I looked back at Noah, and was immediately tempted to move back. His cheeks had drained of color, and his shallow breath was unnerving. He looked like he could've been in a coma, and according to Lyn, he basically was.

"I wouldn't call it sleeping," I said, then slowly stood. "To be honest, I didn't know you could overdose on tomo."

"You can overdose on water," Lyn said, entering the room. Her ability to eavesdrop was starting to suffocate me, but when she pointed at me, I calmed. "Best you stay there."

I sulked back and sat on the edge of the couch. Noah's hand brushed my side. When he turned in his sleep, his shoulder skimmed my waist, and my eyes squeezed shut. I tried to ignore it—his touch, his wreckless behavior, his everything—but I couldn't.

"What happens if he overdoses again?" I asked. "Can he die?"

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Lyn asked, unimpressed. "Water can kill you."

I didn't understand nurse-speak.

"If someone drinks too much water too fast—"

"This isn't about water," I snapped.

Lyn's mouth hung open. "Sorry," she said as she sat across from us. "He can die from tomo, yes. It's happened before." In the dim lighting, her already dark features were impossible to read. "He won't die, though. He threw most of it up."

"How?" I asked.

"How, what?"

"How can tomo kill you?"