Page 12 of Armor
I knew what he was silently asking.
He took in my face, read what I wasn’t saying, then he smirked, nodded, and mouthed, “Nice.”
A quick smirk played across my lips.
Creedence stood up and stretched.
Garret and Valerie started talking.
It was about half an hour later when Garret and Valerie left to get coffee.
Something else happened.
Something inside of me seemed to click.
But I was still in too much pain to analyze it.
And then, like a moth to a flame, Creedence walked over to me, sat down on the side of the bed again, and started talking.
I wouldn’t know it for years to come... but that was the moment the light to my darkness was revealed to me.
***
After three days, they released me from the hospital. In those three days, if it wasn’t night and Creedence wasn’t in school, she was there.
We talked.
She told me about a series she was rereading called Twilight.
And I made a mental note to read it too.
We laughed.
She told me her hopes and dreams.
And then she made me think of a hope and a dream.
My hope? I wanted to be happy.
My dream? The same. I wanted to be happy.
And in that hospital room, Creedence made me a promise.
She would make it her life mission to make sure I was always happy.
***
They drove me to the cemetery where they laid Annabelle to rest.
A little hand found its way into mine, and I squeezed.
Creedence.
I inhaled deeply, taking in a certain scent that was all hers.
And let it do its thing.
Like it had been doing.
