Page 129 of 56 Days
All of it.
“No,” he says. “I’m not.”
And those wordsdocome out.
Ciara says something about calling an ambulance.
Everything he has left, everything the rolling tide of dark hasn’t yet reached, he uses to roar out, “No!”
“But you’ve hurt your head—”
The water stops. Ciara must have turned it off.
Oliver tries to turn and look up at her face, but everything feels so heavy. How did he ever carry his head on his shoulders when it feels like this? It’s pulling him down, toward the ground.
And he realizes he’s on his knees, inside the shower, with little pebbles of...
Is thatglass?
“You need help, Oliver. Here, let me—”
But when she reaches for him, he grabs her legs.
“No,” he says through clenched teeth. “No.”
“Oliver, for God—”
“I don’t... deserve...”
“Oliver—”
“It was me.It was me. All... me. Not Shane.”
Her hands release him and he falls away, drops his head back to the ground.
For what feels like forever, there is no noise at all except thedrip-drip-dripof the tap above his head. Oliver is dimly aware of the corresponding droplets hitting the back of his neck.
“Not Shane,” he says again.
Then Ciara says, very quietly, “What are you talking about?”
He turns his head until his cheek is on the cold, wet tile and his mouth isn’t obstructed. “When I told you...” His lips feel loose, his tongue thick. He needs to sleep. He can’t outrun it anymore. Everything is too warm, too heavy... “What I told you... happened. What was me... was Shane.” One last push, with all the force he can manage, clearer words, louder voice. “Swap us over. Swap me with Shane. That’s... that’s the truth.”
He starts drifting off, feels the dark tide lapping at his feet, swirling around his ankles.
“You’re saying...” Ciara sounds so far away. “You’re saying thatyoustarted it? That you beat up Paul? That it wasyouridea to drown him?”
He opens his eyes.
All he can see are Ciara’s sneakers, inches from his face, but they’re red.
No, wait—everythingis red. Like a filter.
Something is bleeding.Heis.
“Yes,” he says. “Yes. That’s why... he attacked me... I wouldn’t tell the truth... He couldn’t go on... No one believing him.”
He hears Ciara crying, but he can’t console her.
