I bought a new shirt and headed to Keith’s hospital room. Security guards were standing in front of the door. We shared a simple greeting, and I knocked on the door.
—Knock knock!
When I opened the door after a short silence, I immediately saw Keith sitting on the edge of the bed. As the door creaked open, he turned his head and looked at me. I closed the door behind me and walked up to him, handing him the new shirt.
“You can change into this. How’s your arm?” I asked, gazing only at his face since I didn’t have the courage to look at his injury. However, there was no way for Keith to read my mind. He lifted up his arm as if to show it to me better.
A hard cast was wrapped around his firm, muscular arm. The sight of the white fabric around his arm put me at a loss for words.
Keith replied nonchalantly, “It was just a few stitches. The doctor said that the first aid was done very well.”
He let out an airy laugh. Perhaps he was complimenting me. At that moment, however, my mind was blank. Without a word, I took out the shirt from its box and unfolded it. Keith took off the ripped shirt that he was wearing and stretched out his arm. I carefully helped him into his new shirt, trying my best not to touch his wound.
Keith was about to button up his shirt when he suddenly scrunched up his face. Trying to bend his arm must have pulled on his wound, shooting up pain.
“Allow me,” I quickly offered as I scurried back to his front. Like Keith, I sat on the edge of the bed and began buttoning up his shirt. Every button I fastened made reality draw closer, little by little.
The memory that I had tried so hard to bury came to life at once. The man who had lunged at Keith, the way he swung the knife, the redness of the blood as it scattered in the air—
And me, who was so powerless and unable to do anything.
My hand stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt. To be precise, my hand was trembling, making me repeatedly fail. The image of his white cast lingered in my eyes and I couldn’t see anything else.
“…What’s wrong?” Keith asked, having sensed that something was off.
But I couldn’t reply. All I saw was his white cast. My trembling hands hovered in the air, unable to grasp his arm. I pried open my mouth and squeezed out, “I’m… sorry.”
“About what?” Keith sounded like he really didn’t understand.
However, I just continued as if I had been enchanted by something. “I should have protected you. But… but because I couldn’t—”
Keith didn’t say anything. All he did was stare at me like I was making no sense.
“I’m sorry. I… I made you hurt. I let you be injured.”
“You weren’t the one who did this,” Keith said curtly.
I shook my head. “Still, I should have stopped him. I… I should have been faster. I should have moved faster. I saw that man. I saw him coming closer to you.” In the end, my eyes began to tear up. I quickly bit my lip.
Keith remained quiet for a bit before replying, “That’s Whitaker’s job.”
I violently shook my head. No, he was wrong. I should have done that. I should have noticed sooner. I could have stopped that man from hurting Keith.
“…I should have been hurt instead,” I murmured blankly. Keith didn’t say anything.
Just then, a shadow cast over me. I instinctively closed my eyes. I could feel warmth over my eyelids, and the light disappeared. I belatedly realized that Keith had covered my eyes with his hand. I just sat still, feeling empty. Not being able to see anything was better. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Keith without feeling my heart throb.
The insides of my eyes became hot. Only after I felt a trail of liquid rolling down my cheek did I realize that I was crying.
As I sobbed and inhaled my quivering breath, our lips overlapped.
‘Ah…’ I separated my lips. As if he had been waiting for it, his soft tongue entered between my lips along with a moist coldness.
At first, I didn’t know what was going on. My head was cloudy from crying, my eyes were covered, and my breathing was ragged from sobbing. I just simply let our lips be pressed together.
Our lips parted for a brief moment, and a slimy sensation touched the inner flesh of my lips. His tongue gently slithered past my lips, over my teeth, and into my mouth. Our lips interlocked once again.