Chapter 5
894 Words
When Matthew got back to his place that night, he came down with a high fever.
He lay there in a daze, his throat on fire. When he fumbled for the glass of water on the nightstand, he accidentally knocked it to the floor.
He tried to push himself up and get out of bed, but then a slender hand appeared in front of him, holding out a glass of water.
He looked up, and his whole body went stiff. His voice trembling, he whispered, "Dakota..."
What was she doing here? For a moment, he couldn't tell whether this was real or just a dream.
Dakota sat down on the edge of the bed and gently touched his face with her fingertips, her voice as soft as it had always been. "Matt, from now on, you need to take good care of yourself, all right?"
It was like those words snapped something inside him, and suddenly the tears came pouring out of his eyes. All the pent-up hurt and anger burst out at once, and he started hitting her hard with his fists.
He roared, "You don't want me anymore, so why did you come back? Do you know I nearly lost my mind when I heard you were killed? Do you know I've been dealing with depression? And then you said all those horrible things to me. Dakota, I hate you. I can't stand you. I don't want to love you ever again! Just go away!"
Dakota's eyes were red as she let him hit her, repeating over and over again, "Matt, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Matthew finally ran out of strength and held her, sobbing until his whole body trembled.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him, gently touched her fingertips to his burning forehead, and said in a hoarse voice, "Matt, you have to hold on. Just hold on."
He sat up in bed with a jolt, looked around the room with no one else in, and then at the broken glass on the floor, and a wave of bitterness and sorrow welled up inside him.
He gave himself a bitter smile and was about to get up when the bedroom door suddenly burst open.
Dakota's furious voice came crashing in. "Matthew, Justin got hurt. Did you do it?"
Seeing her there, Matthew froze for a second, then his face went cold, and he grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. "Who said you could come in? Get out!"
She dodged aside, stepped forward, and grabbed him by the chin, her eyes blazing with anger. "Justin was in a car accident last night, and now he's in the hospital with no one knowing if he'll make it. Did you do it?"
Her grip on his chin hurt so much that tears started falling from Matthew's eyes without him even meaning to.
Dakota's gaze flickered for a moment, and she was about to say something when her phone suddenly rang.
She answered the phone in a hurry, and as she listened to what was being said on the other end, her face suddenly changed. Then she grabbed Matthew by the wrist and dragged him out the door.
*****
When they got to the hospital, she pulled him straight to the blood draw station.
She was the first to roll up her sleeve and sit down, telling the nurse, "I'm type O too. Take mine first, and if that's not enough, you can take his."
Matthew froze, then turned to leave. But Dakota acted as if she had eyes in the back of her head. She reached back and tightened her grip on his wrist, her voice cold and sharp. "If you did this, then you have to pay..."
"I didn't!" Matthew argued back, his eyes red. "I didn't do anything!"
Dakota didn't even bother to respond.
The nurse watched the blood bag slowly fill and warned her, "It's already 800 ml. If we take any more, you won't be able to handle it."
Her face had turned a little pale, but Dakota gritted her teeth and said, "Keep going!"
Matthew watched as bag after bag of her blood was taken, and a sudden pang of bitterness welled up inside him. He struggled to leave, but her grip on his wrist only tightened.
The nurse drew another 400 ml and then stopped firmly. "I can't take any more. This could kill you!"
But instead of listening, Dakota roughly pushed Matthew down into a chair, grabbed his wrist and bent it back, then turned to the nurse and said in a forceful tone, "We have to draw enough blood. If it's not enough, you can take more from me."
"I won't do it!" Matthew's eyes were red as he struggled and screamed, "Dakota, are you crazy? Let go of me! I don't want my blood flowing through that disgusting person's body!"
She leaned over and pinned him down tightly, not letting him move an inch, and her deep eyes bored into his as she said, word by word, "I'm not crazy. But if Justin dies, then I really will be. For him, I'd gladly trade my life for his without a second thought."
Every word felt like a needle stabbing deep into Matthew's heart.
He opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was closing up, and no sound came out.
- Writer
