Page 35 of Borrowed
Not for revenge, not for anger, but to feel me.
To feel me close.
To keep me close.
Mother was so afraid of Tabitha being a monster one day, so afraid she would hurt someone…and now, she had.Mother had forced Tabby to become this.Her heart wasn’t black, just confused.Even with my body so broken, my death nearing with every shallow breath…
She was trying to hold onto me, to make me warm again.
To make herself warm again.
It wasn’t right.I couldn’t stand it.I couldn’t bear the thought of her doing that to herself.But I couldn’t stop her either.I couldn’t save her in the end.
I was paralyzed.
She kept rubbing her hands in the crimson that oozed from my wound, desperate, frantic.The sticky sounds continued as she coated herself in my blood.I could feel the coldness creep through my veins.
And then I knew it.
I wasn’t going to make it.
But she couldn’t know that.She couldn’t understand that I was already gone.
Not yet.
“Tabby, don’t…you aren’t a monster…” I tried to whisper, but nothing came out.The words were trapped in my throat.My voice was nothing but a memory.
Her breathing hitched as she pressed harder against my wound as if she could force me to come back…to her.
But the warmth was fading from me.
And she didn’t understand that it was too late.
Still, she clung to me.With every tear, every drop of my blood smeared on her skin, she clung tighter, refusing to leave me.Refusing to run.
The last thing I heard before the world went black was her voice…
Soft.
Sweet.
Broken.
“Toby, please come back…I love you.Love me too.”
But I couldn’t say anything.
I could only pray that my spirit could do what my body could not.
Save my sister.Keep us together.Forever.
Iwaited in the cafeteria for the screams, but a nurse came to me with a smile.My juice tasted sour, like Leo’s tooth, but not crunchy.It didn’t burn.I didn’t like burning.
“Hi, Tabitha.Are you ready to go on your family leave?How was your shower?”
I looked at Toby.
“Your Mother is here.She’s ready to pick you up.Would you like to go home for a few nights, sweetie?Maybe it can help you remember.”
