Page 173 of Wrench
¡°I wasn¡¯t going to let you die, Isaac.¡± When she cut me off again, I decided to try a
different approach.
¡°Why?¡±
She scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t be crazy. If I helped Archer, I was obviously going to help you, too.¡±
Name-dropping one of my brothers so cordially wasn¡¯t helping the surreal, dreamlike
sensation. ¡°But¡ weren¡¯t you, you know. Scared?¡±
¡°Of course, I was scared,¡± she said. ¡°I thought you were going to die.¡±
I was about to correct her. To tell her that wasn¡¯t what I meant. But she stretched her
arms high above her head and yawned. That was when I noticed she was wearing a plain
white t-shirt she picked up off my floor. Pausing to take in how great it was to see her
lounging my clothes, I didn¡¯t get a chance to finish questioning her.
¡°I¡¯m exhausted,¡± she said, tapping her open mouth. ¡°Can we talk about this
tomorrow?¡±
¡°You¡¯re staying?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t left.¡±
Somehow, I had even more questions than I had when I first woke up, when I thought
I was between Earth and the afterlife. For the first time since I awoke, I smiled, and I
wished I could pull her deep into my chest. I knew better than that, though. I¡¯d probably
literally stop breathing from the pressure on it.
She crawled underneath the blanket and nuzzled her face into the pillow. Looking in
the corner of my eye, I wanted to ask if she was choosing the pillow instead of my
shoulder because of my injury or because of a lingering grudge against me.
¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re awake, Isaac.¡±
I breathed with relief. How could this girl get any more amazing? She could basically
read my mind, easing my anxieties before I was hardly even aware of them myself. Not to
mention, she saved my life¡
¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re here, Samantha.¡±
Her delicate fingers found their ways around mine and she stroked her thumb against
my knuckles. I felt like I was getting a second chance at something I couldn¡¯t catch. Not
happy about getting stabbed, but also relieved that I got to feel her hands again. Although
