2020

Saturday

“When I thought I’d come to your place for help” Barry said, “I had no idea you’d have to do all those things”

“Why am I not surprised”

“What’s that supposed to mean”

“It means” she leaned over him on the bed, clearing all the vomit from his skin, “give me your hand” she was very impressed with her picnic tablecloth inspiration, as it was very easy to wash. She rubbed his sticky fingers in a smaller towel, placed it back to his side gently, “it means sometimes you act very” stupidly, idiotically, foolishly, erratically, “spontaneously indeed”

He smiled faintly, completely discomfited in the middle of the large pillow. And yet he had a slight look of satisfaction on his face that she recognized very well, “and then what?”

“Then” A touch of excitement dropped inside her lonely heart, to be able to recount the details of her recent actions with someone, even if it was Barry. That new job of hers was crippled by solitude, “I found your medical file at school, it helped a lot”

“I have a file?”

“From your vaccinations, remember? And from being a pain in my ass”

“That’s not med medical”

“I would argue that it is a disease” she found the banter not to her dislike, for once, and a nice distraction, now that teaching him Geography wasn’t at stake. “Now, take a deep breath” she went into the process of cleaning the hole on his stomach again. He swallowed hard and clung to the bed, tried to keep his eyes on the ceiling, “you better get used to it” she said softly, “I’m going to have to do this every day”

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“You’ve got to be kidd—”

“Sometimes twice a day”

He closed his eyes, munched on something invisible in his mouth, “when you were at school did you rr run into some p p painkillers by any chance?”

“Listen” she wrapped him into some fresh strips of sponge like a sushi, knowing the day would come when he’d see the massacre she had created while stitching him, “I located some relaxant. The painkillers we have at school are not very good for your uh situation, so I think this will help you more, it’ll help you sleep” At last she zipped him up, padded the cushion under his head to give it volume, “I’ll get it now, we will try it”

She got up but he snatched her hand, again, as when he had ejected her against the wall earlier, with surprising strength. He held on it tightly, “wait, stay, just.. a second”

She sat next to him again, “what is it Barry”

“I’m sorry I… destroyed everything in your house”

“It doesn’t matter, those are just… things” Strangely, she meant it.

“And that.. I was so.. difficult at school”

“Difficult” she chuckled inside her nose

“Impossible, so… terrible”

“You mean unhinged”

“I mean unhinged” he grimaced, from the pain in his body or the accuracy of the memory, she couldn’t tell.

Eugenie shook her head, sighed loudly, pinched the bridge of her nose, “you know what Barry”

“What”

She couldn’t find the words, as somewhere, she felt the urge to say, I can’t believe you might have gone through this mutant crap transformation on your own, so young, and no one knew, and more, I’m sorry I didn’t see what was happening, I didn’t guess, I didn’t help you. And then, the one that weighed the most in her chest, I’m so sorry I kicked you out of my class, I just didn’t have the energy to deal with your bullshit anymore, but I was the grown up, I should have been a better person, I should have cared more about you than about me.

“What” he insisted, his eyelids fluttering like the wings of a dragonfly. His grip loosened on her hand, as he was on the verge of dozing off again.

“Youu… can totally make up for it now” she said warmly, “by doing everything I say”