A persistent beeping roused Lewis from his slumber. His mind was hazy, wondering between thoughts of jellybeans and hard boiled eggs. He was sore beyond belief, barely able to move as he peeked open his eyelids—they were ladened with a heavy layer of crust that made it impossible to see past a general blur.
Josie!
He suddenly recalled his beating.
Remembering the look of terror in Josie's eyes filled Lewis with rage.
The beeping sounds grew closer together. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, determined to see.
"He's waking up!" said Jenny's voice from somewhere nearby.
Rustling sounded as several people stood up from chairs. "Can you hear me, baby?" asked his mother.
He felt her fingers caressing his greasy hair. When he finally managed to open his eyes fully, he found his father there as well, a hardened scowl tight on his face. Mr. Gray was present too, sitting patiently on the window ledge. He glanced over at Lewis but said nothing as his family closed in on him.
"Do you know what happened?" asked his father.
Lewis began to nod, but the motion made his neck pinch. All of his muscles were clenched up tight like balls of barbed wire. "Your friend brought you here," his mother cooed. "She was at your side for hours."
"Just left a little while ago," said Jenny. Lewis knew it was Josie from Jenny's disapproving frown.
"We should press charges on those boys," said his father. "Was it Landon?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah," said Lewis. His voice was full of gravel. "And a couple of other jocks."
"Landon?" questioned his mother. "I thought you two were friends?"
"Not for years, mom," said Jenny.
Lewis grimaced.
"I don't understand... he was always such a kind boy...."
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Lewis's mother was a bit out of touch with his reality.
"We should let him rest," said his father. He stepped out of the room to talk to one of the nurses.
His mother wore a sorrowful frown. She kissed him gently on the forehead before following his father out of the room. "I'll get you some food, honey," she said.
Jenny gave a meek wave before departing as well
Mr. Gray hopped down from the window ledge where he'd been waiting for his turn with Lewis. He did not look pleased. "You've thrown everything off, straying from your path like this," he said. "I really wish you would listen to me. It's vital you do exactly as I say from now on or some particularly unsavory things start happening."
It sounded like a threat.
"Josie is bad news," Mr. Gray continued. "Things get complicated around her. You shouldn't see her anymore."
Lewis felt beaten down in every way imaginable. He knew in his heart that if the fate of the world relied upon him staying away from Josie, everyone was screwed.
"You're boring for a while," said Mr. Gray. "No decisions to make." He hopped down from the chair he was standing on and made his way to the corner of the room. The deadened space of a portal opened up in front of him. "I'll be back when you need me," he said before stepping through.
Over the next couple of weeks, Mr. Gray visited him occasionally, but he didn't garner any advice, he was simply there to eat Lewis's jello, brought to him with his meals from time to time by the nursing staff.
Landon and Andrew had nearly killed him. A concussion caused swelling in Lewis's brain, forcing him to remain in the hospital much longer than he would have liked. The days were boring. Other than his family, no one came to visit. Lewis wished Josie would return, but she never came back. Lewis felt worse for her than he did for himself. She had experienced too much trauma in her life already. He couldn't imagine how it must have felt for her, watching helplessly, filled with fear as he was beaten half to death in front of her eyes.
Lewis felt like he owed her, and not just for bringing him to the hospital. He owed her a debt for the added trauma he'd brought to her life.
On the day Lewis was finally discharged from the hospital, he already knew the first person he was going to visit. He would not be heeding Mr. Gray's advice.