Ivan awoke to the sound of a hospital PA system. His surroundings were blurry and his side tingled, as if it had been numbed by novacane. He looked around and saw a figure sitting in a chair next to his bed.
“Latianna?” he asked.
“Oh! You're awake. Good. The doctors put you into surgery where you had the stake in your side. They also stitched some wounds on your chest. And you have six stitches in your face and-”
“Latianna, please, I'm aware of what happened and what the doctors would have to fix.” Latianna nodded. There was a long pause of silence.
“Thank you,” Latianna said after a minute.
“I just took the hinges off the door... it's no big deal if you're on the right side,” Ivan said, attempting to smile.
“I meant for everything,” Latianna said, looking at Ivan with tired eyes.
“You're welcome.” There was another bout of silence as neither one of them knew what to say.
“You almost gave up,” Latianna said with tears in her eyes.
“Did you expect any different? I was half-way dead,” Ivan stated. Latianna shook her head.
“I feel so horrible, making you do something so awful. You didn't even know what you were getting into and it almost cost you your life.”
“But it didn't, and that's the important part,” Ivan replied.
“I-I don't know how to thank you,” Latianna replied, choking on her words.
“Crying isn't the way,” Ivan said with a slight chuckle that turned into a sigh.
“It's okay, really,” Ivan said, wanting to hug her. He would have, if the IV hadn't have been stuck into him. “So how long am I in here for?”
“The doctors want you to stay overnight, but I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Why not? I feel like I'm in pretty rough condition,” Ivan stated.
“If you stay overnight, they'll find out that your parents...” Latianna trailed off for a moment. “You'll have to wait for a custody battle regarding Christina. We need to leave town tonight.”
“You're right. Is there any way the doctors will let me out?”
“I studied law, and I know your rights. There's no way they can hold you unless you're a threat to society, which you're not. I'll go talk to them and we'll have you out of here soon.” Latianna walked out of the room and Chad entered.
“Ivan?” his small timid voice asked.
“Yeah?” Ivan replied.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I'll live,” Ivan said with a shrug that made him wince. “Believe it or not,” he added with a chuckle.
“Thanks, man. You saved my life,” Chad said, sitting down in a chair next to him.
“Come on, don't get all touchy-feely on me now,” Ivan said with a smile. He could tell Chad was relieved. Ivan knew Chad wasn't the greatest at dealing with emotions. He also wasn't the greatest at showing them. Ivan knew Chad was grateful for what Ivan had done, and that was enough.
“Well, I'll see you around?” Chad asked.
“Yeah, I'll see you around,” Ivan replied. As he watched Chad exit the room, he knew that they wouldn't see each other ever again. Ivan didn't much feel like the hero Chad and Latianna made him out to be. Instead, he felt miserable. Like he'd lost. And in a sense, he had. He'd lost his parents. He'd lost his old life and his old plans. He'd lost his best friend. He'd lost his spot in Riverwolf Pass. He'd yearned to be out of Riverwolf Pass ever since he was fourteen, and now that the opportunity showed itself, Ivan didn't want to take it. All he wanted was his old life back.
Thirty minutes and three nurses later, Latianna came back.
“We have to go, before it gets too late,” Latianna said, resting her hand on Ivan’s shoulder.
“I can go?”
“Yeah, get dressed,” Latianna said handing Ivan some clean clothes and turning around. Ivan dressed quickly.
“What time is it?” Ivan asked, slowly getting into his coat.
“Eleven-thirty in the morning. You arrived here around six-thirty. You feel up to this right?” Latianna asked as Ivan slid his arm around her.
“Yeah, we gotta anyways,” Ivan replied. His breathing was shallow, but a few thoughtful deep breaths and it was better. They picked up a prescription for the pain and an inhaler on their way out.
They both got into his car and did not speak another word. They passed cars on the street, people getting ready to go to lunch, unaware of the tragic events that took place the night before. They passed Christina and her babysitter who were on their way to the afternoon-daycare center where Christina would spend the rest of the day. Christina… Ivan’s little sister who knew nothing of her parents death.
Latianna pulled into Ivan's driveway and parked the car. Ivan went around and opened the door for Latianna and held her hand all the way inside.
“There’s a bathroom down the hall to the left,” Ivan said. “You can use that one, and I’ll use the one up the stairs to get cleaned up.”