Infinity: Based on a True Story (11 page)

Then, before I know it, Max is above me, gripping and holding me. Shouting something… I don’t know what he’s saying. His voice has been drowned out by white noise and heavy wheezing. He has me in his arms within a millisecond, whipping out his cellphone as he dashes across the bridge.

I hear myself rasping, my chest working hard to collect much-needed breaths. My lips part, the feeling like drowning and reaching out for help but not being able to get it. A fish out of water, that’s what I am.

I want to tell him it’s the tubing. It must be pinched or blocked, but he checks and it’s not that.

It’s just… me.

The OPX must not be working. Something has gone wrong and we have no clue.

I hear Max shouting into the phone, shouting Sonny’s name and mine. When we make it to the car, he places me on the backseat, doing his best to help me. But he can’t.

And since he can’t he hops in the front seat and skids out of the parking lot. Away from the park.

Away from beautiful memories.

Away from peace.

Freedom.

Back to a dreadful reality.

V
oices hum around me
. I groan groggily, turning my head towards them. Everything is still hazy, but I can tell its Sonny, John, and Dr. Barad speaking.

Dr. Barad explains something as they both nod, faces serious. John takes a quick glance back and when he sees my eyes are open he rushes for me, sitting on the edge of the bed.

I sigh as I look around, so relieved I’m not in the hospital again.

“Shannon, are you okay?” John’s voice is full of distress, his eyes roaming my body, checking for damage.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I grunt and start to sit up but Dr. Barad walks forward, placing a hand on my chest to stop me.

“I wouldn’t try and move too much right now,” he warns.

I raise a brow. “Why not?”

“Shannon, just listen to him,” Sonny pleads, stepping to John’s side.

I ignore her. “Dr. Barad?”

Dr. Barad exhales sluggishly, placing his board down and picking up his stethoscope. After listening to my lungs and heartbeat, he jots something down and then speaks, finally taking me out of suspense.

“Shannon, the “jetpack”, as you call it, was given to you so that you could walk around leisurely—so that you wouldn’t feel trapped in the bedroom. It wasn’t given to you so that you could go running around at a park. It was meant for you to do simple, everyday tasks. Like maybe going on a grocery store trip.”

“But I wasn’t running. I was careful,” I say defensively.

“I’m sure you were as careful as you could be, but something went wrong. There was still plenty of OPX left in the tank, but your lungs seemed to have rejected it due to the physical activity. Perhaps you were a little too active… walking too fast? Laughing too much while walking too quickly? Anything that could take a toll on your lungs. They were working too hard, trying to absorb more oxygen instead of the OPX.”

“I may have been laughing.” I scratch my arm uncertainly, pulling my line of sight away. “I don’t know.”

“Shannon, you need to take this seriously,” John interrupts, anger surfacing. “This isn’t a game. See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to leave you alone. I seem to be the only one with some common sense around here.”

“Are you kidding?” Sonny’s voice rises, taking full offense of his remark. “I told her not to leave. I told Max no!”

“Why was this Max person in my home anyway?”

“He was visiting me. He’s a friend, like I told you,” I state.

John scoffs. “Yeah, well this
friend
is about to get a mouthful from me. He had no right taking you out without my permission.”

“I’m sorry,” I fold my arms with heavily knitted brows, “I could’ve sworn you were my
husband
, not my father.”

John releases me, standing tall.

Dr. Barad is uncomfortable as he clings to his clipboard. “Perhaps I should allow you all some privacy.”

“No way.” Sonny waves a hand, dismissing herself. “I’m out of here. This is between them now.” She walks out of the bedroom, muttering under her breath.

“Would you two like a moment?” Dr. Barad asks quietly.

“Please,” John rasps, his tone heavy.

I don’t dare look away from him. Yes, I may have taken things too far by going to the park, getting a little air, but he has no right treating me like this—especially in front of my sister and doctor. If anyone is accountable for my actions, it’s me. Not him. Not even Max.

I don’t know when Dr. Barad is out of the bedroom. I’m too focused on the man I married. I sit up as John paces back and forth in front of the bed, heated.

“This Max guy… who in the hell is he?” He stops pacing, eyes boring into mine.

“He’s a friend, Jonathan.”

“What kind of friend? A best friend? A guy friend? What?”

I look away, folding my arms tightly across my chest. “Just a friend.”

John’s eyes expand. “So you go to the park with your
friend
? What made you do that, Shannon, huh? What made you want to risk your life today—at a park of all places? You weren’t ready for that kind of activity yet! You have to give your body time to adjust to the new device!”

“I know that! He’s in town for me, John! What am I supposed to do? Ignore him?”

“Uh, yeah!” he says, as if I’m an idiot. “You come first. Your health is important. Your friend should understand that.”

My head shakes as I release a frustrated laugh. “This is insane. It was just a simple walk in the park. I’ve been cooped up for months. I just needed to get out a little.”

Heavy footsteps come up the stairs, preventing John’s next set of words. They stop for a moment as John glances over his shoulder, and soon there’s a knock on the door.

John goes for it immediately, snatching it open, totally surprised by who he sees.

I’m just as surprised as he is.

“Hey—sorry to interrupt. Just wanted to see if Shannon was okay.” Max’s voice is strong as he looks over John at me.

“She’s fine,” he snaps at him, standing guard in front of the doorway. “Who let you in?”

“The doctor.”

“Figures.” John rolls his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a step aside.

Max takes a step in, smiling awkwardly. “You all right?” he asks me.

“I’m okay. It happens.” I shrug.

“Man, I feel like shit.”

“Stop blaming yourself. It’s fine, Max. Really.”

He studies the floorboards. “I’ll be blaming myself for the rest of my life.”

I press my lips, giving a flat look.

Max turns to face John, extending his arm. “I should properly introduce myself. I’m Maximilian Grant. A friend of Shannon’s.”

“John Streeter.” He shakes Max’s hand with a firm grip.

“Cool. Uh, listen”—he scratches the top of his head, “I just wanted to take Shannon out for some air. I stopped by to visit, check on her, and offered to go to the park. I watched out for her. I would never let anything happen to her.”

“I… appreciate that.” John looks at him uncertainly. “But next time be sure to run it by me first. I’m sure you know that she can be a bit of a rebel. She can’t handle that lifestyle anymore.”

Max is quiet for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he stares at John. “That’s uh—” he hesitates, deciding to take a different route “—Is she even allowed to go downstairs to sit on the patio? Maybe out by the pool if she wants?”

John’s head turns from left to right rapidly. “As of now, no.”

“Wowww.” Max gives a dry laugh, turning towards me. “Hound.” Max says the word through a fake cough.

“I’m sorry. What?” John is confused.

Max ignores him. “Shakes, I’m gonna get outta here. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m okay. Thank you, Max.” I’m glad he’s holding his tongue.

What I can give Max credit for is his respect. He won’t disrespect a man while he’s standing in his home—especially a home he shares with a woman whom he so clearly cares about.

He nods, turning for the door and giving John a quick glance with flared nostrils before leaving. John watches until he disappears then shuts the door, looking at me.

“I’m…
fuck
.” He rubs his face, causing white streaks to appear. “I’ll call Dr. Barad back up. I don’t even want to know what the hell that was about.” He swings the door open, stalking down the hallway and calling for Dr. Barad.

I clutch the blanket on my lap, guilt consuming me. I shouldn’t have gone out. None of this would have happened if I’d stayed home. Now I’m going to have a vulture of a husband around until the day I die.

And Max? Well, I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen with him but I hope he understands. And I hope he doesn’t blame himself for the craziness my body goes through on a daily basis. My attack had nothing to do with him.

This is why I didn’t want him to see me.

This is why I wanted him to stay away.

I’m a ticking bomb. A threat to emotions and stable hearts. I could break them at any given moment and I know they will never be able to prepare themselves for it.

These rough times remind me of how much I miss the old John. The one that wasn’t so hard on me or himself. The one that took life day by day, just as I did.

Dr. Barad comes back into the room and asks me a series of questions. I answer robotically, remembering that perfect second date.

John thought it was a fail, but I loved it.

W
e were supposed
to go see an action movie that featured Will Smith. It was the premiere and I told John before that it would sell out because, duh, Will Smith is a superb actor.

He didn’t believe me until we arrived at the theater and stood in line for nearly an hour just to be told that the showing was sold out.

“I should have bought the tickets online,” he sighed as we climbed back into the car.

“We can always catch it some other time. No big deal.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized after starting the car. “I know you really wanted to see it. Tonight is my first night free in I don’t know how long and I wasted it. I suck, huh?”

“No,” I said hurriedly, turning to face him as he gave a slightly crooked smile. He was torn between keeping it together and unraveling, getting upset for pretty much nothing. “John, I swear it’s fine. Stop being the crazy man I met on the highway.” That made him laugh. “It’s just a movie.”

He raked his fingers thorough his silky bed of brown hair, lips pressing thin. “I suppose.” He gripped the wheel. “You hungry?” Just as he asked my stomach growled loud enough for both of us to hear. My eyes widened, embarrassment taking over. He laughed at me, putting the car in drive. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

“I could use a bite. I worked all day today. Didn’t even take a lunch.”

He looked confused. “They have day shifts at Capri?”

“No. I also work at Green Tavern as a waitress. Part-time gig.”

“Oh. Didn’t know that.” He looked at me through the corner of his eye. I pretended not to notice. “May I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What’s a girl like you doing with two jobs?”

“Money is a necessity,” I sighed.

“No, but I mean… well, you seem really well put together. Other than that Buggy you drive around, you seem to have it made. A nice apartment. Great clothes. Great hair. Great perfume.” His face grew red when he realized what he was saying. My face heated up, my mouth fighting a grin. “I mean… it just doesn’t seem like you have to work so hard for what you have. I figured you have that Buggy because you want it, not because it’s all you can afford.”

I sighed. “My life is very… complicated.”

“How so?”

“It just is.” His eyes begged for more. “Bad childhood,” I go on. “Taking on the role of an adult at a young age. I don’t like to be without so I work harder to stay in the game… always one step ahead.”

“Couldn’t have been that bad. You seem like a great girl.” His eyes flickered to mine for a brief moment before meeting the road again.

I didn’t say anything because he had no idea.

“Or maybe,” he continued, “you only let people see what you want them to see. You don’t want me to see your faults. Your insecurities. Your weakness. You only want people to see you as you are now… not how you were before.”

My forehead creased as I focused on my lap, avoiding his eyes. He was spot on. It was kind of scary.

“I’m close, huh?”

I whipped my head up to meet his eyes. “How did you know?” I whispered.

“Because, Strange Girl,” he sighed, “I can relate.”

“Bad childhood?”

“Horrible one.” He paused, focusing on the steering wheel.

All the while, I was pleading for more. He met my eyes again, and when he saw the questions swirling deep within them, he went on.

“My… um… my mom was a great person. Even though she worked a lot, she made time for me. She didn’t cook every night but she cooked when she could. She bought me a lot of candy when we went grocery shopping, clothes, shoes—everything. But… when I became a teenager I don’t know what happened with her. She just turned to drugs out of nowhere. I think she just became overwhelmed with her job.

“I assume the drugs made her feel better about herself, more confident as the morning news anchor. Then my dad found out about what she was doing and I used to hear them arguing a lot at night. He used to threaten that he would leave her if she didn’t get her shit together. He didn’t exactly leave her like he swore he would. Instead he started drinking heavily, but his drinking became heavier when we found her in the garage one night.

“She’d… overdosed on cocaine. I saw it all. The white powder was everywhere. It seemed so harmless to me then. After Dad rushed me to my room, I heard him on the phone with the cops. They questioned him for a while when they got there and then they left… and then
he
left. Out of nowhere. He was gone and I didn’t know where he went. He never came back. I know because I waited for him.

“The cops came by one day for some information, found out I was alone, so they sent me to an orphanage. When I turned eighteen I got out as soon as possible. Before then, I… um… dropped out of high school to look for a stable job. I was the laughing stock at school. The teachers didn’t even respect me so leaving felt like the best thing to do back then.” He swiped a hand over his face. “I regret doing it sometimes.”

He was quiet for a moment and then he looked over at me. “Oh—I’m sorry. I think I just ruined this date even more, huh? I know that’s too much to tell this early. I got really comfortable. Shit—I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“No—it’s okay. Don’t worry. I completely understand.” I smiled and leaned closer as I placed my hand on top of his. “So… have you talked to your Dad since?”

“No. I have no idea where he is.” He scratched his head.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, and then he adjusted in his seat, changing the subject. “You shouldn’t ignore it, ya know? Trying to act like the bad things never happened will only make you miserable. You don’t deserve to be miserable.”