Knife's Edge

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Jade."

A hand gently shakes my shoulder, dragging me from a dreamless sleep. I whine quietly, a bit like a dog, and roll away from the hand.

I'm tired. Go away.

"Jade. Wake up." This time I recognise the voice, my eyes snapping open to stare at the grey sofa cushions. I quickly roll back over, being careful not to fall onto the floor, and stare at Lucas. He crouches down next to the sofa, sitting back on his heels. His eyes scan over my forehead quickly and I frown in confusion, glancing around for a clock.

"Is it morning already?" I croak, my voice sleepy, when I give up on the search.

"No," he shakes his head, voice quiet. "I just wanted to see how your concussion is doing."

"Oh," I reply, more than a little surprised. He looks tired, not even bothering to hide the fact from me as his eyelids droop slightly. He blinks them fully open again. "I'm fine. It's only mild." He doesn't look convinced so I tag on the end, "the room's barely spinning anymore."

"It shouldn't be spinning at all," he says, frowning.

"Oh," I mumble, snuggling into the sofa as I prepare to go back to sleep. "You mean the world doesn't really turn? Huh. Guess someone should let the Sciencey peeps know."

It's probably a really lame attempt at a joke but I'm too tired to care.

I hear a chuckle that almost – almost – makes me want to keep my eyes open.

"Open your eyes," he instructs, shaking my shoulder again. I sigh out a protest but do as he says. He looks a tad worried but I'm most likely just hallucinating it in my exhausted and mildly-concussed state. "Do you still have a headache?"

"Small one," I mumble.

"Don't go back to sleep," he says, standing up and leaving the room.

I, of course, don't listen, letting my eyes flutter closed the second he's out of sight. He isn't gone long, though, and so I force them open again when I hear his footsteps.

"Here," he says, holding out a glass of water and box of painkillers.

"I really am fine," I tell him, sitting up to take the tablets anyway in the hopes of him letting me go back to sleep. He still doesn't seem convinced, looking at me as if expecting my head to roll off my shoulders at any second, my neck be damned.

I decide to humour him.

"Would it make you feel better if I let you ask some mandatory concussion tester questions? It'll prove that my brain's not fried." I take his silence as a yes and shrug. "Ask away."

"What's your name?" he asks. I roll my eyes a little despite being the one to offer to do this in the first place.

"Jade Taylor."

"When's your birthday?"

"September fifth."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"What town do you live in?"

"Greencliff." I interrupt before he can ask anything else. "See? My brain's fully intact."

He sighs but nods. "Okay," he agrees. "I guess I can let you go back to sleep."

Halle-fricking-lujah.

I close my eyes and hear the door click shut behind him, falling back to sleep...

... for about, I'm going to guess, one maybe two hours.