Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

the punch the Baptists were guarding. It was clean, trust me. Everyone else is fine. I think it’s my liver still. I've been getting sicker and sicker except when I'm with you.”
    “ I can’t stay any longer, I feel the pull already taking me somewhere else. But I can’t leave you sick like this. None of this should have happened.” His voice was thick with emotion. "This is all my fault. I've made such a mess."
    “ It's not you're fault. You always make me feel better. Just being near you is enough.” I smiled trying to reassure him.
    He closed his eyes and groaned. “Nooooo. Oh no. I’ve done this to you. You’re in liver failure, that’s what’s wrong with you. I am an idiot.”
    I shook my head. “No, the doctors said I was fine. My eyes aren’t yellow and my skin is only slightly yellow. I have energy, not much but some. I would be weak and sick all the time, if I was in liver failure.”
    He shook his head. “As long as I’m here you’re going to feel fine, but it's only the symptoms that are being masked, not the actual problem. Like that headache you had that I took away. I never cured the headache, only made the pain go away. I’ve been touching you and near you so much, that it’s masked your illness. We need to get you back now. Your liver probably was fine when you left the hospital, but it went sometime in the last couple weeks. ”
    I nodded looking around. “Where are we?”
    He smiled, making my heart skip a few beats. “The beach I took you to the first night.”
    I looked around me and saw it all clearly now, the waves crashing and the sand beneath me. The cool ocean air was clearing my head.
    I felt a tear starting to well in my eyes. "Are you really going to leave me forever?”
    “ I don’t know how to stay.” His words felt like swords slicing into me. I had spent so long trying not to feel anything. Then he came along and not only tore down the wall I had built, but burned the whole village down. There were no survivors. Looking at him, I knew what I wanted in life, even if my life was only going to be a few hours longer. Choosing Shane was my heart and my head. Aleks was all heart.
    “ I need to go back to the school for a minute, I need to say goodbye to my sister and Shane and Blake.”
    He shook his head, as he bent down and picked me up. He tensed like he was about to take off again. “I need to take you to the hospital now.”
    I shook my head. “I know what happens to someone who goes into liver failure. I am at least a couple hours by helicopter from a major hospital. In this small town, I will be dead by morning. I will be flown to the city the minute I get to the hospital. That means, I won't be seeing anyone else for a while. I need to tell them I’m okay. They’re going to worry if I don’t, and I can't explain how I got myself to a hospital. Not without outing you on the weird traveling thing you do. They’ll send out a search party.”
    His jaw tensed and the warm wind came. I leaned into him as much as I could, taking as much of the painkiller off of his skin as I could. I didn’t understand the science behind a person giving off a soothing pheromone that stopped pain, but in that moment I didn’t care. I didn’t try to understand, I was too tired. My skin felt like it was in a cold fire, and my head was starting to pound so much, my eyes burned.
    I took in deep breaths of him. I needed every drop of him, before he was gone forever. I couldn’t think about it just yet, all I wanted was to enjoy every last second. When I was with him, it was like I didn’t pick Shane. Like with him, I had no choice but to love him.
    He walked in through the back door of the school at the gymnasium entrance and put me down, outside of the bathroom. “No one but you can see me right now, okay? So don’t talk to me. I will walk with you and keep a hand on you at all times.”
    I nodded, wanting to look up into his blue eyes and get lost. Maybe press myself up against him and kiss, until I died peacefully. I would give up my forever, to be with him for that last day. Something about him made my body come alive.
    As we walked from the hallway, he held a hand on my shoulder, making me feel weird. I knew it was essential to have him touching me if I wanted to stay upright.
    I saw Shane looking at me oddly. He stood from the table and walked over frowning. “Hey, you okay? You look sick.” He reached down and picked up my hands. I felt awkward with him touching my