Perfection #3 Read Free

out.
“Does that hurt?”
    “Just a little, I think I just sprained it.”
    “You’ve got a nice bruise—I think an ice pack might
do the trick. I’ll be right back.” I went to the kitchen and filled a zippered
bag with crushed ice. Andre had left us a nice lunch in the fridge. I didn’t
know where Rafe and Eve were, probably good that they were out of sight right
now. I needed to call animal control and report the bear attack but I needed to
take care of Lilly first. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was in shock. An
eight-hundred pound bear just chased her through the woods.
    I grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator and took
the ice pack to the living room. I propped Lilly’s foot up on the ottoman and
set the ice pack on her ankle. I cracked the water bottle open and handed it to
her. She shook her head. “Come on now, don’t give me a
hard time. Drink the water.” Obediently, Lilly took a swig from the bottle and
handed it back to me. “I’m going to call Animal Control and let them know about
the bear. You going to be okay?”
    “Yes, I’m fine, Bullet. I just need a minute,” she
snapped. She didn’t look at me, just stared off into space. Despite what she
said, I knew she wasn’t okay but it looked like I would have to wait until she
was ready to talk to hear what was really going on in her head. I looked up the
number and called the authorities to let them know I had an injured bear on my
property. After confirming my address, they promised to come out immediately
and remove the animal.
    That had been a shocking experience—kind of put
things in perspective. What would have happened if Lilly had been killed? If I had been the reason for her death? It was because of me
that she was in harm’s way; if I hadn’t acted like a jerk to begin with, we
would have been together and probably scared the thing away. Obviously the bear
had no qualms of attacking one person, one small, blonde .
    I hung up the phone and watched Lilly in the living
room. She had not moved from her spot, had not fussed over the ice pack, and
didn’t say a word. She stared off into space, watching some film in her head. I
should probably take her home. I didn’t know what this girl’s past was like.
Did the bear attack trigger something? Should I be worried?
    Don’t
be a selfish bastard! Think about someone besides yourself for a change. You
know what, I was going to try to do that. I had
practically coerced the girl to come here and then she almost died. God knows
she deserves some kindness from me. Okay,
you can do this, be comforting and kind. Don’t say stupid crap.

 
    Chapter
Three
    Lilly
    For some reason, I kept thinking about my mother’s
funeral. She died a few weeks after Daddy and Suzanna. She’d lingered on in
that smelly hospital hooked up to that machine that did all the breathing for
her. Once the tubes and hoses were gone, she had left, slipping away quietly
into eternity with the rest of my family. At her funeral, her friend from work
had read a poem to us; it was supposed to comfort us, I suppose. It seemed like
a strange poem for the occasion. Something about the part of the poem that
went, “Soaring on the wind, above the world below…” It made me think of the
crash, how I had flown out of the open window and sailed through the air,
almost flying. My child’s body landed on the grass, feeling like I had been
smashed to the ground by an angry goblin.
    You always hear people say, “It happened so fast
that I didn’t know what had happened.” Not me. It happened so slowly that I
remembered every second — the first spray of blood from my Dad’s face, the
twisting of the metal, the groaning of the car, the screams of my family. I remembered seeing the log truck spin in front of us and thinking, “Oh no!” I remembered the book I was
reading, the song my sister and I were singing.
    I had walked away with skinned knees and a scrape on
my side. My family was all gone. I went to stay with Aunt Sadie