Free Mind Over Matter by Kaia Bennett Page B

stool.
    "Sorry, sorry, dropped the phone," she said, turning her face up towards the shelf. Just as the shelf collapsed and several heavy things shot off it and tumbled to the floor. Including one of several boxes she'd tried to stuff up there. The edge of it caught her on the side of her head, knocking her off the stool and to the floor with a nasty thud. She wondered if that cracking sound was her head or something else that had connected with the floor. Instantly her eyes watered and she felt lightheaded. Woozy. Like she was going to pass out. Her vision was blurred and when she reached up to feel her head, her fingers came back coated in blood.
    "O-oh, my God," she whispered, not quite believing how much red was covering her fingertips. She could feel it running back into her hair, the faint sting buried under the wooziness. She was trying to think, trying to make sense in a linear fashion. What should she do now? It seemed as if seeing how much blood was pouring out of the corner of her head had halted her intelligent thought processes.
    The last thing she remembered before being knocked into relative unconsciousness was the sound of Gabriel's voice on the phone. She looked to the right and saw it. Rolling gingerly onto her stomach, she crawled toward it and picked it up with a shaky, blood-covered hand.
    "Nicole!!"
    She winced as she brought the phone to her ear. He screamed her name at least two more times before she managed to cut in. "I'm here. I-I'm okay. I..." her heart was pounding so fast and her head was swimming. "I fell..."
    Even to her own dazed ears she didn't sound okay. She sounded small, and tired. Shaken.
    "Are you okay, where did you fall? Is anything broken?" She couldn't be sure but it sounded like wind was swishing in the phone. He sounded like he was running.
    "I don't think so." She wiggled her limbs. Her wrist hurt. She remembered falling heavily on it when she reached out behind her to break her fall. "My wrist feels sore. Maybe... maybe... a sprain..."
    Then she saw the steady drip, drip, drip of blood from her forehead onto the floor.
    "Shit..."
    "Are you hurt anywhere else? Nicole talk to me, okay? Keep talking to me, I'm gonna be right over."
    "I'm bleeding. There's a... gash on my forehead and when I fell... my head hit. I heard a crack." She cringed, remembering the sound. She lay her head down on her arm. It felt so heavy. "I'm okay, I just need... to rest for a minute..."
    “Nicole! Nicole, don't rest okay? Don't fall asleep. I got Q to call an ambulance and they should be on their way soon. You sound like you have a concussion or something. Fuck! I'm on my way, I'm on my way! Keep talking to me, sweetheart. Talk to me!"
    She laughed a little and then winced as her head played all the notes of pain. "What do you want me to talk about?" She felt sleepier by the second. She tried to sit up, and her head swam again. She needed to get to the bathroom to clean herself up. She needed to keep talking. But she was so tired. She just needed a moment.
    "Talk to me, sweetheart..."
    She tried, but the words wouldn't come. Against her will, her body grew heavy and then limp. Inky blackness crept into the corners of her eyes, coating her sight.
    Then Gabriel's voice faded away.
     
    ***
     
    He'd never run so fast in his life to catch a cab. His legs, his lungs, everything felt stretched to its limit as he rushed to get to her. He rammed into people on the street, dodged dog walkers and little kids and braved traffic lights. It was the longest cab ride of his life, and he must have thrown a couple hundred at the driver in his urgency to get out.
    Nothing else mattered, not after he called her name and she didn't answer back. Not after he called her again and again and she didn’t pick up again.
    When he finally made it to her apartment, rushing up the stairs three at a time, he was beyond terrified. He reached her door, knocked in vain, and twisted the locked handle. He screamed her name, startling