This story is pure fiction. It is an outlet to explore ridiculous fantasies. Nothing about it is rooted in reality.
Picking Up The Pieces
Absolute disbelief filled the room, thickening the air and making it hard to breathe. The surreal moment demanded pause from each witness. No one moved. No one even blinked.
Emotions had been running high-- sure, but the intensity of the situation hadn't yet crossed the threshold of requiring violence. It could have been settled peacefully. That was the most prevalent opinion in the room, at least.
Evidently, Lily saw it differently, and since she held the knife, her opinion was the only one that mattered.
There Michael stood.. with a giant kitchen knife piercing his back, placed there, impaled there, by his loving and seemingly psychotic girlfriend, Lily.
Lily of all people. Michael's longtime partner. The sweetest fucking couple around. The nerdiest love birds in the whole streaming industry. Josh had come in and corrupted their relationship, but the immediate aftermath surpassed all exaggerated expectations. It was real life hyperbole. It was absurd. It didn't make sense.
Imane's hand shot up to cover her open mouth. Kyedae had two hands on hers and her eyes were as wide as saucers.
But somehow, Lily appeared to be the most stunned person in the room. She looked at her right hand as if it wasn't her own; as if it didn't just turn a kitchen utensil into a potential murder weapon.
These reactions all happened within seconds. Shock paralyzed the women in the room, but someone had to act. Luckily for them, Josh had too much on the line not to.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward to grab Michael's body, which had just begun to collapse onto the floor. Josh gently placed him on his stomach as blood began to flood from the wound.
He quickly analyzed the gash and the knife, doing his best to keep Michael's body steady. The incision was deep. Too deep to pull the knife out. It was likely stemming some of the bleeding, and that would work in their favor.
They would need as many advantages and as much luck as possible.. because Michael's bleeding was worsening by the second.
As Josh decided to keep the knife in place, he put pressure on both sides of the wound and looked up.
With urgency, he ordered Imane to fetch two belts. "Fucking now, okay? I need them yesterday. First two you can find."
Poki jumped at first. Josh's voice was as blunt as always, but in a much different way this time. The adrenaline in his words was clear. Perhaps there was fear in there, too. It wasn't something she could analyze for long though, so she nodded meekly and ran off.
Josh then turned to Kyedae and said, "I need you to open the front door, keep it propped open, and uh, start whatever car is parked out front. Needs.. needs to be an SUV. And open that fucking gate, got it?"
Kyedae shook out of her frozen state. The alarm in Josh's tone was sobering. She nodded before heading to the front door, barefooted and still wearing her skimpy bikini. If someone's life hadn't been on the line, Josh would've taken a moment to appreciate her ass as it bounced away.
It was an unaffordable luxury though. Josh remained focused as he turned to Lily and gave her the most important task yet.
"I need you to call 911," he demanded in a straightforward manner.
Lily's face was clearly still horrified from her own actions. "911? Me? No.. no. I can't.. how could I? Michael! I'm so sorry.."
"Lily, there's no time, okay? I need you to call 911. Now."
"No," she whispered as she watched the blood pool on the floor. "It's too late. They'll.. they'll arrest me.. they'll arrest all of us! I killed him! Everything.. everything is ruined! I didn't mean to do it.. please! Michael, please be okay!"
Lily's heart swelled with deep regret as she stared at her dying boyfriend.
"Lily, look at me," Josh managed to say without yelling. She was clearly frazzled. Her whole body was shaking, and yelling wouldn't help her see reason. "No one is going to get arrested, okay? Everything.. is going to be fine. I'm going to fix this. Michael is going to be okay, and everything will go back to normal, but you have to listen to me. You have to."
His assurance that things would work out was all Lily needed. She looked Josh in the eyes as her uncertainty visibly dissipated and nodded slowly.
Realizing that she might need exact instructions, Josh explained her responsibilities step by step. "Go grab your phone and dial 911. I think you left it out in the backyard.. by the hot tub, okay? Tell them exactly what happened. Michael, your boyfriend, has been stabbed. He needs an ambulance right away. Give them our address."
Lily continued nodding and mumbled the directions back. "Ambulance right away.. give address.."
"They're going to ask you how he was stabbed," Josh continued, swallowing hard before he spoke his next words. "You're going to be honest. He was out of control. He was mad, tensions were high, and I stabbed him."
Lily's eyes shot open. "You.. you stabbed him?"
"Yes, damn it, Lily," Josh replied as blood gushed around his hands. "I stabbed him. I.. I didn't know what he was going to do. He was yelling at you guys, and.. fuck, that sounds so pathetic. Oh man, this is screwed. Whatever-- there's no way around it now. Just.. I stabbed him, and you watched, okay? That's all you did."
"But.. you didn't! It was me. I fucked up! You can't--"
"There's no more time," Josh interrupted her as blood continued flowing onto the floor. He thought for a moment and added, "After you ask for an ambulance, tell them that we're driving to the hospital instead. They.. they won't get here in time to help him. No more questions.. just do it, okay? You got this."
With those final words, he quickly stood up and scanned the living room. He could see Lily run outside to grab her phone with his peripheral vision, but she wasn't his current focus. Thinking on his feet, he inspected the coffee table and removed the large glass top from its frame. It was rectangular and perfectly long enough for Michael's body. He placed it next to Michael and carefully transferred his unconscious body until he was squarely on top of the makeshift stretcher.