They Laughed Hard While I Was Dying

"That's why he's so good."

Mia's face changed. She slammed the table.

"Logan, are you done? This is Aaron's promotion party. Stop."

I was on the floor.

The post-ictal exhaustion plus the alcohol on top was wrecking me. I could not respond.

"You."

Her voice went colder.

She lifted a glass of liquor and held it at my mouth.

"Get up. Apologize to him. Drink this, and we move on."

Aaron was already drinking. He squatted down next to me.

"All right, stop pretending.

"Everyone is tired of watching.

"Be a man. Don't be petty."

He took the bottle and refilled my glass.

Three of his friends pinned me down.

They forced my mouth open.

The full glass went in.

The minute the liquor hit my throat, my chest seized.

My heart rate spiked again.

The post-seizure neural activity was amplified by the alcohol.

My awareness fragmented further.

Black crept into the edges of my vision.

My breathing turned irregular.

It was not pain. It was neural overload and oxygen deprivation.

I forced my eyes up at Mia.

"Help... me..."

Her voice turned sharper.

"It is one drink.

"You're being dramatic.

"Aaron is a doctor. He knows what he's doing."

She turned and lifted her glass.

"Aaron, this one's for you."

People around us cheered.

"Mia, girls shouldn't be drinking like this. Let your boyfriend drink for you."

Their eyes landed on me again. Disappointed. Cold.

Like I was some kind of joke.

Aaron laughed.

"Forget it.

"He's already taken it this far.

"Any further, and it'll really look like he's dying."

He walked over to Mia and took her hand. He lifted the glass to her lips.

"Come on. Don't ruin the mood."

She did not refuse.

She lowered her head and took a sip.

The next second, Aaron leaned down, held the back of her head, and fed the liquor back into his own mouth.

They were extremely close.

She did not struggle.

She even closed her eyes.

My vision was fading completely.

Then I saw the emergency medication packet on the floor.

I crawled toward it.

My fingertips were just about to touch it…

A foot came down and crushed it.

Aaron looked down at me.

"Weren't you putting on quite the performance earlier?

"What happened? Can't move anymore?"

He deliberately raised his voice so everyone could hear.

"Logan, I am really disappointed in you."

Mia frowned and glanced at me with disgust before looking away.

Aaron grabbed a fistful of my hair and sneered quietly.

"That seizure performance was pretty impressive. You about to lose it for real?

"Don't worry. The fun part's still coming."

His eyes darkened. Suddenly, he grabbed a wine glass from the table.

Smash–

Glass shattered.

He pointed the jagged end at me.

I instinctively twisted away, but the lingering muscle instability after the seizure made me noticeably slow.

The shard scraped across my skin.

A burning pain exploded instantly.