Dawn

XII

                                             © 2014 by Mpule Clarke/cheeky_gurl

 ~EDITED~

                                                               Chapter 12

                                                                Daniel

 I waited a few days until I approached her again. She seem distracted and moved gingerly, it was a hundred degrees out and she was wearing a longed shirt. Which was strange on her part. Maybe she was just coming down with a cold or something. 

"Hey," I saw her eating with the counter girl in the cafeteria, the blonde raised an eyebrow at me and Dawn barely looked up swallowing slowly "I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk?"

 She peered up and me and bit her lip before agreeing. Something about her seemed unbalanced and fragile. On the verge of falling. But I couldn't pry because I wasn't Daniel; her best friend, I was Daniel; the stranger who wanted to be a friend or at least something helpful. I didn't want her to leave again. And I knew things were getting intense because her eighteenth birthday was a week from now.

She kept pulling her sleeves down as we walked in silence. She was jittery and nervous. Her hair was messy, like she ran her hair through it too many times. But in her mania she was just as beautiful as the first time I met her.

 "How are you, Dawn?" I asked when the hospital doors closed behind us.

 "I'm fine," she mumbled timidly.

 "I'm not trying to force you to tell me why you did what you did or explain what I did but I just want us to at least know each other," I glanced at her from the side of my eye she was silent and I took the opportunity to continued talking "So, what's your favourite colour?"

 She let out a breath and started walking, towards the pier.

 I paced up to her and I swore I saw a ghost of a smile on her lips.

 "I've never put much thought into what I actually like," her voice was a whisper singing on the wind only to be caught by my ears "But I guess blue is a lovely colour. It reminds me of freedom."

 "Freedom?" I whispered to myself mostly.

"Yeah," she said loudly and thoughtfully "The sky, its limitless beauty. Infinite. Untouchable." Her voice was a sigh on the last word.

 I stopped and smiled at her and she stopped too and looked back at me with a baffled expression.

 "What?" she bit her lip.

 "You are an incredible being miss Sen," she rolled her eyes and continued walk "I'm serious!" I called after her, running to catch up.

 "You don't have to be so nice to me you know," she whispered when I caught up to her.

 "Why don't I?" my eyebrows furrowed, baffled and I saw her. Really, saw her. I saw her when she walked on to the board walk quickly making her way down to the shore line.

 "Why do you do that?" I questioned her as she dipped her toe into the water.

 "Do what?" she raised an eyebrow at me.

 "Bite your lip so much."

 "Huh," she sighed thoughtfully "Bad habit I guess."

 "Do you like books or movies?" Books.

 "Books," she groaned "The movies are always awful and poorly cast. What about you?"

 "Movies," her foot flicked through the water one more time and her flats dangle in her hands before she decided to retreat from the shore "Books are too... boring."

 "They. Are. NOT!" she gasped and I decided to take my shoes off as well "You... take that back and stop being a twit!"

 "Neh, I mean, it's less strain on the imagination," The grainy sand shifted under my soles as I ran my foot over it.

 "You are horrid," her nose was in the air now "I am no longer affiliating my self with someone of your standards."

 She crossed her arms across her chest and I saw it, the white gauge wrapped around her wrist. I didn't want to think much of it. I didn't want let anything go. This was a new start. This had to be a new start. Why are you making this so damn hard Dawn?

 "That's fine by me," I fake scoffed "Have fun walking back to the hospital all by yourself."

 "You won't leave me," she stepped closer and narrowed her deep brown eyes at me.

 "You're right, I won't," I shrugged "But I won't save you from Dr. Olen."

 When I said that her pager went off and her face twitched in annoyance. The hospital was a five minute walk away and a short run, depending on how fast you were. Dawn was pretty fast I guess. When I got back to the hospital there was no sign of her. I just wandered about aimlessly helping out however I could and reading to the children in the children's ward.

 But I couldn't get my mind off of her arm and what could be under those cloths... I need to get closer to her... I'm running out of time.