MAD

chvpter 34

I grab him. "No, no, your ribs."

He shakes his hand out, starting to breathe a bit heavier, "You gotta do it quick, Vi promise-." I rip them down, and he groans so hard that he doubles over, gritting his teeth, but he gestures for me to pull the rest, struggling to breathe.

Blood gushes down his thigh, and I grimace.

Agonized, Reid steps free of his pants and limps past me, our shoulders catching, before he trudges to the water and enters briskly. I nearly jog to catch up. Fuck, that was like four square inches of skin. I kick my shoes off, prying my top over my head before I hop to get my pants off. I leave my bra and underwear on like he left his boxers.

I grab the hygiene kit and jog after him, making a tight noise when I enter the freezing water before wading deeper. He stands doubled over, "At least I had pixie dust in the city to take the edge off." He seethes.

My jaw drops in outrage, but then I pale when I realise how bad his wounds must've been to need a drug like that. How many times has he been like this? Beaten beyond repair. The water laps against his waist, the dim light enunciating the large proportion of his muscular back and his broad shoulders. With the moon, he's cast in a dull glow, an unnervingly cold glow, and the dark shore across from us is washed in black shadows. The irrational idea of a gang of manics or soldiers watching us leaks into my mind, but I squish the thought and wade to meet him. Though I could pass it off as concern, I crave his presence, the sense of being alone and vulnerable in this water permeating into chills of terror. But he don' seem concerned with spooky thoughts, in fact all he seems to feel about our vulnerable situation is mild irritation and overwhelming impatience.

"You look freaked." He remarks, and despite his judgemental eyes, he lets me inch closer, though the distance between us feels like a twinge of pain because it reiterates his distrust.

"I'm not." Liar.

He turns back to the shallows, wading away and leaving me staring after him. "Let me help." I try but he lowers himself to sit in the water alone. He ignores me and my heart clenches, my lips parting as I try to come up with something to say. They beat the shīt out of him. Nausea rises... I can't say anything, do anything.

I feel like an idiot, like a clingy, loser. He walked away twice. Not even a blind-dumb whore could misread his signals.
Fuck. Off.

I grit my jaw.
Well fuck him.

The water swishes as I walk back, filling the silent night, before I hesitantly take a seat in the shallows at a good distance from him, shivering when the water engulfs my waist. When I settle into the sand, the surface rises to the base of my bra.

Instantly the prickle of cold ices my bad arm, but the retraction of blood from the inflamed muscle is the first moment of peace I've felt. It's such a good pain that I make a noise, lowering myself entirely and baring my teeth. I close my eyes, swallowing hard against the urge to suck in an urgent, ice-cold breath. I flex my fingers under the water, enjoying when it alleviates the tension in my forearms.

Reid's gaze falls to my evident discomfort, but he shades his thoughts, simply maintaining his silence.

Every failed sentence is like a pin in my side, just nailing my guilt home, so I surrender entirely to the water. The cold rises along my neck as I lie back, bolstering my good elbow in the sand as I lower myself, until finally, the water climbs to my ears, making a slight pop noise as it fills my head with silence. I stiffly surrender, closing my eyes as the surface rises before I drink one last breath and dunk myself under.

I hold my breath, relishing the silence so much that I'm overcome by an irrational urge to cry; however, I dismiss it, holding my breath. I let my desire for air turn into an ache in my chest.