Kill You

19~ Code Red

I tell my encounter with the man to Noah, telling him how one look at Judge made him back up. He seemed unimpressed but I praised Judge like no tomorrow.

I'm laying on my stomach, dozing in and out of a light sleep. Noah is beside me, tracing patterns in between my shoulder blades where my skin was bare from the tank top. Judge is laying on the floor beside me. My arm dangling down so my fingers brush against his fur.

It's so peaceful and relaxing unlike anything we've dealt with these past couple of weeks. I feel so happy and at peace right now in this very moment. It feels like nothing could ever happen.

Of course though something always happens.

I feel a change in my body and I tense. Noah notices this and sits up slightly, shifting the bed. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yep!" I squeak. I quickly roll off the bed and bolt to the bathroom. Sure enough my damn period has arrived. And I don't have enough supplies.

I walk out of the bathroom and see Noah leaning against the doorway, Judge sitting at his feet.

"Is everything alright?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at me. I nod quickly. "Yea, yes everything is fine. I'm going to go to the store real quick... I remembered we're out of... cereal...?"

I walk into the kitchen and grab my keys before Noah can question me. "I'm coming with you" He says. Judge barks as if agreeing with him.

"No, it's fine-" he cuts me off. "I'm. Coming. With."

I argue some more. "What about Judge? He can't be by himself" Noah steps forward and covers my mouth. "He can come too. Let's go"

~

I grumble as we walk to the car park and find our car. I drive us to the little grocery store nearby and stop.

"I'll run in by my-" I stop when Noah ignores me and just gets out of the car. "Let's go" he calls to me. I leave the windows down for Judge, even though it's sprinkling, and I follow Noah into the store.

He starts walking towards the cereals but I stop him. "Noah I wasn't here for cereal..." He looks confused.

I sigh and walk to the toiletries aisle. Noah follows silently. I grab what I need, tampon boxes and shove the box under my arm. Noah looks amused when I turn to him again. "Really?" He asks. "What" I stammer.

"Why did you feel the need to keep this from me?"

"Because it's embarrassing" I say. "Right, totally not natural" he rolls his eyes.

We get to the check out and I'm fishing through my wallet for some cash when Noah and the guy started a conversation.

"Had a code red. Super urgent." Noah starts. The cashier gives him a small smile while I glare at him.

"Bloody ridiculous"

I flush a deep red and the cashier sniffles a giggle. Glad these two are finding it so funny.

"God, it's cramping her style" Noah leans against the counter and grins at me. I grit my teeth and hand the cashier, George, my cash.

I fumble with the bag and Noah feels the need to open his mouth once again. "Just go with the flow, love" this gets them both giggling.

"Periods teach us how to clean up blood, watch your mouth" I snap. Noah thanks George and we walk out.

"Not cool" I growl. "Stop overy-reacting" his new joke makes Noah laugh loudly. I find myself giggling too. "See? You laughed I'm off the hook" he smiles. I shove him lightly and try hard not to smile as we get back in the car.

~

Back at home my body hurts. I've taken pain pills and a hot shower and even laid on the cool tile floor. Judge hasn't stopped following me around and Noah keeps an eye on me too but neither know how to really help.

After an hour the pain only gets worse so I'm laying on the bed, a heat pad on my stomach and lower back.

Noah comes in with some lemon tea and sets it on the nightstand. He pushes my back up and sits behind me.

"If you think about it..." he murmurs. "You've killed way more than I have"

I let out a little laugh and pat my stomach where the heat pad was. "You can't really ever get rid of abortion"

Noah chuckles. "All those poor children!"

We both laugh and he hugs me. Judge peeks his head over the bed to see what we're doing.

"That's dark" I tell him. "Nah. They don't have a concise yet"

I curl into his lap, closing my eyes. The pain hurts so much but I just have to push through it.

Noah sits there for the rest of the day with me. And slowly as the week goes by I feel myself getting better. And five days later my period is done.

So I decide to go take Judge for a walk again, once again feeling great. I put on my shoes and pull my hair up. Judge trots along beside me while I jog. As we're leaving the apartment building I see a shadowed figure.

I stop suddenly, jerking Judge back. He looks at me confused, his head cocked to the side.

The shadowed figure is a man, dressed in all black. His hood is over his head and his hair almost covering his eyes.

"Excuse me" I cough. He turns to me and glares slightly before pushing his hood back.

"Hello" he says kindly. I hesitate for a moment. His kindness surprised me. "Um hi. You seem out of place here I was wondering if I could help" I say.

The man shrugs and smiles softly at me. "Oh no I'm all right. I have a friend who used to live here so this is my pickup destination so he can grab me"

I nod, feeling quite stupid. Judge relaxes, sensing the tension has lessened.

"Well sorry I didn't mean to intrude. I hope you and your friend have a good time whatever you're doing" I smile and tuck a loose strand that fell out of my ponytail behind my ear.

"No worries. Oh before you go can I pet the dog?" He asks.

I nod and smile. Judge is tense when the man reaches down to scratch his head. But he let's him. "Good dog" the man praises.

"Have a good day" he tells me and waves at Judge before slinking over to a nearby bench.

When Judge and I get back from our run, the man is gone. It has started to sprinkle so Judge and I make our way quickly up the steps. On the old doormat there's another black letter.

I pick it up tentatively and walk inside. Noah walks out of the bedroom and stops when he sees what is in my hand. Judge walks over to him happily, his tail wagging. But Noah doesn't pet him until Judge shoves his snout under his hand. I open the letter and read it aloud.

"So you never turned yourselves in. We've been watching you so prepare for a visit very soon"