Inside the Shadow

Chapter Three: Unknown Fear -POV: Zachariah

So many times, she just wanted me to be there for her and I just blew her off. So many occasions when I made her feel worthless or that I wanted someone else. Now all I wanted was to be by her side and make her feel like she was the only other person in the world. I stood up and began to pace the line of chairs that sat empty. Back and forth, rubbing my hand through my now matted hair onto my scalp, straining to contain the fact that I wanted to run to the back and begin searching each room until I found the one with Mairi inside.

Right when my patience was wearing thin, I saw a woman with a clipboard walking in from the back. "Zach?" She said as she approached me. "Yes?" I remarked, springing into action as if I were ready to race to Mairis' side. "I'm Doctor Krueger. I just wanted to let you know more about how Mairi was doing. She still has not woken up yet, only just being brought in within the past 30 minutes. However, she is hooked up to an IV and is on pain medication, from the known damage that we've been observing. She is going to need at least a few treatments and we're not sure how serious it is just yet." she stated.

I looked at her and could tell she was a bit more worried about something else that she didn't want to say. "Is there something else I need to know?" I asked, not trusting her completely. "The only other thing is that we've called her parents, seeing as they are her emergency contacts. Now, I should get back to work, but I will let you know if anything progresses." Good thing because I don't have either of her parents' numbers, and if not for her they would have never known. "Okay, I'll just wait here then. Thanks." I muttered. As soon as she had turned to go back to the room, Mr. and Mrs. Noble arrived. The doctor noticed and appeared to already realize who they were. 'Strange.' I thought as she approached them to deliver the same news, I had just received only moments before. Maybe she's a doctor that they've seen previously for another matter, but there's no point in questioning it now. However, I couldn't help but find it silly. Her last name was Kruger, like Freddie.

I returned to my seat and tried to calm my nerves, my heart still beating out of my chest. I gazed up to see Mr. and Mrs. Noble proceeding towards the seats that were to my left. As they sat, I could tell Mairis' mom had already been crying quite a lot, her face all red and puffy, as if she were having an allergic reaction. "I'm sorry that this happened." I said to them hoping to relieve some tension, as we haven't always seen eye to eye on a few different occasions. Mr. Noble nodded as if to say, 'Thanks.' And I felt as if what I mentioned made Mrs. Noble want to cry even more. I felt it best to just wait in silence with them, us all in fear that Mairi was seriously messed up.

As I began to look around the room once more, I noticed a large black clock hung up on the wall to my left. Each tick sensibly grew more audible as time went on. It filled my brain like shadows in a forest. one not able to quite see what's ahead, but the feeling of time running out as danger creeps up from behind. The waiting always seemed to be the worst part, However, one's death coming to light was much worse. I would honestly wait forever if it meant Mairi wouldn't ever be classified as dead. The thought of never looking into her deep brown eyes again, never holding her, I began to get teary-eyed. I immediately wiped my face to avoid appearing like a wussy punk.

I couldn't help but feel regret for my behavior within our relationship. I recently have been working to be a better man, specifically for Mairi, but there is quite a bit to make up for. Some that I still haven't even shared with her, now I don't know if I ever could. Just a month ago I seriously broke us, and she didn't even come to know everything. We went to a frat party, and we ended up getting into another meaningless fight that I probably started. We ended up separating the rest of the event and then proceeded to leave together later. And the time I was alone, I decided that was enough for me to justify what I did. I betrayed Mairi and lost her trust. I am working on making things right with her now. The girl I met at the party was a distraction and I chose to hurt Mairi to get some from a complete stranger. However, I've been keeping a few details secret because if Mairi knew, she would never talk to me again.