SILVER EYES (GXG)

Chapter 35: That Night

The sound of my knocking seemed to resonate alongside the frantic beats of my heart.

"Who is it?" Her voice echoed through the door.

"Grace."

There was a long silence, and damn, it felt like forever. Then her footsteps approached the door, and bam, there she was. Our eyes met. Her pupils shone with the reflection of light, but they were far from conveying any kind of emotion. Cold. Distant. There was nothing in her gaze.

"Hi," I said, trying to break the tension.

"What do you want?" Her tone could've frozen the Arctic.

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"No."

I sighed and glanced over her shoulder. Her room was a mess, with clothes strewn across her bed, and two boxes on her desk filled with her belongings.

"What's going on?" I asked, afraid to know the answer.

"Packing. I'm leaving."

Panic rose in my chest. "What?! Where?"

"Like you care." Whoa. She was furious.

"Heather, please." My tone sounded more authoritative than I intended.

She furrowed her brows. "Who do you think you are?" She moved to close the door. "I have a lot to do." She continued.

"Wait! I want to talk!" I said. She was not going to make this easy.

"Well, I don't. So..." And just like that, the door slammed shut, leaving me standing there, not knowing what to do. I waited in the hallway for a moment; that was typical, Heather, but we couldn't afford this today. Not at all. There were too many things to say, and the clock was ticking. So, I took a deep breath, mustered all the courage I had, and just went for it. I stepped into her room without waiting for an invitation. She turned to me, surprised, annoyed even.

"You can't just barge in like that." She said.

I didn't respond; instead, I closed the door firmly behind me, and then I approached her without hesitation.

"What do you think you are..." Before she could finish, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to me. Our bodies collapsed, and I hugged her tight. She stiffened, clearly not expecting that. But I didn't care; it just felt like the right thing to do.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled.

We've been through so much lately. Literally skirting death. We had witnessed horrific scenes. We'd lost friends along the way. I couldn't talk to her like nothing. Not without acknowledging the extremely hard times we were both facing. Besides, I almost lost her. For real. And that had been the scariest time ever.

She didn't return the hug, but she didn't push me away either, and that felt like a little triumph to me.

"You're hurting me." She said after a moment, and when I released her, I saw the pain etched into her face. She cradled the spot where the laser had pierced her skin. My heart twisted at the sight.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... Can I help?" I asked nervously.

"No." She said moving to sit on the bed with a tired sigh.

"How are you?" I asked. She looked so fragile and vulnerable. I wanted to get closer to her but I decided to leave her space, I didn't want to rush anything.

"It's a living hell." she said while she pulled her shirt off to reveal the bandage wrapping around her stomach and shoulder.

"What about the recovery treatment?" I asked, confused to see her still bandaged.