Tinseling

Chapter Twenty-five - Shape Up

Dinner came and went.

So did the night.

And the next.

People knocked, but Treasure ignored them. She hadn’t locked the door, not that anyone had tried it. She stayed curled on the bed, Aidan’s shirt clutched in her hands, staring out the window without interest.

When she thought of eating, she reminded herself Aidan couldn’t eat anymore.

When she thought of sleeping, she told herself to appreciate every minute she had; Aidan didn’t have anymore.

She forced herself to be sad. This was her grief, and Harrison wouldn’t take it away from her.

Eventually she gave into her bladder, as that fight wouldn’t be pleasant to lose. But still she resisted food, and even if she’d wanted to sleep, she couldn’t have. Her brain was alive with thoughts, though Treasure couldn’t remember any of them.

A knock on the door made Treasure tense and hold Aidan’s shirt closer.

“You in there?” a female voice asked. Some shuffling and quiet talking, as though she wasn’t alone in the hall. Treasure blinked. Nothing else was said; after a few beats, Treasure heard footsteps. Her stomach growled, the only thing to break the silence.

She’d been holding the shirt so long she barely smelled Aidan anymore.

More thoughts raced around in her head, just out of reach. She knew they ranged from getting up and doing something to laying here and continuing in her suffering. Those were pushed aside as her hunger grew, but Treasure knew that, just like before, it would fade.

More knocking; Treasure didn’t tense this time.

“Treasure.”

A male voice, irritated, which led Treasure to believe Hudson spoke through the door. She let that information sink in while he sighed in the hallway.

“Treasure,” he repeated.

Because she would answer him the second time, obviously. Grief masked any anger she might’ve felt toward him, but her sadness was easing away the longer he stood there, invading her space and reminding her he existed while Aidan didn’t.

Her grip loosened on the shirt.

“I know you’re in there,” Hudson said. From the thud on the door and the proximity of his voice, he leaned against the wood.

Where else would she be? Contemplating the growling in her stomach, Treasure wondered just how weak she could let her body get. Slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position, letting the shirt slide into her lap.

“We need to talk.”

Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, Treasure stood up from the bed as quickly as she could, testing the response.

No staggering or collapsing to the ground, which was a good sign. Treasure curled her right hand into a fist, then the left, as Hudson sighed from the other side of the door. Taking a step, Treasure decided she didn’t feel especially weak from depriving herself of food and sleep.

“It’s important.”

First she looked to the door, then the turning doorknob, which signaled Hudson was trying to come in. She watched in a detached way until the door left the doorframe, and then she pounced.

When he saw her, the blur of motion, he tried to close the door and protect himself. Treasure managed to get her fingers around the side of the door and yank, causing the hinges to make a horrible screeching noise as the door flew off the frame and somewhere else in the room.