Still running

Chapter Fifteen: The room

Word count: 2526

I woke up the next morning. My stomach felt hollow despite the food we had eaten the night before, I was covered in cold sweats from my nightmare but Ash didn't seem to notice as she clung to me in her sleep. I couldn't fault her for her unconscious actions but her body being so close to mine made anxiety creep into my stomach. I was worried I was letting her get too close to me, I didn't want to have another body to look after... I couldn't even look after one. The only person I could look out for was myself and I was honestly a mess so I couldn't do that too well either.
After an hour, I shook Ash awake and she rolled away from me but she wasn't as flustered as she had been the morning before. She snuggled into her pillow instead and tried to get back to sleep but outside was becoming light and we had a job to do. I decided that today I would search the grounds and I could only do that in the early hours when everyone was too busy working to notice. I could slip away easily enough if I was careful. I shook Ash again.
"Huh?" She mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow.
"Time to work," I told her. My voice soft despite the thick morning that wrapped around it. My eyes stung slightly less than they had the day before since I had somehow slept better despite my nightmares. My arm was easier to move but I still planned on having another tablet soon just to manage any remnants of pain.
"Already?" Ash sighed into her pillow and lifted her face up to greet mine.
"Yeah."
"You need a shower!" She said and stuck her face back into the pillow. Her next words were muffled, "you stink!"
"Sorry, that'd be all the dried blood from ya know, actually trying to stay alive," I said jokingly but with a hint of truth in my words. Ash's body rose and fell as though she were stifling a laugh.
"Shut up and shower, stinky," she instructed me and yawned heavily into the pillow.
"Fine." I laughed slightly at Ash's tired state.
"And change your clothes," she continued.
"Ugh, anything else?" I questioned as I threw the covers off me, cold air seeped into my skin which slowly rid me of my earlier hot skin.
"Change your attitude if you can," she replied as she lifted her face up from the pillow. I wasn't sure if she could see me or not as her long hair fell messily over her face.
"Sorry, the return policies expired so you're stuck with this," I replied but I couldn't help the slightest smile from crossing my face. She didn't notice it as she stuffed her head back into the pillow and pulled the covers tightly around her.

After I had showered and changed, under Ash's orders since agreeing with her was easier than an argument, I woke her up. She unwillingly followed us out into the gardens again but her mood perked up when the cold air hit her. We still had a few months left of the cold winter but I didn't mind that and neither did Ash. If anything I was terrified of the summer coming.
"Louise, what are you doing here?" Hayley questioned as we walked into our tarp for the day and saw Louise standing in the middle, messing with a strawberry plant.
"Strawberries were his favourite," she told no one imparticular.
"Aren't you scheduled for kitchen work?" Sean questioned, ignoring Louise's ramblings.
"Oh, yeah," she said and turned to face us. Her eyes looked sad and she seemed like she had aged a decade in just under a day. "Will, he took me off that..." She didn't look at us as she spoke but more through us like we weren't there at all. She was pale and this only exaggerated the thick bags under her eyes.
"Why?" I questioned. Although I knew it must be bad if Greg was involved, only bad things must follow him.
"Evan..." She choked on that one word.
"What's happened to him?" Ash asked. Her voice was light as it travelled through the air and her eyes were sympathetic but she didn't appear condescending, far from it. She looked genuinely worried about Evan and I had to admit I was a little worried although I had only met the boy once. If anything, though, I was more suspicious.
"He... ran away... the kitchen reminds me of him too much so now I'm here." Louise sniffed and rubbed her watery eyes.
"I'm so sorry! Did he leave a note?" Addy took up the role of supporting friend as he wrapped his arms around Louise's shoulders and rubbed them lightly.
"Not a word," she trembled and her lips quivered. Her eye colour could not be seen through the thick tears that lined her eyes. Her face was streaked with tear lines and water dripped off her chin onto the ground. "What did I do wrong?" She sobbed.