Untamed Hearts

28:- Sensation

  My books spilled all over the floor and I cursed myself for being so clumsy. The familiar scent so peculiar to Angelo; cinnamon, peppermint and bayberries filled my senses. I heard him expel a breath before he dropped to his knees and began gathering my books leaving me with mixed and conflicting feelings. It was this sort of behavior yet again so peculiar to Angelo Tallerico, if he was so hell bent on treating me like a pariah, then why was he here helping ,me. I mean, lepers were still shunned in society right?

He finished gathering my books and stood up, handing them to me, “here you go. Sorry.”

Unsure of how to react, I took them and said, “Thank you?”

A muscle ticked in his muscle like he was about to say something but he just bent his head and walked past me again. I pursed my lips and began crossing the lot. I remembered his face, it looked tired and sad not at all cold, the face of someone who had tired sleeping through nightmares. Did Angelo have nightmares, I wondered. And if I asked, would he tell me? I stopped and looked back at him when I realized that he had also stopped and was watching me too, like he wanted to come to me and say something so badly but I knew that he wouldn’t because he had already said his piece.

A million things seemed to happen at once and they did not happen in slow motion like in the movies. Adrenaline coursed through my body allowing my brain to process it all at once. Coming toward me was a fire red that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my car, and I was standing between them and the driver was yelling in fear. The jeep was going to crush me, I realized dully, and I would die. Through the haze

I heard someone yell, “MADISON!!!” I don’t know why I did but I closed my eyes and waited for the impact to hit but instead steel bands wrapped around me and my body took a dive, rolling. My head crashed against the asphalt and a body pinning me to the ground. I heard a crash but as I waited for oblivion, it did not come. Instead, all I heard was ragged, harsh breathing and felt the furious thrumming of someone’s heart, I wasn’t sure if it was my own or not. I opened my eyes then to see Angelo above me, his arms were still around me, holding my body to his own and his minty breath tickled my hair. He looked at me, and it was easy to see the fear and terror in his eye.

“Madison!”His voice sounded frantically in my ear over and over again, “Madison, are you alright?” but I wasn’t listening to him, instead I was staring at my car, where the jeep had rammed into the side. The windshields had shattered and glasses decorated the floor, where I would have just been standing only a few minutes ago.

"Madison? Are you all right?" he asked again.

"I'm fine." My voice sounded odd, like it wasn’t mine. I tried sitting up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.

"Careful now," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

I became aware of a pulsing pain centered at my temples. "Ow," I said, stunned.

"I thought so too." His voice was worried and kind of scared.

"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. “What just… why did you do that?”