OffSpring | ✎

Chapter XLVII

Chapter Forty-Seven | Sinking Deeper
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M A D D I E

My coughs echoed in the hallway, the force of them racking my body and causing my knees to tremble, my throat burned with each one that traveled up my chest and out my mouth. My chest was hurting like my ribs were closing in around my lungs and rendering my breathing to a minimum.

I felt like death.

Every joint in my body ached and threaten to buckle under the weight I strained on my body with the steps I took to make it to my personal sanctuary; my bedroom.

It was nothing more than a few doors away but every step felt like I had rocks weighing me down, making the walk difficult than it already is. I just wanted to lay down and sleep, hoping for the pain to go away as I sleep the world away. Nothing could compare to the pain of this disease that's twisting my insides terribly.

I had no medication or anything to help me through this pain, even if I did, it would have been too late. My days are slowly becoming numbered, each day being a struggle itself as I suffer toward the end. Though it happened weeks before, Adrian's offer still rings in my head, a constant mantra in my head; the thought of it still made my skin crawl and stomach to cave in.

It was my only option at survival but I didn't want it.

The hallway began to blur in and out, the length of it seems to stretch farther than it originally was, the ground began to sway under my feet, knocking me slightly off balance as the pounding in my head increases. It wasn't long before my balance was taken away from me and wasn't my own.

I become dead weight as I tumble to the floor, my shoulder making the first contact before the rest of my limbs followed. I heave out a breath, my aching too much for me to move, I just wanted to lay here and rest— resting seemed good at the moment. My eyelids fluttered close on their own, the rug beneath me bring little comfort but not enough to make me relax.

I don't know how long I lied there, immobile on the floor, the sound of the outside world moving in as the trees rustled and the distant sound of animals scampering about; it wasn't until I began to doze off hoping this was the peace that craved when my name was called.

"Maddie!"

I didn't open my eyes or move a muscle at the call of my name, I like still, even as a presence drops down beside me and hands start to frantically roam over my body; turning my face in the opposite direction, toward them.

"Maddie, Maddie!?"

"Go away," I mumble, opening my eyes to slits to see Adrian's face hovering over mine as his eyes stare down at me in concern.

And that look does something to my heart.

His body visibly relaxes at the sound of my voice as if it confirmed something for him, yet the concern still lingered and soon determination was at the frontier; blazing its strength. It wasn't long before I was being lifted into his arms, and carried off.

"Put me down." I croak, my struggles feeble and pathetic.

My muscles were too weak to push him away, yet I still tried, my hands pressed against his chest to put distance between us; him touching me meant that I felt things, things new and some things old. His touch brought flames to my body that overpowered the aches I felt, finally giving up when he didn't respond: I give in to his touch.

I relax in his hold, taking deep breaths of his scent that always seemed to consume all my senses. It made me aware of him, what he is, what he does and how he makes me feel— the whole reason I want nothing to do with him.