Miss Artist Can Suffer

Help on the way

Gerald was lying on the bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. The voices in his head were quiet, not as usual. Still he couldn't sleep. He badly wanted to take a sleeping pill. But that might make him oversleep. Plus he was relying too much on them. He wondered when was the last time he slept peacefully.

Oh, he remembered. He slept like a baby when he was stuck outside on porch chair with Keira. Never had he slept so uncomfortably. Yet it was his most peaceful sleep since he had gone to the boarding school. 

Suddenly he heard a quiet knock on the door. So quiet that it felt like the knocker was afraid of even touching the door. Gerald had an inkling who that might be. Excited, he jumped out of his bed and almost sprinted towards the door. Just when he opened the door, he saw Keira in thin white slip and similar white shorts; ready to knock once more. Her hair was disheveled from tossing and turning continuously on the bed. 

"Couldn't sleep," her voice came out husky and a bit broken. 

"Me neither," Gerald replied.

"Can I come in?" she asked shyly.

'Now this is a very dangerous situation: Rational spoke in his mind with half moon, professor like glasses perched on his nose. 

'If you don't want to lose control, do not let her in,' rational spoke.

Crush would've said something but he had already died out of excitement. 

Gerald took a good look at her expecting face and then spoke, "Yeah sure." He could clearly hear the facepalm done by rational. But he just ignored it and let Keira come inside.

Keira took baby steps in. Gerald felt a weird reaction from his heartbeats when he closed the door behind her. Keira went straight to the bed and crawled to the middle of it. She crossed her legs and sat down and looked at him as if asking 'what next?'

Gerald had not been with any woman since Keira had come in his life. And now his mind was having very dirty thoughts. But he realized that the main reason they both couldn't sleep tonight was they both were worrying about Sharon and Peter. And it sobered him up. He went towards his bed and sat on the very edge of it, thankful that he had already wiped he bed frame with disinfectant. 

He asked, meeting Keira's gaze, "Worried about Sharon?"

Keira lowered her eyes and started fubling with his bed cover.

"What if- what it all this map and the house is just hogwash? What if we don't find them there? What if she's de-"

"Don't," his voice was shaking. "I have no idea how to answer your questions, Keira. But we can't achieve anything with such negativity. One squad of police is already in search for them. I think by the time we reach, they would have already found Sharon. So right now, what we need to do is just sleep. It's already 11.45."

Keira snorted, "Easier said than done. You were awake yourself."

'That's why we should try to sleep right now," Gerald made a lame attempt at changing the subject. But it kinda worked. 

"Well, I couldn't sleep in my room," Keira took out her frustration on Gerald's pillow.

"You can sleep here," Gerald instantly mumbled, looking down.

Keira was shocked, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I mean if you want to," Gerald was still mumbling.

"So... you'll sleep on the sofa?"

"Yeah- wait what?" Gerald looked up. Keira's eyes were twinkling in mischief. 

"I mean, a gentleman like you wouldn't obviously let 'me' sleep on the sofa, right?"