Under The Skin

C h a p t e r N i n e t e e n

"Jesus christ, kid."

She's shivering and crying as she continues to dry heave before something foul smelling comes to the surface and rears its ugly head. He grabs a nearby towel and throws it over her shoulders as he tries to get rub some heat into her body. She's burning to the touch but her shivering and chattering teeth say otherwise. Flu? Infection, maybe?

"We should take you to the hospital."

"Please...P-please don't take me there."

"Why?"

"They can't help me."

"And you think I can? I'm not a doctor, Poppy. Shit, I can't even heal a cut on a hand, let alone whatever the hell is going on with you."

She turns her head and he can see from her profile, she's not having it. "They won't understand!"

"Well neither do I!" he yells as he paces behind her, "You've lost a lot of blood. You're passing out. You're wounds are too deep to heal with just stitches and some bandages. You can barely keep food down and let's be honest, you're not exactly sane right now. So what is it you think I can do that a fucking doctor can't even fathom, huh? What do you want me to do?"

She's silent for a minute before she mutters, "I won't got the hospital."

"Then you will die here and it'll be all your fucking fault!"

She turns away and he watches her with cautious eyes. Then he hears the tell tale signs of her cries. Muffled at first and then almost hyperventilating sobs as she cries into her hands. He feels his stomach lurch and panic grip his mind as her breathing becomes almost asthmatic.

"I'm s-sorry-y. I'm so s-sorry."

He shushes her and sits on the edge of the nearby tub lip as he continues to rub her back. He hesitates for a moment before reaching out to brush her messy blonde hair behind her hair. He meets her dark blue eyes and feels a pang in his heart at the sight of her. It's not just pity but also an anger, maybe even a protectiveness in seeing her so...destroyed. She is nothing like she was when he first saw her in the woods. She was so proud and almost aggressive towards him. It made her stick in his mind and arise when he let his mind wander to the pretty little blonde in a white dress.

Her sobs are less worrisome but still heartbreaking and he somehow manages to get down on the floor beside her starts to pet her hair as well. It nearly petrifies him in shock when she curls her body into his and hugs him to her. His hands hover above her as she grips the back of his shirt and buries her damp face into his neck.

It's not a shock all itself that she's hugging him. That, he can understand. A distraught human looking for comfort from another person, that's normal. It's not that he hasn't had a lot of hugs in his life either. He's not socially handicapped to the point that physical affection hasn't been rewarded to him at least a few times in his life. No, neither of those are what cause his heart to thump so hard in his chest, he thinks it may escape his body. The reason he can't even think straight is the almost tickling tingles running up and down his body. It's like his whole body had been asleep and now all the blood is rushing into him but it's pleasant, almost euphoric.

She lifts her head up and he turns his head so he can meet her gaze. Something is there, something almost desperate and full of longing is buried in her eyes but it suddenly dulls and his stomach drops. She blinks rapidly before her body goes ridged and she starts to pull away. He lets her but keeps his eyes on her the whole time, studying her every move.

Something about her, them, this, is leaving him in a daze.

"I'm sorry," She says thickly, "Sometimes, I forget you barely know me."