You are my addiction

37. The calm after the storm

"F**k you Green!" I cursed and cut the call. I know it's not fair, not fair to take my anger out on Green but who would let their friend go out in this storm.

Five minutes did pass and nothing happened except my bum got uncomfortable on our couch and i decided the couch in the waiting area downstairs might be a bit more comfortable at the point. I locked the apartment and took the lift downstairs. As soon as I stepped out into the lobby the chilled air hit me hard, I turned to see the entrance opening and saw the blue umbrella first, all torn and twisted.

Thank god Pete, Finally

I almost ran to hug him but froze where i was as all i could see was atleast a 6cm long cut just under his left knee. It's bleeding and it's bleeding bad. He was in his training shots and the coat was only covering till the thighs. He is visibly shivering as he walked towards me. He was drenched and dripping.

I couldn't take my eyes off that wound, tears jerking up but stopping right behind my eyes, hurting my whole face. Like i am stuck between two crushing walls. Like crying is of no use but just a natural instinct.

He was one foot away when he said "Kao.."
I neither responded nor moved.

"Kao, come on, it's nothing, i just hit a fallen billboard that i didn't see was there"

I looked up at his face and he was smiling his Pete smile which i wanted to smack off of there badly at the moment.

I silently turned to the reception table and asked "P'Brace, Could you check if there are any tetanus shots in the first aid kit"

She smiled at me warmly "Sure Kao, I am sure i saw one around somewhere here" she said as she took the different boxes with plus sign out of the kit.

"Aa.. here... Do you also need some alcohol and cotton" she asked handing me the shot

I shook my head "No, P' i have them stocked, Thank you so much"

I then walked towards the lift and stepped in,

"KAO... hey... Wait" Pete kept calling me from behind but i didn't want to respond, Because I know i wouldn't be able to talk, i would only scream.

But i couldn't scream, he was shivering, he might catch a cold , I mentally ran through the medicine box to remember if there is a paracetamol in there, he was bleeding and by the looks of it, must be a lot more painful than i can imagine. It took all my energy to not break, to not hit him hard and then hug him tight. He might be tough, i know if the same thing have happened to me i wouldn't have mind it one bit, but not knowing what he was feeling exactly, how badly he was hurt, was somehow killing me inside. I was not even able to try and find words to ask him how he had lost his whole damn mind to think it's okay to walk home in this storm. And i was too glad that atleast he made it home. 

Pete did step in to the lift just before it closed and I could hear my raised heart beat and his heavy breathing too clearly in the silence. 

"Kao, Did you come down to look for me?" He asked after a minute of silence and showing me the guilty face.

"You didn't really think you could go out in the storm and look for me, did you?"  He asked as i was not responding. And i wanted to say I am not stupid. But I still thought keeping quite was the best option for me.

"And you are not really thinking of injecting that shot into me are you? You know i am afraid of needles right?" He said making a scared face, his voice now almost shacking with all his shivering . Idiot, what you just experienced out there is more than a billion needles. My hairs stood erect as  i imagined one of those big ice cubes hitting me. I looked at him with my cold eyes, his skin has become pale from cold, his eyelids were vibrating from all the foreign sensations. His left shoe was drenched with blood, his right shoe with mud.  The place he was standing was all wet but he stood at the rare corner to make sure not to wet the whole lift. His hair was sexy with hanging droplets which are continuously  flowing on to his face. The umbrella in his right hand just looked like a ball of steel and cloth. And his eyes were boring into me begging me to talk. His cheeks red, his lips curled up in to a smile, his T-shirt and shots stuck to his prominent muscles. Overall he seemed like a warrior stepping out of the war he just won. I smiled at myself from my thoughts. While my heart kept tugging at me to make him feel better, he was home, he had come to me, he had to be relaxing in my arms, not snuggling his cold hands wishing warmth.