Pink Walls

Day Four [Part V]

Ten minutes ago, a short walk in the snow hadn't sounded so bad.

Ten minutes later, I realized that I had underestimated both the harshness of winter and severity of my injuries.

The wind cut into me with every step I took, ignoring the presence of the coat buttoned over my jacket.

Snow melted at my ankles, soaking my socks through to wet my feet. If I had any energy to spare, I would have shivered.

"We're almost there." Danny's hands tightened around my right arm, practically hugging it to his chest. The heat of his palms felt scorching despite the many layers stuck between his skin and mine, and for a moment it was all I could focus on.

When I turned to him, the pain in my arm dimmed to a dull throb. It was only now that I realized that he should have been cold, wearing so little in winter.

"Everything will be fine," he said again without meeting my eyes. The fact that he was trying to reassure me made me feel a little warmer, but I was too jaded to be optimistic about our situation.

I managed to smile before the lie left my lips. "I know."

Then I took my eyes off him.

Like clockwork, my shoulder started to ache. The feeling was uncomfortable, and not just because of the pain. I balled my fingers into a fist in an attempt to ease the burn that radiated down my arm.

It did little to help.

"Kayden?"

I gritted my teeth and smoothened out what would have been a grimace. If Danny noticed how much pain I was in, his guilt would double-and that was the last thing that needed to happen.

What happened... is not something either of us need to relive anytime soon.

"Hm?" I answered, turning away slightly so that my eyes could scan the street.

It was a gloomy morning so only a handful of people were out walking. Some of them met my gaze before looking away immediately, it took me some moments to realize that to them I and Danny probably looked like a couple.

I wondered if they were close enough to notice our matching bruises.

Danny leaned in closer. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? I mulled over the question for a moment before looking back at him with what I hoped was a convincing smile. "Yes."

It took everything in me to not start analyzing everything I had done wrong, from the first time I lost Danny to losing consciousness when things mattered most.

At the back of my mind, I wondered what Ron would think of the way I had been handling things. She was already disappointed by what happened at Hotel Dei Lupi, if she saw what happened in the parking garage...

Resigned, I loosened my fist, feeling the slickness of blood rubbing against my freezing fingers and the coat. I flexed them, trying to work off the numbness taking over their tips.

If the coat had been any other color, the growing bloodstain in its left pocket would have given us away to anyone observant enough.

Just one drop falling on the snow at the wrong moment could have-

Daniel nudged me gently, cutting off my train of thought.

"We're here," he announced quietly, then stopped holding me to dig into his pockets.

Without his support, I could only lean my good shoulder against the building.

"Nice place." I examined the store. It was small and compact-and I had trouble imagining him standing behind a cash register, working. I could picture him selling pastries at a bakery and waiting tables at a restaurant but for some reason him being a cashier at a grocery store was hard to swallow.