I woke up on the cold tile floor. The room was dark and my head was killing me. I stood up and winced at the sudden pain in my head. I looked in the mirror and saw a huge gash on the side of my head but thankfully it had stopped bleeding. I looked at my reflection in confusion but all at once the memory came back. Shadow, the hotel, the five men. I walked out of the room and found clothes everywhere. By the looks of the room they had searched it for something or someone. My mind raced at the thought of Shadow our there alone. What if she was still on the roof?
I ran back to the bathroom and opened the window. I called her name and waited for a minute. It looked like late afternoon out and the birds were singing. I sighed and was about to close the window when Shadows tear stained face appeared in front of me. Her sudden appearance shocked me and I almost fell backwards. Shadow looked down at me with relief and flung herself through the window. She fell to the shower floor on the balls of her feet and looked at me. Her hands fluttered from my shoulders to my face and finally to the gash on my head. She didn't touch me but stepped away from me like she was scared.
"Ash I- I thought you were dead! I heard them come in and then a loud bang and then- you were on the floor not moving and I called your name but you wouldn't wake up... I- I-"
She looked at me and tears ran down her face. Her amber eyes were brighter than ever and she scanned over me with worry. I softly smiled and took a step towards her but she backed away quickly and walked out of the shower. I stood there in confusion. Why was she suddenly so scared of me? What have I done? I walked out of the shower and found her standing in the middle of the strewn out clothes. Her hands were shaking violently at her sides and I could hear her softly sobbing. I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder expecting her to pull away but she didn't. I turned her around and looked down at her with a soft expression.
"Shadow, I'm fine. When I woke up the first thing I thought of was you and panicked. I shouldn't have sent you out by yourself but if you stayed I didn't know what would happen to you and if I lost you I-"
My voice trailed off and she looked at me with surprised eyes. The memory of her in my arms right before the men came in crept into my mind. It took all my strength not to hold her in my arms and never let go. Besides, she didn't seem the same way as before I pushed her out the window. Somehow she seemed more cautious around me now. Like she didn't know what to do. I pushed the thoughts away and started to absently pick up the room. Our stuff was still safely in our bags I had hidden under the bed. They must have been in a hurry while checking the room because they hadn't checked there. . I held the door open for Shadow and we paid the bill before I started to drive us to the airport for our flight. Since it was a private plane then we shouldn't have missed the flight. I just hoped the piolet was still there and hadn't left.
I drove while Shadow stared out the window in silence. It has been almost twenty minutes of driving and neither one of us has spoken. Shadow must hate me for leaving her all alone like I promised not to do. If they had found her though- The thought of what would have happened was too much. I looked over at her and sighed. She looked like a totally different person from before. I had changed everything about her and yet she was still her. Even though she has changed she was still her, wasn't she?
I pulled into the airport parking lot. I almost had a heart attack when Shadow spoke for the first time since we left. She spoke with a sincere tone and her eyes were full of tears that spilled down her face. Just seeing her like this made me want to do something, anything, to help her feel better. To make her smile.
"Ash, I don't want to do this. I don't want to run for the rest of my life. Those men will come back. I don't want to die and I don't want to get you hurt again."
Tears spilled down her face as she spoke. She locked eyes with me and her hands were shaking. I reached out and wiped away her tears and gave her a reassuring smile.
