no body no crime

body

"Shit," I hissed. "Shit, shit, shit." I dragged my eyes to the road and straightened the car, picking up speed again. "You need a hospital."

"No."

I snapped my head towards her. "What?"

She tried to sit up, breathing heavily. She shook her head. "No hospital. Too many questions."

"You just got shot!" I argued.

"It just nicked me." She gestured with her head to the single bullet hole in my front windshield. "All I need is a few stitches."

I shook my head. "Goddamnit."

Against my better judgement, I didn't take her to a hospital. I took a roundabout way back to the other end of the island.

"My sister has an apartment in Chelsea," I explained. "She's away for a few months on an expedition in New Zealand. We'll be able to lay low there."

"Okay..." Adelina breathed. Sweat broke out on her brow. Her skin was paler than her natural golden tan, her eyes closed.

I grabbed her thigh and shook her awake. "No sleeping," I ordered.

She winced as she sat up, sitting in the seat normally. She tilted her head back against the headrest. I let go of her thigh and reached behind her to the backseat. I grabbed a t-shirt back there and forced it into her hands.

"Use this to put pressure on the wound."

She nodded. I pulled my hand away but she grabbed it in hers and replaced it on her thigh. I risked a glance towards her eyes.

She gave me a shaky smile. "You know you want to."

I gave in, too tired to argue. With my t-shirt on her wound and my hand on her thigh, I drove us around Manhattan until darkness settled in the city.

I parked in front of my sister's apartment. When Adelina moved to get up, I pushed her back into the seat. "Wait."

I got out and walked around to her side to help. I pulled the door open and hooked her arm around my shoulders. I lifted her out of the car and planted her on her feet. She leaned most of her weight onto me. Closing the door with my foot, I half-carried, half-dragged her to the building.

The apartment was on the fifteenth floor, and Adelina hugged me tight in the elevator. Neither of us said anything as I held her up. We made it to the front door and I unlocked it with my spare key. We hobbled inside. It was a studio apartment, the living room and kitchen by the door, and the bed tucked into the far corner facing the windows. The New York skyline provided a beautiful view. The bathroom was through a narrow door in the back wall.

I helped Adelina to the kitchen table and lifted her onto it. I eased her down until she laid flat, one of her legs bent and the other hanging off the edge. I stepped away to turn the lights on, the one hanging above the table shining like a spotlight on Adelina.

I leaned over her. "I'll be right back. Don't pass out."

She grimaced. "I won't."

I headed back to the street and moved the car, parking a few blocks away. Just in case. I grabbed my backpack from the truck, holding a few changes of clothes, some books, and my laptop.

When I got back upstairs I dropped my bag by the bed and found the first aid kit under the bathroom sink. Adelina was awake, thank God, staring at the ceiling and squinting into the lights.

I pulled the chairs away from the table and stood above her. I eased the jacket off her arms, and then took the hem of her shirt in my hands.

She smirked. "Desperate, are we?"