Frozen Hands

Chapter Five

Frosin Hönd Hotel, 4 p.m.

The car ride back to the hotel was silent. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was comfortable. Steve and Lizzie were both lost in their thoughts about the events of the day. The redhead was still shivering from the cold, which made Steve worry. 

He let out a sigh after he had parked the car and looked at Elizabeth. She looked quite pale. "Liz are you okay? Do you need help getting out of the car?" She shook her head. "I'm alright, I'm just tired I guess." Lizzie didn't want him to worry, all she wanted was a steaming hot shower.

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Lizzie was just about to open the door to her hotel room when Steve stopped her. She turned to him.

"I'll check up on you in an hour, okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thanks." Steve pressed a kiss to her forehead which made her blush. She quickly turned around and entered her room.

Lizzie stripped down and went to the bathroom. She stepped into the shower, not only to finally feel some warmth but also to wash away her worries. She tried to hide it all day but this project scared her. It was all too "sci-fi" for her. She wished she hadn't come here. She would be safe in her appartement, watching The Great British Bake Off. Although she had her doubts, she did like this adventurous side of Steve. He seemed to have purpose and it seemed like he had let go of the rules a little. Steve was usually very type-A about work.

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A knock on her door. Exactly an hour later. Lizzie got up from her bed and walked over to her door. She opened it with a grin. "You are always exactly on time, aren't you?" She stepped aside to let him into her room.

Steve let out a chuckle. "I am a man of my word." He looked around the room, it was quite the mess already. Typical. "Are you feeling better?"

Lizzie nodded. "Yes, I have finally stopped shivering. I'm quite hungry, though. Let's order room service."

"Feelin' fancy, huh?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

About an hour later, their food had arrived. It was a variety of junk food, or comfort food as Elizabeth would call it.

They sat down on the bed and, of course, ate the food. In between stuffing their facing with the amazing food, they laughed and told stories about what they have been up to for the past few years. Lizzie didn't realise until just know how much she's missed this.

Steve smiled and stared at her. "I've missed this. And you." He said, as if he just read her mind.

Her cheeks flushed red. "Me t-" Steve's phone rang. It was Mark. He picked up. "Hi, I'm putting you on speaker."

"You guys need to come back here. Now. He's waking up. I repeat, the bloke's waking up!" Mark exclaimed.

Steve and Lizzie looked at eachother with wide eyes. "We'll be there in 10!" Steve replied before hanging up. They both put on their shoes as quickly as they could. Lizzie packed some of the food for Mark, he probably hadn't eaten yet. They rushed out of the hotel, to Steve's car. They got in quickly and Steve drove off.

Steve and Lizzie were silent the entire car ride back to the laboratory. They were both too nervous to speak. Lizzie still couldn't believe all of this was real, she felt as if she was a character in a film.

Steve parked the car and got out. Lizzie stayed put. She couldn't move. The same thought popped into her mind over and over. What if?

Steve opened her car door. "Liz? Liz, let's go. We need to help Mark."

She turned to him and nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. This is just too weird, man." She got out of the car and ran into the laboratory with Steve.

They found a very shocked Mark sitting, staring at the moving body. The John Doe was twitching in his sleep, as if he had a nightmare.

"Finally you're here!" Mark got up from his chair. Lizzie handed him the bag with leftovers. "We brought you food."

"You're an angel." Mark smiled widely, taking the bag greedily. He sat back down and started eating the food.

Lizzie pulled up another chair, right next to the body. She sat down and watched him closely. Minutes went by.

"Liz, look at this!" Steve wanted to show her the drawing he made of her. He liked to draw to pass the time and she was always an inspiration to him. His sketchbook had many drawings of Elizabeth.

Lizzie turned to Steve and stared at the drawing. She smiled. "Didn't know you had the talent, Stevie." Lizzie looked up at him but the look on his face shocked her. It was a look of pure terror. She felt a piece of metal pushing to the back of her head. She froze and then it dawned on her. John Doe had woken up and nobody checked if he was carrying any weapons.