As the Snow Falls

Chapter 6

"Ava." Someone shakes my shoulder, but I scrunch my eyes closed, wanting to go back into my dream. It was warm in the dream, and it's definitely not as warm wherever I am in the real world.

The real world. Snow. My Hand. Cassie.

The last thought pulls me all the way back, and I blink open my eyes. Cassie stares down at me, her eyes full of a few different emotions. Her face is back to its normal color, her cheeks rosy with what I can only assume is anger.

"What happened last night?" She nearly growls. Yep, she's angry.

"The power shut off." I reply with a yawn, not wanting to fight with her today.

"Yeah, I got that. But why am I here on this couch, with you?"

Ouch.

"After you ran off last night without giving me a chance to explain, I couldn't find you anywhere. Then the power shut off and when I finally did find you, you might as well have been dead. I somehow got you back up here and found blankets and slept beside you to stay warm. Because despite all my running around to find ways to get you warm, I was still freezing."

"You should've asked me."

"I couldn't!" I reply, sick of her getting mad at me for trying to help. "You wouldn't wake up! What else was I supposed to do?" I whisper the last part, feeling emotion in my throat. "I'll leave you alone, now." I say softly, climbing out of the couch bed. What little warmth there was underneath the blankets instantly leaves my body and I start shivering right away.

"Don't you want your coat?" Cassie asks quietly.

"Keep it, you need it more than I do." I reply, wrapping a thicker blanket around my shoulders. Cassie's eyes catch on my hand and widen.

"What happened to your hand?" She gasps. I glance down to see that it had bled more during the night, but luckily hadn't bled through the bandages yet.

Time to change it.

"Nothing. I just messed it up trying to get the blankets." I say quickly before opening the door. Cassie starts to say something, but I quickly leave the room. I can't deal with her anger right now.

If I was being honest, my hand hurt like hell. The cold wasn't helping either, although a part of me wished it would just go numb. But making sure that it didn't get infected was a top priority right now, so I made my way back down to the call center area for the first aid kit.

Ten minutes later, I carefully take off the old bandages, grimacing as they pull on my skin. I hiss through my teeth as I finally get them off, and take a good look at the wound. The entire back of my hand is black and blue. The two gashes are an angry red, but the bleeding seems to have slowed for now.

I use the water bottle I brought to dampen a small towel before doing my best to clean off the blood. Several minutes later, it's not going well. Tears are streaming down my face and the pain is nearly too much to handle. The door creaks behind me and I whip around to find Cassie staring at me with wide eyes. I quickly wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and turn around, hoping she didn't see.

"Ava." She says softly. Her voice sounds tight with emotion, but I know that can't be true. "Let me help you."

I don't have the energy to fight her on this, so I give a small nod. She moves around to the chair beside me and I turn towards her, not looking her in the eyes.

Cassie takes my hand gently in hers and despite all the pain, I can't ignore the small shock that travels through my body as her fingers touch my skin. As she focuses on my hand, I let my eyes study her face. I can tell she thinks it's really bad. She takes the small towel and gently wipes at my hand, and I clench my good hand into a fist to keep from whimpering.