Days of Decay

Chapter Thirty Three

The sleep in Asha's eyes glued her eyelids together which made it difficult to fully open them. She blinked harshly a few times before finally, light came streaming into them. Her head felt fuzzy and her temples pounded with a dull headache. She looked around the room, nothing had changed and it felt almost as if she'd just closed her eyes for a few minutes.

However, the memories of the black pin and the shower suddenly came flooding back to her, making her painfully aware of what had happened before she blacked out. She had ended up in bed though, and looking down, she realised she'd been put into a set of rose-gold, satin pyjamas.

Her mind buzzed with confusion; it was then that she was aware of an intense aching that seemed to erupt from her abdomen, consuming her body all at once. She pulled against her constraints as she tried to move herself into a comfortable position to ease the aching but it was no use; instead she squirmed in pain, making no sound.

How can I ache so much without having moved?

A thought crossed her mind, it must have been the repercussions of the black pin being jabbed into her spine. It would explain the engulfing ache. Even though she had figured out why she was in pain, she still felt it, and it was horrid. As she wriggled around on the bed, pulling at the handcuffs, the door began to open.

She froze and looked up to the doorway, her heart stunned. Please don't be Jude. She begged to a higher power. A seemingly endless second passed by before Harry stepped through the door. His eyes were wide as he looked at her; almost like he wasn't expecting to see her awake. Immediately though, she felt at ease and her body collapsed into the bed, her wrists hanging loose against the handcuffs.

He hurriedly closed the door behind him and locked it with the brass locker. She then watched him as he walked his way over quickly to her. When he came closer to her, she noticed that one of his eyes was completely swollen shut and a painful, purple flower had blossomed over it.

"What happened to you?" She croaked.

"You're awake," he spoke in a hushed voice, so he couldn't be heard.

She looked to him and furrowed her eyebrows; he was avoiding the question. "Yes," she could feel a lump in her throat which she tried to cough away, "and whatever you gave me for the pain, didn't work. I feel like I'm having the worst cramps," she swallowed hard trying to coat her throat with liquid and attempted to speak again. "How long," she coughed again. "How long was I out?" She asked curiously.

"Oh. Sorry... it should have worked. Um," he hesitated for a moment, which slightly worried her. "You've been asleep for about an hour," he said under his breath as he shrugged.

"I feel like I've been asleep for days," she answered. She couldn't imagine passing out from the shower would keep her out cold for more than an hour, but her body told her something different. Plus, she realised then that her hair was completely bone-dry.

Harry swallowed thickly and cleared his throat before sitting himself down next to her on the bed. The mattress jumped a little as he sat, and she adjusted herself so she was slightly propped up on her elbows. "Well," he began. "That's usually how I feel after a nap; disorientated," he said as he reached for a bottle of water before holding it up to her dry lips.

Asha instantly forgot about what they were talking about. All she could think of was the pure, refreshing feel of the cold water racing down her throat and she sucked down as much as she could. She couldn't remember ever being this thirsty. Once she'd had her fill and her stomach couldn't hold anymore, he tilted the bottle downwards and pulled it away. He glanced down at her, his eyes brimming with sympathy.