MIxed Bag

disappear

He shows up at my door in rags. He is leaning heavily against the door trying to keep himself up. Filthy and covered in mud, I can see that his shirt is bloodstained and one of his eyes is swollen shut. He would've been unrecognizable to most people, but not to me. I can feel the electricity as soon as I touch his hand to help him up.

He is barely able to stand and as I pull him into the hotel room, I put his arm over my shoulder so I can help bear his weight. Walking across the room, I attempt to set him on the bed, but he falls onto it and sinks in. All of his strength has gone in this moment.

"MC," he said, his voice soft and husky. I wasn't sure if this is how his voice always sounds but hearing him say my name makes me weak in the knees. I have waited for this moment. I don't want it this way and I shift my focus back to his injuries. His voice is so weak that it is barely audible. "Am I dreaming?" he asks as her looks at me, his shoulder shifts from my shoulder to my waist.

While I could stay all day in his arms, I had to check his wounds. I smile, amidst whatever has transpired over the last couple of days, he was still charming. I move slowly away from him and spun around to look at him.

"No, Jake, you are with me, and I too feel like it is a dream but I think this must be more like a nightmare for you. What has happened?" I say and begin to inspect his injuries.

His eye was swollen completely shut. It was almost impossible to look at him without tears forming in my eyes. I turn his head toward the light and he winces.

"Sorry," I say and move my hand away from his cheek.

"Don't stop doing that," he says slightly out of breath.

"What?" I ask.

"Don't pull away from me. It has been a long wait to be next to you. I am reluctant to allow you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere, but you are injured and I have to assess the situation," I say firmly.

"All right, doctor," he says with the biggest smile he could muster. "Fix me up." Our eyes linger for a moment, then his close in pain.

Bringing him some pain relievers and a glass of water, I kiss his forehead, and he leans into it. I leave for a moment to get my kit and clean him up.

"...and for the record," I add as I walk into the bathroom, "...once you have healed, you won't be able to make me leave your side." He smiles with an odd expression that I can't follow.

With his face now satisfactorily attended to, I had to see where all of this blood was coming from. "Can you sit up?' He nods and struggles as I put my arms around him to help him lean up. I raise his shirt above his head catching my breath as I do. He is gorgeous, with a rippling back of muscles, but I am not here for that now. I notice a large gash on his side with some shoddy stitches.

"How are they looking?" He asks.

"The stitches? Did you do these yourself?" I question.

"I couldn't exactly go to the hospital. Health care coverage for a hacker on the run is seriously lacking." He is cheekier than I expected, I am impressed.

"Well, they are holding, but that scar isn't going to be pretty." I touch his back, trying to get a better look. He shivers.

"I am not the one that has to look at it." He responds and straightened.

I grab some antibiotics that I have stashed over the years and make him take them, then I grab a washcloth and begin to clean the dried blood off of his skin. When I touch him, I feel the warmth run through me. I want desperately to study his face, his body, to explore the feeling of his lips on mine. I can feel his eyes on me and I blush.

"You are incredible, in every possible way." He says quietly.

I shake my head. " I am not. but I do have to clean you up and there is no time for that.

He must be feeling a little better because he runs his finger along my cheek and then pulls me in close for a kiss. It is hard and fast. I expect him to be tentative, but that is not the case.

His lips explore mine briefly and I can feel the tingle all the way to my toes. I feel him grimace and I pull away quickly, "You have to heal, then we can do whatever you want. I am at your mercy." He grins at the reference and then returns to a serious face.

'Well, that is part of the problem," Jake says and hangs his head low, his hand reaches for mine and our fingers intertwine. "I have to leave once you fix me up and I rest for a bit, and when that happens, you have to go with me. You will have to be at my mercy for a while. I can not allow you to leave my side. It has become unsafe for you to be without my protection. After I rest for a bit, we have to leave and we will never be back."

"Call your family and friends to say goodbye, but don't let them know that it is goodbye. I am so sorry that it has to be this way and that we can't have the life that you have dreamed of, but we have to disappear."

I lay his head on my lap and run my fingers through his hair. It doesn't take too long before he has fallen asleep. Phone in hand, I have a lot of goodbyes to make, goodbyes I thought that I would never have to type. I know that when he wakes I will have to destroy the phone and anything that is left that can trace anyone to me. I pack my bag, including the first aid kit, and am ready to leave at the first sign of trouble. I am sad, yes, but something in me is excited about disappearing. I don't want to leave the ones that I love behind, but I can't leave him. If he has to disappear, I will too.