The Darkness Of Healing // Ruel // English

Chapter 60

At this time I would have expected the hallway between the rooms of the hotel to be completely empty, but strangely enough that is not the case. Even at midnight there are people who blossom completely.

"Mom thinks I'm too bouncy," the little boy of about eight tells me. He runs up and down the hallway, rolls on the floor, then zigzags down the hallway again while I wait for the machine to fill two cups with hot water. I prefer not to use the kettle in the hotel room, I don't really need to know what is put in it other than water.

Yasmine: "Would you like a drink too?" I offer when he stops behind me and looks at me admiringly.

He shakes his head wildly.
"Mom says I can't take anything from strangers."

Yasmine: "That's a good lesson." I give him a smile and return to the cups that have filled up. I tear open the package of tea bag and submerge it in the water. I get a little lost in the brown color that spreads through the transparent liquid.

I enjoy the nights that don't feel like enemies. I know there's one lurking around the corner, but I'm okay with that. I know it will attack in the next two hours.

Evenings feel cozier, they are pleasantly lonely when everyone is already asleep. It is controversial to say, but evenings take away sharpness, although it is precisely then that everything comes in harder. And just then everything flows so much stronger through my veins. The voices are louder because there is no one to shout them up for me. But every now and then I seek that comfort in vulnerability and let it wash over me, because sometimes there are evenings that only feel like an embrace. Which give me a break to recover from everything that is happening around me. It's such a night now. Quiet. If I didn't know better I'd almost say carefree.

"Okay, can I have that one?" The boy asks, nervously moving up and down on his feet. With the hand that he has taken from behind his back, he points upwards on the narrow shelf.

Yasmine: "The cookie?" I reach for the shelf, take one out of the jar and hand it to the boy. "Don't tell mom."

He puts a finger to his lips, soothes and has the biggest grin on his face I haven't seen in ages. The energy that is in his feet can be seen in his eyes, they stand large on his face.

With a chuckle, he rips open the package and begins to nibble on the cookie. He doesn't have to say thank you, I can tell by his body language. By the way he looks at the cookie like he is in love.

I take the two cups of tea and head back to the hotel room where Ruel was busy connecting his PlayStation to the TV to play FIFA. Carefully, without spilling, I try to open the door. I quickly notice that the door was still ajar and I can push it open with my foot.

Yasmine: "Did you succeed?" I ask Ruel who has laid down on the bed. "I have tea here."

Ruel: "Oh, are we going to have a tea party?" Energetic, he sits up, turning slightly on his side and the controller slides off his stomach and lands on the sheets.

Yasmine: "I still have cookies from the airport if you want." I put the cups on the bedside table and then walk back to my bag where they were.

Ruel: "When did you get it?" There is such a thick layer of confusion about his words that it seems impossible that I ever got them.

Yasmine: "Oh when you had already run ahead and continued on your own." My shoulders jerk slightly towards my ears, my back is turned to him. "They were biscuits with a layer of caramel and chocolate on top, so I don't know if it has melted already."

An innocent smile rolls over his lips.
Ruel: "It doesn't matter."

I quickly jerk my head towards the door when someone knocks.