Knight in Sneakers

Chapter 36 'Anything but a Goodbye.'

Entry 30

8th October, 2016.
Saturday
1:03 p.m

Clarke Augustan

I woke up with an excruciating pain in my head. To think that the pain would have reduced after all the treatments yesterday, but the pain only seemed to increase. My right ear was still weak, fortunately I hadn't lost my hearing, but I'll still be hearing things muffled from my right ear for a while until it heals completely. The rest of my body parts were still active and completely fine, except for some bruises here and there.

"You took a hard hit, Hurles." I looked up at Mike as he sauntered in with a glass of water and medicines occupying his hands.

"Stick to 'Hurley' please. Hurles remind me of vomit."

"Hedge told me what happened. Who are you even dealing with?" He asked me softly. I opened my mouth to talk but no words left me. Mike had respected my privacy and had gicen me my space to heal and calm myself before I could tell anyone what happened.

And now, it was finally time for me to tell him what happened.

"Their trackers beat Hedge's. Don't tell Hedge that, he'll feel bad." I replied, my voice still raspy.

"You mean he'll stop helping you in your mission?" I cracked a smile at his words and continued answering his previous question.

"I thought we could hunt down their gun manufacturer-"

"But by the time we arrived, there was absolutely nothing there. Not even the dead bodies you told us about. Just blood and a car which was of no use."

"They're smart too. They have a small symbolised tattoo on their right hand. And they are strong. Overall."

"Hurley, I don't want you on this case anymore." He replied firmly as he sat on the chair beside my bed.

"What do you mean?"

"This is too dangerous-"

"I'm not a kid anymore." I snapped at him.

"Look at how you handled it." He said pointing at the wounds on my face.

"Oh, I was handling it pretty well until you came." I muttered glaring at the wall beside me.

"Yeah, on the ground with a bleeding ear."

"Mike! I could have handled it."

"But you didn't! You aren't ready yet, Hurles."

"Say what you want but I can't just quit my job! Mom didn't raise me to be a quitter."

"Mom didn't raise you at all!" His words were true but it didn't hurt me less. "Oh, Clarke, I didn't mean it that way." His voice instantly turned sympathetic at my crestfallen face.

"I'm sorry mom wasn't there. I'm sorry dad wasn't there either. But I was, and I will be. Watching you bleed on the ground with your eyes closed," He took a deep breath before he continued again, "You don't know how I felt. Just the thought of losing you is enough to get my hands shaking uncontrollably. Watching you grow and taking care of you has been my privilege, it's the only thing I'm proud of. You're the only thing I'm proud of. Please. Please don't take that privilege away from me. I cannot lose you. Not you."

"But Mikey, it's my job-"

"And if it's going to hurt you-"

"It will! But I signed up for it, this is my life. I'm scared too, but hell isn't going to stop me. Neither will you. I'm in this lifestyle as much as you are involved. You have my back, I have yours. What happened to that?"