Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 22

With Lee Know gone and the shock wearing off, my brain was beginning to try to process what had just happened. I wasn't handling it well.

If I'd been just 6 inches over, I could have died. My clothes were covered in blood and the tote bag and its contents were, too.

I texted Felix that I wouldn't be able to make dinner and threw the entire bag away. I also stripped and threw my clothes out, too. I didn't want to look at them again.

I walked to the bathroom and got right into the shower to scrub away the germs. The cold water actually helped ground me. It reminded me that I was alive and not hurt. The comfortability of the warm water was worse. It felt like a hug and felt like it was allowing me to cry.

I switched the faucet back to cold. The water washed down my body in a red stream. I looked up, trying to avoid it. I used some of Felix's apple soap and scrubbed it all over.

The cold water and apple smell should have kept me alert but calm. Instead, I felt anxious. I saw the head explode in my mind over and over again. I didn't even know that could happen to a person.

I heard the front door close, and it made me jump so hard that I nearly fell.

"F-Felix?" I called out nervously.

"It's me," he announced, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I washed away the rest of the soap, and I looked down to see that the water was clear now. I shut the faucet off and dried off, wrapping the towel around me.

I could hear Felix rustling around in the other room but then heard him sprint down the hall and throw open the door.

"Han, Han, are you okay?" he asked, his face strained in concern.

I looked at Felix's worried eyes and just shook my head. I let myself feel.

Felix embraced me and rubbed my back. I cried into his shoulder and my brain continued to replay the moment over and over again.

"What happened? Are you hurt? I saw the bloody clothes," he said as he pulled back, examining me.

"I'm not hurt," I sniffled.

"Thank goodness. What happened?" he asked again.

And I did my best to explain while avoiding the details about the alley that Lee Know had asked me to keep secret. I told him how I'd left the house to get dinner. How a guy had intimidated me. How he'd died.

Felix looked horrified as he listened.

I then told him how Lee Know had shown up and helped me get home.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Felix said, hugging me. We stayed like that for a moment while I calmed down.

"How was it with Lee Know?" he asked. I was so grateful he'd asked about that instead of for more details about the incident.