The Soldier's Angel - Preview

Chapter Five

Camille woke up slowly the next morning. Stretching, she opened her eyes and was momentarily confused about where she was. The last thing she remembered was watching the stars out on her balcony, but she was on her couch, tucked into the blankets. While she was trying to figure that out, her stomach growled. She pressed a hand to it and sighed. "Looks like I made that batch a little strong." She murmured. She was diagnosed with severe insomnia a few years ago, and nothing worked for it. Her doctor prescribed marijuana to her a few months prior, and while she couldn't for the life of her smoke it, she found making it into cookies helped. The batches of cookies generally lasted her two to three months if she kept them frozen. She only used them if she went too long without sleep. Her stomach growled again, and with a low groan, she stood up and headed to the kitchen to make herself an everything bagel with cream cheese.

After eating her breakfast, she wandered out onto the balcony with a cup of green tea to clear her head, which felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, a side effect of both the edibles and the fact that she had cried so much and so hard before going to sleep. As she plopped herself down in the chair, she noticed Lucas was standing over on his balcony watching her with a slight smile on his face. He moved over, leaning on the railing closest to hers, and raised his mug in greeting. "Good morning."

Camille smiled brightly, extremely pleased to see him. "Good morning, yourself."

"How did you sleep?" He asked. There was something in his tone of voice that told her he'd heard her crying. The walls were thin, and she was accustomed to all the noise her neighbours made, but they were all pretty respectful about being as unobtrusive as possible with each other.

"So well I slept-walked to the couch." She said, laughing lightly, trying to make a joke out of her conclusion about what had happened the previous night.

"Ahh, actually, no, you didn't," he looked down and shifted slightly, a faintly guilty expression on his face. "I brought you in."

"What?" Camille sat up in shock and looked at him in confusion. "How did you...?" She shook her head, unable to figure it out. She had locked the door and put the chain on it so Denis couldn't come back in, so she had no idea how Lucas was able to get into the apartment. "What?"

"I, uh, came out last night to get some air, and you were asleep in the chair. I couldn't wake you and didn't want to leave you out to be eaten by bugs, so I brought you in on the couch. Do you always sleep so soundly?" He tilted his head, and the smile he gave her was teasing.

"I ate an edible, and I might have made this batch a little strong." She explained, then realizing she had just given away to him that she used weed, and quickly followed up with a question. "How did you get over here?"

"Jumped." He replied calmly. "Edible?"

"Seriously? That's like, what? Six feet?" She stood up and came to the railing, looking down. He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow, and she sighed; he wasn't gonna let it go. "Yeah, edible. I have severe insomnia, and my doctor prescribed marijuana, so I make and occasionally eat edibles to help me get some sleep when I go too long without it. But coming back to the balcony jumping... How?

He smirked and leaned on the railing facing her. "Super soldier." He was clearly teasing, but Camille thought it might actually be the case; there were at least six feet between the balconies, and they were on the fourth floor, so missing would have him dropping forty feet to the street below.

"Uh-huh, sure." She shook her head in disbelief and smiled at him. "Well, thanks, I guess, for taking me in so I didn't get eaten."

"You scared me. I couldn't wake you at all. You didn't move or respond." He frowned as he remembered the wave of fear that had washed over him. "Even checked for a pulse and on your breathing before I moved you. I was afraid you had done something to yourself for a moment."