I don't know how I ended up sitting on the forest ground, resting against a large tree trunk, but that's what I came to when my thoughts were scattered by an insistent tone at my hip.
I blinked, looking down at my communication device. I pulled it out and read the message.
Get inside. It is getting cold.
I blinked. Had it gotten colder? I realised that my suit had warmed up in response to the cooler surroundings. I touched my hands to my face and realised, yes. It was cold.
I leaned my head back against the trunk and closed my eyes for sometime. I took one deep breath, then another.
I heard a beep once again, but I didn't have it in me to move. I was too comfortable. I was too...
I don't know how much later, but I felt hands on my face. Warm hands. And the most beautiful voice.
"Hills?"
I frowned.
"Open your eyes."
I tried. Failed. I was tired. I was too tired.
I heard some mumbling and hands against the side of my neck. Near my pulse.
A few gentle taps against my face and more insistent commands had me struggling once more to open my eyes.
This time, they opened a smidgen, but they seemed stuck together. Somehow, this didn't even send me into panic. All I remembered thinking was, why wasn't I able to open my eyes?
But it didn't bother me. I could feel my heart, beating sluggishly against my ears. I felt warm breath against my cheek and movement. I think I was being lifted. I couldn't tell.
I fell back into a tired sleep.
I woke with a start when hot water scalded over me. My eyelids came unstuck and my throat cleared and I gulped air into myself.
I coughed a little and winced as feeling finally returned to my limbs. Pins and needles spread everywhere on my body as blood slowly rushed back.
I blinked.
When my vision slowly cleared, I met eyes of coal and fire, burning brightly. Wet lashes. Wet hair.
I blinked again and looked around me. I was in a bathroom I recognised from having used once before. This was Rafe's bathroom. I was also being carried by him. And we were standing under the punishing spray of hot water. I shivered.
Then I looked back up at him. His expression was dark as he looked back down at me. I tried to talk, but my throat was still a little thick, so I cleared my throat. But it didn't help. I coughed again.
I moved my feet, wincing slightly at the pain that shot up my leg at the movement. But I kept moving, out of his arms, onto the floor. Blood rushed to my head and I swayed. I caught onto the wall beside me for support as my vision darkened a little before clearing.
"You need to take off your suit." He said.
I looked up at him.
"Then you need to leave," I said, my voice hoarse. I shifted on my feet, grimacing at the pain it caused.
"I am not leaving."
I looked up at him, "I'm not taking off my suit with you in here."
My voice was still rough, scrapping out of my throat. I coughed a little.
YOU ARE READING
Alienus
RomanceNo one expected that it would happen until it did. Earth was dying. We, the few who survived the disease, were all contained in cells with artificial light and oxygen and food in the form of pills. So when help came in the form of C'Riel, a...