New Ways

TWENTY-ONE

Amery

Twenty minutes later Sigrid woke from her unconsciousness. Gerard had helped me carry her and lay her down on my bed after the girl fainted at the sight of her own blood. Using the skills I had learned from a first aid course my parents enrolled me in when I was in middle school, I carefully and successfully treated Sigrid's head wound. Well at least temporarily, I guess.

"Are you okay?" She sat up on my bed and gave me a concerned look.

Her question sort of amused me and I couldn't help but to giggle. "You're asking me that when you're the one with a cracked skull?"

"I have a cracked skull?" Sigrid widened her eyes. "And you didn't send me to the hospital? You really wanted to kill me?"

"You're right about that but lucky for you, you're one tough chick," I held two thumbs up for her and then studied her questioningly. "Tell me, what's your secret? Are you immortal? Vampire, perhaps? But what kind of vampires faint at the sight of blood? Their own, for that matter."

Sigrid ignored my ridiculous teasing and steadied herself up from my bed. Something must have had hurt in her head and she cursed at the pain, before sinking back into the bed.

"You should stay," I said.

"I have a girlfriend."

"She doesn't mind."

"We have school tomorrow."

"We don't. I'll bring you to the hospital."

"I'm fine."

"I'm scared."

That earned me an empathising look from Sigrid. She must have had recalled how afraid I was in the dark and how taken aback I was by the whole commotion by the elevator just now. She leaned in closer to me, our faces now barely an inch away from each other.

I froze and my heartbeat quickened as Sigrid slightly parted her lips.

"Do you have something comfortable that I can wear to sleep then?"

I should have let this girl bleed to her death just now. I rolled my eyes and got up from my bed, returning with a pair of striped shorts and a black tanktop.

After Sigrid changed and came out of the bathroom she settled herself beside me in bed. She took out her phone from her jeans pocket and dialled her mom's number, then Kate's and told them that she was going to spent the night over at my place because there was work that wasn't done yet.

"So," I started as soon as she hung up the phone with Kate. "Your girlfriend lets you sleep with whoever you want but will forbid you from hanging out with me if she finds out what happened just now?"

"Well haven't you heard? Life works in mysterious ways."

"So I've heard."

We both got under the comforter and I turned off the lamp. The room fell silent but I could somehow sense that Sigrid was still awake.

"Sig?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for calming me down when the lights went off. And thank you for hurting your head trying to catch the anonymous intruder too."

I heard Sigrid let out a chuckle before she said, "Thank you for not letting me bleed to my death just now, although the idea was tempting."

A smile formed on my face. How did we come to this? Maybe I will never know. But she did make me feel safe. It was all too familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger to it though, and as I tried recalling where I got this familiar feeling from, I fell asleep.