Perfume

Chapter Twenty-Four

I was taking the risk. I was taking the risk of love. And I hoped it would be worth it.

     I slept soundlessly that night, thanks to Linden and the drugs the nurses injected into me. I ate all my breakfast in the morning and that seemed to please them.

     They didn't know what would happen.

     I waited all morning...my heart beating...waiting for it...and finally, it happened around noon. I was laying down, waiting for it...and I heard the thud of two bodies hitting the floor, and then the door flew open.

     It was Linden, of course. My hero. My superman. Because I didn't care what he said. He was my superman. In his hands he held a bottle of perfume. The one that made people sleep. He had found it. Thank God. He had found it. And on his back was a backpack. Red and filled with the stuff I had asked him to get. 

     He rushed to me, the keys he had taken from the guards in his hand. He unlocked each handcuff and kissed my wrists lightly. He helped me off and helped me take off the robe and dress into the clothes he had brought me. He blushed as he saw me naked and I found that adorable. And before we set off running, he kissed me on the lips. Hard. And it woke up. It woke up every single sense in me, every nerve became alive and I gave myself to him. The kiss was short but it felt so long. So passionate. An awakening. A risk.

     We parted and set off running, jumping over the sleeping guards and setting down the hall. Running, our arms pumping. Deep in my bones I felt the rush the risk I was taking had caused. And I embraced it. Because to risk was to acknowledge the fact that one might get hurt, that one mught suffer. But if one didn't risk, one didn't live. Because the worst thing to do was not to risk...not to risk for love.

     I risked my heart. My life. For Linden. For love.

     Alarms went off but we continued running. My legs did not burn once. So much adrenaline ran through my body that pain did not matter. I heard foot steps behind us, but I did not turn. They were heavy foot steps and they were no doubt chasing after us. 

     A ceiling-to-wall window began to become visible. Linden took my hand as we continued on. We stopped before it, my heart pounding and my body sweating. I took his hand and a deep breath. A risk. I was risking everything for the boy I loved. I might get hurt, it might not work. But it was a risk I was willing to take.

     I took a step back and kicked the wall once, and twice, and three times, until it shattered, the glass falling everywhere. At once Linden took my hand and we jumped. 

     It was night and the wind ran through my hair as we fell. Our hands squeezed the other. My heart beat like a drum. It was such a high. Adrenaline rushed as I fell, the ground coming closer and closer, until finally we landed. I landed on the balls of my feet, while Linden tripped a litlte bit. But he was all right.

     He took squeezed my hand and we ran, the alarms sounding before us. We were by the parking lot. And there, next to a white van, was a red motorcycle, the portfolio I had asked him to get and a white sack next to it. 

     "What's that?" I asked.

     He laughed. "Our ride."

     "And in the sack?"

     "Money. Clara was glad to help us out."

     "Clara, of course."

     Clara was supporting me in this. My sister. My second mother. I wouldn't let her down. I promised myself I wouldn't. I would take this oppurtinity. I would make it work.

     Linden handed me the bags as he climbed into the motorcycle. I shoved the money into the backpack and put it on. I began to take out each journal out of the portfolio and stuffed it into the backpack. I hoped they would all fit. I prayed for it. I couldn't leave any behind. I had to take them all to Arizona. To Jared, to the others. 

     I sighed as I put the last journal in and zipped the backpack. Linden was already on the bike. He reeved it as put on the backpack and climbed on the back of the motorcycle. I wrapped my hands around his stomach and let out a breath. "Can you drive this?"

     "We're about to find out."

     He reeved it again and hit the metal. We began to move at a fast speed. In no time we were riding out of the parking lot and into the streets of the city. Cars drove around us and Linden broke every single traffic rule. The alarms on the hospital disappeared. It became a distant memory. 

It was dark and we were on the freeway. We had left the city long ago. I held on to Linden, I set my head on his back and I took a deep breath, his sweat, his cologne, all wafting into my nostrils, his perfume making me smile.

     "God, I love you, Linden," I said. He had slowed down the speed as soon as we had passed city limits. He was now driving calmly. 

     "I love you too, baby," he said. "And those things you said on the letter...right back at you. I love you with all my heart. You changed me too, Bella. You fixed me and you made me whole. And I am never going to let you go. Never. Forever, you and I."

     My parents' faces came up on my mind and I knew they would be proud. I hadn't avenged their death completely, but that would come soon. Real soon. But for now, all that mattered were Linden and I. I would let him tell me when I was wrong...I wanted him to tell me I was wrong...I wanted him to tell me slow down...I wanted him to keep me on the ground like he did. I wanted him to do it all with love. I would be there for him and he for me. 

     I leaned on Linden's shoulder as he sped up a little bit, kissing his shoulder, letting my love pour on him. 

      As we rode away the city, to a new city, to a new beginning, I told myself one more time that I was ready to take this risk. The risk of love, the risk getting hurt, the risk of Linden. I was going to love him. I was going to risk it all for him. I was going to live, free, finally.

     I was going to love Linden like no one else had ever loved a human being. 

     "I love you," I said.

     "Me too," he said. "With all my heart. Every single part of you. Your perfume. I love it all."

     I smiled against his shoulder. 

     And so we rode on.