what they wouldn't do | DAREDEVIL

chapter seventeen: shifting

      THE TWO WOMEN STOOD in silence for what was probably only a few seconds, but felt like much longer, Sarah with her mouth hanging open and Lauren with the mask gripped tightly in her hand.

     "Lauren. What...what are you doing here?" Sarah asked finally.

     "Greg's dad is in the hospital," Lauren answered slowly, still appearing to be very much shell-shocked by the situation. "He had to catch a flight home tonight. I don't like staying in the apartment by myself. I called you, but...you didn't answer."

     Sarah glanced at her cell phone, which still sat on her dining room table on silent mode, which she had forgotten to switch off after work.

     Lauren was again looking uneasily at the blood on the windowsill, apparently unable to look away. "Is...is that your blood?"

     Sarah looked at the blood and then at her stricken friend before snapping out of her daze. "No! No. It's not mine. I'm fine."

     "Right. I'm guessing it belongs to the guy who just jumped out your bedroom window, then. Which, I might add, is on the fifth floor. Is he insane? He must be painted on sidewalk now."

     Sarah's eyes widened slightly, and before she processed what she was doing, she found herself moving into the bedroom and over to the window. Unlike the one in the living room, this one didn't open onto a fire escape. The window was still open, and she leaned out and looked down, squinting into the dark alley below. There were several other fire escapes and scaffolding nearby. The light from the streetlamps was dim, but she didn't see any black-clad figures lying anywhere below.

     She leaned back in, oddly relieved. She knew Matt wouldn't actually jump out of a window if there was no where for him to jump to, but he had seemed noticeably off his game tonight—she probably should have checked to see if he had another concussion. Sliding the window closed and locking it, she turned around to see that Lauren had trailed her into the room. The other woman lingered in the doorway, still looking stunned by the night's events, although Sarah could see it quickly fading into anger and alarm.

     The situation didn't improve when Lauren's gaze fell across Sarah's desk, which was still littered in broken glass and bloody disinfecting wipes.

     "Oh, good," she said faintly. "More blood. Have you always performed surgery out of your bedroom? What the hell is going on, Sarah?"

     "It's...it's a long story," Sarah said pleadingly.

     "Give me the Cliff Notes version?"

     "Well...it's—we—I mean....um," Sarah stuttered to a stop.

     Lauren stared at her. "Okay, less Cliff Note-y than that. I need more words. Nouns maybe. Or verbs."

     But Sarah felt like she was frozen. She couldn't tell Lauren anything, not without putting her in danger. Especially not with Matt undoubtedly still lurking somewhere nearby, listening. Even if he wasn't, there was no way she could expose Lauren to the dangers of the world she found herself living in these days. But there was no way of brushing this off, giving the same half-answers she'd been giving for almost a year and then changing the subject.

     "I—I know you probably have a lot of questions—"

     "Yes, I have questions!" Lauren exclaimed. "How do you even know him? And since when? Why is he bleeding all over your apartment? Was he pulling his shirt back on when I walked in? What—what the hell is even going in your life right now?"

     Sarah brought her hands to her mouth, shaking her head as she looked at her friend helplessly. "I'm so sorry. I can't tell you. It would put you in danger."