Tired of Waiting

Chapter 10

I woke wrapped up in the blanket of the inn's very comfortable bed and stretched out my arms. I lay in the bed and embraced the warm sun shining through the window on my face. After a couple of minutes, I sat up, stretched again, and slipped out of the comfort of my bed. I plodded over to the washroom and rubbed my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror. I jolted in shock as I saw my face was covered in dirt, and my hair was in knots of dirt and who knows what else. I walked out of the washroom and went to my door.

When I opened it, I found a large pitcher of steaming water and a sponge and stared at it in a daze, not entirely sure where it had come from. I shrugged off the confusion, and brought it into my room and closed the door, grateful for the opportunity to clean myself. I found a small bar of soap in the washroom and a hairbrush. I brushed out my messy hair, which took what seemed like hours, and undressed so I could clean myself. I embraced the warm water as it trickled down my back and legs, warming every inch of my body. I scrubbed at my face with the sponge, hoping to remove as much grime as possible.

When I was clean again, I took the remaining water and soap and washed my long, blonde hair. I watched as the pitcher's water turned from crystal clear to a sudsy, grimy brown. I found a towel and wrapped it around my body, walking back into the main room. I grabbed my clothes and shook them out, trying to remove as much dirt as possible. By the time my clothes were somewhat clean, there was a brown spot on the floor from all the dirt.

I slipped my dirty clothes back on, and used the towel to ring out the last drips of water from the tips of my hair. I was feeling rejuvenated and clean once more. I breathed in a deep sigh and pulled a chair up to the window. I opened the window to let in the cool morning breeze and sat cross-legged on the chair, taking in the sunlight.

I was basking in the sun for about five minutes when I heard a soft knock on the door. I got up from the chair and opened the door to a smiling Kristopher.

"You clean up nicely," Kristopher said with a warm smile.

"Thank you," I replied, forcing down my blush. "You don't look too bad yourself." We smiled.

"So," Kristopher started, "What are we going to do now?"

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I had been thinking about this too. I looked up at Kristopher and noticed his hair was starting to get uneven and shaggy, and he was starting to get a bit of a stubble. It was actually pretty attractive.

I shook those types of thoughts out of my head and replied, "Well, I have to stay here with my dad to make sure he's okay, so I will probably find a job or something and live here for a little while at least. I don't honestly know for sure," I tugged at my face in the thought of all the stress of the moment.

Kristopher nodded in agreement and added, "I'll go where you go. Also, I visited Greyson this morning."

I perked up at that last comment. "What? Why didn't you come and get me?"

"Well, I don't know. I wanted to let you sleep because it was still kind of early, and I didn't want you to get all grumpy on me."

I sighed. "So, how is he?"

"Well, the nurses say that he is stable, not losing any blood, and the stitches are staying in, so I'd say pretty okay for just getting shot in the thigh, and nearly dying."

"So you didn't actually talk to him?"

"No, I did, I just can't repeat what he said."

"Oh, come on. He is my father. I lived with him for eight years. I probably won't be surprised at anything he says."