Crowns and Chains

Chapter Ten: Long Walk

Drake

"Then I will walk with you." I abruptly stop when I heard her.

I stare at her; dumbfounded. 

Is she serious?

I look at her green eyes, a happy smile on her face as she starts happily walking; barefoot.

"What're you doing? Go back to your car now!" I said sternly pointing to her car which was parked twenty meters away. I grab her arm so she doesn't walk off. 

"No, I refuse to drive in a car alone again, for half an hour." She pouts with those lips of hers, which took sheer will not to look at and slide my thumb against. 

"You're not going to walk for three hours barefoot with a scraped knee." 

"I can take it, I have walked barefoot lots of times before when I was a kid, and like you said, it is just a scraped knee. I am not a baby that would cry just for one." She exclaims, slipping out of my grasp and skipping away, swinging her heels around. She was really testing my temper. 

I hate how she managed to turn the tables, but fine, I'll play her game. She'll go back to her car soon enough. 

Looking up to the sky; which was fairly cloudy, I was thankful that it wasn't sunny or else I would've suffered from extreme sunburn once I reach the city. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the long journey with this stubborn and annoying woman that likes pushing my buttons. Sighing then groaning, I started walking again. 

----

I check my watch; thirty minutes had passed without me saying a word through our walk. Stuck Up unfortunately, doesn't do the same. She tried multiple times to spark up a conversation but was just ignored. I was surprised she lasted this long though, walking barefoot on the side of the road, clutching her heels on her hand, for half an hour. She talked a lot, but not once did she complain. 

"Did you plan on walking from the start?" She asks, and was answered by silence. 

"You know, I have never been ignored this much." She says, walking faster in front of me. 

Well someone's getting finally annoyed.

"I like it. It is refreshing." Her tone, genuinely happy. 

Ugh.

She looks back at me with a smile  and I respond with an annoyed sigh.

----

An hour has passed with us walking through the side of the dirt road and she finally gives up and becomes quiet. 

Finally!

"If you're regretting walking, this is your chance to go back now." I state; looking ahead. I gaze at her to my side, waiting for her to just stop walking and tell me she wants to go back.  

She huffs and gives me a determined smile.

"Never." She wasn't budging,  she was just simply walking with that same smile on her face that makes me question if her cheeks ever hurt. 

Dammit.

----

Another hour has passed and I was growing annoyed at the silence. 

Yea, call me a hypocrite, whatever. 

I peer at her from the corner of my eyes and I see her face getting more emotionless by the second. I feel a tinge of worry since I've never seen her without a smile on her face. 

Why would I be worried? It was her choice to walk with me.

Shit, is she going pale?

With that thought I grab her arm abruptly. She gives me a surprised look then gives me a weak smile which triggered a distant memory from me.  

"You're going pale."

"Hmm? No, I feel fine, let's keep walking." She replies weakly, pulling me forwards, her breathing was heavy. She then starts stumbling like a drunk person. That moment I knew something was wrong.

She never uses contractions.

I pull her towards me gently, grabbing both her arms to steady her. I inspect her face and her lips were pale white. I look around for something to sit on and found a rock behind me.

"Sit down." I command and she was about to argue but I gave her a glare. She flops down on the rock and was about to fall backwards but I held her steady.

"Uhm, excuse me for this." I say sheepishly; holding her right hand and forefinger, I pinch her nail to check if her blood flow was normal, it was slightly delayed; nothing fatal. She flinches at the contact but I stay still. I check her pulse, it was extremely fast. 

"You're anemic aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question. "Lay down on the ground, elevate your feet on the rock. We have to get the blood to your head." I say; not waiting for her stubborn denial while pulling out and old shirt from my bag and laying it on the ground for her to lay on. 

Too tired to argue she does what I told her to do, she moves like her body was very heavy, and she flops down on the ground, closing her eyes. She was still breathing heavily, so I try to fan her face with my hands. I look around for help, or anyone with a water supply, but the road was void of people.

"Don't you have a phone with  you?" I ask but she shakes her head softly. 

I could've used my phone but it's in millions of tiny pieces in some dumpster.

"How do you know so much about these stuff?" She asks after a few minutes of silence, her breathing slowly turning back to normal. I look at her state, so weak, but still smiling, and my mind flashes old memories. 

"I was a medical student." I found myself saying. 

"That's impressive. Are you going to continue it?" She questions, leaning on her elbows to get up.

"Don't get up yet." I state softly pushing her shoulder down.

"I will be fine. I need water though." 

Sighing I contemplate my options. One, we could wait for help, but I highly doubt it, since I haven't seen a car in two hours. Two, I could run to the city and get water, but I can't leave her behind alone. Damn, three it is then.  

"Alright, come on." I get down next to her, my back facing her.

"What are you doing" She asks softly. 

"Get on my back, I'll carry you." I say in a neutral tone.

"W-what?