My Redemption

Chapter 5 - Fragile

All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.

That is how far the world is from where I am.

One. Bad. Day.

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That playful look vanished when we were interrupted with a raucous banging on my door. I held up a finger to him to tell him to wait a minute as I ran to the door to see who could have been threatening its hinges. I unlocked the door and deadbolt but left the chain in place to keep the door from opening fully.

"Mr. Zollner! I wasn't expecting you 'til next week to collect the rent, is everything alright?" I said blocking his small view inside. The man reeked of stale cigarettes and cheap liquor.

"There's blood outside your door and one of my tenants said it came from a roughed-up, unconscious guy you brought up last night! And I don't know what kind of place I'm running here but I won't have fugitives harbored under my roof!" The irate man screamed, spit being projected on certain consonants. The hypocrisy of his words as thick as the liquor reeking from his breath considering he had a drug dealer living right down the hall from her.

"I'm sorry sir, I'll get it cleaned up right away, and he's a patron from last night. He got hurt protecting me actually, but I'll keep the blood from happening again." I told the man trying to placate him, if only slightly. Luckily, it worked, and the man calmed slightly and huffed before saying that it better not before walking away. I closed my door reinserting the deadbolt into its rightful place. I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding before I turned around, but I was only faced with an empty room.

"Jack?" I called out only loud enough to be heard within my apartment while heading towards my bedroom. I walked in the room to see the window open. I walked over to close it until I saw Jack laying on the fire-escape.

"Jack!" I stumbled through my window to help him up.

"Hey Doll, I think you spoke too soon about ripping a stitch." He said with a bit of humor in his voice. I rolled my eyes while letting out a chuckle and I helped him stand up.

"Okay wise guy, lets get you fixed up, again."

I could feel him looking down at me as I directed him back towards my window into my bedroom and to my bathroom. I had him remain standing as he leaned against my sinks ledge and I listed the shirt before he could say a word. He froze again but it was even less noticeable than the time before. I carefully removed the gauze and began to re-stitch the now irritated wound.

"I believe it's my turn to ask a question Doll."

"Go ahead." I say concentrating on the task at hand. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke softly as not to spook me.

"How old was she?" His question unleashing an emotional tidal wave inside me.

"Eight when she was taken, eleven when she died." I say trying to switch my brain to autopilot to keep myself from getting sucked into the tsunami of emotions.

"What's different about me? I mean I barely know you, but I can tell that you don't let people get close to you, let alone touch you. And from that I can assume that you don't rescue damsels in distress often. Why me?" I ask him while I finish his final stitch before looking him in his whiskey-gold eyes to await his answer.

"At first I had no idea. I heard your scream and that cocky, loud mouthed- sonuvabitch, and at first, I was gonna beat him and then maybe kidnap you for ransom to be honest, but...but I walked up to you and looked into your eyes and . When I rescued you the second time it was pure happenstance, I had planned on avoiding you if at all possible. That didn't last long obviously. After I ran into you the second time I figured it was fate and sought you out last night. Then that sonuvabitch got the jump on me. You're special Doll."

"But-" He interrupted me anticipating what I was going to say and I began replacing the gauze.

"Nope, it's my turn for a question. Why haven't you ran? You've had a multitude of opportunities to either run away or get me hauled away, instead you've stayed, stitched me up, hid me and defended me. Why?"

"You're not all you appear to be, and you've saved me twice now, I'm pretty sure it would be pretty rude of me to leave you to get infected from that alley. Besides, I tend to treat people how I would want to be treated, whether it is in my best interest or not. And there's just something different about you, you're special." I answered, quoting him coyly. His golden orbs looked down at me miffed, but humored. We stood there in silence for a moment before he spoke.

"It's getting pretty late in the day now Doll, don't you have to get ready for work?" He spoke softly. Unfortunately, he was right, and I told him so too as I walked into my room to grab a change of clothes. Jack went into my room and took a look at the bare walls before heading towards my stacks of book and vinyl's. I closed the bathroom door behind me before taking the quickest shower of my life and getting ready for work.

My thoughts, no matter how hard I tried, kept drifting towards the strange man in my room. As much as he thinks I am his enigma I can't help but think that he is mine as well. I knew it was incredibly dangerous to get involved with him, but I couldn't help but feel as if we were at least some kind of kindred spirits. I recognized the pain that would occasionally surface behind his eyes when his carefully placed mask would slip. It must have been the same look I would carry on my face after my little sister died. The raw hurt that transformed to being deadened from feeling anything but that inferno of pain.

I wiped the steam from the mirror after I got out of the shower, brushing my teeth and hair as my thoughts continued to wander. As soon as I was decent I walked out of my bathroom to find a pair of socks that I forgot to grab. I stopped dead in my tracks as I heard the old record player playing her song. The soft sound of each chord plucked on the guitar was another stab into my heart. I was frozen in place. Jack didn't even notice me come out at first, but he must have noticed that the water had stopped running because he looked in my direction. As soon as his warm eyes made contact with mine he must have seen that something was wrong and stopped the record player before slowly making his way to me. As if he was scared that moving to fast would spook me into running like a frightened deer.

"Doll?" He whispered as he placed his hands on my upper arms trying to comfort me, but to also keep me from running.

"Th-that was her favorite song." I said with my voice stumbling over the lump in my throat. He nodded with a knowing look in his eyes. Before either him or I could question it he pulled me into his chest. It was brief, just long enough to be comforting and allow me to gather my composure without feeling his eyes on me. When we took a step back, I knew we were both a little surprised that it had happened. I turned around and gathered my bag hanging off the corner of my door along with my leather jacket.

"Feel free to raid the fridge, I'll be back." I said turning around before walking out my bedroom door, and then my apartment. My leather jacket acting not only to keep out the bitter cold air as I made my way to the bar, but as an armor for my fragile emotional state.