Next to Me

Chapter One: Rude Awakenings

Stepping into her apartment after her long shift at hospital Universitario de la princesa, Charlotte Perez yawned as she set down her bag and keys by her front door; she closed the door behind her as she smiled to herself knowing that for the next twenty-four hours she didn't have any worries.

The blonde walked into her living room and headed for her kitchen as she thought about what she could have to eat before she went to bed; it might have only been eight in the evening but after an eighteen hour shift, she wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Charlotte looked at through her fridge and she thought about the idea of just ordering out before her house phone rang, she sighed as she reached for the phone and pressed it to her ear.

"Hola," Charlotte said as she closed her fridge after pulling out a meal for one, she frowned at the meal before she rolled her blue eyes as she realised that her mother was calling her; ever since her brother had disappeared two years ago, her parents had become completely overprotective.

"Yes madre I am eating well," Charlotte said annoyed as she brushed some hair from her face as she moved to stick the ready meal of chicken curry with rice; she rolled stabbed the meal with a fork before she stuck it in the microwave.

Leaning against the counter, Charlotte listened to her mother rambling about her day at work; her parents were also in the medical profession, her father was a chief of medicine at Hospital de Madrid and her mother was a midwife at Hospital de Paz.

"No madre... I haven't seen or heard from Chase," Charlotte said as she wondered why her mother was so interested in her ex-boyfriend; she knew that her mother had liked Chase but things had just not worked out between them and she doubted they ever would.

***

Charlotte jumped awake as there was a crash outside of her apartment, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up confused about what had caused the noise; carefully climbing out of bed dressed in her coral cami top and shorts, Charlotte reached for her navy peche long robe.

The blonde pulled on her robe as she walked out of her double bedroom and headed for her front door which was just hallway; Charlotte paused for a moment as she listened closely, she could hear something going on outside and she couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

Carefully opening the door, the blonde peeked outside before she squeaked in surprise as she spotted a man laying bloody outside of her apartment; he was holding a gun and seemed to be unconscious as she stepped out into the dark hallway making her wonder what was going on.

Charlotte cautiously approached him wondering how he had gotten to her floor like this and she knew that he couldn't be alone; the blonde froze as the man quickly turned to point the gun at her making her close her blue eyes before she heard the gun fire.

Charlotte stood frozen until she heard a thud behind her, the blonde turned around to see a dead man lying on the floor holding a bloody weapon that she didn't recognise; she stared at him shocked until she heard a groan behind her from the man that had clearly just saved her life.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Charlotte moved over to the man that as now laying on the floor, she could see that he had been shot in his side and was covered in blood that she knew wasn't his own.

"Senor?" the blonde asked as she looked around as if expecting someone to jump out and murder her, she gently knelt down on the floor and started to check the man over before she bit her lip knowing that she had to move him.

Charlotte huffed as she reminded herself that she was only doing this because he had saved her life, she swallowed as she looked back at the man that lay dead across the hallway; she was suddenly glad that no one lived in the apartment across from her so she could think of a way to tidy this mess up.

Turning her attention back to the injured man, she sighed before she started to move the unconscious man into her apartment, she knew that she was probably going to end up in a lot of trouble for doing this but he had saved her life and she owed him in some small way.

***

Setting the man up in her spare room, Charlotte huffed as she stared at him for a moment before she headed for her bathroom which was next to her spare room to find her first aid kit; she made sure to pick up a towel as she collected what she needed to clean the wound and dress it.

Stepping back into her spare room, Charlotte swallowed as she stared at the unconscious man; there was no denying that he was handsome even if he was splattered with blood, Charlotte tried to ignore that fact as she carefully set about removing his shirt.

Her blue eyes flickered over his tattoo covered body; she resisted the urge to trace them with her fingers as she moved to take off his jeans and shoes since they were covered in blood leaving him only in his boxers.

Charlotte was quick to get to work in cleaning out the wound and making sure to sew it closed as she worked silently; she had so many questions and she wasn't sure what to do about the bloody mess outside of her apartment, she knew that it would turn a lot of unwanted attention to her if anyone saw the mess.

"You so better be worth the trouble," Charlotte muttered as she finished her work and placed a plaster over the injury, she knew that until he was awake it would be best to wait to see if he was injured even more; the blonde collected his clothes and searched the pockets before she set his mobile on the bedside time.

Charlotte padded into the kitchen and removed her robe which was covered in blood, she wrinkled her nose as she stuff the clothes into her machine and turned it on; she took a couple of deep breathes as she quickly hurried to back lock her door before she moved to cover her guest up with a blanket.

Charlotte used that time to look him over, his brown hair was in a short style and was a little mattered like the man had ran his fingers through it several times; he had a young looking face which was covered in a slight scruff.

Shaking her head, Charlotte headed back to her bedroom knowing that she would have to be up early in the morning to check on her guest; she closed the spare room door missing the odd flash of green light that came from the phone every few seconds as if he had been messaged.

The blonde yawned tiredly as she padded into her room, she carefully climbed back into bed as she tried to forget what had happened; she needed her sleep since otherwise her next shift at the hospital would kill her.

Charlotte pulled the covers up to her head as she tried to get comfy and warm again, there was no denying that it was going to take her a little while to fall asleep as the blonde thought about the strange man that lay next door.