Gone Rogue original not to be finished

Chapter Four

The next time I woke up was hard. The bandages on my shoulder had ripped, and I was in pain from sleeping on the wrong shoulder. Nicholas was still watching cartoons, but at least he was laying down. It was black outside, and I guessed it was around ten at night.

I slid off the couch, and went over to where I had put my guns to make sure they were both still there. Once I had confirmed they were, I grabbed a role of gauze and the first aid kit.

"Dimi?"

"What?" I hissed, turning to see Nicholas sitting up with a blanket around his shoulders.

"Who's Rogue?" he asked, and I froze. Crap.

"C'mon. I'll tell you while I fix my shoulder," I offered as I turned and went into the good-sized bathroom. I pulled my shirt off, and examined the ripped and beat-up bandages on my shoulders. The feeling of Lupa's hands putting those bandages on lingered, then I remembered if she kept up the way she had been acting, she would never talk to me without shooting me a dirty look. But every time something like this happened, it took her a day, maybe a few, but she always came back around.

Peeling the bandages off, I got a good look in the mirror of my shoulder. Red, scabby, and painful. Just touching it made me wince. That must have been one heck of a fall. Even though I had had my jacket and shirt on.

That wasn't just a normal fall. Something else had happened. I wracked my brain for anything that could have hurt my shoulder. Other than when we had been thrown from the car, there was nothing.

"Dimi?"

I remembered Nicholas, and that I had to tell him who Rogue was. Who I was.

"Rogue is a horrible man. A monster. A murderer, a thief, and a fighter. He always fights to the death, and wherever he goes he leaves a wake of death and destruction. No one, men, women, or children, is spared," I explained. It didn't make me feel any emotion. Just numbness at what I had become.

"Oh," Nicholas said quietly. He looked slightly scared. "Are you... Rouge?"

"No." At least not right now. "He just kind of looks like me. Now go try to get some more sleep, okay?" Nicholas nodded and headed back into the living room.

I turned back to look into the mirror. I was too skinny. Too wild-looking. I needed to comb my hair. And take a shower. Closing and locking the door, I pulled off my clothes and stepped into the shower. When I first stepped in, dirt washed off in waves, and as I tried to pull a comb through my hair. Finally, after ripping almost half of my hair out, I could wash it and step out. There was a fluffy white towel on the towel rack, and after I was dry I pulled my pants back on, cursing myself for not grabbing our bag before it was blown up. Then my clothes wouldn't smell like dust and sweat and blood.

Carefully, I put some Neosporin on my shoulder, massaging it in gently. I winced at the touch, but after I took my hand away the pain faded. When I put the bandages on, my hands shook from the pressure, but after I pulled the bandages tighter and groaned quietly, it felt a lot better.

I pulled me sleeveless shirt back on, and went out of the bathroom. The TV was still on, and Nicholas was still awake. He shifted to look at me, then looked back at the TV.

"Because we're probably staying here for a few days, I'm not going to get on you for watching TV this late at night," I started. "But I'm finding something else to watch. Maybe we'll wake up the girls, but who cares." Hey, I was feeling mischievous. As I took the remote from him and turned on a streaming app, I tried to think of something to watch. I browsed through the hotel's account, and found some extremely loud and violent Pirates of the Caribbean movie. At first it was kind of quiet, and boring, but then it got a lot better. Nicholas and I were laughing out loud at Captain Jack Sparrow's antics, and after a little bit Lupa stumbled groggily into the room.

"Hey, if you're going to watch that crap, I'm watching it with you," she grumbled, plopping down beside me on the couch and leaning onto my shoulder. I figured we were good, but just in case, I decided not to say anything.

Amelia ambled in next. " Turn it down, idiots. I'm trying to get some sleep," she complained, and Nicholas snickered. Amelia shot him a dirty look, then glared at me before Lupa spoke up.

"Amelia, we're staying here for at least three more days. You'll have plenty of time to sleep. Right now, we're trying in our own way to cope with the stress of the last few days. Cope however you want, but please, unless you're going to watch the movie, do it in the other room or take a shower."

Amelia huffed and grumpily walked to the bathroom. A few minutes later I could hear the water running. For half an hour Lupa, Nicholas and I watched the movie, then Amelia came out of the bathroom with wet hair and sat down beside Nicholas. "Nicholas, your turn." Lupa announced, and Nicholas wearily got up and took his turn. Another forty-five minutes later, he was out, and the movie was almost over. Lupa left after that, and Nicholas leaned against me. His wet hair was cool to the touch, but soft.

Fifteen minutes later, the movie was over and the twins were asleep. I gently lowered Nicholas down so his head was on a cheap pillow. Amelia twitched and whimpered in her sleep, then settled back down. I smiled and waited for Lupa to come out of the shower. Her hair was slicked down again, and she had a tired smile on her face.

She saw they were asleep, sighed, and walked as lightly as she could into the bedroom. I followed, slowly closing the door to the other room. She was in the bed and snuggled under the fluffy covers when I turned to her.

"You're sleeping on the floor," she hissed, and I sighed again.

"At least give me a blanket," I begged lightheartedly. Lupa smiled and pulled a thin flannel blanket off of the bed, throwing it on the floor on the other side of the bed.

"You know, I'm trying to forgive you."

"I guess every time I do it it gets easier."

"It gets harder, because that's one more father or brother or mother or sister that won't be going back to their family."

"Most of their family's wouldn't give a crap if their son's or daughter's didn't come back. Some of them might even feel relieved. That man - he was a bounty hunter. He probably didn't even have a family. If he did, then he would gladly kill them for a quarter."

Lupa fell silent.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, lying down on the floor.

"You think sorry is going to bring them back to life? Or that sorry is going to make their children feel better when they don't come home?"

"Most of them are such ugly brutes they wouldn't even have a chance with a woman, let alone have children who care about them," I snarled, then went silent. Lupa was silent. We were all silent. Everything was silent. And I liked it like that.