Unmasked

Chapter 12

Silence Speaks Loud

67 hours 22 minutes.

Evey was jolted awake by who-knows-what. She couldn't remember if she had heard a sound or if it was just her imagination. Biting her lip she glanced at V who was in much the same state he had been in for the last... however long it had been. Three days? Four? Evey had spent her time organizing and reorganizing the medical supplies. Checking and rechecking his bandages, his breathing. She knew she didn't need to as he was healing at an incredible rate. Even she knew that bullet wounds shouldn't begin to close that quickly, and yet still he hadn't woken up.

Evey's stomach roared for the billionth time, reminding her that all she had eaten for the past three days were her own fingernails.

Checking V one last time she decided it was time to get up. She told herself that it was only to be sure it was safe. She had no idea what had happened in the days following this Revolution. She had to keep V safe. That was her top priority. Everything else was secondary.

She pulled the shirt a little tighter around herself, inhaling the scent of him. It seems to block out even the scent of blood that still clung to the air around the bed. Evey's legs were shaking after so many days of disuse and lack of nutrition and it took her a moment to get her bearings before she was able to make it to the door and out into the hallway. When she had closed the door behind her she just stood there in the hall for a moment. She thought she may collapse into a fit of sobs all over again, but she just stared for a moment before continuing down the hallway to the main area of the Shadow Gallery.

Motion activated lights began to flicker on which was a good sign that no one else had been through there for quite a while. When lights flicker to life in the kitchen and Evey had to cover her mouth to trap in another sob.

The sight of all his things, of his kitchen and his DVD collection and his jukebox and his ugly aprons. It sent a new wave of lost cascading over her. This would be her life if he never woke up again. She had been able to keep the thoughts at bay since that first night, but finally, she had to face them. Evey felt a wave of anger towards V. He had left all of this to her knowing full well that he didn't intend to continue his life and now he had a second chance and he was stubbornly refusing to come back to her. The cruel irony of it all made her want to laugh or scream or break something.

Instead, she simply watched the Jukebox and started flipping through songs. She didn't touch any of the buttons. She had no intention of filling this hall with music while V was still lying unresponsive in a bed. But standing here where he stood, staring at the music collection she knew he loved made her feel closer to him than she had felt in the last three days. So she stood as she silently wept alone in her quiet underground prison.