The Devil's Love

||. Chapter 8: Tête-à-Tête .||

"Angelo," he answered. "I do not expect any repayment, but can I have a word with her when she wakes up? Can I..."

"You can," Annika answered. 

Jiang appeared from his room with a medical kit in his palms. He muttered to his own, taking out some bandages, a pair of pincers and some extra medicines. It would be much easier to heal her wound in the hospital, but the probability of being exposed to threats was too high. He never knew he needed a medical kit at home, not until Ansel returned home with a huge scar on her right thigh. The thought of her returning with wounds made him shivered. She is the tragedy of major, nothing minor.

Jiang settled the medical kit on the table and squinted his eyes while he put on his spectacles. "You don't even know what he was going to ask. What if he asked if he can slaughter us all?" Jiang shrugged. "I thought you were ready to ram a baseball bat into his face, earlier."

"Jiang!!" Annika hushed, embarrassment filling her cheeks as she covered them. "First," she started. "Killers don't ask if they can kill you and second, the bat was for pure protection no harm. What were you going to ask, Angelo?"

Angelo smiled. He did not want to interfere with the conversation between the two friends. It would be rude to. Besides, they reminded him of his long lost friend.

"Can I stay here?" Angelo questioned and added. "I am a little far from home, plus or minus and if you don't mind, do any of you happen to know a room where I can rent? I need a space closer to my workplace."

There had been a few minutes of deafening silence. Someone had to make up their choice about it, but none dare to speak. Annika threw Jiang a serious glance, but the older boy did not whip his head up from the wound. Instead, he worked his way on the wound. Tension was beginning to grow in the space. If it was left that way, the home might explode into pieces for the next second. When they made a decision, they always considered each other convenience by having a thorough discussion, but since Ansel was lost in her own dreams, it felt harder.

Tossing the red pieces of cotton to the sides, Jiang dabbed some Betadine, ready to clean the side of the wounds. He picked up the forceps, preparing himself mentally to remove the bullet. It wasn't a deadly wound, but he needed to be careful. Realizing that Angelo still hadn't got an answer, he sucked in the tensed air before providing an answer.

"I had my guess laid out when you stepped in, Angelo," he started. "You can stay here for the night as gratitude for your help. Actually, I have a room here intended to be rent, but I am going to have to make some discussion with all my housemates, that means including Ansel. Perhaps if you can wait, I can give you an answer tomorrow, when she wakes."

"Of course," Angelo nodded. "Thank you for your hospitality. You can take all your time to decide."

Jiang smiled as he gestured for Annika to have her fair share of rest. It had been a long day for her. In fact, it had been a long day for everyone. The process of healing was a long and dangerous one, but Jiang handled it skillfully. It was a threatening silence. When Annika had left both him and Angelo alone, the living room seemed to have shifted to a colder environment. It was as if winter had decided to drop by for a visit to summer's homeland or perhaps Narnia had decided to shift its lands.

Angelo shifted his feet for the hundredth time. He studied carefully at the mortal removing the bullet attentively. It was a good thing since medics need to be vigilant in their choices. Each time Ansel made a sound, he felt a twitch on his chest. The floating memories of her daring the guy to shoot her never left his mind. Her voice bore no sound of regret that as if death was a joke to her. Brushing his palms nervously, Angelo crossed his legs before cocking his head to the side for a clearer view.