𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 (𝟏𝟖+)

28. AWAKE - ✭DENVER✭

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I try to blink my eyes open slowly as I hear the faint sound off in the distance. My eye lids feel entirely too heavy, like the heaviest fucking thing I've ever lifted in my entire fucking life. After a moment, I'm finally able to get the damn things open. The room is stark white and bright as fuck. It's almost too painful to look around but the moment my eyes land on two particular people my eyes don't hurt at all.

The two of them are sitting on a bench sleeping off to my right. They're on opposite ends of the bench, knees pointing in opposite directions too. They might as well be sitting with their backs toward one another. Great. They're mad at each other.

The two of them are a hell of a lot less bloody than the last time I saw them though. They looked as if they had been practically bathed in blood before, I guess they pretty much had. And Mal, Mal's worried face telling me to stay with her. That completely void-of-emotion facade she always had was completely gone in that moment. If I hadn't been nearly dying at the time I would've told her I appreciated the sentiment.

I blink my eyes over to Luke, still not saying anything. If i'm completely honest, I don't even know if I can talk right now. My throat has never felt so god damn dry in my entire life. He looks calm in his sleep, not so intense. Everything about Luke is always so intense. From the way he carries himself to the look on his face and the clothes he wears, his entire demeanor, screams intense. Tense, I suppose, is the better word for when he's around me these days though.

I think back to the past week, well I think it's the past week. Who knows what fucking day it is anymore? I sure as fuck don't. I have no idea how long I've been in this hospital bed. Anyway, Luke had acted as if he didn't give a single shit about me up until they'd left to go to that god forsaken warehouse. That fucking warehouse. That look he'd given me before they'd left sealed the deal on me going.

I'd stolen a street bike that was left unaccompanied outside of the hotel and I'd followed the two of them. That was an old talent of mine. I used to steal street bikes and strip them for parts with an old mechanic buddy of mine in Boston. The business got hot and that's how I'd ended up moving to New York. Once the police started poking their heads around I was out. I'd left everything I'd known in Boston behind, even the girl I was infatuated with.

I remember when I left her it reminded me of all the times my mother had said I was just like my father. My mother was also another reason I was glad to get out of Boston. She'd blame my bad behavior on him because he was a 'no good criminal'. Apparently, I looked just like him too. Thick black hair and skin that looks sun-kissed without the sun were tell-tale signs of my mixed Latin heritage. Which, according to my mother, was an irritating reminder of the man that abandoned her with me as a child. I've always been a pain in the ass, ever since the day I was born.

Mal had made me think otherwise, even when she'd try to treat me as such. That same sentiment goes toward Luke as well. He's just like Mal in that way. They don't need anyone or anything. They can take care of themselves. They can take handle everything thrown at them. They can take on the world- until they can't. Which is exactly why I'd hopped on that black Yamaha bike and carefully tailed their car. I'd swerved in and out of traffic, trying to keep my distance. I'd parked about a block away but should've known better. Yes, they may have not seen me but someone else had been tailing them and, in turn, tailing me.

The minute I'd gotten off the bike and started making my way toward the large warehouse two vans had parked on either side of the alley. When three men had jumped out of each van I knew I was shit out of luck. I knew I was fucked. I may be able to take them all out in a fight but six men with guns trained on me were a different story. Yes, I may be armed but there's no way I was making it out of this alive if I decided to use it.