A Dark Knight

23. Night chat

I could hear a gentle wind blowing outside and my breathing which had returned to normal. I opened my eyes. It was dark. I blinked a few times until my eyes adjusted. All I could see was the ceiling. I tried to sit up, but when I moved, pain erupted from where I had been stabbed and spread through my body. I moaned softly.
“Jade? Are you awake?” a voice whispered from the other side of the room.
“Kelsey?” I murmured.
“I’m here.” I heard quiet footsteps approach me and her face came into view. She had a black eye and her chin had a thin scab running down it. She bit her lip when she looked at me.
“How do I look?” I asked, starting a conversation.
“The main question is how to you feel?” Kelsey smiled slightly. I started laughing at her change of subject but laughing hurt so it turned into a groan which wiped the smile from Kelsey’s face and replaced it with a look of concern.
“I’ve been better.” I replied. “But I’m alive.”
“Just.” Kelsey sighed. “I don't know how you keep surviving these things! First Lord Jay's invasion, then the counter attack and now, this. We thought you were gone. You stopped breathing for a while.”
“I did?”
“Yeah.” she closed her eyes and looked away so I couldn’t see her face. “Everyone was panicking when you stopped responding.” She took a deep breath. “Then when you stopped breathing, everyone gave up. You were practically dead. I-I-” her voice broke. “I thought you were gone.” she turned back to me and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Then all of a sudden, you gasped but you didn’t wake up. You started breathing again. Payton bandaged everything then brought you here. Then he treated my minor injuries and I fell asleep over there.” she pointed at the bed across from me.
“How are you?” I asked her. I could see her purse her lips in the moonlight.
“I don’t know.” she replied. “Physically, I’m fine. But-” her voice drifted off. She didn’t need to finish her sentence though. I knew she was thinking about Emma and Eve. “They just slaughtered them without hesitation.” she shook her head.
I had forgotten that Kelsey had actually seen the murder with her own eyes. I had just seen the result.
“And then we were saved by a stranger who disappeared as quickly as he came!” she exclaimed. “It makes no sense.”
“Maybe Payton would know?” I suggested.
“Yeah.” she nodded. “Maybe. We can ask him in the morning."

"Good idea." I told her. "You should get some sleep."

"Ok." she murmured. "Night Jade."

"Night."