Hired

67

Left with not a lot to do late in the day, I'm glad there's a training room. . I toss my bag at a corner and make my way over to the punching bags.

I start off with a 100 lb Nevatear Bag, pulling on my gloves, where the padding and glove end at the knuckle.  

I bounce on the balls of my feet for a moment, sizing the bag up before I breathe in and punch on the exhale.

I punch repeatedly, not stopping until I am sweating and my heart is racing, I enjoy the thrill of it, it's almost like a hobby now.

I go for about ten minutes, before stepping back letting out a deep breath.  

I glance over my shoulder to see Luis, to be honestly, I have been seeing a lot of him lately but yet again it's not like there's anyone else around here.

"I see you've been training."

"Yeah, it's the only way I keep insane, when I feel like I'm losing my mind, I punch some bags and I'm good as new and in control of my body again."

"I can see that, ."

I go onto round two with the punching bags, after 4 sets of ten minutes, I take a long swing of water and catch my breath before taking a pull at the bars.

I hang from arm's length, hands spread past shoulder width, Luis watches from a distance, I try not to put too much thought into it.

I hold my feet together tightly, every muscle in my body tense as I lift my legs till they're waist-high and I make a perfect 90-degree angle with my body.  

"Need help." Luis jogs over to shove my legs down with every upward movement. I grind my teeth, the difficulty of the workout increasing greatly.  

We do about thirty reps before I gave out to catch my breath, Luis passes me the bottle and I take a long swing of it,

"If I didn't know any better I would say you're keeping an eye on me." I muttered, tossing the bottle aside.

"Maybe I find you fascinating."

"Pffft, please."

"What, is it so hard to believe that I might find you attractive?"

"Luis, I have seen the girls you date, I'm clearly not your type, not even a mile."

His narrowed his brows curiously, "What kind of girls do you think I date?"

"Definitely Girly girls."

"I don't know what that means?"

I sighed, "You know the overly feminine, dresses in pink, wears too much perfume, makeup, and seems to emulate a Barbie doll?"

"Wow, that's a very... detailed description."

"I say it how I see it."

He laughs,

"Seriously, Luis, did Miles put you up to this? I won't be surprised if he asked you to keep a watch on me, he's never trusted me...I just thought you were different."

"I trust you, Eva. I guess I'm just curious,
somethings don't add up, like how you met with Aurora before you got here.."

"Wait, is that what this is about? my meeting with Aurora.

"Again, I'm not suspecting you, I just want to know what you ladies talked about."

"You could have just asked?"

"I didn't want to seem impassive...."

"Anyway, I don't remember... I remember seeing her for a second and then waking up with this awful pain behind my neck, that's all, she must've sedated me somehow."

"You must see how this looks.. "

"No, I don't see anything, I see you are suspecting me." just as I set out to leave, an alarm went off,

Luis hopped and darted out of the door, I ran after him, we ambled into Carlo's room, to find sirens wailing electronically in the room, leaping out from the corners, echoing everywhere.

Overhead, a light began to flash red.

I looked at the heart rate monitor and it's a completely straight line across the screen. The long, monotone 'beep' of the monitor is ringing through my ears.

"What's going on?" I was terrified.

"I don't know, this has never opened before." The alarm sounded like the horn of a juggernaut. Blaring. Unceasing. Crippling my thoughts and assaulting my ears.

"Well, Can you turn it off?" I raised my voice.

Luis wrapped his brain around it for a while and after what felt like hours he did, finally did and everything went silent again.

I ran to Carlos and unveiled the glass, his face was beet red and his skin glistened in a way that had me worried,  I ran my hand on his forehead and gasped.

"Luis, I think something is wrong."  Even under a light cotton sheet, he was radiating heat like a brick right out of the oven, his body taking a turn of violent shakes. "Please, call the doctors."

Luis dashed out of the door immediately,

My hands tremble and my eyes water as I took in his hand, squeezing it as his body took different turns of violent shakes, sometimes it was rough other times it was uneven, and each time I prayed and grew even more terrified.

"Please, please... " I kept repeating, praying.

In my head were carousels of fears spinning out of control, each one threatening my mind into darkness again.

"Please.."

And, just when I thought I had lost all hope, I felt hands clasp mine and then the heavy gasping of air.