Blood was smearing on to her shirt and jeans as she dragged him out of the elevator, praying to god that no one saw them and alerted the police. She would be fucked then. The man swayed, her grip on his arm almost loosening so she curled her arm around his mid torso and steadied him. It was as if she was walking on a thin rope and the slightest imbalance would have her tumbling down to the pit. Carrying a human who was almost unconscious wasn't as easy as it may sound like, it took a lot of effort and energy and her muscles were protesting in pain, screaming at her to stop but the rush of adrenaline has her taking steps after steps to her room and she gently laid him onto the floor. Her movements were frantic, as she tried to unlock the door.
It was as if she was the murderer and now she was trying to get rid of the body. That's what one would think if they saw her then.
The door clicked and she scrambled back to the man, placed her hands under his armpits and began to drag his limp body inside. She almost passed out when she noticed the smear of blood on the beige marble flooring and she was struck in a dilemma. She didn't know whether to tend to his injuries first or clean the blood.
She continued to drag him and kicked open her bedroom door and then mustered up every last wisp of energy from within her and hauled him to the bed. without taking a breath, she grabbed a couple of her dirty tee shirts laying around and rushed to clean all the evidences of blood and only when the floors were squeaking clean did she took a breath of relief.
Adeline rushed to the bathroom to grab the first Aid kit. Since her previous job demanded to work in risky and dangerous situations, she had a whole professional kit ready at home. Which she rarely used before and was so fucking grateful she kept it.
As she rushed back to the room, she tried not to freak out at the glaringly obvious thought that he needed the hospital, not her.
But it was too late now. It was either she did it or he was going to die and then there was no way she was going to walk out of it unscathed. The police would catch her and she would be behind the bars. Who knows if someone didn't already wiped out the footage by then? What was going to happen to her?
She remembered how her mother used to curse at her that she wasn't going to get far in her life...was this what she was talk it about? Is this the last misfortune waiting to befall her?
Her eyes focused on the man's face. His blonde hair were hanging on his forehead, and his visage was pale.
Adeline grabbed the scissors and cut his bloody shirt off and she held back a shocked gasp. His upper body and torso was cut open in various wounds but it were the light faded scars beneath that had her hands hanging in the air.
"Are you done staring...?" she stiffened when the man lips moved in a hoarse whisper. Adeline almost fell off the bed in fright and then she clenched her jaw in frustration.
"Oh my god! You could have let me know you weren't half dead after all and didn't have to throw your whole fucking ton of a weight on me!"
He's eyes slowly opened, she could see the tiredness in the corner of his eyes but the asshole had the energy to grimace at her.
"I won't die that easily..." and then he was really asleep.
Yeah, thanks to her!
It took an hour or so to tend to his injuries. The stab wound wasn't as deep as she thought and luckily only the muscle took damage and she had to stitch up the cut. But there was a significant amount of blood loss, the reason he was so fatigued and Adeline could only think that he must have been injured for more than an hour before she found him. She cleaned the sticky, crusted blood from his skin with a wash cloth and pulled a warm blanket over him before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.
Adeline leaned her back against the door and clenched her eyes shut; she couldn't believe this really happened today. That she actually saved someone and then brought him to her own home. It felt like a dream. No a nightmare straight out of a novel or a movie!!
She was so mentally and physically exhausted that she needed a drink.
But then she realized she left it out somewhere.
Life really sucked.
.....
When Adeline woke up next day, she has sprawled on the carpeted floor. She remembered falling asleep on the couch last night and then she groaned realizing she must have fallen off in her sleep.
As she rubbed her eyes, she tried not to cringe at the sight of dishevelled clothes covered in dried blood. It mortified her that she could doze off reeking of someone else's blood.
She took off her tee shirt, trying not to hurl and was ready to take off the thin black tank top underneath too when she mentally slapped herself, reminding that she wasn't alone.
Her eyes flickered to the door of bedroom and it was quiet as if there was no one in this house except her.
She needed to fetch fresh clothes and had to check-up on the man too.
Adeline walks to the door and slowly pushed it open. She wasn't expecting what greeted her and she jumped.
The man was fully conscious, his legs hanging off the bed as he struggled to free him of the restraint. His head jerked to her, his eyes taking her in before he sneers.
"About time!" the twinge of hostility in his tone didn't go unnoticed by Adeline and she frowned.
"That won't come off." she raised her brow, indicating at the hand cuff that tied him to the bed post.
"Then take this off. Now." he ordered and Adeline chuckled as she leisurely made her way to the closet and starts rummaging through it without sparing him a glance.
"Stop acting like a bitch and-" he started and she spinned around, bracing her elbow on one of the shelves.
"If you're forgetting, I was the one who saved your ass let night so don't take that tone with me," she barked back as she marched towards him and unlocked the cuffs. He glared at her and massaged the bruised skin.
Last night, Adeline went back to the room and cuffed one of his hands to the bed. It wasn't that she felt threatened by him. Even if he did tried to attack her she could single handedly take him down. Not that she thought he would have had any reason to unless he was as bad as the ones who wanted him dead. The truth was she didn't want him to leave the room and roam around her apartment when she was sleeping. She never brought any unknown men to her place before so it made her uncomfortable. Call it female instinct.
The man tried to get up but it was as if he got a dizzy spell and fell back on the bed.
"You better not get up, young man. Or your wound will open up." Adeline reminded as a matter of fact. He asked for his cell phone later to call someone, Adeline handed it to him. She couldn't wait for him to finally leave and she could pretend that this whole awful day never happened and will go back to living her usual boring life, hunting for jobs if she wanted to feed herself and pay bills.
"What's your name?" she tried to make small talk because she was getting sick of standing around as he scrolled through his phone.
"Oliver." he clipped out curtly, his shoulders were tense and he seemed to be distracted.
It took all in Adeline to smother her urge to smack him in the head and instead looked him over for the first time.
His golden blonde hair were lush and had that healthy shine to them. His blonde lashes fanned over his cheeks. A chiselled jaw, straight nose and full lips. He was like those handsome men with hint of devilish feminine beauty. Only Adeline could detect that distinct aura of arrogance surrounding him, that aristocratic vibe of opulence and if Adeline could imagine a bratty prince from Victorian era, he would be exactly like Oliver. Even his name suited him.