No Time To Bleed

“How’d testing go for you?”

I was wrapped in my towel and had just gotten out of the Lexicon showers. If there was one thing I could absolutely praise Lexicon for, they kept amazing maintenance of their facilities. My hair stuck and clung to my shoulder, sending droplets down my back and into the towel.

Alex had changed hurriedly after his shower and seemed more than willing to speak to me.

“I’m in my towel. Can you wait? “ I made my way down the cement hallway, prepared to go to my room.

“But, you haven’t said a word about since we left out. Not even during dinner.”

I rolled my eyes, happy that he couldn’t see the action. “That’s because I don’t want to talk about it. I have things to think about.”

I made it to my room and closed the door behind me. Cece was still in the common area, chatting it up with Ashley. They seemed to have a lot in common and I was glad she had another friend.

I changed into a pair of dark jeans and white tee shirt that they had provided on my regular old thin mattress. The room itself was bare, nothing but two elevated mattresses and two shelves. It didn’t even have a window, but we were underground after all.

I went back to the door and prepared to go to the common room, maybe have a talk with Ashton since we had about half an hour before the designated bed time. My hand peeled open the door and I jumped back.

“Alex! I thought you left!”

He smiled. “You thought I left? That’s not true.” He was already making his way into the room.

“Did I ask you come in here?” I hissed.

Alex looked around, inspecting the room. “Not really, but I still need to talk to you.”

“Talk to me about what?” My hands rested on my hips.

His ocean blue eyes looked to me. “Why you’ve been so quiet lately? Is there a reason? Did those doctors do something to you?”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Alex. You really don’t. You sort of made that clear earlier today.”

His lips pressed together, a thin line in his own embarrassment. His hand reached for my face now, shivers went down my spine. “But, I do worry. You’re worrying me right now. Things are never good when you’re silent. You’re the most intuitive out of all of us.”

I swallowed and I moved from under his grasp until my back was turned to him.

“Why’d you react like that when Jesse said all those things?” I asked.

I felt him close behind me. “Because I care about you, Jasmine. I’m tired of trying to hide it. I really do care about you.”

I felt his lips run to my neck. “I like the way you lower your head a little whenever you’re thinking about something.”

His hands turned my shoulders around until I faced his eyes. “I like the way you see me, Jasmine. I want you.”

Our faces made their way closer and closer to each other. His hand on the underline of my jaw and mines on his chest.

I was so busily searching inside me for the words, the words I knew I could say if I just have a few more seconds before we kissed.

I want you too, Alex.

But, then figures came to the door, Ashley and Cece.

“Kiss! Kiss!” They both chanted.

Alex and I stepped from each other, faces burning.

“Uh, I’ve gotta go.” He bumped his way past the two of them and off into another area of Level A.

“Oh my God! Alex is hot! I didn’t know you guys were porking each other!”

I covered my ears. “Ew! Gross! Ashley! Ew!”

“Ashley, let me talk to her. I’ll see you in the morning.” Cece said to Ashley then, closed the door.

I hurriedly went to my bed and crawled fully under the covers. “I just wanna die right now.”

Cece’s body shifted a bit of movement on the thin mattress I stayed on. Her hand touched my shoulder through the fabric. “Why? I thought you and Alex liked each other.”

I pulled myself halfway from under the covers. “I do like him and he likes me...”

Cece looked to me again now with her chocolate brown eyes. “Then, what’s the problem?”

I sat up.

“How about the fact that we’ve almost died like 10 times since we’ve met each other? And William is dead? And Shatoya? And Eli?” I already felt the tears coming to my eyes.

Her hand went to mine, rubbing the top of my hand softly. “So, your scared of Alex dying? Is that it?”

“I just don’t wanna get my heartbroken into a million pieces. It’s happened before. That’s why I’m here fighting.”

Cece exhaled. “Well, let me ask you a hard question then.”

“What’s that?” I whispered, using my free hand to play at the slightly itchy sheets.

“What if you don’t kiss Alex? What if he dies and you two never take that chance? What happens then?””

And that was the one question I had no answer for.

“I don’t know.” Was all I managed to say.

Cece stared at me for a long time, before pulling my shoulder in for a long hug and giving me some reassuring words. “It’ll be okay.”

The lights were then turned off and we went to our own beds. I snuggled myself deeper into the thin mattress with no full success. At least they kept the heat on the rooms. After about 20 minutes of fumbling my way in the mattress, I heard pained whimpers.

I raised myself from my sheet, eyes straining in the darkness.

“Cece, are you okay?”

Another pained whimper came next. “I’m fine.”

Cece was crying.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I could barely see the edges of her mattress across the room and the wool blanket above her body quivering.

“I just miss my brother. I miss him; wish he hadn’t died because maybe he’d be here right now.”

I leaned myself back down. “Death’s a part of life I guess. I never knew my mother. She died.”

“Did she look like you?”

I nodded, my eyes up at the black ceiling. “Yeah. People say I look just like her, that I have her eyes, her face, even her hair.”

Cece smiled. “Me and my brother had the same eyes.”

And somehow, we managed to fall asleep and all the dead must have surely been in our dreams.