LIGHTS

Once again she awoke in a place that she didn’t recognize. She wondered if the pattern was turning into some sort of nasty habit. She wasn’t sure what to feel when she saw Noah hovering over her, looking as if he had seen a ghost. He started patting some ice on her forehead when she winced and told him to stop.
“Too much excitement lately, eh?” he asked.
“Too much…”she muttered. He laid next to her and stared at the ceiling. He turned and looked tenderly looked at her face.
“Are you alright?” he sincerely asked.
“I don’t really know. Almost getting run over and shot, apart from other things, is a little much for someone to take in…”
“I get it. I’m sorry I took part in making your life so miserable” he chuckled, until he realized his joke wasn’t funny at all.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, turning to him.
“Yeah, shoot.”
“You said that next time I was caught in a snare, you wouldn’t help me out. Why did you?”
“It’s hard to explain. I’d rather you figure out.”
“But… I don’t want to figure out. Can you please tell me?”
“Nah. You’ll have more fun figuring out.”
“Fun as in amusement park type fun or fun as in almost getting killed fun?”
“Ha ha funny. You’ll figure out.” She turned away from him and stared at the ceiling. He stared at her for a minute and silently wished for a kiss. He felt a burning feeling crawl down his throat. Water swelled in the corner of his eyes and his hands got cold and shaky.
“What now?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What am I doing here in the first place?”
“I will explain later… but first, answer my question” he said.
“Okay…”
“Why were you at Plachard’s house? Why did you leave your house for three days?”
“I needed to get out. I just needed to leave. I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“Handle what?”
“Everything!”
“What is everything? You have a perfectly fine life. Food on your table, a roof over your head and a family.”
“If you think I have a fine life then maybe I should leave” she said, getting up from his bed.
“Wait, don’t leave.”
“Why?”
“Because… because if you want to leave, I want to go with you.”
“Again with the stalker-ness. You barely know me! And whatever you do know is from your girlfriend” she snapped.
“Girlfriend? What?”
“You’re always with Atlantis. She’s my best friend and YOU spend more time with her than I have in a decade!”
“Wait, wait, Juliana, she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Whatever. I’m old enough to take care of myself so if you’d allow me to, I’d like to leave.” She walked away from him and almost through the door. He stood up quickly and detained her. Then he whispered to her.
“Remember the last time you ran out the door? You got into trouble. And the time before that, at Plachard’s house? Oh and you got into all of this when you ran out the door of your home. Maybe you should stop running.”
“I do as I please” she whispered back.
“Then do as you please. THIS time I won’t have your back.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes really.”