♒ (for Quin)
Adelaide tossed in her sleep, her hair strewn about the pillows and her blankets in a twisted heap beneath her. There was a storm brewing outside that seemed to match the turmoil she was going through. What sounded like a particularly loud clap of thunder sounded and it woke her with a start. She sat up and glanced out of the window at the trees blowing in the wind outside. The rain fell in heavy sheets against the house as she shook the sleep from her eyes. There was the sound of thunder again, or so she thought. A second loud sound came from downstairs and she realized it was something hitting the front door. She stood up, grabbing her hoodie from the floor next to the bed, pulling it on over her sleep shirt and shorts.
Taking the stairs down two at a time, she stopped at the front door and cracked it only slightly. She inhaled sharply and opened the door all the way, before stepping out in to the rain. As far as her night was supposed to go, it definitely wasn’t supposed to be her waking up to finding Quinton Blake on her front step looking like he stepped out of Fight Club. Her hair plastered to her face from the heavy rain, she helped him inside the house, both of their clothes dripping puddles on to the tile. Not caring about the floor, she pulled him gently by the hand in to the bathroom and set him down on the closed toilet seat before she started pulling things from the medicine cabinet. “What happened Quin? Did you get mugged in an alley or something?” She soaked a rag in alcohol and gently touched his face, trying to make sure she didn’t cause him any more pain.
As she washed the blood from his face, his wounds became more clear. The black eyes, the bloody nose, busted lip, the further she went down, the more intense the bruises became. “Take your shirt off.” She waited as he pulled the shirt up gingerly, bruises seeming to bloom with each inch removed. She grimaced and brushed his shirt aside as she kneeled on the floor in front of him, her fingers gently moving along the bruises as she followed behind with the rag. “Jesus, Quin.” She bit her lip as she resisted the urge to pull him in for a hug, knowing it would probably only cause him more pain.
