Page 58 of Heartless Heathens

“Are you okay?” I asked so softly I wasn’t sure I even heard myself through the loud bustle of the underground market.

“Can you drive?” he asked Reesa and she nodded, eyes perking up at his question.

He tossed her the keys and placed his hand on the wall for support while he walked on. The three of us made our way back to the steel door we’d entered from just a few hours ago, Corvin wincing and breathing heavily.

In the dark of the tunnel, it took longer to get out than to get in. Corvin seemed unsure of which way we’d come in from and even using the light that shined brightly from his phone it didn’t help how uncertain and uncomfortable he looked.

After we found the exit from the tunnel back into the hideaway hallway we’d entered from, we stepped in through the hole hidden by the painting once more. We stumbled through the tight, dark hallway once more, carefully inching our way towards the front door in direction of the light that seeped through the cracks.

Corvin’s grip on my arm tightened just as the light hit our faces and his breathing became shallow and erratic.

Just like that night.

“Are you alright?” I asked him again, this time making sure I spoke loud enough for him to hear.

“I need to get to the car, fast.” He breathed in and out heavily and Reesa climbed underneath his right arm and I followed suit under his left.

He was giant.

Too big for us to hold up his weight even if we were doing it together.

He was fighting for consciousness and he was struggling to stay lucid.

I could easily see the pain on his face.

It was something I missed the first time it happened, when he held my throat in his hand and squeezed hard enough to make me think I would die.

Reesa unlocked the car and we managed to get him into the back. He sprawled out, sweat dripping down his face and his eyelids fluttering so fast it looked like he might be dreaming.

I thought he was frightening.

Someone to be afraid of.

But now, in this moment, I could see he was more than that. He was also fragile…vulnerable.

Someone who needed to be looked after.

I crawled into the back with him and closed the door.

“What are you doing? Get in the front,” he growled out and Reesa stuck the key in the ignition, starting the car.

“You need help,” I told him, placing my hand over his but he recoiled, pulling it back.

“Get in the front. I don’t want to hurt you.” He spoke through clenched teeth like he was holding back a monster that he couldn’t control.

Maybe he was.

“What do you need?” I asked him, his hand gripped around mine and tightened its hold as he wrestled with his own body for dominance.

“There's an orange bottle in the glovebox,” he said and immediately corrected himself once he witnessed the expression of confusion I wore. “The little door in front of the seat. Open it up.” He pointed in between deep breaths.

I crawled to the front seat next to Reesa and opened up the little door he mentioned, finding the orange bottle with some funny sounding words written on it. I brought it to the back and I shook it next to his ear.

“Is this it?” I asked, trying to twist the bottle cap but finding It wouldn’t open up for me.

“Push down first, get one out please.” His words were becoming more and more labored as he struggled to breathe evenly between them.

With his instructions I was able to get the bottle open and pull out one of the tablets for him before placing it in his mouth. He crushed it in between his teeth, making a strange face as he attempted to swallow it down.