"It's okay ssh i'm here it's okay." Matt kept muttering soothingly as he held a frightened and sobbing Claire in his arms. It had been his fault that she was kidnapped. All of this was his fault. He shouldn't have left her in there on her own. He should have known they would come and find her because she was associated with him now. He knew now he would never leave her side. Well maybe that was too risky but he would make her stay in his apartment for the night at least.
"I was so scared." Claire whispered quietly as her mouth was tucked into the side of his ear. "I've never been more scared in my entire life. I thought..."
"You thought what?" Matt asked her, a calm and reassuring tone still in his voice.
"I thought they were gonna kill me after they gave up on information. To get to you." Claire answered, she was shaking which was out of character for her.
Matt felt so horrible that he gently took her hand and squeezed it. "It's okay Claire. I saved you. No one in this city will come after you again. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
"Promises don't always work out you know?" Claire said a little sarcastically but her voice sounded distant and sad.
"No Claire I mean it." Matt replied and he did. "You can stay at my apartment tonight you'll definitely be safe there."
"Is this how you often ask girls to come over?" Claire asked teasingly and Matt laughed. They both understood that she was joking around so they would feel better. So Claire wouldn't feel so afraid. Matt knew he maybe shouldn't but he tuned into her heartbeat. Her heart was pumping very fast because of how scared she must be but it also sounded so young and angelic and alive. It was strange, ridiculous even, to fall in love with a person's heartbeat but he certainly felt like he was. With each passing second Matt listened carefully to the sound. He tuned out everything else just so that he could hear the peaceful sound of her heart beating.
Maybe he shouldn't have been doing this after all. He would have been much more alert to prevent what happened next.
It all happened in a blur. One minute he was standing there still with Claire in his arms and the next minute he felt a stabbing pain in his side and he let out a cry of agony as he fell to the ground.
"Oh my god..." Claire couldn't believe what had just happened. She knelt down onto the ground next to him as soon as he hit the floor. "Mike are you okay? are you breathing?"
"It's Matthew. My name is Matthew." This was the last thing Matt said to her before he fell unconscious.
"Shit!" Claire exclaimed and she knew she would have to go into full medical mode to make sure he stayed in one piece. The time for being scared was over because she had a job to do. Thank god she was a professional. She didn't know where the guy had came from or where he had now disappeared to but apparently Matt hadn't knocked out all of the Russians. She had handled bullet wounds before so she had a chance.
"Hold on Matt please stay with me." She muttered as she got to work using what skills she could without having to take him to the hospital. Luckily she still had a mini first aid kit in her jacket pocket from another time. She could work with that. Well she hoped so.
Matt suddenly felt awake (well awake as a blind person) and could hear the sound of that familiar heartbeat again. He smiled to himself. He now also couldn't feel the throbbing pain that he had felt previously in his side. He had guessed he had been shot. Stupid Russians. He thought he had taken them all out. He guessed there was one who escaped. He would have to take care of that later.
"Hey." He held the familiar sound of the female voice who owned the heartbeat say. Claire. "How are you feeling? That was pretty rough man."
"Yeah it was." Matt muttered, he tried to lift himself up but his body wasn't able to.
"I wouldn't try to move if I were you. I had to move you here back to your apartment without being noticed after i patched and fixed you up. You are a very heavy guy by the way."
Matt felt a smile creeping up onto his lips. "How did you know where I live?"
"I know a lot of things." Claire said smirking. "I bet you are thankful that i've dealt with these kind of things before otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Matt sighed. "Thanks for saving my life, again."
"No problem." Claire replied. He then felt her body move closer to him. "And thank you for saving mine."
There was suddenly an awkward silence between the two which lasted for a good few minutes. "Claire." Matt said breaking the silence. He couldn't stand it any longer. "There's something I want to-"
Claire stopped him in mid sentence by pressing her lips against his.