I called the number on the key card. They effortlessly gave me directions. The hotel wasn't too far away. I looked around his rental car only just realizing it was stick shift. "We're going to have to go in my car. I can't drive stick and you're in no condition to drive. My car is just over there. Come on." I reached across the center council hesitantly pulling the keys from the ignition so he wouldn't just drive off the second I closed the door behind me. I got out of the car, but he didn't follow. I walked over to his side of the car and opened his door. He was looking at the steering wheel blankly again. "Come on, Daniel." I crooned. He was motionless. I slowly grabbed his hand and gave it a light tug. Daniel looked up at me, almost dazed. "Please Daniel." I could feel tears of frustration surfacing, the pain of the last few months smashing down on me. He nodded slightly and started following me. I ushered him into the passage side of my car.
My car didn't turn on immediately, but after a few tries it rumbled to life. I looked over at my silent companion. He was staring out the front windshield motionless. After taking note of the mile marker we were at I carefully I pulled back onto the highway. He didn't seem to really notice the change. The directions were easy enough to follow. Fifteen horribly silent minutes later we were arrived at the hotel. At least the rain had slowed to a trickle.
"Which room are you in?" I asked. He, of course, didn't answer. "Daniel, what room are you in?" I asked gently. I wiped away an aggravated tear that had leaked out. "Daniel, you have to help me out here." I tried to hold back my anger, but it came out in my tone. He looked at me with scared eyes and I instantly felt bad. "Which room is yours?" I said quietly while tilting my head slightly.
"212." He mumbled while blushing. I nodded, somewhat put off by his reaction. When I got out of my car he followed me without prompting. I shouldn't have been surprised by the extravagance of the hotel considering what I had seen recently pertaining to this person. When we got to his room he immediately flopped down face first onto the bed. I looked at his nearly motionless form before shaking my head and heading for the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, quickly changing out of my rain drenched clothes and into the spare I had brought in case I decided to stay overnight in Forks.
Daniel… Mr. Halterman… whatever I was supposed to call him, was snoring lightly. I sat on the regal looking armchair in the corner of the room and ran a hand through my still damp hair. What the hell have I gotten myself into? I was not equipped to deal with a suicidal person, let alone one who probably could kill me with little effort. I could maybe, maybe throw a punch if he attacked me, but then it would be game over. I know no self defense yet here I am putting myself into a possibly dangerous position.
A part of me was tempted to just leave, put this whole… predicament behind me and just head back to Arizona and to the near perfect life I had scraped together for myself out of the ashes. But no, that's not how Renee raised me. She raised me to help those in need, to never turn my back on the helpless. Even after she had died I hadn't given up on our tradition of doing volunteer work every Saturday.
"Please just tell me how I can help." I mumbled.
I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep until a loud groaning startled me awake. I rubbed my eyes confused at first as to why I was sitting up. Another groan made me jump slightly. I looked around and my eyes automatically went to the stranger on the bed. He was clutching his head and crying.
"I should have a bullet between my eyes, not a splitting headache." He said and I sighed. I grabbed my backpack and pulled out two low dose painkillers. There was a plastic cup and I filled it with water before handing them both to him. He accepted both without question. He was way too trusting. Of course the same could be said of me, sleeping in the same room with a strange man I didn't know. I went to the door. "Where are you going?" He asked desperately.
"Breakfast." I muttered. "And you better be alive when I get back in here." I glared at him and he looked away from me. I had a feeling that he wouldn't take matters into his own hands again, not while I was around at least. I loaded up two plates from the free continental breakfast the hotel was offering. Speed walking, it was only a three minute round trip. He was exactly where I left him when I got back, clutching his head laying on the bed. I set the plate down on the bed side table. I started munching on a muffin and I instantly felt guilty. I hadn't paid for this food yet I was eating it. I stamped that feeling down. It was just breakfast. A hotel can spare a breakfast. Still, my apatite waned from my guilt.
"Please don't kill yourself." I said meekly after staring at my half full plate for a good ten minutes while he ate.
"Sometimes life is just too much." He said in a monotone as he finished off a second bagel. I felt anger boil up inside of me.
"Are you serious? Do you know how many people would be grateful to be in your position right now, their stomach full and in a warm bed?" I shouted before I could stop myself. He snorted at me, only making me angrier.
"You're just a kid. You don't understand how the real world is." Daniel got up and went to the fully stocked minifridge, pulling out a handful of small bottles. He opened one up and downed it.
"The way I see it is that you're the one acting like a child, sitting around in bed all day, bitching and moaning. What kind of adult does that, of course it doesn't help that I'm babying you!" I stood up and started pacing, pissed off at him and myself for getting into this weird situation. When I looked back over at him he was sitting on the bed, eyes full of tears and he was looking at his folded hands. I sighed and sat beside him. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."
"No it wasn't. I'm being an ass and all you've done is help me. I was so gone last night that I thought you were a freaking angel." He unscrewed another bottle and drank it in two gulps. I picked one up. It was a small bottle of vodka.
"Shit," I whispered, "are you out of your mind? This is a six dollar bottle and it barely holds a shot and a half." He laughed and I realized it was the first time I had actually heard him sound happy.
"Six dollars isn't even a drop in the bucket." Daniel downed another one.
"Stop that." I grabbed the rest of the bottles and put them back in the fridge. He didn't protest. "Drinking isn't going to help the problem."
"Yeah, but it's going to make me feel better for a while. Why don't you leave already so I can finish what I started?" He said suddenly seriously. I tossed the empty bottles into the trash in silence. What the hell was someone supposed to say to that? He rolled his eyes dramatically.
"And you called me the kid." I mumbled. Renee had told me a thousand times that I needed to learn to watch my mouth. Luckily Daniel just chuckled at me and laid back down, quickly falling back asleep.
They're both a bit moody right now... Whatcha think?
