My Shattered Midnight
~ Shard IV ~
"Mai, tea," Naru's voice calls from inside his office and I get up to follow the order as usual.
It's been a week since I fell down the cliff on the previous case and everything is back to normal. Well, sort of. I still don't remember anything that happened right before I fell down, and though I was told that we had a fight, no one will tell me what it was about. They insist I should talk to Naru about it and nothing I do to convince them otherwise works –not even blackmail and bribery.
I limp into the kitchen and fill the kettle with some slight difficulty. My ankle injury is not completely healed as yet and I still ache all over. The bruises that cover my body hurt at even the smallest touch and I still have stitches in my left arm and leg, but that's alright I guess. At least I didn't break any bones, though I'll probably have some nice scars to show off for a few years. I was lucky it was only a small cliff.
The minutes pass and I go through the well learned routine of making Naru's tea before leaving to deliver the steaming cup. I enter the dimly lit office carefully, trying hard not spill any, and approach the neatly organized desk. The half closed blinds cause me to frown slightly as I pick my way around the guest chairs. I really don't understand why he won't open them properly; it can't be good for him.
I place the cup down in front of him and step back, waiting for a thank you that never comes. He doesn't disappoint me as he takes a sip without even glancing up. Same old Naru.
"Did you want something?" he asks, placing the cup back down and turning the page of whatever book it is he's reading. "If not, get back to work. I don't pay you to stand around and stare."
I glare at him. Yep, definitely the same old Naru.
"Just wondering why you're not blind yet," I say offhandedly, waving at the blinds pointedly. He doesn't answer. I roll my eyes at him in annoyance. "You could open the blinds a little bit, some sunlight won't kill you."
"On the contrary," he answers, fixing me with that disinterested look of cockiness he does so well, "melanoma can cause death."
"You hunt ghosts for a living and you're worried about skin cancer?!" I stare at him in disbelief. Its times like these that make me wonder if he was dropped on his head a few too many times as a kid. "You're not sane."
"You know what a melanoma is? I'm impressed," he smirks in response and I fight down the sudden urge to thump him one.
Honestly…one of these days…
"Of course I do, I'm not an idiot," I grit out, glaring at him and his annoying smirk.
"Oh?" he says, looking away again, "only an idiot would run off at midnight and fall down a cliff."
"Is that so?" I snap, turning away and storming out of the room, "I'd have thought the one that let me run off is the idiot!"
"If that's how you feel," he says quietly, his blues watching me sharply.
"If that's how you feel, then leave."
I stop dead in my tracks, my breath catching in my throat. I turn to stare back at him, the fear that had been haunting my dreams ever since my first night in the hospital returning two-fold. I can feel my hands tremble, the door handle rattling under my grasp. I struggle to breath as high pitched shrieks ring through my mind. I can almost feel the cold grasp of unknown hands on my arms. My mind reels as fear and panic takeover.
No, I think desperately, don't say it! I don't want to leave. I stare at him wide eyed, feeling the colour drain from my face as I wait for him to finish.
I don't want them to take me away!
"Mai?" he asks instead, concern lacing his tone. "What is it?"
He's not saying it? I think, confused. I take a steadying breath as relief spreads through my body. It's ok, I tell myself, everything's okay now.
"N-nothing," I say quickly, turning away from his nerve-racking stare.
"Mai?" he stands up and starts to walk over, a frown marring his immaculate face.
"I'm fine!" I snap, feeling panicked as he closes in. I don't want to explain. I don't want to have to tell him about the nightmares.
"No, you're not," he says stopping a foot or so away. "What's wrong?"
"I said I'm fine," I say firmly, giving him my most stubborn of glares as I struggle to regain my composure.
"Mai," he says warningly.
"Just drop it," I snap, "you don't need to stick your nose into every little thing!"
"If you're still unfit for work then-"
"I'm perfectly fine!" I say loudly, cutting him off. "I don't need to go home. I will be in for work tomorrow and you're not going to stop me."
"You should still be resting," he says carefully, wary of my sudden change of mood.
"If you want to get rid of me so much," I say angrily, losing my head as those words flit through my mind once again. "Then you should have left me at the bottom of the cliff!"
I grasp the door handle tightly and wrench the door open, ignorant to the widening of his eyes at my words, or the slight paling of his face. I don't look back as I stamp from the room, slamming the door behind me and storm across to my desk, ignoring the curious glance of my co-worker. I sit down with a huff and proceed to glare at the door in irritation.
Naru didn't say a thing in response to my words.
I bang my head on the desk, ignoring the loud thud the impact made, irritated at myself more than anything else.
You're an idiot, Mai…
Author's Note:
Sorry for spamming! I posted the wrong one up by accident. =_="
Ok, so here's another chappie, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll probably have another one out by Christmas, but just in case I don't...
Merry Christmas and Happy New year! And Happy Holidays to anyone who celebrates something else. XD
I hope you all have a great time. Don't over do it and get yourself sick, though. XD
Thank you, once again, to all the wonderful reviews, faves and alerts. You brighten my day, you really do.
-Jac
P.S After all the double checking I did, I still didn't pick up on the tense mix up there at the end. =_= Well, it's fixed now, so no problem. But still, that makes me feel a tad depressed. T_T