Genevieve had gone around to the side door, and made her way up the stairs a diffrent way, and ran silently to room 17. She knocked on the door, making sure Silas was present in the room.
He opened it and she leaped in as fast as she could to avoid the footsteps they heard coming down the hallway.
"You didn't get caught by anyone?" Silas asked Genevieve.
"No. You?" Silas shook his head. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Genevieve had no where to hide, so Silas motioned her to hide behind the door. She ran and pressed her body against the wall.
"Silas, it's time for mass," Bishop Aringarosa's voice called to him. Silas felt his heart leap into his throat. If the bishop caught Genevieve in his room, he was in deep trouble.
"I-I can't go to mass, Father," Silas said, uneasily.
"What do you mean you can't go?"
"I-I'm still sick."
"I told you to forget about her!"
"I have, but it's my stomach that's hurting now!"
"Do you need some sort of medicine?"
"No, no, I just need to rest. I'll pray in here instead."
There was a pause.
"As you wish," Aringarosa said. With that, Silas heard his footsteps fade away down the hall. He breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Genevieve.
"I can't believe I just lied to him," he confided her, feeling guilty.
"Silas, you couldn't let him see you like this anyway," Genevieve said, walking up to him.
"I know, but I'm not allowed to love you," Silas sighed, "if I'm caught, I'm in so much trouble, you wouldn't believe."
"Then it will be our little secret," Genevieve smiled.
"Yes, but-"
"Don't worry about it, Silas," Genevieve said, sitting him down on the canvas mat, "relax, now."
Genevieve reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchif, and tenderly wiped some of the blood off of Silas' mouth.
"Ouch," Silas said.
"Sorry, but I'm trying to be as gentil as I can," Genevieve smiled, stuffing the bloody handkerchif into her pocket.
"And you're not hurt at all?" Silas asked her.
"Not at all," Genevieve answered, "I'm not sure what to do about your eye and jaw, though... I don't carry an ice pack around with me..."
"I'll just let it heal on it's own," Silas shrugged, although his injury was throbbing.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"If you say so."
Genevieve sighed and looked out the window. "I don't know what I saw in Jean anymore," she sighed, "he's a terrible man, and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for being his girlfriend."
Silas shook his head. "You didn't know his true colours, Genevieve," he said, "you were right to leave him. But you didn't have to run to me."
"But I wanted to run to you," Genevieve said, "you're the man I love, now."
When Genevieve said that, Silas felt warmer than he ever had in his life. This was obviously no joke, she loved him. She said he was her angel, and she doesn't care about how he looks. Sh truly loved him.
Something red near Silas' ankle caught Genevieve's eye. She turned to look at it, and she was shocked to see it was blood!
"Silas! Your ankle is bleeding!" she said, trying to keep her voice low.
Silas' blood ran cold. He had forgotten he was wearing his cilice. "Oh, it's nothing," he lied.
"No, no, your bleeding like the devil," Genevieve reached for her handkerchif again, and moped up some of the blood.
"It's seems like it's trailing from somewhere else," she noted, still cleaning up the stream.
"No! Genevieve!" Silas cried, but it was too late. Genevieve had pushed back the bit of material that covered his cilce, which was a very gruesome sight.
She dropped the cloth and clapped her hands over her mouth. Silas hastened to pull the material back over his thingh, but Genevieve stopped him.
"Sials..." she whispered, "...what happened to...?"
Silas sighed. "It's part of my corpral mortification," he explained, casting his eyes away from Genevieve's, that were brimming with tears.
"Silas... it's too tight..." she choked, "y-you can die from a blood infection if you tie this to tight."
Silas tried to explain. "There's a reason behind this, Genny. My agony reminds me of the pain and suffering Christ endured."
"But-but look at your leg!" Genevieve whispered, trying to calm herself, "you can't even walk properly with this." She thought. "Have you worn it for the asked two hours?"
Suprised at her knowlege of Opus Dei, Silas answered her honestly and said yes.
"Then, take it off, please," Genevieve pleaded, "I can't bear to see you like this."
"It's fine, it doesn't hurt," Silas lied. He had to stop doing that.
"Please, Silas? For me?" Genevieve said as a single tear slipped down her rosy cheek. She clutched his hand, looking sadly into his red eyes.
Silas hesitated. He unbuckled the cilice, wincing in pain as he pulled it off, and placed it near the mat.
Genevieve took the handkerchif and wrapped it around Silas' leg tightly to stop the bleeding.
"Promise me only two hours a day?" she asked him.
"I promise," Silas said. Genevieve leaned in and gave him a tender kiss on his pale lips.
"Thank you," she smiled.
--
Aringarosa was preaching the mass to the other numeraries, upstairs, but he wasn't all that comfortable now. He was so used to having Silas sit in the front row, watching him and listening intently.
The bishop noticed that Silas had been acting really strange since he met Genevieve. He had even been love sick earlier today, which really worried Aringarosa. For ten years, Silas had stayed faithful to his vows, but now they seemed pretty shakey.
Aringarosa had forbidden Silas to see Genevieve, and asked that he pushed her completely from his mind, but at a time like this, it would be awfully hard for him... Aringarosa knew. Before he had become a bishop he fought love sickness, and it wasn't a peice of cake.
He pushed his disturbed thoughts from his mind and continued preaching. He would talk to Silas afterwards.
--
Silas was sitting up against the wall on his mat, holding Genevieve close. She had fallen asleep in his arms while they were sitting and talking.
What an odd day it had been, he thought, staring at the moon out the window. He had been love sick, kissed a woman for the first time in his life, was beaten by a horrible man, lied to Bishop Aringarosa, and now here he was, sitting in a small, little room, on a canvas mat, holding the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms.
Silas felt his eyelids dropping slowly but surely. He was about to close his eyes completely, but there was a knock at the door.
"Silas?" he heard the bishop's voice.
"Uh- j-just a minute, Father!" He called. He lifted Genevieve up with his powerful arms. There was no place to hide her, except for behind the door. He proped her up against the wall, making sure she wouldn't get hit by the door, but to stay out of sight also, and opened the door.
"I see you are feeling better, my son," Aringarosa said.
"Oh yes, I am," Silas said. Aringarosa looked up at Silas and gasped.
"What's wrong, Father?" Silas asked, completely oblivious.
"Wha-What happened to you?" Aringarosa cried.
Silas suddenly remembered his black eye, bruised jaw, and swollen lip. It pained him to lie to the bishop again, but what choice did he have?
"Oh, after my prayers I had fallen asleep," Silas said, "I was having a bad dream and I turned violently, and I hit my head on the wall."
Aringarosa didn't seem to buy it. "Silas, you look as if you've been beaten!" he exclaimed.
Silas sighed. He would tell the bishop half the truth.
"Okay, I was out for a little while today, I wandered into this alley way, and... well..."
"Someone beat you?" Aringarosa asked. Silas nodded.
The bishop sighed. "My poor Silas," he murmured, "come, let's get you some ice for that eye."
Silas didn't want to leave Genevieve, but hopefully she would just stay asleep for the time he was with Aringarosa.
He followed the preist into the abandonned kitchen where he pulled some ice and handed it to Silas.
"Sit down, my son, I need to talk with you," Aringarosa said. Holding the ice to his jaw, Silas nodded and sat down at the table.
"Now look," Aringarosa said, "remember earlier today when you had that longing to see your friend, Genevieve?"
Silas had a feeling he knew what was coming up. He nodded.
"Well," the bishop continued, "forgive me, Silas, but what you felt wasn't longing to see your friend."
Silas pretended to look suprised. "It's not?"
Aringarosa shook his head. "You were love sick."
Silas raised his eyebrows. As much as he knew that, there were still a question he wanted answered. "Love sick? But how?"
"Well, Silas, this is perfectly natural, especially for you, to accidently fall in love," Aringarosa said, "I just told you you were missing your friend because I didn't want you to get any ideas in your head.
Silas felt a wave of guilt hit him.
"You see," Arginarosa said, "I know what you're going through, because I went through it too."
Silas was suprised. It was hard to imagine the bishop ever falling in love. "Really?"
"Yes, it was before I met you, when I was young," the bishop said, "So, I just want you to maintain your vows, okay?"
Silas understood. Aringarosa smiled and sent him back to the room with the ice. He opened the door with caution, trying not to wake Genevieve, but he found her in the same position he left her.
Silas smiled, carried her back to the canvas mat, and fell asleep while he held her in his arms.