Thank you all for the kind reviews. I´m still very amazed about it.
Thank you zoo-baby, you are a such a sweetheart.
Sooooo...shall we begin with Robert? I think, we should.
"JUUDE...", Robert called a second time and came to the conclusion that screaming like that was rather unproductive.
Maybe it was the wrong door after all and to shout the house down because of that was slightly over the top.
Luggage on hand, he covered the short distance to the still open door in a few long steps.
Glancing down on the blood-smeared floor his heart sunk to the pit of his stomach.
He hated the sight of blood. His mind was to overactive for something like that.
Blood belonged into the body; into veins and blood vessels, not on some dirty hotel floor, even if the thing wasn´t THAT dirty at all.
Robert took a very deep breath and with an kick of his sneakers the door flew back with an loud bang against some furnishings that wasn´t his, so what. He would pay for any damage.
He closed his eyes and an sardonic smile crossed his lips.
If only every damage could be so easily repaired like that.
Yeah, as if he had time for some shit like that. He could talk to his shrink about his girlish tendeniesanother time
Right now, he needed to collect himself. He could save the cloying sentimentality for later.
"Jude," Robert called for the third time, now in an moderate hotel floor volume.
Nothing.
Kicking the poor door again, this time with his elbow, his eyes registered the golden number on the
white wood.
It was Jude´s suite and there was blood on the floor. Jesus. Foot-shaped.
Okay. Walking in, Robert thought about the phone call. Jude had talked about missing him and...WHAT? He said something was hurting. His feet? He couldn´t remember right now but given the fact that the carpet was colored with dark red marks...Robert wasn´t that stupid.
Dropping his bag, his eyes scanned the visible space which lay ahead of him.
The bloody trail crossed the hallway and disappeared into a room to his right.
Maybe...?
"Jude...it´s me. Robert.", he hollered while finally storming the suite, looking first into the bedroom with his sweat soaked sheets, cold now but still clammy. Empty.
The breathtaking view over Toronto never registered as he made his way into the living room, then into the kitchen area with the broken glass mug and more bloody footprints.
Jude was not here either but his belongings and his blood on the floor.
Wait, the floor in the kitchen was marked with a right and a left footprint.
´Sherlock Holmes my ass`, thought Robert. Running back into the bedroom he saw that a pair got in but just one single foot left. So the man hurt both of his feet, got one shoe on and then? Left like that? Robert sat down on the rumbled bed sheets and let his head sink.
Jude was in a hurry but why? It was obvious.
He was sick, of course. The man sounded kind of weird. Robert was here because of that.
Maybe he was delirious, running trough the streets of Toronto with just one shoe.
"I need to find him," Robert whispered. "I just need to."
Standing up, Robert left the room, took unconsciously the key card, which lay unnoticed on the little table just outside the room and followed the red trail out of the hallway into the hotel corridor.
Taking his cell phone out of his coat, he called Susan.
~o~
Peaceful! Silent and, and...stunning. Yeah, that was the right description.
Cold, yes, but not to much. Jude welcomed the crispy cold air.
The view was breathtaking and the little white flakes swirling around him completed the surreal feeling.
He could breath again. He was OUT.
Maybe he could stay here forever? It was so nice...and cold and did he mentioned peaceful.
He was so tired and his head hurt but he was HERE. His place. For the first time.
´I´m an idiot`, he thought.
His subconscious told him to move, that it was to cold and wet and that he was already sick but his body was to weak...and the view was SO breathtaking. Still.
Jude thought about his mom and dad, about his children and all the things he considered important and smiled.
And he thought about the one person who ever utterly broke his heart and the smile disappeared.
Suddenly a violent shiver run through his whole frame and he registered that the slight swirl of white flakes changed into the wild bluster of gray hail.
Perfect. The story of his life.
The cold wasn´t so comforting anymore. Now he was freezing and his head still hurt.
Jude tried to get up but his body was not in the mood to react. Cold sweat formed a disgusting shell around his frame and he was sooo tired.
Sinking back into the slowly building mantle of snow he closed is eyes and exhaustion won the game. Before he slipped into total unconsciousness, he was aware of somebody calling his name.
And he smiled again.
TBC...
Sorry...cliffy again. I am evil. But they will met in the next chapter. I swear.
Jen..RL sucks sometimes. Love ya all.