Chapter 2: Encounters

 It was 5:03 in the morning when my eyes flew open. I could sense something was wrong. I quickly realized I was too aware. I rolled over to look at my clock and was greeted by three heart wrenching numbers. 5:03- I was an hour late. I had slept through my alarm and been rudely awoken by Seer's frustrated howls. Seer, as willing to wait on food as any other cat in the world, had worked herself into quite an irritable state and was screeching petulantly in my face. 

     I dashed out of bed with a curse, tossing my rumpled sheets carelessly to the floor. 

     Racing to the container of cat food, I tipped it over and dumped some out. It scattered across the floor but I didn't have the time to care. One task accomplished, I began to jam my unruly hair into a ponytail. 

     "Stupid... not like me... hell!" I furiously cursed as I ran about. 

     An hour. I was an entire hour late. I had NEVER been so much as a second late a day in my life, nonetheless an HOUR late to a job. 

     My exhaustion, which had caused me to miss my alarm, was fortuitous in one regard, at least; I had been so exhausted by the time I arrived home I hadn't even been able to muster the energy to change out of my work uniform. Thanks to that I had one less thing to do this morning. 

     Grabbing my purse and keys, I flew out of the door. I didn't have time to eat or brush my teeth. With fumbling motions I locked the door. The world was moving as if in slow motion around me- I was moving too fast. Everything was going at a different speed, and a collision was ahead. 

     I pelted down the stairs, each step jarring my legs and shaking the stairs. I was moving too fast. 

     I shoved through the apartment buildings front doors and bolted blindly down the street. It was 5:15 and the city was slow, quiet. These precious moments from four to six, when drunks are home or passed out in some alley and workers are not yet risen, are the only times it is so still in the city. Soon enough the cogs of the machine will start turning and the city will roar to life with a droning rumble, as though it had never been to rest. Now, however, is the time when the ever-awaiting beasts of the city- the spiders who await with carefully weaved webs for those inexperienced or stoned enough to fall victim to their traps, and the vampires who suck wallets dry- wake from slumber and freely prowl the streets, searching always for those lone travelers. They creep along slowly as they drift through the shadows of the city. And I was moving too fast. 

     There he was- a man. No, two. One was holding... something? I don't know, I was running blindly. A shout. The hand moved, slowly, decisively, and it was the hand of fate closing in. I couldn't outrun that- nobody can, in the end. Fate has always found home in the uncontrollable jungle of the city. The webs become interweaved and nobody can escape the tangle. I was caught in the web that night. A shot rang out, and the bullet that left the chamber had my name on it. It hit and I felt it all. 

     My skin breaking.

     The pain erupting.

     All too quickly, the blackness blossoming.

     In those last moments it all became clear- the hand, the object. 

     I saw one man lunging at the one who held the arbiter of my fate- a gun. 

     Everything faded.

     I was swimming in it, that black, avoiding the memories that hovered like storm clouds in the back of my subconscious. It was the voices that communicated in urgent whispers that called me to shore. I tried to go to them, but it was like crawling through mud; everything was heavy and pulled me back down. With almost painful effort, I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a white-tiled ceiling that was clear of water stains and knew that I was not in my apartment. 

     "What?" I croaked in a daze, not comprehending what was going on. 

     "Ah, excellent! You're awake," an amiable looking young man with twinkling blue eyes and an luminous smile exclaimed. I saw his nursing scrubs and it suddenly dawned on me that I was at the hospital. 

     "You mean this ISN'T a dream?"

     He laughed merrily, and I found myself smiling in response to the sound despite of myself. "No, no, I assure you that this is QUITE real; besides, I would hope that your mind could conjure a better dream than this."

     I gave a silent nod of agreement, still unsure of what was going on. He seemed to read the confusion in my eyes.

     "Miss Nygerie, what is the last thing that you can remember?"

     I thought back, struggling to recall clearly the events that had led to me sitting in this achingly white room, but the only thing I could dredge up in my muddled state was a recurring image of me locking my door. It wasn't exactly a helpful image. I stared blankly at him.

     "I see. Miss Nygerie-

     A controlled voice, as cool as the month of May, smoothly interrupted him."Nurse Olter, thank you very much for everything that you have done, but don't you think that I had better be the one to explain everything?"

     My nurse, Olter, blanched before quickly recovering.

     "Of course! Let me go grab the doctor while you do that. Before that, though, I think I'll go get a cup of coffee. A long, long cup of coffee," he gave us a meaningful look and, with a little wink, swiftly left. As Olter opened the door the hub-bub of the hospital intruded before slowly slipping away. The door closed, and a tenuous silence once more surrounded me as I was left in the room with the stranger. Slowly, I looked his way.

     I had realized I didn't know him when he had spoken, yet as I looked at him now there was something about him which was strikingly familiar. I studied his face casually, trying to figure out what it was.

     His face was full of contrasts. His dark brown eyes, so saturnine as they studied me, were softened by the sweep of an errant lock of blond hair. His Grecian nose would have once been called aristocratic, and even now made one think "noble". Yet his mouth, quirked just-so at the corners, was deeply sensuous, and his dimpled cheeks gave one the impression that a jackanape hid somewhere behind those coolly distant eyes, as though at any moment he would break into laughter or good-naturedly tease someone. All of this I saw, yet nothing said, "I know this man." I should have been alarmed that I was alone with a stranger, but I was not yet aware enough to be so dramatically guarded.

     Besides, I told myself, there's a whole hospital full of people beyond this room. What can he do?

     Satisfied that I was safe enough, I raised an eyebrow expectantly. 

     "I don't know whether to thank you or call you a truculent fool. Really, either would be in order."

     I blinked in surprise. "Well, whatever I was expecting from this conversation, that wasn't it."

     "A fool, then."

     "How euphonious," I remarked dryly. He couldn't help but smile at that remark, and not for the first time I noticed that he was extraordinarily handsome. He grew quiet, not seeming to know how to continue. 

     "It would be nice if I knew what had happened."

     "Of course. You see..." he paused, his mouth working unpleasantly and his eyebrows drawing together as though he were in anguish, "There was an... altercation, I suppose you could say, between my partner and myself, the details of which don't matter. However, at the height of this little confrontation, shall we say, you came charging at him. He panicked and fired the bullet that had been intended for me at you. Luckily it only grazed you. I was able to grab the gun while he was distracted."

     I gazed at him blankly for a moment, not understanding anything he had said. The story he had spun sounded as though it were from a play! A partner who tries to off his other half in a mad fury, and a girl who comes brazenly rushing in, only to be rescued in turn by a gallant white knight. It was too unreal, especially as I had never been given to false heroics. Those only increased the body count. Still, I struggled to remember it all, and after a few minutes I was rewarded. It was like somebody turned the faucet on and everything came slowly trickling back in. I remembered how I had ran down the street, entirely too unaware of what was going on around me because of my desperation to make it to work. I imagined the fight, slowly escalating until the unstable one felt it necessary to pull out a gun. Maybe he had always intended it to end that way. No matter the intent, he had pulled out the gun. I saw an image in my mind of what I must have looked like in that moment- my legs and arms akimbo, my hair a disaster, my face pinched in concentration, doing what no sane person would ever do- charging down a street at a man with a gun. I must have looked out-of-my-mind bonkers. No wonder he had shot me!

     Suddenly I realized that I was fixating on the things that I could never change and ignoring that which was most important. 

     I gave a loud gasp and sat bolt-upright. "My job!" came the plaintive cry.

     The man beside me started laughing. "You're rather peculiar, did you know? I told you that you were shot and you're concerned about your job."

     Any delight I had felt upon hearing his laugh immediately fled. 

     "Maybe you don't care enough to set the standard at your business, but I have never been late or missed a day of work even once in my life!" I retorted testily, my defenses going up.

     He held up his hands apologetically.

     "Peace! Look, I saw your uniform and deduced you were heading to work when this all happened. I looked up the hotel number and called to explain what happened. You're fine."

     I sank back with a sigh of relief. "You didn't have to do that- thanks.
     "So, exactly how long have I been out?"

     "Going on four hours now."

     I yelped. "Four hours! How have I been unconscious for four hours if I was only grazed by the bullet?"

     "According to the doctor, the shock of being shot caused enough emotional upheaval to induce catalepsy. In layman's terms-

     "I fainted."

     He nodded in acquiescence. "Assuage my curiosity. Have you always been so delicate?"

     "I wouldn't know. I've never been shot before. As for being foolish, well, I'm sorry to shatter any delusions you had of my being a valiant and courageous victor just waiting to swoop in and rescue a gentleman in distress, but I'm afraid I was running to work, not charging at your partner. I was running late, you see."

     "I thought you were never late," he countered with a devilish grin. I tried to look stern but my lips twitched and betrayed me.

     "First time last time. But now its your turn."

     "My turn to what?"

    "To assuage my curiosity. Why is it that you're here, and why did the nurse let you explain what happened?"

     He gave an uncomfortable cough at the question and suddenly became very interested in the tragic decor of the hospital room. 

     "You're suddenly unable to meet my gaze. This should be grand," I purred with a wicked grin. 

     "Right. A-hem. Well you were all alone, you see, and at the time I had- mistakenly- believed, foolish or not, you had been trying to rescue me. Of course, as I just found, I was mistaken. But I deter. Anyways, after all that happened I found the very thought of my leaving you alone somewhat unscrupulous. That would have been intolerable to me, so I told the officers and hospital staff that I was your boyfriend. I did want to be here when you toke to ensure you were alright and say thank you, after all."

     "And tell me that I'm a fool," I jocularly chaffed. 

     He laughed.

     "Yes, and to tell you that you're a fool."

     "I'm touched," I murmured before continuing boldly, "although I do find it odd that I don't even know my boyfriend's name."

     "Of course. I'm Robert Wood."

     "Aislynn Nygerie."

     "Nygerie... that has a Middle Eastern ring to it."

     I suddenly went stony. "Yes, I suppose it does," I responded coolly. 

     "My parents are British. I never did develop a natural accent, but I can imitate one hell of a fake one, ay guv'na?"

     I gave a wan laugh. "That was terrible!"

     His face lit up with a mischievous grin. "Well, I'm glad I tested it on you instead of at my family reunion; that was the original plan, you know."

     Slowly, the smile slid off his face and he grew serious.

     "Aislynn, I was hoping you'd go out to dinner with me. I feel like I owe it to you after all that has happened."

     "The only person who is to blame for what happened is your partner. And perhaps me," I threw in jokingly. 

     "Then as an apology for insulting you earlier," he earnestly persisted.

     "Well..." I hesitated. He grabbed my hand.

     "Please."

     Tingles rushed over me at his touch, and I had an overwhelming urge to say yes. Still, I hesitated. I didn't really know anything about this man, and there was something about this whole situation that made me want to turn tail and run. Still...

     With a rueful smile, I said it. It was the ultimate decider of my fate and the perpetrator of my own destruction. 

     "Yes."

Author's Note

Well, what do you think? ;) Please be constructive! Thanks <3