Ice in the Desert Chunk 8

A short, sweet little snippet of our Killjoy pair's closeness.

 Jerking upright in the darkness with the other confused kids, I look around in vain through the dark and echoing room to find the source of the screaming. The light flickers on, and there's a girl not too far away from me clutching her nose, hands, face, and mattress soaked in blood. Someone handed her something like a clothing scrap, and she pressed it to her nose, relaxing from the initial shock. It was still too early to be up, so someone called out that the lights would be turned off again in a minute. I looked at the girl with the bloody nose for a few seconds with sympathy, then looked at Ghost to get his approval on my opinion. My own eyes widened when they came to rest on his, staring intently at the girl in an unwavering gaze. He seemed to be in a trance, eyes and face all content and relaxed. However, his body was tense, like he was ready to spring at the slightest wrong movement. It was a little eerie, but then the light flicked off and plunged us all back into darkness.

I hear a shifting from somewhere in the room, and suddenly a great weight lands next to me on the mattress. I grunt a little in discomfort from being shooken up like that, but Ghosts's whisper in my ear makes me lie still. “You haven't slept at all, have you?” he breathes softly, more of a statement then a question. I shake my head, then remember that he can't actually see me.

“Nah. I'm so tired.” I admit, arms and legs leaden with weariness and muscles aching for rest while my eyes continue to snap back open.

“It's your first day off the medicine in a long time. I'm going to have to get more tomorrow.” he says casually. “You're comin' with me this time. We just have to wait 'til the sun is up.” he lays down on the mattress next to me. “I at least will get a little extra sleep before dawn.” he said, barely a weary whisper, and then his breathing deepened and slowed, telling me that he had fallen asleep. I lay back down, listening to the rhythmic breathes of my partner. It's almost a soothing sound, in the sense that it told me that this place was safe since he was here. I roll over onto my side, and, finally, I drifted into a fitful sleep, lulled by the steady metronome of his breath.

Author's Note

Typo check, if I may be so bold as to request.