All night

Valerie

A couple of times, I found myself staring into this strange man's face, watching him sleep and barely feeling or hearing his breath. At some point at night, I wasn't confident if he was even breathing and I just sat there, waiting for him to start burning up, so I could rush into the bathroom and massage a towel over his face just like Shelby had instructed.

I didn't know what kept me up all night, watching him lie there unconscious. My mind became increasingly occupied with everything happening around me, and the other few times, I watched this man I barely knew but brought to my house anyway.

Maybe part of the reason I couldn't sleep was the eerie feeling I kept having about him, the voice in my head telling me not to sleep and lose guard because he could be some serial killer who could wake up in the middle of the night and stab me in my sleep. Now that was really nasty.

I checked the wall clock and saw it was a few minutes past 1a.m. I couldn't sleep. At least not yet. I stood up from the stool I'd pushed over to the bed where the man lay and walked towards the door. I stopped for a moment to look back at him. I saw his chest moving at the slowest pace and that alone felt like a huge relief to me.

I proceeded out towards the kitchen. I grabbed the bottle of wine standing on the kitchen's center table and poured myself a glass. Then I stepped outside of my house to look at the city I'd fallen in love with. 

When the cold air hit me, it reminded me of the fact that I hadn't changed from the clothes I'd been wearing all day and that I needed a shower, but first, I needed to be here right now.

I stopped next to the railing on my balcony, placed a hand over it, and sipped more wine from my glass before facing the city again. 

It was so quiet; I could only hear the sounds of the tender wind. It was beautiful. I always had a thing for quiet places. A reason why I always loved the beach when there was no one else there. Which reminded me of the man lying down unconscious on my bed right now.

I heaved a long sigh and took another sip of my wine. Everything was so messed up. Who was that man and how did he get all those cuts? And the arrow? Who would shoot an arrow at somebody when they're not games? And who still went game hunting these days? Also, his clothes were weird. Like old fashion.

Somewhere deep inside me I prayed he survived this. I didn't know him or where he was from but I just. . .  Have a great wish to see him up on his feet again.

"God, what am I gonna do about this gala?" I asked nobody in particular.

I've got an exam to write, and it was really important to me. I need to meet Mr.Donovan and ask him to reschedule my paper. I also cannot miss this opportunity to meet the Baratheon family of Vidin Kingdom and to take Jack with me. I should've called home after leaving school. 

I drank up the remaining wine in my cup before watching the city for what felt like another hour before finally deciding to go shower and change into something better. I walked back down and into the bedroom where the man laid still, motionless. I watched him from the door for a long while before going into my bedroom and taking a long shower.

I believed I was being too paranoid when I thought I heard someone walking inside my bathroom while I was locked in the shower cubicle. I was sure an unconscious man wouldn't be walking around my bathroom; except if he was a god-damned pervert. I actually laughed at the thought.

After showering, I changed into my nightdress of oversized pajamas and realized I wasn't sleepy yet even though it was past 2 AM, I  drew back my chair and sat next to this man, watching him sleep. 

After a while of staring at him in utter silence, I felt like a creep. But I'd be damned if he wasn't worth the look. Actually, he was a beautiful man. No, extremely handsome man. Even more than any male model I've seen or worked with. But then, what did he do to deserve this? I was pretty sure if I wasn't there at that time, he'd be dead a long time ago.

I moved closer, resting my arms on the side of the bed while I kept a close watch over his face, the thickness of his eyebrows, his long dark, and thick looking hair, the shape and color of his bottom-heavy lips, his chiseled jawline and slim long nose, his thick eyelashes and the color of his skin. Thankfully, the color has started coming back to his once pale face.

I think I slept off watching him because the next thing I was feeling was the burning sensation on my eyes as the morning sun seeping in through the window touched my eyes. I squinted my eyes as I tried to peel them open.

Turned out I had actually slept on him, waking up to meet my arm resting against his side, the other hand almost reaching his groin. I immediately pulled my hand away as I realized it.

I heard the buzzing sound of my door's alarm. Rubbing my eyes, I quickly stood up and walked out to the front door. I saw Shelby standing outside, a shoulder bag sagging down her shoulder.

"Hey, Shelby," I said, drowsiness slipping off my face as I opened the door to let her in. "Thanks for stopping by."

"How's he doing?" She asked, walking past me before I shut the door and followed.

"He didn't burn up at night thankfully," I replied as we both stopped in the bedroom, "and he hasn't woken up yet."

"He's just resting, he'll be up," Shelby replied as she touched him and made a few checkups on him.

I nodded, folding my hands anxiously. Shelby noticed my anxiety and she walked back to me, "He's alright, Val, you don't need to worry. I need to go now. I just stopped by to see how he's doing. I'm in for surgery in thirty minutes."

"I appreciate your concern,"

"Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded. "I will."

"And get some sleep, girl. You look like you haven't slept in days!" She teased, causing me to laugh a little.

"Hey listen, since you have a business to attend to and school to be at, why don't I send an ambulance to get him to the hospital? I know he's fine but he'll be out of the way while you do your thing. And no charges, Val. "

I thought about it instantly but decided I couldn't take him to the hospital. I just didn't feel like doing that. I wanted him here where I could see him. Who knows who he was? Could be some criminal and I'd be sending him into the police's hands. That'd make me a terrible person. I'd never stand against the law to help a criminal but this man felt like my responsibility too and sending him to the hospital didn't feel like the best thing to do. Besides, like Shelby said, he didn't need treatments anymore.

"Nah, I got it, Shelby. Thanks." I told her, dismissing her concern and she replied with a smile before walking out of the door. I heard the door shut after her and just stood there watching this man. Again.

Almost immediately, I heard the door ring again. What did she forget now?

I walked out and surprisingly saw Blake standing outside my door. I took a deep breath in, realizing I hadn't returned his text and calls yesterday. He must've been worried to death.

I pulled the door open and faked a big smile.

"Hey, Bla. . . . !"

"Don't give me that, Val." He walked past me, I could see the vexation written on his attractive face. "Why haven't you been picking up my calls?" 

I shut the door and turned around to face him, my smile unchanged.

"What's up? I was really worried about you."

"Blake, I'm alright."

"I can see that now, but last night you weren't. You said you needed to go clear your head or something and then you didn't pick my calls afterward."

Closing the space between us, I placed a hand on his shoulder and said with the same smile on my face. "Everything is okay, Blake. And I'm sorry, I should've called back or replied to your text."

"Well. . . . What happened to you? Was this about your mom?" 

I shook my head and calmly looked at him. "Blake I'd really appreciate we don't talk about any of that anymore, please. . ." I said as tenderly as I could.

He nodded and said, "Okay, I'm sorry. Well, are you forgetting we have class today?" He strolled towards the sitting room.

I followed him, unsure of what to tell him if he saw that man. He'd never take this lightly. Me bringing some stranger into my house. A wounded stranger to make matters worse. Maybe he didn't have to know then.

"Actually. . . . I won't be able to go today. I have something to take care of."

"Work? Okay"" He gave me one of his flirtatious smiles. "You know what I need right now?" He started pulling off his shirt. "A shower" 

Before I knew it, he was pulling out extra clothes from the bag with him. I guess he was so worried that he couldn't take a bath before coming to check on me. I watched him walk towards the room where the man was lying. I tried to stop him, but everything happened way too fast and one second he was in front of me, and the next one I saw him dashed into the bedroom and my lips opened, wishing I'd told him to stop or wait for a moment.

"Valerie?" Blake called me and I knew exactly why. Cursing under my breath I walked to him and tried pushing him back. 

"Blake I'll explain, maybe you can use my bathroom now? Please?"

"What happened to that man, Val? And who the hell is he?" He didn't let me breathe before he threw questions at me.

I wish he'd just bring his voice down. 

"He's wounded, Blake," I told him gently, "that's what came up last night. And why can't I go to school today but I'll explain later, okay?"

He watched me for a while before he slowly nodded and walked away. I couldn't bring myself to go after him, so I took a sharp breath before I turned toward the man and slowly walked closer to him. I leaned to his position, watching his face. There was always something about watching his face. It was hypnotic and you just couldn't look away.

I saw him stir a little and my heart jumped, I saw him squeeze his eyes together and move his body. His chest inched up as he drew in a long breath and then moved his fingers.

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning closer to him.

In response, his eyes flew open, and they watched me for a split second.

I watched back, hypnotized and nearly paralyzed by the ash and golden body of his iris. His eyes were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I just stood there, rooted to the spot, and watched him. He was so enchanting and elegant that looking away was a crime.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He said.

A couple of times, I found myself staring into this strange man's face, watching him sleep and barely feeling or hearing his breath. At some point at night, I wasn't confident if he was even breathing and I just sat there, waiting for him to start burning up, so I could rush into the bathroom and massage a towel over his face just like Shelby had instructed.

I didn't know what kept me up all night, watching him lie there unconscious. My mind became increasingly occupied with everything happening around me, and the other few times, I watched this man I barely knew but brought to my house anyway.

Maybe part of the reason I couldn't sleep was the eerie feeling I kept having about him, the voice in my head telling me not to sleep and lose guard because he could be some serial killer who could wake up in the middle of the night and stab me in my sleep. Now that was really nasty.

I checked the wall clock and saw it was a few minutes past 1a.m. I couldn't sleep. At least not yet. I stood up from the stool I'd pushed over to the bed where the man lay and walked towards the door. I stopped for a moment to look back at him. I saw his chest moving at the slowest pace and that alone felt like a huge relief to me.

I proceeded out towards the kitchen. I grabbed the bottle of wine standing on the kitchen's center table and poured myself a glass. Then I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the rooftop.

I stepped out and walked towards the rooftop's railing where the whole world was on full display. Well, I like to call the little view from my rooftop the whole world. When the cold air hit me, it reminded me of the fact that I hadn't changed from the clothes I'd been wearing all day and that I needed a shower, but first, I needed to be here right now.

I stopped next to the railing, placed a hand over it, and sipped more wine from my glass before facing the city again.

It was so quiet; I could only hear the sounds of the tender wind. It was beautiful. I always had a thing for quiet places. A reason why I always loved the beach when there was no one else there. Which reminded me of the man lying down unconscious on my bed right now.

I heaved a long sigh and took another sip of my wine. Everything was so messed up. Who was that man and how did he get all those cuts? And the arrow? Who would shoot an arrow at somebody when they're not games? And who still went game hunting these days? Also, his clothes were weird. Like old fashion.

Somewhere deep inside me I prayed he survived this. I didn't know him or where he was from but I just. . . Have great wish to see him up on his feet again.

"God, what am I gonna do about this gala?" I asked nobody in particular.

I've got an exam to write, and it was really important to me. I need to meet Mr.Donovan and ask him to reschedule my paper. I also cannot miss this opportunity to meet the Baratheon family and to take Jack with me. I should've called home after leaving school.

I drank up the remaining wine in my cup before watching the city for what felt like another hour before finally deciding to go shower and change into something better. I walked back down and into the bedroom where the man laid still, motionless. I watched him from the door for a long while before going into my bedroom and taking a long shower.

I believed I was being too paranoid when I thought I heard someone walking inside my bathroom while I was locked in the shower cubicle. I was sure an unconscious man wouldn't be walking around my bathroom; except if he was a god-damned pervert. I actually laughed at the thought.

After showering, I changed into my nightdress of oversized pajamas and realized I wasn't sleepy yet even though it was past 2 AM, I drew back my chair and sat next to this man, watching him sleep.

After a while of staring at him in utter silence, I felt like a creep. But I'd be damned if he wasn't worth the look. Actually, he was a beautiful man. No, extremely handsome man. Even more than any male model I've seen or worked with. But then, what did he do to deserve this? I was pretty sure if I wasn't there at that time, he'd be dead a long time ago.

I moved closer, resting my arms on the side of the bed while I kept a close watch over his face, the thickness of his eyebrows, his long dark, and thick looking hair, the shape and color of his bottom-heavy lips, his chiseled jawline and slim long nose, his thick eyelashes and the color of his skin. Thankfully, the color has started coming back to his once pale face.

I think I slept off watching him because the next thing I was feeling was the burning sensation on my eyes as the morning sun seeping in through the window touched my eyes. I squinted my eyes as I tried to peel them open.

Turned out I had actually slept on him, waking up to meet my arm resting against his side, the other hand almost reaching his groin. I immediately pulled my hand away as I realized it.

I heard the buzzing sound of my door's alarm. Rubbing my eyes, I quickly stood up and walked out to the front door. I saw Shelby standing outside, a shoulder bag sagging down her shoulder.

"Hey, Shelby," I said, drowsiness slipping off my face as I opened the door to let her in. "Thanks for stopping by."

"How's he doing?" She asked, walking past me before I shut the door and followed.

"He didn't burn up at night thankfully," I replied as we both stopped in the bedroom, "and he hasn't woken up yet."

"He's just resting, he'll be up," Shelby replied as she touched him and made a few checkups on him.

I nodded, folding my hands anxiously. Shelby noticed my anxiety and she walked back to me, "He's alright, Val, you don't need to worry. I need to go now. I just stopped by to see how he's doing. I'm in for surgery in thirty minutes."

"I appreciate your concern,"

"Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded. "I will."

"And get some sleep, girl. You look like you haven't slept in days!" She teased, causing me to laugh a little.

"Hey listen, since you have a business to attend to and school to be at, why don't I send an ambulance to get him to the hospital? I know he's fine but he'll be out of the way while you do your thing. And no charges, Val. "

I thought about it instantly but decided I couldn't take him to the hospital. I just didn't feel like doing that. I wanted him here where I could see him. Who knows who he was? Could be some criminal and I'd be sending him into the police's hands. That'd make me a terrible person. I'd never stand against the law to help a criminal but this man felt like my responsibility too and sending him to the hospital didn't feel like the best thing to do. Besides, like Shelby said, he didn't need treatments anymore.

"Nah, I got it, Shelby. Thanks." I told her, dismissing her concern and she replied with a smile before walking out of the door. I heard the door shut after her and just stood there watching this man. Again.

Almost immediately, I heard the door ring again. What did she forget now?

I walked out and surprisingly saw Blake standing outside my door. I took a deep breath in, realizing I hadn't returned his text and calls yesterday. He must've been worried to death.

I pulled the door open and faked a big smile.

"Hey, Bla. . . . !"

"Don't give me that, Val." He walked past me, I could see the vexation written on his attractive face. "Why haven't you been picking up my calls?"

I shut the door and turned around to face him, my smile unchanged.

"What's up? I was really worried about you."

"Blake, I'm alright."

"I can see that now, but last night you weren't. You said you needed to go clear your head or something and then you didn't pick my calls afterward."

Closing the space between us, I placed a hand on his shoulder and said with the same smile on my face. "Everything is okay, Blake. And I'm sorry, I should've called back or replied to your text."

"Well. . . . What happened to you? Was this about your mom?"

I shook my head and calmly looked at him. "Blake I'd really appreciate we don't talk about any of that anymore, please. . ." I said as tenderly as I could.

He nodded and said, "Okay, I'm sorry. Well, are you forgetting we have class today?" He strolled towards the sitting room.

I followed him, unsure of what to tell him if he saw that man. He'd never take this lightly. Me bringing some stranger into my house. A wounded stranger to make matters worse. Maybe he didn't have to know then.

"Actually. . . . I won't be able to go today. I have something to take care of."

"Work? Okay"" He gave me one of his flirtatious smiles. "You know what I need right now?" He started pulling off his shirt. "A shower"

Before I knew it, he was pulling out extra clothes from the bag with him. I guess he was so worried that he couldn't take a bath before coming to check on me. I watched him walk towards the room where the man was lying. I tried to stop him, but everything happened way too fast and one second he was in front of me, and the next one I saw him dashed into the bedroom and my lips opened, wishing I'd told him to stop or wait for a moment.

"Valerie?" Blake called me and I knew exactly why. Cursing under my breath I walked to him and tried pushing him back.

"Blake I'll explain, maybe you can use my bathroom now? Please?"

"What happened to that man, Val? And who the hell is he?" He didn't let me breathe before he threw questions at me.

I wish he'd just bring his voice down.

"He's wounded, Blake," I told him gently, "that's what came up last night. And why can't I go to school today but I'll explain later, okay?"

He watched me for a while before he slowly nodded and walked away. I couldn't bring myself to go after him, so I took a sharp breath before I turned toward the man and slowly walked closer to him. I leaned to his position, watching his face. There was always something about watching his face. It was hypnotic and you just couldn't look away.

I saw him stir a little and my heart jumped, I saw him squeeze his eyes together and move his body. His chest inched up as he drew in a long breath and then moved his fingers.

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning closer to him.

In response, his eyes flew open, and they watched me for a split second.

I watched back, hypnotized and nearly paralyzed by the ash and golden body of his iris. His eyes were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I just stood there, rooted to the spot, and watched him. He was so enchanting and elegant that looking away was a crime.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He said.