Colossal Jump

Chapter Fifty-Three

"Oh, no, this will be okay." I tug on a grin.

"Okay." He sighs with relief.

I walk into the bathroom and close the door behind me. Stripping out of my clothes, I toss them into the sink and step over the bathtub and into the shower. I turn the tap on and I'm surprised with the warm water rattles through the pipe.

The warm beads of water cascade along my skin, drip down my body, then swirl around the drain before falling away. I press my back against the tiled shower wall and huff. The steam from the shower wall makes the room moist and clammy.

My back slides down the tiles as I sit down. I hug my knees to my chest, then rest my head on my knees. The hot water brings a sense of warmth to my cold numb body. I'm still waiting for that moment where I wake up because I don't want to believe any of this is real.

Tears stream down my cheek and drip onto my knees. When does the pain go? When does it trickle away like the water?

The door suddenly springs open and Kyle rushes into the room.

"Ava, are you okay?" he shouts.

"Hm?" I frown.

"You've been in here for fifteen minutes, so I called out and you weren't responding. Shit, Ava, I thought something really bad happened!"

"Oh." I sigh.

Kyle leans over the side of the bath to turn the taps off. He then grabs a cream towel from under the sink and drapes it over my shoulders. He then helps me out of the shower and tries to rewrap the towel around me.

The flimsy fabric falls to the ground which makes Kyle blush. I wrap my arms around his body and snuggle in.

"I'm scared," I whisper.

"It's going to be okay," he replies. "And you're hugging me naked."

"Right." I quickly grab the towel and cover myself.

"Can you get dressed, or do I need to help?" he awkwardly asks.

"No thank you, I'll be fine."

Kyle nods his head as he exits the bathroom. I quickly dry myself off and then change into the long shirt and my underwear. I hang the towel over the rack, then walk out of the bedroom.

I flop onto the bed and snuggle into one of the pillows. Kyle looks back at me with his sad brown eyes. He pokes me with his foot and slightly grins.

"What now?" he asks.

"I take the first plane to London and get out of here."

"You can't run away from this," says Kyle.

"Even though you're right, I can still try, right?"

"No."

Kyle tugs on the pillow and throws it away. He wraps his arm around my waist, then tugs my body close to his chest. I rest my head on his arm and then Kyle kisses my forehead. My eyes flutter closed as I listen to the sound of his heartbeat. With one thud at a time, I find myself being pulled into a deep sleep.

* * * * * 

There's a commotion in the hallway that shakes me from my slumber. I slip off the side of the bed, step out of Kyle's room and peek down the hallway. Blake is standing by the front door arguing with Kyle about coming inside.

Ben, of course, isn't helping. He's trying to boss Kyle around, although, he's not having either of it.

"Please, I need to see her," Blake begs.