City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Fifty-Four

The train slows to a stop, which wakes me from the peaceful sleep I was having. I quickly lift my head from Colton's shoulder before he wakes up as well.

"This is my stop." He sighs, then places the backpack over his shoulders.

"Oh. Well thank you for everything Colton." I reply, then stand up instinctively. I didn't know why I stood up.

I wrap my arms around him, which surprises him because he doesn't hug me back at first. But when he does, his hands are tight around my back.

"I don't blame you for what happened." I whisper before sitting back down in my chair. I can see his expression fall before he turns to leave.

So long Colton.

He turns back around. "I feel horrible for making you take the train all the way back to stage two, why don't you just sleep in my dorm or something?"

My eyes light up, but I try not to make it too obvious. "It's fine, I'll just sleep on the way back."

He looks back at me with disbelief riddled in his expression. "I'm not going to let you sleep on one of these plastic chairs. Besides, we need to get that bandaging off of your leg. C'mon."

I abide and follow him out of the train. Sleeping on his couch now sounds better than waiting a few hours before sleeping in my bed.

His dorm isn't too far from the station, it feels illegal walking around stage three at night. Everything is so foreign, the buildings are so different and so much more advanced than the ones in stage two.

We are both too tired to talk, and he doesn't say anything to me until I walk into his room.

"I have a few extra blankets, the couch pulls out into a bed." He says, then turns on the lights to his room.

"Perfect." I am so ready to sleep, nothing but that is on my mind.

"First though, we need to get the tape off." He points at the couch, instructing me to sit there.

I sigh and do what he says. He is rummaging around in the kitchen and I begin taking the tape off myself because I want to get to bed faster. It doesn't really hurt anyway.

A few blankets are tossed next to me and Colton sits on the other side. He watches me take the tape off, and once I finish, I bundle the tape into a ball.

The gauze is drenched in blood already, but it hardly hurts. He places his hand on the gauze, then rips it off quickly and smoothly.

I grunt in response, but it isn't even close to the pain I endured on Earth. My body feels relaxed and I no longer feel sweaty or hungry or exhausted. I actually feel stronger despite how tired I am.

"Does it hurt?" He inquires as he peeled a few more off.

I shake my head. "Not nearly as bad as before. I didn't realize how numb we really are here."

He nods. "You don't realize how much you have to take care of yourself until you go on a voyage like that."

This process is a lot more efficient than last time, he removes everything within a few minutes.

Neither of us say a word to each other, he looks exhausted and I can't imagine how tired I look.

I stare at my wound as Colton leaves to throw the bandages away. It is long and thin, but looks like it has been on my leg for at least a week. It's already starting to scab and doesn't bleed at all.

"That'll be gone within a few days." Colton notices me staring at it. I look up at him, and he hardly has a bruise on his jaw, but his bruised eye is still fairly obvious.

We both take the cushions off of the couch and pull the bed out from underneath, and then he lays the blankets on top.

"If you need anything just let me know, I'll be in my room." Colton points up the stairs and into a door that I assume leads to his bedroom. I can't wait to have a room like this.

"Thank you, I'm sure I'll be fine." I reply, pulling the covers over my body. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He returns as he walks up the stairs. Within seconds of closing my eyes I can feel myself falling asleep.

"Colton, you seem stressed about something." I observe as he reaches the top of the steps. He turns around when I say this.

He looks over at me for a moment, but looks away shortly after. "It's nothing, like I said. I just have to do a lot of paperwork for this trip, that's all."

I nod in response. "Is it because we didn't get Nick?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah, I gotta write a statement basically about everything that happened." He sighs, his brown hair drooping over his face.

"Well you won't get in trouble for not rescuing Nick, right? Cause it's not your fault at all."

He shakes his head. "The board knows that rescue missions are nearly impossible, it's just the guilt that comes with it. Don't worry about it."

I nod.

This is the first time I've slept in a nice place in a week. I don't have to worry about the Underworld anymore, I don't have to think about where my next meal is going to be. I am the most peaceful I have ever been.

Yet my body is still not at ease. It will never be at ease as long as Nick is in the Underworld. I wish I had a way to communicate with him so I know how he's doing.

Fire isn't as present in my mind anymore. I actually think that trip helped me with my fear because I learned the good things about fire firsthand.

Or Nick staying in the Underworld is distracting. I think that entire trip was almost as traumatizing as my death. There's too many thoughts roaming my head on top of the pain in my leg that I thought would disappear once I came up here, but I still can't walk normally.

On top of all of that, I have to leave the one person who actually helped me with my trauma, who I could relate to the most. And I feel like he doesn't care at all.

HOW ARE THERE ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT WHAT??? IT FEELS LIKE TWO WEEKS AGO I WAS PUBLISHING CHAPTER 30! AHHH IM SO SAD NOW BUT ITS ALL GOOD CAUSE IM GONNA PUBLISH ANOTHER BOOK SOON