Saving Her

Chapter 2: Tate

Chapter 2

Tate's POV

Damn, five a.m. sure comes awfully early as I pull my achy self up and out of bed before hopping in the scalding hot shower. Last night was a complete blur. I vaguely remember going to the gym after my last class, not exactly sure what all i accomplished, but My shoulder is killing me. I'm sure it's nothing. I'm trying my best to wake up, today is important after all, it's a fight day yet again.

I step out onto the mat in front of the tub, feeling the soft fabric beneath my feet. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I see my arms, chest, and sides completely covered in bruises. I walk back into my bedroom which is attached to the bathroom, and get dressed. Nothing too fancy, just a black sports bra and some biker shorts with a t-shirt over it. Better to be comfy anyways, don't need to look cute for anyone.

I head down the hallway into my cozy little kitchen, before pouring myself the largest cup of coffee known to man. Okay, not really, but you get the point. As always, I have it straight and black as my soul in my massive Helton's own thermos. I quickly braid each side of my long dark strands before securing the braids into a bun at the base of my neck. I grab a light jacket and head towards the front door, excitedly awaiting my car to warm up.

This is it. This one is mine for the win. I continue to hype myself up all the way to the parking lot of the old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. We have to hide our fight location, seeing as though it's not entirely legal. I take a deep breath and step out of my car, hastily walking towards my up and coming victory.

"Goddammit!" I quietly scream to myself, realizing I hadn't grabbed any first aid stuff to refill my car or home supply. I walked all the way back across the parking lot and through the front doors, desperately looking for the cute girl that had been hiding in the courtesy booth, surely thinking I hadn't noticed her stare. She's now on a register, looking straight at the front door, as if waiting for someone in particular to walk through them at any given moment. A boyfriend maybe? A friend? Who knows.

I walk over to her and she seems to get nervous, and I wonder if it's because of the bruise surely starting to spread across my face. The other girl had gotten in a pretty good hit before I knocked her skinny ass out, winning the match.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, can you help me with something?" that was pretty good, didn't sound shaky or anything, way to go Tate.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asks. I wonder if she's mad that I'm asking her to leave the front, if she was actually waiting for someone or not. Her voice was like hearing a song that I didn't know I needed to hear. Like a melody made just for me. A damn near perfect sound.

I tried to explain what I needed help with but it just came out all jumbled and shaky, "Can you help me find the first-aid things? I thought I had some in my car, I always have stuff in my car for when these things happen. I guess I must have used the last of it last fi- time." I say. Shit , I've only just met this beautiful girl with the dark, stormy, blue eyes, and already she almost has me telling her all my secrets.

"Of course, right this way."

I follow her down the aisles to the first aid staff, "can i help you find anything else?" she asks politely.

"No thanks, I think I've got it for now. And thank you so much for helping me."

"Yeah, of course, hey can I actually ask you something?" she asked timidly. Great, I'm sure she thinks I'm being abused by some guy or something. I reach up to tuck the loose strands of my braid back behind my ear, and accidentally graze my cheek and wince slightly at the pain.

"Yeah, sure what's up?" I ask.

"Which kind of bandages do you think would work best for open stitches?" does she just think that i just go around getting injured in some stupid way all the time? Maybe she thinks the bruises are because I'm super clumsy, not that I have anger issues and hit people for a living.

" Uum,that depends. Is it like an open wound, or like this probably needs to be restitched , but I'm broke and I don't want to go to the hospital because doctors are scary and I'm probably fine?"

"More like the second one? I guess?"

" oh ok, hypothetically then, I'd probably go with these ones, they have this thicker layer of padding which is really nice for when you're bleeding more than you should be." I say grabbing her a package of them, wincing at the jab on my side as I straighten my back out to stand up.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," she says and starts walking back towards the front of the store. As she walks away, I find myself staring after her for a moment before noticing a large red spot soaking through the backside of her shirt, right where her ribs are.

"Hey, actually there is something I could really use your help with, can you come in here for just a minute?" I say while walking slowly towards the ladies restroom.

"Uh, yeah i guess so," she says, cautiously following me into the bathroom. I bet she thinks I'm some kind of crazy person, who else would ask a stranger to come into the bathroom with them. "What's going on?" she asks.

I gently grab her arm and turn her until she sees her bloody shirt for herself. "Oh shit, dammit, i must have reopened my fucking stitches, I was so sure I hadn't when I left this afternoon. Shit, do you think you can help me?" she asks, eyes worried, like she's panicked that she has to let someone else in on her secret injuries.

"Shouldn't you maybe go to the hospital or something?" I ask. I thought I was the only one casually stitching themselves up, but as she lifts her shirt up, I can tell that's definitely not the case. I run over to the door, tossing the lock over so no one else comes in thinking that I'm trying to kill her or something. When that's done, I look over just in time to see that there's now blood all over the counter top, all over her back, and definitely staining her work shirt.

She peels off her shirt, and I look away immediately, shielding myself from looking at her body. We just met after all. I can't believe she would just start stripping, like we've known each other for more than only the past ten minutes.