BEAUTY MARKS

20.NEEDLES

Dominque sat up and posed his legs on the ground. Kaede was sound asleep; the man wondered where she got all her energy from as she seemed to have a lot in reserve. She stood and paced all day, yet Kaede managed to startle him with her behavior. Unleashed, carefree, and insatiable were the words that came to Dominque's mind when he recalled the episode in the boxing club's showers.

The hunger that resulted made the two sex fiends eat like stranded survivors. Dominque felt uncomfortable, his stomach too full growled. Gluttony was effectively a sin.

The digital alarm on the nightstand displayed 1 am in bright red. It was late but early enough for Dominque, for whom it was then or never moment. He needed to take his dose; with everything that happened, it slipped out of his mind.

Kaede's sleep was profound. He looked back on her and caressed her cheek to make sure.

He got up and went to the bathroom. Dominque chose the one in his parent's room, not wanting to risk waking Kaede.

They would spend the next day together, and the man did not wish to stress about glucose levels. Kaede already had a few suspicions about his diet.

Dominque washed his hands and took the plastic cover off the insulin bottle. He then wiped the top of the jar with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.

After that, he pulled back the syringe's plunger, which drew air into the syringe equal to the insulin dose he took. Dominque then proceeded to push the syringe needle through the rubber top of the insulin bottle. The process, which took him half an hour a few months ago, became a five-minute ordeal as he injected air by pushing the syringe plunger forward before turning the bottle upside down to pull the insulin.

Dominque cleaned his arm and was ready for his shot.

In the meantime, Kaede woke up to an empty bed.

She waited, but Dominque wasn't coming back. Kaede climbed the few steps and left the room.

"Dominque?"

There was no sight of him downstairs, Kaede never wondered about, and now the immensity of the place made her uneasy.

"Dominque?"

She stood at the bottom of the staircase.

Was he upstairs?

It was the only possible option; the man wouldn't leave her alone in his house.

"Come on, Kaede, you're not in Parasite," she muttered.

She began to go up. Once at the top, she followed the slight glow emanating from one of the rooms.

Kaede advanced, "Dominque?"

The man focused as he pushed in the last drops; only the sound of a gasp and fleeing steps made him turn his head to the bathroom door.

Kaede?"

Dominque followed the woman who hurried down.

He speeded, "Kaede wait," he caught up with her in the kitchen, where he grasped her by the shoulders before forcing her to turn around, "Kaede, look at me."

It was one of those scenes where playing dumb could save a life, and it wasn't like Kaede had another choice. Logic fled, leaving behind absurdity. "I didn't mean to stare. I didn't see anything, I promise, Dominque."

Her body trembled; the image shocked her. Dominque deduced how things looked from her perspective, "Kaede, it's not drugs, it's insulin, I don't do drugs. I have type 1 diabetes. Please listen to me," the man said, cupping her face in his hands.