Falling With Grace

Stupid shoes.

They lay beside the bed, their treacherous soles pointed upwards.

Not how I left them.

Elias must have kicked them over.

Blood trickled down my chest, teasing the fine hairs in its descent. I swiped at it, eliciting a sharp sting.

I hissed and rushed out of my room, darting between both guards stationed on either side of my door and into the bathroom, closing the door before they could see the mild carnage.

Crimson stained my fingertips in a gruesome blanket.

How many times has someone’s blood gone down these drains?

My hands shook beneath the water as the evidence of my clumsiness washed away, my empty stomach on the spin cycle.

The swelling rendered my chin lopsided, a grotesque distortion of its usual form, along with a short gash in the center.

My heart thundered in my chest, my sweaty hands yanking open the top drawer.

There must be Band-Aids here somewhere…

I bit my lip, closed the drawer full of hair ties and combs, and then moved on to the next and the next, each one a disappointment.

How could I go downstairs like this?

The chill of the washcloth met my throbbing chin as muffled footsteps shuffled outside the door.

If I didn’t tell him first, they would.

I pulled the cloth away. My head swam, my knees wobbled.

Oh no.

No. No. No.

I sucked in deep breaths through my nose and out my mouth in slow, restrained counts, but my stomach lurched, and my feet darted for the toilet.

Clinging to the porcelain throne, I retched with nothing to expel, my stomach convulsing in silent agony, my rib screaming from the strain, my head pounding.

After a moment of silence, I stood, wiped my mouth with the backside of the cloth, and tossed it into the clothes chute.

Clothes…

I turned back to the mirror, my neck collar stained, and the blood stemmed.

Shit.

Okay… It’s no problem.

I can do this…

Throwing open the door, I rushed between the two guards and straight into my room, my chin tucked down to my chest as I closed the door.

I darted into the closet, threw off my stained shirt, and tossed on a new one, a dark purple one resembling a ripe plum.

My belly growled.