Flip the Coin [BL]

Chapter 509. | I could…

"Too tight?" Henry leaned over to reach out for the plaster.

"No, it’s alright." I stared at the line his neck and Adam’s apple formed when he turned his head to the side.

He hummed and retracted his hand before he could touch me.

After another round of staring, he stood up and walked back to the couch.

This time he didn’t sit in the middle but off to the side.

He placed his elbow on the armrest and his head on his fist to... continue staring.

I leaned back because my headache got the better of me.

The massive room we were in didn’t have any lights on, just the natural light from the sky outside, which turned rapidly darker as more clouds gathered and the sun started to set.

The attractions outside weren’t lit up; all in all, this amusement park—given the state the restaurant was in—seemed to have been abandoned a while ago.

If a space built for many people to gather became empty, it felt lonely.

"How long was I out?" I asked Henry.

"It’s been a week since we left the space," he murmured with his eyes already closed, so I didn’t ask anything more.

No wonder I don’t feel like sleeping anymore.

I stared at the shiny ceiling, trying to categorize the pictures of the circus in my mind that surfaced sometimes like slow-motion flashbacks.

It didn’t take long until I heard Henry’s breathing turn deep and unhurried, clearly asleep.

If it had been a week since we had come back, with me on the brink of death or just randomly unconscious because of how much power I used up, then he had probably not slept at all.

Let’s get the puppy some sleep, then touch some grass, and hopefully, he will recover sooner rather than later.

And give me my long-overdue hugs.

Hearing a slight sound, I raised my head again and looked into a crystalline wall in front of the bed that grew about two meters high.

I leaned to the side to look at Henry, but he was still fast asleep.

I watched the wall expanding to grow a roof above me; at the same time, two sidewalls also came down, enclosing the bed fully.

?

Is he doing that unconsciously?

In the end, I was in a crystalline box, not sure how I felt about that.

I rolled to the side to touch the new wall, and when I did, it gave way, as if letting my hand pass without dissolving—just giving me more room by bending outwards.

Cute.

Usually not a fan of being imprisoned at all, and maybe even a bit claustrophobic after being buried alive in some coffin with Henrietta’s room counterpart calling for me creepily, I found this setup surprisingly manageable.

First, because the crystal was more or less see-through, then because it gave me enough space to roll around in the bed.

Next, the certain assurance that if I woke Henry up, he would let me out.

Everything he did was so puppy-like:

Begging for assurance.

Taking the mentioned assurance forcefully after being traumatized by me AGAIN, yet...

No handcuffs, as I did get seizures from them in the past.

My right leg was plastered, not my left, which had been crushed and ripped off by the giant’s teeth.

Not a dark room, but an open space with a grand view, and that in an amusement park—isn’t he practically asking for a date by choosing a spot like this?

I suppressed a grin, feeling heartbroken but also happy.

If I let myself be locked up, it was only by him.

After breathing just fine for some time and confirming that air made it through the box, I fell asleep while looking at the figure on the couch and holding onto my head that was still pounding annoyingly.

****

When I woke up, the crystalline box around me was gone.

My headache and the scary figure amidst the darkness were still there, though.

Henry was again back to staring while outside, the sun was rising again.

"Hungry?" I asked him, playing it by hand.

"Are you?" he asked me instead, his eyes still a normal, humanly blue, but the hood, his sculpted face, and the beauty mark that begged for a kiss still made him handsome as hell.

"Yeah."

"What do you want to eat?"

"I want to take a look at the kitchen here." I motioned behind me, thinking that it had to be there, given the rest of the massive room was the dining area.

He stood up and disappeared at once, before reappearing with a wheelchair, which he wheeled to the bed.

Hah... so we are really going through with this, aren’t we?

Alright. At least the wheelchair had the leg thingy that would prop my plastered right leg up.

I shuffled to the edge of the bed and stood up on my left leg before letting myself fall back into the wheelchair.

After lifting the plaster into the holder, I leaned back and looked up and saw Henry’s eyes on my body, still just in boxers, before finally meeting mine.

What did I do to my puppy?

Can’t you tell me?

Why the gloves and the distance?

Did I scare you that badly?

Did I traumatize you with the circus?

Or did I... die?

This would probably be the most logical explanation—not having ended up half-dead, but dead for good.

I was fine now, but that fact and the many questions in my mind just wouldn’t pass my lips.

The fragility behind his expressionless facade stopped me from asking him out loud—fearing that he’d break right before my eyes.

He eventually looked away and moved the wheelchair.

Just as I thought, the kitchen was in the adjoining room, behind the wall the massive bed stood against.

Big, grey, and metallic—a typical professional kitchen.

No lights were on here either, but without windows, this room would be absolutely dark if not for our night vision.

"Everything running with electricity has stopped working," Henry commented from above me as if reading my thoughts.

I motioned to the oven ahead, and Henry wheeled me toward it.

"Since the plane crash? Ah," I corrected myself.

"Because of that, the plane crash happened in the first place."

He hummed, and when he positioned me sideways by the row of four ovens, I turned the buttons.

The oven didn’t react, just as expected.

Then I turned the buttons for the stovetop, and we heard a slight hissing.

"Gas stove." I turned it off again and leaned back to look at Henry above me.

"I need meat, rice, oil, salt, a lighter, a pan, and a pot."

He looked down at me for a long time, as if he were frozen again.

I waited and eventually saw him disappear, leaving behind a bit of shadowy energy.

When I turned around, I saw that the open doorframe was now glazed over by crystals, locking me into the kitchen.

I held onto my head while waiting.

The pain was hollowing, but so were the memories shortly before the crash.

So were the worries about the puppy.

So was the fear and paranoia that everyone had indeed died, and the puppy was locking me up to save me from the heartache of losing everyone I knew.

However, in the end, I still believed him when he said that everyone was alright, because I wanted to.

And the thought of asking him for a picture with my grandma holding a newspaper showing the actual date was probably out of question. Though just imagining her grumpy face while posing as a kidnapping victim was funny as hell.

So much hollowness that had to be filled, so we would simply start with food.

Henry reappeared, a bit away from me, the kitchen island between us.

He placed a bunch of items on it, together with a whole rabbit that had probably been alive and kicking not long ago but had its neck broken now.

I chuckled and closed my eyes for a moment to chase away all the bad thoughts.

Opening them again, I praised,

"Good job."

I said that I needed meat, and you brought it in its freshest and most original form.

Just like the puppy you are.