Beating of a new heart

He could hardly breathe, his body ached for oxygen as he tortured himself. The chest cavity of this man could barely contain his ever inflating lungs. Alistair was well into his fifth mile and continued going strong.

"I have more energy than normal it seems." Alistair said aloud with a smile. He ran daily but always had trouble even keeping half the pace he was currently at. "I've never ran over on this side of town" Alistair thought as he surveyed the surrounding area and slowed down to a brisk walk.

The sun was half way up over the horizon which brought more folks out of their homes and off to work. Alistair shielded his eyes as he gazed towards the rising sun, embracing the ever increasing warmth. Alistair checked his watch.

"I should be heading back soon, Elena is horrendous in the kitchen and I know she wouldn't make breakfast." Alistair smiled thinking about Elena barging into his room this morning. "She's my roommate, why am I having these lustful thoughts all of a sudden?" Alistair shook his head but never stopped thinking of Elena.

As Alistair continued to walk back, he failed to notice the short petite character stumbling towards him. She fell to the ground like a brick slab falling from a roof. "Please. Please help me." she managed to say.

Reaching for his phone Alistair began to dial 911. "No please." She said in between raspy breathes. "Nobody else, it's not safe."

Ignoring her, Alistair went to hit the call button. "It's going to be ok, help will be here soon. Focus on breathing and dont..." Before he could finish speaking, she had reached out and crushed his phone before passing out. "Holy hell, for someone in her condition im surprised she sure had some strength left". Alistair picked her up and made the sprint back to his house.

Without so much as stopping Alistair made it to the front door and flung it open. "Elena... Damnit Elena come here" Alistair said with increasing frustration.

"No need to yell im coming downsta.... Why do you have a bloody girl spread out on our table. What did you do?" Elena asked with a stone cold expression as if this didn't surprise her.

"Get the Medkit out of my tough box in the garage, it should be in the container labeled 'trauma' and bring it here quick." He said in a stern voice. Its been a year since he's had anothers life and blood in his hands. He may have only left being a combat medic a year ago, but he still felt the calmness and muscle memory he established from years ago.

There was a loud thud as Elena brought in the trauma kit. Alistair didn't hesitate and got right into fixing up this random girl. It took some time for him to close up some of the wounds and clean them so they wouldn't get infected.

"Who is she?" Elena asked with a cold tone. "Do we know if she's dangerous?".

"Why would you assume I know? I ran into her on my way home and she destroyed my phone. I have just as many questions as you do." Alistair stared at the young girl he had moved to the couch and covered. "She can't be a day over 20, her features give her an innocent look".

"Looks can be deceiving." Elena hissed.

"Why is she acting so weird?" Alistair thought, "No way in hell could she be jealous of someone I found who was DYING. She's not that petty but she is acting strange. Probably best if I keep watch."

You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, Elena was watching the young girl intently from the top of the stairs. Her stone cold expression was something new for Alistair.

"How long are you going to babysit?" Elena asked with an attitude. "You should've left her to be someone else's problem!" Elena continued to get frustrated. It was still to soon for her to show Alistair who she really was. This young girl was sent here to obviously ruin what was already in motion.

"You need to stop, I brought her here and she is under my care. You can knock off that fucking attitude." Alistair was starting to get angrier. "You've been acting different since you barged in my room, even that wasn't like you".

Elena got up and looked towards Alistair. "I'll respect your wishes, if anything happens call for me." At that moment Elena noticed the young woman open her eyes.