The Fateful Heart 2

James looked back at her, not breaking eye contact.

“Evaline, if there’s anything you’ve proven to me, it’s that you’re sincere, and you genuinely care. True friends don’t apologize like you just did, and I see the value in you as a person, even when you make mistakes. Neither of us are perfect, and I don’t expect you to be.”

He smiled with his eyes.

“I’m happy to have you as you are. So yes. I mean it.”

She held his eyes as the words seemed to lag behind, and she sat there for moment when he was finished, trying to process everything.

Evaline was expecting a yes or no answer. Not this.

I'm happy to have you as you are, James had said.

She suddenly tore her gaze away and felt her body tense up as her head seemed to be flooded with thoughts and emotions. She instinctively wanted to ask him if he meant all that now, but she knew what he would say, and she didn't know if she'd be able to handle whatever proof he wanted to say.

Or maybe she could. Maybe she could, now that she not only trusted him, but knew he was true to his word. But she had trusted others in the past who were true to their words, and they had lied and not meant it. How could she know James was any different? What was she to believe? How could she know he actually meant his words if they were just words?

She'd rather not hear it. Not listen to it. Not know.

But it was too late; she already heard what was in his mind, and now her mind couldn't stop thinking about it and jumping to conclusions. It didn't help that the atmosphere of this room suddenly became thick with romance: the dim lighting, the flickering of the shadows from the candles, the hazy steam around them, the smell of chamomile in the air... their clothes strung about around them...

The heat in the room was getting to her head again, and she wanted to peel out of the towel to cool down, but didn't for James's sake. Evaline leaned forward again, forearms on knees as she rubbed her face with her hands.

"...Thanks," was all she managed to say in return as she stared at the space in front of her, running her fingers over her sweating face and then through her hair.

James nodded, and he let silence follow. He stared out into the bathhouse, away from Evaline, and decided to focus on breathing, and keeping pressure on his side.

He was starting to dry. Slowly. But the steam in the air kept him feeling a little wet, still.

The silence that followed was nice at first, but it seemed to be getting louder and louder until it rang in Evaline's ears. She had fidgeted with her hands by running it through her hair and then readjusting the towel in small movement, but it wasn't enough for her.

Even though James hadn't said anything, she felt like she had to change the subject.

"Are you still bleeding?" she blurted out, interrupting the silence.

"Good question," he said. He looked down at the blood-soaked cloth and slowly pulled it away. His arm and hand were stiff, and there was a slight tremor in his wrist as he finally took off the pressure.

It looked like the flow had stopped. He felt like he got lucky. Again.

"Looks like it's stopped," he said. "I should start drying off and bandaging up now."

Evaline glanced over towards James as he examined the wound, and then got up on her feet to walk over to the available cabinets. Just something to do. Something to distract herself with.

"I'll look to see if there's anything here you can use," she said out loud in a daze.

James looked down at the bloody washcloth in his hands and stared at it for a second, wondering what to do with it. With a sigh, he picked it up to set it on the bench beside him, but his hand hovered over it. In the not-entirely-unlikely event that the blood-soaked into the wood, it would probably be best to not have it on a seat of all things. He then set it under the bench, on the floor. To do so, he bent forward slowly and carefully. He had only just gotten the bleeding under control. He didn't need the wound splitting again.

He then looked at the unwound bandages on the bench. It wasn't the most hygeinic thing to reuse them, but he didn't think they had any other discreet options. He didn't think running out of the bathhouse, grabbing something from their bag, and running back would be subtle.

Though maybe it could be explained by wanting to change their clothes? It made plenty of sense to want to wear fresh clothes after a bath. That might be a better idea. It wasn't like they were trapped in the bathhouse.

"They probably won't have anything," he said. "But if we want the roll of bandages, maybe you could dry yourself off fully - or even as much as you can - and throw your clothes on real quick and go out and get them. Maybe grab a different shirt or something to change into as an excuse. It's an easy cover."

Evaline was staring at the various supplies in the cabinet, grimly accepting that James was right: they didn't have anything useful.

She sighed and then shut the cabinet doors, glancing back at him. He had a good idea; they could simply leave and come back to get supplies. Really, they didn't even have to be in the bath in the first place.

Although... even though she experienced pain like never before—even if it only lasted for several minutes—she was still glad they stayed. She was glad they went through this.

Her eyes flicked over to the bloody rag and then the used bandages on the floor. It would be a shame if he cleaned himself up and had to reuse old, sweaty bandages.

"That's a good idea," she said, unwrapping the towel and drying herself off quickly. She figured she wouldn't fully dry with the air being so damp, but once she stepped outside, the dry air will help dry her more.

"Do you want me to take that washcloth?" she asked. "I can maybe hide it under my shirt and then stash it in the saddlebag."

Maybe... they shouldn't leave a bloody washcloth behind.

"If you're going to take it, we should wring it out first. And - I don't know, wrap it in the old bandages, just to make sure it doesn't make the inside of the bag all bloody."

He bent down again - still slowly and carefully, and picked it back up. He then checked his towel, making sure it was secure around his waist before he stood out and did just that - he wrung out the rag over the water, watching the blood swirl and disappear into the murky water.

Mentally, he apologized to whoever would bathe next. But they had limited resources.

He twisted the rag a few ways until it was only damp, and then grabbed the old bandages, wrapping them around the rag like a little package. He'd have to wash his hands, too, while she was gone.

He tried not to think about how nasty it was - hiding a bloody cloth - just to avoid prying eyes and suspicion. More than anything, he just wanted to avoid another Nathan situation. It would be worse, though, because these people didn't seem to know who he was or recognize him. He wanted to keep that anonymity as long as he could.

As James wrung the towel and wrapped it, Evaline finished drying as much as she could and then slipped back on to her clothes. It was uncomfortable that her undergarments were still wet and seeping into her clothes, but there wasn't anything she could do about it without making James uncomfortable. Luckily she wasn't wearing light-colored clothing, so it wasn't that noticeable.

"Okay," she said, more so as a signal that he could look if he wanted. She had the ribbon pursed on her mouth while she messily pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, and then grabbed the ribbon to tie it in place.

"Is it ready?"

James looked down at the neatly wrapped cloth. If his hands weren't covered in blood, and his fingertips weren't staining the parts of the bandage wrapping he was holding, it would just look like a small package.

Still, it was gross, but he wasn't going to think about it.

He held it up, waving it in his hand for a moment before walking over to hand it to her.

"I'll have to braid your hair for you when you get back."

He paused. "After I wash my hands, of course."

Evaline strung her jacket on her arm, and she grimaced as she took the bandage-rag package and hid it in the folds of her jacket. It almost felt childish, having to hide a rag because they didn't want to explain the situation. It was like she was a child trying to get rid of evidence of a broken item before her parents found out.

His words rung in her head too: I'll have to braid your hair for when you come back.

Did that mean she looked that bad?

She tried not to overthink it as she walked towards the door.

"I'll be back, then," she announced before she went through, glancing back at James.

Then she walked out, quietly closing the door behind her in case anyone was nearby to hear. Kurt was incessant and it would not surprise her if he was nearby, waiting for them to come out.

Without any more hesitation, she started to walk back towards Elliot, only focused on looking directly in front of her while she briskly walked along the path, holding the hidden washcloth in her hand under the jacket. If someone was nearby, she didn't even glance, and she was hoping her brisk pace would give enough indication that she was in a hurry.

After a few minutes, she finally reached the area with the horses and camels, and she immediately bee-lined towards Elliot who was grazing. She was about to approach him and even reached out for the saddlebag, but lo and behold, someone got in her way.

That someone being Kurt. Kurt. Of course it was Kurt.

"Hey Evelyn!" he called, approaching her. He had a big grin and had wet rags over his shoulder. He gave her a casual wave. "Are you done already? Where's your husband?"

She decided to ignore that last question. She wondered if she should be concerned that the phrase 'your husband' was not bothering her as much as it did before.

"Oh. Hi," she said, instinctively stepping back. "I just... had to get supplies. Real quick. A comb and exchange of clothes."

She was about to step around him, but he kept talking.

"Ohhhh," he said, drawing out the consonant, like he wanted time to think. "Well, I'm just out here washing up the camels. They like to be washed up in real cold soapy water. So I was thinking... So since your clothes are dirty, maybe you can do laundry? It's not laundry day today, but I can help make that happen for you!"

"That'd be great," Evaline said in a half-distracted state, deciding to take a big step around him to reach Elliot and open the saddlebag.

"Great, great," Kurt said, whizzing around with a smile. "Yeah, I can help with that."

She was beginning to regret her words.

Evaline internally sighed and slipped her jacket in the saddlebag, which also meant she slipped the rag too.

"Sooooo..." Kurt drew out again after a one-second silence. "How'd you like the bath? You're almost out of time so I figure you won't be going back in, but, uh, how was it when you were in? Better than expected?"

"It was just as expected," she answered plainly, fishing out the bandages and salve. She'd find those two items first, and then she'll hide them in a new shirt, and then she could safely pull it out and leave.

"What did Yoen think?" he asked.

"You should ask him." She couldn't help but let out a little smirk, but she was glad Kurt wasn't facing her.

"Oh, yeah, I should," he said back, seemingly in thought. "Anyways, I hope you both are clean and... you know... happy."

She... well, she had no idea how to respond to that. She didn't even know what he was getting at, but she decided to place her focus on finding the items instead of thinking about it.

"'Cause, you know," he kept going, taking the brief moment of silence as an answer to continue. "I figured you had an argument. Or something. And the bath hut ususally solves whatever tension couples have... Or so I'm told."

Evaline had to freeze for a second to scrunch up her entire face just to withold an embarrassed groan. This kid was so... dense. Was he just asking her if—?

She instead settled on believing that he was incredibly naive and had no life experiences. It helped bring down the embarrassment level to think that.

By this time, she already found the items she needed and even found the comb. The three items were tucked into James's spare shirt, and she casually took it out, draping it along her arm again while making sure the items didn't fall off.

"Well, anyways," she said, deciding to ignore his train of thought. "I'm going now."

She quickly walked off and was grateful that Kurt didn't follow.

"Okay, I'll see you guys when you're both out of the hut!" he called.

She had accidentally make their stay worse.

The moment Evaline closed the door, James stood up. He did need help making sure his wounds were dry (especially those on his back that he couldn't see), but he could use this brief moment of private time to dry his underwear, which was very much still wet.

First, though, he washed his hands.

Then he stripped down and patted himself down with a towel first, from his hips to his feet. Fortunately, he didn't have to dance around any healing wounds now that his leg was healed, so it was a quick process.

As he took his underwear and started wringing it out over the already wet floor, he heard a knock on the door.

He practically had a heart attack and felt like he leaped out of his skin.

He dropped the underwear and grabbed the towel he'd left on the bench, but just as he pulled it around his waist, he heard Liana's voice, not Evaline's. That was either better or worse.

"Just giving you guys a ten-minute warning!" Liana shouted through the door. "So finish up soon!"

James let out a sigh of relief. Thank gods.

"Okay. Thank you!" he shouted back.

But also, that didn't leave them with much time.

He hurried to dry out his underwear as much as he could, slipped back into them, and then put on his pants and belt as well. He then rubbed his head with the towel to dry his hair, and then - in an effort not to waste time - dried his arms, carefully around the wounds, and his chest. But he knew he couldn't risk rubbing the towel roughly on his back after what one rough touch did to his most recent stab wound. He didn't want to ruin whatever progress his body had made in healing.

Thankfully, no one else paid her any attention as she reached the spa hut again.

For extra measure, Evaline glanced around her to make sure she was alone, and then she lightly knocked on the door.

"It's me. Good to come in?" she said through the door.

"Come in," James said. He'd just finished doing just about everything he could - even double-checking the towels he'd touched to make sure no blood had gotten on them.