Title: Blood Roses
Author: knightshade
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own Knight Rider or its characters, branches, divisions, or wholly owned subsidiaries.
Summary: Sometimes Bonnie’s her own worst enemy.
Blood Roses
Bonnie had barely run a quarter mile when the pain in her side started. She tried to take a deep breath but it pinched and twinged – enough to get her attention but not enough to make her stop running. Bonnie had been sitting around her apartment for days and she was tired of it. She needed to get out -- if you could call the workout room in the basement of her apartment building ‘out.’ A short run, maybe two miles or so would help get her mind off the thoughts that had been crowding her apartment the last couple of days.
Bonnie hated that they’d left without her. Oh, they’d hung around long enough to make sure she was okay, but Michael was just itching to go after Henderson. Especially after what happened. Devon had found a flight to San Francisco booked in one of Henderson’s aliases so Michael and Kitt left to chase him down. Devon followed in the semi shortly after. And it was killing her not to be out there with them. She’d tried to point out to Devon all the reasons why she should be there. Apparently she’d made a good case because Devon had decided to take one of the other techs along.
He probably had no idea how much that stung.
Did they think she couldn’t handle it? That she was some delicate wallflower who needed protecting? She could work through a little pain. Hell, Michael went out on cases injured all the time. She would just be sitting in front of a computer, not doing anything strenuous. But Devon had insisted that she take sick leave. He’d folded his arms and told her that she had to take time to recover.
It was ironic – Michael couldn’t steal time off if he tried, but here they were, forcing her to stay home when she didn’t want to.
The twinge in her side was getting more insistent, expanding into a throbbing that engulfed much of the left side of her torso. Bonnie was ready for the endorphins to kick in anytime. She didn’t really expect to be able to do a full work out, but it was frustrating that she couldn’t even run half a mile without starting to huff and puff. She tried to regulate her breathing and slip into a rhythm. But it just wouldn’t come. She couldn’t stop looking down at the distance displayed on the treadmill. The numbers were ticking by so slowly. And the pain was making its way even further up into her chest.
God, she hated feeling this … weak.
If she could just make it to a mile she wouldn’t feel so bad. It was at least a respectable start. But she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. And the last thing she needed to do was faint on the treadmill. She did not want to explain that to Devon. And she didn’t want to earn herself anymore time at home in the stifling quiet of her apartment. Reluctantly, Bonnie hit the stop button and took some deliberately shallow breaths as the treadmill slowed to a standstill.
A key jangled in the lock and the door to the work out room opened. Bonnie wasn’t surprised to see Jared stroll in – she ran into him a lot down here. He smiled when he saw her, but then froze. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes wide.
Bonnie followed his gaze to down to an ugly, scarlet blotch staining her shirt just above the waist on her left side. She touched the palm-sized rosette of blood and stared at the wet stains on her fingers.
“Do you need to go to the hospital or something?” Jared asked, the concern in his voice snapping her back.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m fine. It’s just … I have some stitches. I must have pulled them.” She gave him what was probably a weak smile. “I’ll be fine, thanks.”
“That looks pretty bad,” he said doubtfully. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride to the doctor or the emergency room -- whatever you want.”
Bonnie wanting more than anything to decline and just go back to her apartment. She wanted to cling to the delusion that she could just clean it up and everything would be okay. But looking down at the scarlet stain, she knew she wasn’t even going to be able to fool herself.
Defeated, she nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m just going to go back to my apartment and put on some clean clothes.”
Jared held the door for her, then slowly followed her out.
And for the first time since she’d been stabbed, Bonnie actually felt like crying.
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-knightshade
June 19, 2006
