[ The amount of time between when he hung up and when she gets there is unknown to him. It's hard to focus on anything outside of the pounding. Like hail on a roof, denting it beyond repair. Her fast running footsteps echo behind him and he hears her coming, distantly, past it all but it wasn't enough to make him stop staring at the page in his hand.
Until the footprints stop. And she speaks. Alice? No no no- that's wrong. He flinches and turns his head in her direction, crumbling the page up in a surprised tension. He blinks a few times, eyes darting then focusing on her with a deep frown. Is he here? What a loaded question. ]
Yes. Right here. [ She provides context clues. How she's gripping the wall. She's out of breath. Not too much time then. Good. Meanwhile, he's disheveled. Disoriented. Displaced. There's a cut on his head trickling blood. "Ah," everyone will think. "He must've hit it pretty hard just now. That explains all that." It drips in his eye and he reaches to wipe it away while saying: ] I'm okay. ...Did you run?
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Until the footprints stop. And she speaks. Alice? No no no- that's wrong. He flinches and turns his head in her direction, crumbling the page up in a surprised tension. He blinks a few times, eyes darting then focusing on her with a deep frown. Is he here? What a loaded question. ]
Yes. Right here. [ She provides context clues. How she's gripping the wall. She's out of breath. Not too much time then. Good. Meanwhile, he's disheveled. Disoriented. Displaced. There's a cut on his head trickling blood. "Ah," everyone will think. "He must've hit it pretty hard just now. That explains all that." It drips in his eye and he reaches to wipe it away while saying: ] I'm okay. ...Did you run?