Opening the door, relief flashed before his eyes at the sight of still-sleeping Unity, whom he found laying on her back in the bed, completely unaware of his presence as she slept soundly. Her chest rose and fell with each peaceful breath as her face was serene in slumber, a contrast to the state Danny is in at the moment.
Regardless of how much he tried to calm himself, his mind kept wandering back to the events from last night, replaying them in his head like a broken record while suffering the consequences of lack of sleep. Exhaling heavily, he decided it would be best to just sit beside her for a little while longer until his mind cleared up.
Quietly heading over to the edge of her bed, Danny carefully sat down next to her, watching as she slept undisturbed. The gleaming sunlight piercing through the windows created a warm glow that danced across the room, highlighting the umber tones of Unity's hair splayed out on the pillow like a fiery halo.
Her skin looked smooth and unblemished, almost porcelain-like in its pale perfection, with her cheeks and nose giving off an innocent appearance in comparison to other grown adults.
Sighing with a smile, he wonders if he should wake her up from her slumber since a new day has begun but hesitates due to thinking about his manners of waking someone up when they are asleep, regardless of the time they need to get up.
"I don't want to startle her," he thought quietly to himself. "She must've been through a lot lately." His inquisitive gaze drifted down to her slender hands resting on the covers, and his fingers curled slightly as if holding onto something imaginary that he couldn't understand.
Raising a brow or two, Danny doesn't have a clue why she would be doing this, wondering what could possibly be going through her mind at the moment other than the known obvious fact that shes dreaming about something, but to what extent he doesn't have an answer for that yet.
"Maybe she was having some kind of nightmare," he mused in a whisper, "or perhaps it's just a habit of hers." The more he begins to analyze her, the more questions arise, "but I'll never know unless I ask her directly."
He had always found Unity to be an enigma ever since he found her, a puzzle he longed to solve, and in this quiet moment, he felt drawn to her in a way he hadn't experienced before. There is something about her that he can't put a finger on, aside from the strange familiarity he got from the moment he laid his eyes on her.
Its not about the appearance itself but more so of the eye color, as they themselves share the exact same shade of orange. It's safe to say that they might be some long-lost sibling.
Although it is nothing but a skeptical claim he made for himself, having no concrete evidence to support this theory, Danny feels like he somehow knows her, like they share a deep connection that transcends words or actions. Having already mentioned this before, he still can't get this off his chest, no matter how he uses his own mind to focus on other things.
However, after everything that had happened last night, his own brain switched to different topics about his life and existence itself.
It is safe to say his rumblings are just madness from his fatigue, for the only thing he knew for certain was that Unity is special, that their bond went beyond mere friendship or acquaintanceship, and that he would do anything to protect her, to keep her safe from harm.
This feeling reminded him of what it feels like to have someone important in a person's life, someone who'd care deeply about another.
It's a wonderful feeling to have such love, but also terrifying at the same time knowing the risks that come with it, for in the end, it's all just a gamble, a roll of the dice to see if they'll win or lose from whatever ills may come their way.
But Danny is willing to take that risk, for he knows that without Unity by his side, his world would be a darker and emptier place. She is the light in his darkness, the warmth in his chill, and the hope in his despair. Because the moment she came into his life, he felt something new.
Purpose to make a difference all the while leaving a mark on this cruel world, even if it's just a small one. And he knows that it is because of her that she gives him the strength to push forward every single day, as she gave him duty after awakening in a strange world without purpose or identity beforehand.
Now, he has a purpose, which is to protect and care for her to the best of his abilities, and it is a wonderful feeling to have. As he continued to watch her sleep peacefully, Danny felt a deep sense of contentment wash over him.
"I don't know what is going to happen between us in the future," he whispered to himself, "but for now, I'm just glad she's here with me." With a soft smile playing on his lips, Danny leaned forward with his head facing down as he then put his open palms to rest gently on the bed beside her sleeping form, his fingers brushing against the soft fabric of the sheets as he closed his eyes.
"I'm tired," blunt and exhausted, came from the lips of a man who had been through so much recently. "I think I can sleep now."
Everything happened so fast last night, almost if he went to a three hundred sixty-degree turn from making a decision to head to the middle of the forest at night just to take a peaceful sleep to rest on. Instead, what he got was a hired madman trying to kill him.
His anxious mind was now worried about the reasons for the kind of person he himself was, which made several people send assassins to kill him. What's worse, he doesn't know if he was a good person to begin with or if he made someone want me dead for reasons he still doesn't know.
Moreover, his mind is coupled with many more troubling thoughts that are making him awake rather than falling asleep outright.
Despite being mentally and physically exhausted by all the problems he has faced lately, Danny finds himself struggling to drift off into slumber, his racing thoughts refusing to quiet down as they swirl around in his mind like a maelstrom. His own conscience presses down on him like a physical force, making it hard to breathe or think as everything around him was like a blur in his hazy vision.
Slowly, his eyelids grew heavy, fatigue finally beginning to pull him under as he felt his body relax, his muscles uncoiling like a spring released from tension. His breath slowed, evening out into a steady rhythm as his chest rose and fell with each peaceful exhalation.
While his mind is going crazy at the moment, the body itself is telling him to rest, to give up the fight against his own doubts and fears just to get some sleep. A good old rest to lay his tired brain" and weary body is all he needed at the moment.
"All will be well," the brain encouraged. "Take a good rest; once you wake up tomorrow, you will be refreshed to take on the world at large." Although Danny knows that the problem isn't going to magically disappear by the time he wakes up, he decides to trust in the power of rest.
Being deeply desperate, he wishes to lay down on a comfortable mattress to recharge his battered spirit. With this in mind, he decided to head out of the room and find somewhere comfortable within the building; he did not want to repeat this again last night by going outdoors.
Holding reason to do something he considers productive for his own well-being, Danny then slowly stood up from the edge of her bed, expecting to stand up straight and stretch his muscles. Rather than it happening, Unity's hand suddenly grabbed the young man's wrist in a surprisingly strong grip, halting his movement abruptly, much to his surprise.
"Unity?" He called her name unexpectedly, "What are you doing?" The suddenness of the action startled him, causing him to jump a little before turning the side of his face over to his shoulder.
Staring down at his sleeping form, she wasn't awake in the slightest, only holding onto his wrist tightly while continuing to sleep peacefully. Danny's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to understand why she would be grabbing his arm like that if she was still asleep.
Was she having some kind of nightmare or dream that caused her to react in such a way? He doesn't have any idea, but he can feel the warmth from her skin, a sensation that makes him feel strangely comforted despite the initial shock of her sudden action.
She then uttered words that could be properly understood as Danny's eyes wide as saucers from witnessing this spectacle moment. "Papa, don't go..." Her voice was soft and sleepy, barely above a whisper, yet it carried a weight of emotion that made Danny's heart clench in his chest.
"I don't want to be alone with her." She continued onward, a discomforting look on his face. "Stay with us," her hand still gripping his wrist firmly, "please..." A plea from someone in her nightmare who is clearly not here within this very room.
Hearing this, his mind reeled, trying to process the words he had just heard and the implications of them hitting him like a freight train.
"Papa?" He repeated, his voice shaking slightly as he stared down at Unity's troubled face, "has someone abandoned you?" Food for thought: it is difficult to believe that someone could abandon their own daughter in a world that is already filled with so much danger and uncertainty.
There is always a different possibility, one that he can't dismiss outright without getting proper information to reach a conclusion.
"Mommy is gone, papa."
As she said those words, his entire body froze. He does not have a clue why it did, but Danny felt something inside him snap, as if there was a twig breaking underfoot. His entire face then iced over as he stared at her with cold, calculating eyes.
Terrifyingly confused as to why he suddenly turned into a statue the mere moment she said something about her own biological mother, he didn't know what to say or do next aside from expressing another flare of familiarity that he felt towards her, reflecting on her own mom.
But before anything else could be done, her eyes suddenly flashed open as her hand loosened itself from its grip on Danny's wrist. "Guuu?" Blinking multiple times, she looked up at him with a drowsy gaze, seemingly unaware of the panic she had just caused him. "
A contented sigh escaped her lips from having good rest as she let out a long, drawn-out yawn before stretching her arms above her head along with a confused expression crossing her face from seeing him standing at the front of the bed.
Danny wanted to say something else and ask questions. However, he knows its useless when he's just going to get nothing from it. "Hey Unity," fatigue has finally caught up with him. "I'm heading out for a bit, gonna find a place to sleep." He said, forcing smile on himself.
"The head doctor will—" His sentence was immediately cut short when his eyes shut themselves completely before falling to the floor at his back. Unconsciousness had finally taken over his weary body and mind altogether.
Seeing something so sudden in her life, she instinctively let out a terrific scream of horror as Unity jumped out of bed in panic, rushing over to the young man's side as she knelt down while she continuously wailed in fear of the unexpected turn.
Crying loudly, tears streamed down her face as she desperately tried to shake him awake, deeply concerned for the very person who took her in for a home she never had. The anguished, slender woman continued shaking his shoulders nonstop in hopes of bringing him back to the living.
