“You knew it already.”
“Still liked seeing it.”
He fell asleep.
I remained awake long enough to understand something I had missed.
Protection was not making sure Noah never became frightened.
It was giving fear somewhere safe to arrive.
Chapter 36
NOAH
For three days, I stayed upstairs.
I did not argue.
That worried everyone.
Maeve came Wednesday and declared my restraint medically suspicious. A cognitive rehabilitation therapist arrived Thursday with sequencing exercises and left after I fell asleep halfway through one involving colored blocks.
I slept.
Ate.
Walked through the apartment.
Held Reid whenever he came upstairs.
The need for contact embarrassed me until I decided embarrassment could wait.
Each time the stairwell door opened, my body loosened.
Each time Reid left, I reminded myself where he was.
Downstairs.
In the yard.
Coming back.
By Friday, I could remain awake through breakfast and lunch without feeling as though someone had filled my skull with wet sand.
I went downstairs for the interviews.
Reid objected.
“I’m not working.”
“You’re standing in the workshop.”
“Sitting soon.”
“You need quiet.”
“I need to see the person who will answer our phones.”
