Page 41 of Drawn Together

I stared frightenedly at Sebastian, and he let go of me immediately.

“It’s me,” he said again in an almost inaudible whisper.

I slowly nodded, then lay back on the bed, my eyes fixed on him.

It had been like two scenes merging into one.

Had I just remembered something from the kidnapping?

“I brought you some tomato soup. You need to drink some water, too. You haven’t had any liquids in hours.”

He placed his hand on my forehead, and I closed my eyes at his touch. My head was pounding.

I sat up carefully, making sure that my back didn’t brush against the headboard, and I drank the soup in small sips.

“How are you feeling?”

I didn’t answer. I suddenly felt like I was in some sort of trance, as if I were in danger. I feared for my life, and not because of the fever and the infection. I was afraid of him, of Sebastian, of him being in my room.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m going to hurt you?”

I stared down at the soup. It was hot and delicious, and even managed to warm me up. Or maybe the antibiotic had taken effect and the fever was starting to go down.

“I had a nightmare, that’s all.”

Sebastian nodded, looking concerned. When I finished the soup, he took the bowl and set in on the bedside table.

“Now I’ll put some ointment on your tattoo, then you can go back to sleep.”

As soon as his fingertips made contact with my skin, shivers ran up and down my spine. I hadn’t forgotten how cold he’d been to me days before, which allowed me to ultimately feel thankful when he finished, turned off the lights, and left.

The night was long and difficult. My fever hadn’t taken long to spike up again, and Sebastian had to repeatedly apply freezing-cold compresses to my forehead, making sure my fever didn’t rise above 104. I felt weak and miserable. At one point, I even begged him to get in bed with me. He did, although he stayed on top of the sheets. It was easier for him to apply the compresses from that position, but my request came more from my delirious, fevered state than anything else. I might have been hallucinating, but I could’ve sworn he ran his hands through my hair for what felt like hours until I finally fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, the light of a new day filtering in through the window, he was no longer in bed with me. I instead found him observing me from the chair in the corner.

I sat up, locking eyes with his.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, also sitting up.

I’m sure I looked as bad as I felt, like a total wreck, but he somehow managed to look more handsome than I’d ever seen him, even with dark circles under his eyes. I wanted to push his messy hair out of his face. I wanted to kiss him all over to thank him for staying up all night with me and taking care of me the way he had. But I couldn’t do either.

“Good, much better,” was all I said.

Sebastian stood up and looked at me. Before he could open his mouth and disappoint me, I decided what would happen next.

“I’ll tell Liam to come take care of me from now on. You can take your free hours, or do whatever you want. I won’t be going anywhere for the next few days, clearly.”

Sebastian drew his lips together into a fine line but didn’t say anything else.

CHAPTER 15MARFIL

Liam came over as soon as I called him. He entered my room and whistled like an idiot when he saw me lying in bed, shivering and writhing with body aches.

“I never thought I’d have to say this to you of all people, but you look like shit.”

Groaning, I pulled the covers over my head. “I asked you to come make me feel better, not worse, jerk.”

I rolled over as I felt him sit down beside me.