Page 12 of Running to You

She did as he suggested, snuggling beneath the covers on the comfortable mattress.

The light came on, and the room filled with the clink-clink of lamp fragments falling into a trash can. It was quiet for a few moments, and then the swish-swish of a broom. The tinkling of tiny pieces.

“I think I got it all.” Sam spoke in barely more than a whisper. “I’m leaving your shoes beside the bed. Please put them on when you get up. I’d hate for you to step on a piece and cut yourself. Okay?”

“Thank you. Sorry.”

“It’s just a lamp.” He fell silent, but she felt him there. Then, his fingers brushed the exposed skin on her upper arm. “Does it hurt here?”

Did it? Once she concentrated on it… “A little. Why?”

“You have a bruise.” His voice was still low, but anger hummed on the words.

Why, though? She wanted to open her eyes and look at him, but the light was too bright.

“Do you remember how you got it?”

She tried to think back, but concentrating made her head pulse with pain.

After a minute, he said, “How about your nightmare? Do you remember that?”

“Just that I was scared. Running.”

“Scared of what?”

She shrugged. “It’s gone now.”

He tugged the T-shirt down over her arm, then brought the blanket up to cover her. The light flicked off.

She opened her eyes.

Sam stood beside the bed. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m all right. Sorry I woke you.”

“Camilla brought you some clothes. I put them in the bathroom. And Daniel left more tablets on your nightstand beside a glass of water. You can take them at five o’clock. It’s three thirty now.” He removed his watch and set it there. “So you can check the time.”

“Thank you.” She knew how much he loved that watch. “I’ll try not to break it.”

She expected a chuckle, but he made no sound as he closed the door.

Definitely angry. At her? For what?

More concerning. He hadn’t kissed her, not even a light peck on her temple like he’d done earlier. In fact, he’d barely touched her at all.

The house felt wrong. The world felt wrong. She didn’t know what was going on. She did know that the man she trusted more than anyone else was treating her like a stranger.

Worse than that. A niggling in the back of her mind told her she’d forgotten something.

Something incredibly important.

CHAPTER THREE

“Hey, bro.”

The whisper reached Sam as someone jostled his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and sat up, stretching his aching limbs.