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“It’s Christopher.” I reached over and kissed him. “Go back to sleep.”
“I’ll come with you.” He attempted to pull the blanket back but I grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
“No. If there are too many people right now, it’s just going to make it worse.” I rubbed my thumb over his pulse point. “I just need to talk to him and find out what’s wrong. Okay?” I needed him to agree. I know that Freddie just wanted to help but the only person that mattered right now was Christopher. I raised my eyebrow at him and waited for him to agree.
“Okay,” he whispered. “But you call me if you need me,” he demanded.
“I will. Go back to sleep, baby.” I grabbed my hoodie off the side and closed the bedroom door, slipping it on before I grabbed my keys. Checking my watch, I saw that it was just past three am. I fucking hoped that’d make it easier to sort out whatever drama had happened between Christopher and Isobel. With the state that she was in on the phone, I dreaded what the problem could be. I had my suspicions but I fucking hoped I was wrong.
I began the run to Isobel’s place, not having the time to wait for a cab. I needed to get there as fast as I could. I took the stairs two at a time, not stopping until I was banging on her door.
She quickly opened the door and the sight of her in her strappy top and shorts as tears ran freely down her face was enough to break me.
“What happened?” I stepped inside and wrapped my arms around her, crushing her to me before I kicked the door shut with my foot. “Earlier you two were okay and now…” I picked her up a little until her feet were lifted off the floor and walked us over to the sofa. I placed her down on the seat and took a seat next to her.
“We… he…” She hiccupped a sob and it fucking killed me.
“Isobel, slowly.” I reached over and took a deep breath. “With me.” I took another and she copied my movement. In this moment, she and Christopher were a lot alike. They let their emotions overwhelm them until they were left in a wrecked state.
“We were okay. Everything was okay.” Her voice waivered a little. “We had sex and it was good. Everything was good and he…” She swallowed and it was loud in the quietness of the room. She blew out a breath. “We were sleeping and he… I don’t know what happened but he…”
“He had a night terror, didn’t he?” I asked, filling in the blanks. “Did he hurt you?” I reached for her chin and tilted her face so I could check. If he had marked her, we had a bigger problem than I originally thought.
I had been waiting for him to start having night terrors. I knew that he was on medication to control any night terrors and I just assumed that he had been taking his tablets. I cringed at my own stupidity when I realized I hadn’t even asked if he was. I just fucking assumed.
“No.” She shook her head at me. “He caught my face when it happened but he…” She sobbed again and she reached up and covered her face with her hands. I let her have her moment and waited for her to get herself together. After a moment, she placed her hands back down on her lap and looked up at me. “I made it worse, Luke.”
“How the hell could you make his night terror any worse?” I asked her.
“I shrieked at him and I… I took the blankets off him and I backed away from the bed.” She seemed a little devastated as she told me that. “He was so betrayed when I did that.”
Ah, fuck.“It brought him out of his night terror?” I asked her. I grabbed my phone and typed out a message to Freddie.
Can you check Christopher’s room? Pill bottles. How many does he have left?
“Yes,” she whispered. “Is that good?” She wrung her hands together on her lap and I knew that she was trying to grasp on to some hope.
“I’m not sure,” I muttered. “I need to speak to Thomas and see if he has had any night terrors back home but I don’t want to do that until I have found him.” I shook my head. “They’d only get involved and call and it might make things worse. He doesn’t do well with added pressure.”
“He’s a strong man, Luke,” she said, quickly defending him.
“I know he is.” I reached my hand up and tucked a curl behind her ear. “I just mean that when it comes to family and people that he loves, he puts pressure on himself to be the perfect person.” I blew out a breath. “No one is perfect and he shouldn’t expect himself to be. That’s where the extra and unnecessary pressure comes from.” I stood up and stepped away. “I’ll call you if I find him.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said firmly as she stood up. “I can’t stay here while you—”
“Yes, you are,” I said, cutting her off. I turned around to face her. “I need to calm him the fuck down and find out what’s been going on. Having the two of us there…” I blew out a frustrated breath and let my hands fall at my sides. “I just want to get him stable before I bring him back. Okay?”
Her eyes glistened at me. “He was doing so well. He was happy and he…”
“Isobel. Christopher has issues that aren’t going to be fixed with a new job. He has to take things as they come and he…” I stared at her, not sure what to say that wasn’t going to make her worry more. “Let’s just get him home and we can go from there.” I ignored the vibration of Freddie’s text, not wanting to read it until I was outside. “I’ll call when we are on our way back, okay?”
“How do you know where he’s gone?” she asked me.
“I have an idea. There was a fountain in Trafalgar Square back home you’d usually find him at when he needed some time to think. I’ll check some fountains and go from there.”
“It’s a big city, Luke,” she stated unnecessarily.
“I know.” I reached out and rubbed her arm, offering her some comfort with my touch, the only way I knew how. “I’ll find him,” I promised before I left her apartment. Exiting the building I stopped outside and loaded up Freddie’s message.
