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"Do you even have to ask?" He let go of my arm, stretched out his arms, and held up a leg, balancing perfectly.
"Good, because I think you should take her home," Brandt advised.
Grady nodded as he put down his arms and leg.
"Boo on you," I said to Brandt as I removed my arm from his grip.
He quickly kissed me on the cheek. "Sweet dreams," he whispered into my ear and then disappeared into the darkness of the parking lot.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me, Freckles," Grady said.
"I guess so." My stomach started churning, and my forehead beaded with sweat. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Of course, you are," he said sarcastically as he ushered me quickly to the side of the restaurant and held my hair back as I bent over a planter and puked. After a few extremely mortifying moments, I finally felt like I could move again. My body had weakened so much that Grady had to pick me up and carry me to his car. I rested my head on his chest, giving him one hundred percent of my trust. Who else did I have, anyway? He was good to me. He would make sure I survived another night.
He buckled me in the passenger seat and reclined the seat as far back as it would go, allowing me to drift off to the purring of the engine.
A blinding light and a loud horn startled me awake and filled my head with deafening screams. My thoughts were muddled and my vision was foggy, and the only thing I could see was a bright light. My heart felt like it was going to give out any second as my body convulsed uncontrollably, tears soaking my cheeks. I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to quiet the horn that was still blaring in my head.
I rocked myself, chanting quietly, “Please make it stop, please.”
"Freckles, it's okay. I'm here."
Why won't it stop?I thought.
A cold breeze sent shivers across my body, and then warm arms wrapped around me, scooping me up. I dared a peek and realized I had slid off the seat and was curled tightly into the floor of the car. Grady lifted me out and held me tightly in his arms.
"I'm here. Shhh…It's okay. You're safe," he whispered.
I couldn't respond, but the screams and honking had finally ceased, my heart was settling, my stomach relaxed, and I could breathe again. Grady carried me into the house, passing the source of the bright light coming from the floodlight above the garage.
It was just a bad dream.
He shifted me in his arms as he unlocked the door.
"I can walk," I said, barely audible.
"I got you.”
He kicked the door shut and brought me through the dark house to the bedroom and laid me down. I stared up at him, taking careful inventory of his features. He seemed so familiar, yet a complete stranger at the same time. "Why are you helping me?"
He brushed my hair out of my face and then kneeled by my side. "Because I can," he replied simply.
"I know you can, but why? I'm clearly a mess." I was sobering a bit, and I was feeling the weight of the alcohol on my limbs as they melted into the sheets.
"When I saw you sitting on the bench outside the hospital, completely void of emotion, it broke me. After getting to know you, I couldn't just leave you there without anywhere to go."
"Do you know what happened to me?"
"Technically, I shouldn't, because it's confidential, but I sneaked a peek at your chart one day."
"Mr. Grady, you bad little boy." I was too weak to put much effort into my teasing. "What did it say?"
"Do you really want to know?"
The way he asked me was disconcerting. "Why would you ask me that? Yes, I want to know."
"I'm sorry. I just assumed you discussed this with the doctor before you left."
