AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He wasn’t sure whether she could hear him or not, or whether he would hear her if she called for help. Finding the spare key for the flat in David’s desk drawer, he unlocked the door, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
‘Sam, I’m coming upstairs.’ He heard her voice slurring something that might have been an answer, or might not, and he didn’t wait to work it out.
She was leaning against the tiny kitchen sink, dressed in a white cotton nightdress, shards of broken glass and rivulets of water around her bare feet. He spoke her name and she hardly seemed to notice he was there.
For a moment everything that he was sloughed away like a discarded skin, leaving just a creature of instinct behind. All he could think about was a primitive urge to gather her up in his arms and make everything all right.
‘Don’t move...’ He crunched across the fragments of glass on the floor, and she tried to bat him away.
‘It’s okay...’ She was groggy, shading her eyes from the light. At the back of his mind the doctor was scrolling through all of the substances that could produce those particular symptoms, and Euan pushed those thoughts away.
‘Here. Careful now.’ He lifted her up gently, clear of the broken glass, and she moaned, clutching her head. Carrying her through to the tiny sitting room, he put her down in the chair.
‘Migraine...’ She seemed to be struggling to put a cogent sentence together. ‘My tablets are in my handbag...’
Of course. Euan wondered wryly whether he’d been doing this job too long. Not everything was the result of illegal drugs. ‘Okay. I’ll get them for you.’
He covered her with a throw that lay folded over the back of the chair, and made for the kitchen. Euan found her bag, sitting on top of the refrigerator. He wondered briefly whether he should be looking inside it, and reminded himself that he usually had little compunction in turning a woman’s handbag upside down in the name of effective treatment. Gingerly he nudged her purse and a bunch of keys to one side, and saw the top of a bottle of tablets. Pulling them out, he checked the label.
‘Here.’ He knelt down beside her chair, put two of the tablets into her hand and held the glass of water steady as she curled her shaking fingers around it. ‘Careful...’ A dribble of water ran down from the side of her mouth as she drank, and he caught it with one finger, brushing it away.
‘Let me see your feet.’ The request seemed somehow improper, although Sam had hardly reacted to it.
She ignored him, seeming ready to curl up in the chair and sleep right there. Euan bent down, examining her feet for any signs of glass or blood, and found nothing. Carefully he covered them up again with the throw, tucking it around her.
‘Thanks.’ She shaded her eyes with one hand, opening them a crack. ‘I’ll be okay in a minute.’
‘You should lie down.’
‘I’m all right. Don’t fuss.’
‘You’d be more comfortable.’ Euan broke off, realising what the problem was. ‘Stay here for a minute.’
‘Yeah. I’ll stay...’ Her words tailed off into nothing as he stood and made his way to the bedroom.
The bed was rumpled, the morning sun shining through the skylight above it. A perfect way to wake up, bathed in warm sunlight. Unless, of course, every shard of light seared its way through your head. Euan moved the bed out of the way, got a stool from the kitchenette, and reached up to the window.
It took a shove to get it open, but once he had a breeze started to circulate in the room. That done, he pinned a couple of tea-towels across the frame, blocking the light.
‘Okay.’ He tapped her hand to rouse her. ‘I’ve covered the skylight...’
‘Uh?’ She stared blearily at him.
‘Come with me.’ He gently tried to guide her to her feet, but she wasn’t going anywhere. So he lifted her in his arms again, catching his breath as he felt her snuggle against him.
All he could think about as he carefully manoeuvred her through to the bedroom was her scent. The feel of her warm skin. The tumble of her hair, caressing his arm.
‘Euan...’ When she murmured his name he felt his legs tremble, and he held her closer. ‘It’s too hot...’
‘I’ve opened the window.’ She gave a little sigh as he laid her down carefully on the bed and covered her with a sheet. All he wanted was to lie down beside her, feel the curl of her body against his again. ‘Sleep now.’
‘Mmm. I’ll be okay in a minute... When the tablets kick in.’ She was half-asleep already.
‘Sure. Is there anything you want?’ Euan looked around the room. One of the chairs from downstairs would fit in the corner, and he could watch over her while she slept. Just in case she woke up and needed him.
‘Will you go away, please?’
* * *
