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“She didn’t.”
I froze, dropping my chin and lowering my eyes to the floor.
“She didn’t leave, Elias. She’s here. Right outside the door, I bet. When you started to wake, I asked her to give me a minute…”
He didn’t know what he was going to get.
How I would be.
He was protecting her,from me.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I moved slowly to the bathroom. I heard him behind me. His moves were also cautious. I could feel them. He stopped in the doorway, not speaking until my eyes swept both counters. “The old ones are gone. I took them. Didn’t trust what she gave you. I had Dr. Shore write a new prescription. I had it filled for you this morning. Had it checked to make sure it was right.”
She’d fucked with my meds.
“Thank you.”
He nodded sharply. “This time was different, Elias. Nothing like before. You usually cycle for a couple hours max but this time…”
“How long?”
“Days.” I frowned hard at him. “Each time you came out of it, we put you back under. It got pretty bad.”
“Days?”
“Yeah, three.”
“She was here?”
“Wouldn’t leave. I told her to. Christian wanted to drag her up out of here but she refused. Stood her ground. Wouldn’t leave.”
“Why?” I swallowed hard. “If it was that bad…”
“Said she was your wife. She wasn’t leaving.” He shrugged and I laughed bitterly.
She should have left.
I didn’t deserve her grace.
Didn’t deserve for her to stay.
“I need to take a shower.”
“We’ll talk later.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk later.”
I turned on the shower, removed my clothes, and stepped in. I didn’t bother waiting for the temperature to adjust. The showerheads hit me from three different angles and my body prickled with an awareness. I needed to feel. My mind and body were numb. The past couple weeks had caught up with me but one thing, one person, weighed on me more than anything.
Cress…
My wife…
I closed my eyes and leaned against the tile, allowing the heavy spray to beat down on my skin. Eventually it moved from cool to unbearably hot. Still I didn’t hurry. Just stopped there, giving myself time to feel alive again. After what felt like forever I managed to wash away some of the unease that crawled all over my skin. I dragged a towel over my body then walked back into my bedroom, dressed in a pair of sweats. I walked to the balcony, opening the doors enough to step outside. The sun was bright and warm against my skin. I had no idea what time it was or even what fucking day it was nor did I care.
“Hey…”
