LA FURIA

Chapter 10

It wouldn't hurt trying to know her better without talking to her.

He found a Sci-Fi novel, knife, flashlight, cellphone, and her wallet. He opened the latter and found small bills, identification and cards, book club membership cards, and a lot of photos. Mostly photos of dogs. He scanned them again and again.

The damn things looked happy and healthy enough. Glossy coat, clean, fluffy fur, and lean bodies. He didn't know much about dogs but he knew, he just knew they were well kept and taken care of. No other photos, not even of herself. Just her dogs. Weird. They must have meant a lot to her. She must have preferred canine company rather than human. And that means...

He hadn't seen a single photo of a guy in her wallet. She didn't have commitments yet.

He shook his head abruptly at the thought. So what? It's none of his goddamned business. And she was also none of his goddamned business. He thought he had mastered the art of being numb. He knew he was unsympathetic and selfish by nature. But after what happened with the lobster...

He almost cried. Did she notice it? He hoped not. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about him. He put everything back in its proper places and went to sleep.

Rachel woke up to the smell of coffee. her head ached like hell and her injured hand felt like a brick, only twice as heavy. She tried to lift her head from the pillow. She made it, but the room was spinning.

"Don't play heroine with me. You know you can't stand, so don't do it."

She heard Edward from the dining table. Even his voice seemed to echo many times. Her eyeballs felt grainy. 

"Stubborn woman. Stay in bed. What do you need?"

Giving up, she laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"I'm hungry..."

"But of course. You haven't eaten anything since lunchtime yesterday. If you didn't wake up, I might have stuck an IV tube on you."

The echo continued. Her head throbbed with every word. Every noise she heard sent tiny pebbles raining on her skull.

"Oh, God...I wish I'm dead...," she saw him grin at her words.

"No kidding? Is that what you wish?"

He helped her sit up with her back against the wall, cushioned by a pillow. His touch felt like a live wire. Rachel groaned.

"Stop acting like you're about to die!"

"Please, don't shout at me...My head hurts."

He had the modicum to keep quiet, then he just went to the kitchen and when he came back he was holding a bowl of soup.

"I'm going to feed you. Be a good girl and open your mouth when I tell you to, okay?"

Rachel smiled. Was that a joke? If it was, then it's Edward's first joke since she got there. She opened her mouth for the first spoonful. As usual, his cooking was good. Not bad for a chef's brother.

"Your ordeal was so embarrassing," he pointed out. Another spoonful. Maybe to keep her from talking. She didn't talk anymore. She wanted to hear what he had to say. 

"I've heard of people who get cuts from knives, scissors, even lawnmowers," he helped her sip coffee from a pink mug. "But you, from a lobster?" he sounded amused but didn't laugh. 

"It may sound funny, but it's true that lobsters could be dangerous."

He explained how she could have lost a finger from a lobster's claw. The thought made her cough, and her head throbbed with the force.