ERODA

~Chapter 51~

ANNABEL FLEMING

"Are you sure? I will make you some more soup if you want me to."

"For the fifth time, Harry I am fine." I groan as I lay in my bed and he runs around like a crazy person, putting blankets over me and offering to help me with things that he has never offered to help with before.

I don't know what to think of the way he is acting right now. Normally, I'd expect him to have yelled at me by now for running away and trying to escape, but he hasn't even brought it up. He is so focused on catering to my injuries that he hasn't even stopped to breathe.

"I know, but-" he starts to speak but the ringing of his old rotary phone sounds from downstairs in the kitchen, cutting him off. He sighs before turning around to walk out of the door, leaving me alone for the first time since I was on the boat.

After a few seconds of silence, everything begins to sink in for the first time. The boat, Jenny, Harry, the ruined plan...

Do I stick with the original plan and just hope Harry will fall for me? I don't know what else to do. I'm not quite sure why but Harry hasn't seemed angry about me trying to sail away once again. I don't think he has let himself process it yet, so I'm sure he will bring it up in the near future.

The ringing of the phone stops, telling me that Harry picked it up to answer it.

I am getting tired of laying in this bed, pinned under the sheets like this. Harry has me tucked into my comforter like a burrito. Once he carried me home, he helped me shower and clean my wounds the best he could without taking my underwear and bra off. It was a bit awkward, but I was more focused on trying to stay awake than the weird tension of Harry cleaning me up.

I had a pretty bad headache after Jenny beat my head against that boat. It took a five-hour nap and some painkillers to feel slightly normal again. I'm still a bit sore in places. The worst wound I have other than the bruises on my head is the cut on my neck from her knife. She didn't cut too terribly deep, but it was enough to make me bleed and leave a light scar for sure.

I haven't stood up in what seems to be hours, since Harry hasn't let me. I think he may be worried I'm going to break if I do.

Weird thing to say isn't it? Harry might be worried...

Without a second thought, I unwrap myself from the tightly wrapped comforter and slowly stand up. I have to stand still for a second, because of my darkened vision from not standing up in hours. I take deep breaths, holding onto the bedpost until I feel okay to walk, and then make my way out of my bedroom.

As I walk slowly but surely through the hallway and down the stairs I can hear Harry's voice from the kitchen. He sounds like he is bickering with whoever it is on the phone.

"No, she is laying in bed right now." He says in a whispered tone. "Yeah, she took a five-hour nap." He pauses to let the other person talk. "Yeah, but she still needs to rest."

I sneak further down the stairs, making my way to the corner of the wall where you turn into the kitchen. I peek my head around the wall to see Harry leaned against the counter, his back to me, on the phone.

"No, I'm not letting you talk to her right now, she doesn't need any more stress than she has already had today." My eyebrows crinkle at his rare thoughtful words. Who is he talking to?

I try to lean closer so that I could maybe hear the voice on the other line, but my weight leaning forward makes the old wooden floor of the cabin creak underneath me. I instantly curse under my breath, closing my eyes, and pray that Harry didn't hear that. But when I open my eyes, his head is snapping around in my direction and his eyes meet mine.