A Slip of the Hand

Chapter 5

My eyes fly open. Blackness is all around me, but it's somehow spinning. Where the fuck am I and what the fuck happened?! Bed. I'm in a bed. I listen hard, but I don't hear a thing. Intense nausea bubbles in my stomach, moving higher. Toilet!

I sit up and retch and heave. Vomit explodes out of me before I can even get out of the bed. It coats the covers and splatters down my front. Oh fuck!

I have to get out of here. Or, at least I have to find a bathroom! I stand, but I sway unsteadily on my feet. My arms flail as I fall back against the bed. Glass shatters, and cool liquid hits my feet. I slump against the bed, wondering if I'll be able to find the strength to sit up again.

"Ellie!" I call desperately.

A doorknob turns and a band of light streams into the room. I groan, the brightness killing my eyes.

"Shit! Madison, are you okay?" a man asks.

The fuck?

"Where am I?" I cry, my voice shaking.

"My condo," the man replies, and then quickly adds: "You're safe."

That voice... Daniel. I'm with Daniel?!

"Whhere'ss Ellie?"

"I'm not sure," he replies after a worrying pause.

"Wwhhy the fffuck am I here?"

"I didn't know where else to take you. You basically passed out in the car, but I got you awake enough to get you up here."

My head is spinning. "Ww-why am I with you?"

"You told me you felt sick and needed to leave," he explains in a calm voice.

"I feel sssick." Just pushing the words from my weak body is a chore. "Shhhiiiit."

"Let's get you away from the glass."

I feel my body lift and fall into the cradle of two solid arms. My stomach jiggles, and even though my eyes are closed, the world spins around and around. I feel it coming—up, up, up!

"Toilet!" I shriek, and Daniel rushes to action. I try my hardest to keep it all down, but every quick step shakes my stomach. My sickness fills my cheeks, and I strain to keep my lips closed with my palm pressed against them. It leaks out and dribbles down my face.

Daniel places me before the toilet, and I remove my hand just in time for another sharp heave. Tears stream down my face.

"Shhhhiiit," I moan in between heaves. Nothing's even coming out anymore! Why won't it stop?

He pulls my hair back, and I feel his hand glide up and down my back. "You're okay."

I cough and sputter for a while, then finally slump against the toilet.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Daniel says.

"No," I squeak weakly, my body shaking and sweating.

"Come on. I'll help you," he insists, and I feel my torso lift.

I shake my head.

"Okay, well, let's get this off for starters," he says, and I feel him undo the buttons on the back of my dress.

"No!" I try to protest, but I really don't have the strength.

"Madison, you're covered in vomit, but I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. I'll wash this and give you something else to wear. I won't look. I won't touch you anywhere weird. Okay?"

I consent with a soft nod. I don't fight him as he pulls the dress over my head, but I can't quite find the strength and coordination to help.

Drunk as fuck. Covered in vomit. Down to my undies. With a stranger. This is my life right now.

I hear a shower turn on as I lay in a ball on the bathroom floor, shaking.

"Put this on," Daniel says, and I open my eyes just long enough to see him pull a white t-shirt over his head. He sits me up again and helps me into it. It's soft and warm, and its spicy musk mixes with the smells of stale alcohol and vomit oozing from my body.

"We're gonna clean you up in the shower, with this shirt on, and then I'll give you something dry to wear. Okay?"

I nod.

He gingerly touches my shoulder to help me to my feet, but I slap his hand away. I want to prove how capable I am, how sober I am.

My torso barely moves from the floor before I run out of strength. "I can't do it!" I squeak with a sob.

"That's okay. I can help," Daniel says and scoops his arm around me.

"Don't look at my pantiesss."

"Of course not," he coos, and he guides my body upward.

I just close my eyes and lean against him, still struggling to comprehend what I've gotten myself into.