Remember Me

15

James made breakfast for us the next morning. His kitchen was bigger than mine had been and it had a nicer table for us to sit at. Though I ended up sitting in his lap the whole time, unable to pull myself away from him for very long.

"What can we do today?" I asked, sipping at my ice water.

"Well, I need to take you for more medicine."

I turned my head to the side, confused. I wasn't acting any different than I had before and he knew it. Or at least... I thought he did. I was trying hard to keep the act up and I'd thought I was doing a decent job at it.

"It's been a month since you had your first dose and I have to keep your body on a strict schedule otherwise it won't work."

I frowned and stared down at my cup.

He took my silence to be a bad thing and his expression changed. "Sterling."

I met his gaze.

"I know what happens when it wears off. I've noticed it's been affecting you."

"I... I'm scared. With everything that's been going on, I just haven't felt safe. Last night was the first time in a while that I felt okay."

"Is that all that's bothering you?"

I nodded. "It feels like a lot. Like... I couldn't handle it without you."

He tilted my chin up and kissed my forehead. "You can always tell me what's bothering you, Sterling. Be honest with me, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

He took my cup from me and set it on the table. "You're such a strong girl, you know that?"

I hid my face in his chest. "Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone."

"I'll sit with you while the IV runs, okay?"

I nodded.

---

James stayed with me while the medicine was being injected. He helped me into a wheelchair and brought me back to his room. He even tucked me into his bed so I could rest. He never once left my side.

I rolled onto my right side and ran my fingers over the back of his hand. "Will the medicine hurt the baby?"

He shook his head. "The baby will be fine."

"Can you lay with me?"

He smiled and walked around the bed to the other side. He crawled under the covers and pulled me against his side.

I let my head fall on his shoulder. "I can't get go back to my room, can I?"

"We're still trying to figure out what happened."

"Where am I supposed to stay?"

He brushed the hair from my face. "You can stay here for a few days. Then we'll have to get you a new room."

"I won't be staying with Nicoli, will I?"

"Do you want to?"

I looked up at him, surprised that he was asking. Usually, everything was planned out for us and we just had to go with it. "I get to decide?"

He looked at me a few seconds longer than normal. "I didn't think you'd want to after everything that's happened."

I realized the way my comment sounded and tried to fix it before James became too suspicious. "I didn't think I had a choice."

"Do you want to stay with him?"

I shook my head. "Definitely not. He kind of scares me. And with everything going on lately..."

"We won't let him hurt you, Sterling. I can promise you that."

I pulled the blanket up to my shoulders. I had to pretend that Nicoli scared me but I needed to see him. I had no plan and neither did he. If we wanted to make it out alive, we needed to come up with something.