Twelve
Natalia
When I opened my eyes and saw him, it all came rushing back.
Everything—the shouting in his office, the assault I suffered at the hands of my ex, and Reid all but demanding I allow him to apologize to me face-to-face.
Then, there was all that had followed. The look on his face when he saw the state of me, the desperation in his voice to understand what had happened, the remorse he felt for whatever role he played in causing me any pain.
Clear as day, I could remember all of that. Every last stitch of it was etched into my memory in ways I knew I’d never forget any of it.
It was all that had happened after he told me to sleep and rest when things got fuzzy. Because between bouts of what I could only assume were sleep and wakefulness, I recalled only bits and pieces of interaction, if it could even be called such.
Reid was in most that I remembered. Him being there when I woke, ready to help me shift my body when it was too much for me alone.
Reid was there with food, too. Not just having it prepared for me but feeding it to me as well.
The man held glasses of water to my lips, murmuring soft words and urging me to drink.
And he gave me medication to relieve the pain or ice to reduce the swelling.
If it weren’t for the fact that I was currently in my bed, I might have thought it was in my dreams that I’d envisioned Reid looking down at me with such fondness in his eyes as he carried me in his arms.
There were moments I believed I woke and just looked at him for a while. He wasn’t always looking at me, but he was always there. Except for once. Danielle had been here once when I was still on the couch. I remembered seeing her, but I couldn’t recall any conversation we might have had.
At this point, only one thing was certain. I couldn’t discern what was real and what had been a dream.
For the first time since Reid told me to sleep, I felt a sense of clarity. Like the fog had lifted a bit.
Aware of what was happening around me now, my eyes were entirely focused on the man sleeping in the chair in the corner of the room. His head was tilted to one side, his eyes closed, but his body didn’t seem like it was relaxed at all.
How long had he been like that? How many hours had it been?
Like he could sense my focus on him, Reid’s eyes came in my direction. He blinked away the disorientation from what had to be an uncomfortable bout of rest and sat up straight, his hands pressing into the arms of his chair. “Hey. Are you okay? Can I get you something?”
The concern in his voice was unmistakable.
Even though I recalled so much of what he’d said from the moment he showed up on my doorstep, his tone changing after he’d seen what had been done to me, there was something about hearing it again now that caught me off guard.
He’d never spoken to me with such tenderness in his tone.
Without answering him, I moved to sit up, immediately wincing with pain as I did, and barely a moment into it, Reid had rushed to my side to help me.
“Easy,” he urged, his voice soft. I tried to ignore the feel of his hands on me as he propped up some pillows behind me.
Once I was situated, he asked, “How’s that? ”
I gave him a nod. “Good. Thank you.”
“Are you feeling any pain?”
“Achy,” I murmured. “What time is it?”
He flipped his wrist over, glanced at his watch, and said, “Almost seven-thirty in the morning.”
“Wow.” I marveled. “I slept all night.”
“Two nights.”
“What?”
“It’s Sunday morning.”
There hadn’t been much remaining, but the last bits of that fog vanished. “Sunday?!”
One half of his mouth quirked. “You’ve been going through it, lady.”
Reid came to my house on Friday. It’d been early in the afternoon. Now, it was Sunday morning. I’d missed a day and a half of life. “Are you… Are you joking?”
He shook his head. “I’m not. I’ve done my best to keep you hydrated and fed. You woke up for brief periods, but they were short, and you were really out of it.”
Wow.
I knew I hadn’t slept well Thursday night because I’d been so terrified, but this seemed extreme.
My eyes drifted down over him. He was still standing by the bed, towering over me. “You changed.”
Given that he’d shown up here wearing clothes that indicated he’d come right from the office and wasn’t wearing those same clothes now, it wasn’t as though I’d made some massive revelation.
Nodding, Reid shared, “I left for just shy of an hour on Friday when Danielle showed up. I hadn’t realized she knew what happened to you.
She told me she was the one who took you to urgent care.
I told her I intended to stay and take care of you, so she insisted that I at least run back to the cabin to get myself changed.
I was gone long enough to shower, put on fresh clothes, grab a few necessities, and bring you dinner. ”
So the memory of him feeding me had been real then. And I knew I’d remembered seeing Danielle. “I was really out of it.”
“You look clearheaded now.”
“You were here all this time?”
He gave me a small smile. “I was.”
I didn’t know what to do with that information. Sure, Reid had said he wasn’t going anywhere while I rested, but I hadn’t expected I’d be asleep for days. In all the instances where I’d been beaten previously, I hadn’t ever needed that amount of rest. Maybe this time had been worse than I thought.
I’d spent so much time trying to come to grips with the whole situation, and namely, the fact that Reid had spent two nights here with me, that he took advantage of my silence and spoke. “Are you hungry?”
I was still in such disbelief over this. Of course, taking stock of how I felt, I noted there was a hollow sensation in my belly. “A little.”
“I can make some breakfast for the both of us.”
“What?”
“You stay in bed, and I’ll go make some breakfast.”
He was going to cook? He’d gone from telling me to shut up and not talk to him unless I had something to say about work to now declaring he intended to cook me breakfast. If I’d had any strength in my hands, I might have pinched myself to confirm this was really happening.
“I… I… That would be lovely, Reid. I just… Would you mind if…”
“What is it?”
I licked my lips, feeling hesitant, but ultimately said, “I desperately want to take a shower.”
His eyes roamed over me. Or as much of me as he could see since my lower half was still hidden beneath the blanket. “Okay. I can help you get out of bed and over there, and while you’re doing that, I’ll get the food ready.”
Reid was being so sweet and accommodating. It would’ve been easy for me to get attached to the man he was showing me now, so I needed to recall what happened the last time I thought we were making strides to be friendly acquaintances.
I pushed the blanket back from my body and moved to swing my legs out over the side of the bed.
Reid held one hand out to me and brought the other around my back to ease me up to standing.
Then he stayed by my side, holding on to me as we crossed the room.
When we made it to the bathroom, he said, “If you think you’ll be alright, I’ll go get started on the food. ”
I gave him a nod. “Okay.”
His mouth curved into a small smile, his eyes shining like I’d never seen before. “If you need my help at all, just yell for me.”
No matter what happened, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to bring myself to call him for help. Not when I was going to be naked in the shower. “Thanks, Reid.”
“Is there anything I can get you before you hop in?”
Shaking my head, I replied, “No. I think I’m good for now.”
A moment later, he was gone, and I was standing in the bathroom.
I could move my body a bit easier than I’d been able to on Friday, so things were heading in the right direction, but it still wasn’t perfect.
I still felt plenty of aches and pains, and when I stripped out of my clothes, which had been no easy feat, there was still a significant amount of bruising to be found.
On the bright side, the swelling in my face had gone down substantially.
And I could finally see out of both eyes.
With some effort, I managed a shower. It wasn’t lengthy or lavish, but it got the job done, and I hadn’t felt like my legs were going to give out from under me.
The best part was that it left me feeling the most revived I had in days.
And while that was a great thing in so many ways, I realized it also meant I couldn’t blame being exhausted as a reason not to talk to Reid.
But if what he’d shared was the truth—that he’d been here with me ever since he showed up on Friday afternoon—maybe he really was serious about making amends.
As much as I might have preferred to hide in my bedroom to avoid him, the reality was that I’d need to face him at some point. Now was just as good as any.
So, after getting myself dressed and drying my hair, I made my way to the kitchen. It seemed I had near-perfect timing, because Reid turned toward the table with a plate in each of his hands. Both were piled high with eggs, toast, and fruit. “You weren’t joking about cooking.”
My voice startled him, pulling his attention in my direction. Reid looked me up and down, a smile of approval playing at his lips. He set the plates down on the table. “And I made the eggs your favorite way—over easy.”
Stunned, I asked, “How did you know that?”
He chuckled, the sight and sound of it leaving me stunned. “I asked you about it when you woke once on Friday evening, since I wanted to know what I could make that you’d like for breakfast on Saturday morning.”
I bit down lightly on my bottom lip, wondering what else I had revealed to him.
As though sensing my reason for my reaction, he insisted, “Don’t worry. I didn’t press you for any secrets.”
Well, at least there was that. “Thanks,” I muttered, moving toward the table.