CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO CHLOE
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
CHLOE
NOW
Ronan finally helped me back to the mattress with the promise of coming back with everything I need before disappearing from the cellar. But that was a while ago, and if I don’t have painkillers soon, they won’t help at all.
It’s been a long time since I’ve got to the stage where I can’t manage the pain, but the memories of agony that never seemed to quit are so fresh it may as well have been yesterday.
Burying my head in the pillow, I sob through another sharp cramp that shoots down my thigh. It hurts so badly I can almost forget where I am and that there’s blood seeping through my sweats.
This is as close to rock bottom as I’ve been in a long time, and yet I’m still mortified.
I bled all over Ronan, and I didn’t even have the energy to climb out of his lap.
I don’t have the energy for anything.
For three days a month, I’m basically bedridden.
When Camilla was younger, she seemed to know when those days were coming around because she suddenly wanted to have a girls’ movie weekend and order in for every meal.
Even at nine years old, she was so wise. It makes sense that she was able to step into her role as the head of the family at eighteen without hesitation.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when the door opens slowly, not that it makes any less noise.
Ronan appears with two bags over his shoulders, a stack of pillows in his arms, and what appears to be an electric throw blanket.
There isn’t a power outlet in here, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.
He carefully places the soft items over my legs before dropping the bags by the door without bothering to close it.
Honestly, I couldn’t run right now even without the chain around my ankle. At this point, I’m not sure I can sit up unassisted.
Without a word, he dumps the first bag out in front of me and my eyes widen at the sight.
Three different varieties of pads, tampons, and period underwear are spread out in front of me, alongside a mixture of prescription and over-the-counter medications.
“How did you get all this?”
“I bribed the pharmacist.”
I glance up at him. “Bribed or threatened?”
“Little bit of column A, little bit of column B.”
I scoff, which sends a fresh cramp across my stomach.
His face falls, and he reaches into the other bag, pulling out a bottle of water, which he quickly uncaps. He rummages through the painkillers for a moment, reading the labels before settling on one I’ve had before.
Dropping two in his hand, he presses the pills to my lips before offering me the water without missing a beat.
He’s so good at this. He always has been.
Even when he was a teenager and should have been grossed out by the idea of periods, he never flinched. It was one of the things that made me realize we were more than just friends.
Because every month he kept me company when I couldn’t get out of bed. He held my hair back when the pain was so bad I threw up. And he came to every single appointment I ever had. All before he was my boyfriend.
I was in love with him long before I knew what that word meant.
“Thank you,” I murmur once I’ve swallowed the pills.
He gives me a soft smile before pulling things from the bag the water came from.
Chocolate, candy, and electrolytes are laid out in front of me before he turns to the pile at my feet and fishes out a hot water bottle, which he carefully places over my lower belly.
“I need to clean up,” I whisper, embarrassment spreading through my chest. It doesn’t matter that this isn’t the first time he’s dealt with this, I’m no less ashamed than I was the first time.
“Just wait for the meds to kick in.”
“But I’m bleeding everywhere.”
He shrugs. “I’m more concerned about your comfort than I am about a little blood. I have the chef making you a steak as well. I know the doctor said red meat can help at this time of the month.”
Tears roll down my cheeks, and I don’t bother to wipe them away, but Ronan does it for me.
“Is it the pain?”
I shake my head, and his brow dips in confusion.
“What is it then?”
“You remembered everything,” I choke out. “Even after all these years, you knew exactly what I needed.”
A soft smile tugs at his lips, and I almost forget I’m his captive, locked up in the cellar beneath his house. “Taking care of you comes as easy as breathing, Sparrow.”