Page 104 of Don't Leave Me

“Come on. We’re taking a bath,” he said lightly and disappeared back into the bathroom.

I sighed with relief. I walked into the bathroom and Michael was stripping – still one of my favorite sights to see – and turned to look at me as he held out his hand. I took his hand and he guided me into the tub, very gently, each foot dipping into the warm water and the sensation making my whole body tingle.Ah, I needed this.Michael emerged himself into the water as I did, and I laid back onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around me.

“I know you’re going through a lot, Hana. I’m sorry if I’m being too strict. Tell me if I’m being too strict,” he said quietly, stroking my belly.

“No,” I answered quickly, my voice quiet and hoarse. “You’re right. I shouldn’t see Jack. I was just worried.”

“Okay, baby,” he whispered into my ear, pouring water onto my chest, then grabbed the loofah and lathered it with my vanilla-scented body wash as he began to wash me.

As I was nearly asleep in the bath, warm in Michael’s arms, he lifted me up, dried me off, and guided me to the bedroom, gently putting me into bed. My eyes were closing slowly but I perked up when I noticed Michael getting dressed.

“Where are you going?” I asked worriedly.

“I still need to go sign the paperwork for the apartment and stop at work for a bit,” he answered before he put his lips to my forehead.

“Oh,” I nodded, then let my heavy eyes finally close.

* * *

It was completely dark when I woke up. I looked to the clock on the bedside table: 7:45 PM; I slept for over 5 hours.Where’s Michael?was my immediate thought as I reached for my phone and noticed 3 text messages and 2 missed calls – one text was from Adam: “They’re placing Emily on a 5150, taking her to the psych unit. We can visit tomorrow.” I sighed, but I was relieved. One text was from Michael: “Call me when you wake up. Staying late to catch up on work.” Another was from Jessica: “Can we talk please?” My heart ached as I checked my missed calls. One was from my mom;ugh. Another was from Jessica. Neither left voicemails so I figured it wasn’t a big deal, but I decided to call Jessica anyway – her text seemed urgent.

“Hello, Hana?” Jessica answered in her sweet British accent.

“Hi,” I answered back, my voice groggy.

“Did you hear about Jack?” she asked, almost in a panic.

My heart stung. “Um, yes. I did. I’m so sorry, Jess. How is he doing?”

“He’s a wreck. They’re placing him on 5150; they think he did it intentionally,” she answered, sounding flabbergasted.

So he’ll be locked up with Emily? How strange…

“That’s horrible,” I tried to match her tone.

“I know! My poor brother. I’m just torn up about it. I just wanted someone to talk to. I don’t have very many friends out here. You just seem like someone who I could talk to, you know?” she went on.

I smiled to myself. “Of course. I’m always here to talk.”

“May I call you later? I have a show in about 10 minutes,” she sounded a little frantic.

“Oh, yeah, of course. Anytime!” I responded quickly.

“Thanks, love. I’ll talk to you later,” she said and hung up.

I looked at my phone and smiled to myself.I could see me and Jessica becoming good friends. Speaking of friends: Billie…Billie must be in the loop about Jack, but I wonder if she knows about Emily?I immediately dialed her.

“Hey stranger,” she answered with a smile in her voice.

“Hey,” I replied, my voice way too high, giving me away already.

“How’s it going?” she asked with concern, and I could just imagine the look on her face.

“Did you hear about Emily?” I choked out.

There was silence for a moment: she probably assumed the worst. “No,” she whispered.

“She…she tried to kill herself,” I cried out, hysterical already. “She’s okay but…I just,” I stopped to continue to sob.

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