Page 60 of Penance

How does he do that?

“Here,” he says, holding the plate out towards me. “You need to eat, Mercy.”

I look at the sandwich, and instantly, my stomach drops.

“I can’t, Draco. I feel sick.”

His jaw tightens, a muscle throbbing beneath the stubble that’s sprouted on his face since this morning.

“Youneedto eat.”

I shrink back into the couch, my hands clasped. I try to force a smile, but judging by the look on his face, I don’t think I manage it very well.

“I really can’t.”

“Mercy.”

His voice is firm, like my father’s was when I would misbehave as a child. He leans down, placing the plate on the coffee table and pushing the water bottle into my hands. It’s cold against my fingers.

“You’re not doing anyone any good by starving yourself.”

I stare at the water bottle. It’s such a small thing, but it feels so big, somehow.

“I just don’t feel good.”

He sits down on the coffee table, his knees inches from mine. It feels oddly intimate. I blush at the thought, forcing my eyes away.

“Because you haven’t been taking your medicine,” he replies. “Have you?”

I don’t want to answer that.

I glance at the sandwich, then back at him. I reach for the plate, my hand trembling. As I lift the sandwich, I can feel his eyes on me, and they feel so, so heavy.

“Good girl,” he says.

I’m blushing again.

I feel like someone shoved me into a bonfire.

I try to focus on the sandwich.

It’s ham and cheese. Maybe he remembered that it was always my favorite?

I force myself to take a bite. The bread tastes like sawdust in my mouth, but I force myself to chew, and then swallow.

It’s too much.

It feels heavy, sloshing around in my stomach acid.

My mouth starts to water.

I gag, hard.

Draco watches me, his eyes never leaving my face, even as he reaches into his pocket. My breath catches as he pulls out two small bottles—my anti-nausea medication and prenatal vitamins.

“You need to take these,” he says. His tone leaves no room for arguments. “And then you’re going to finish that. Understood?”

He twists the caps off of the bottles and tips a pill from each into his palm.

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