Page 48 of Taken With Trouble

I crawl over the bed and scour the drawer until I find the tiny black pouch. I hand it over.

He opens it, and then I’m able to see what’s inside. It’s not just one pill. It’s a tray, filled to the brim with different pills for each day. He takes them all and swallows them.

“Liam?” My voice is barely a whisper. “What are all those?”

He chugs a drink of water then rips off his shirt before falling flat on his back on the floor. His chest rises and falls much too quickly, the skin pulling in around his ribcage as it does. He’s completely helpless right now.

“Liam?” I whisper again. “What do you need?”

He still doesn’t answer, though his chest continues to move rapidly. Did he pass out?

I jump to the ground and kneel above him. His eyes are closed, but his breathing is still heavy. I grab his wrist and count the beats of his heart.125.Is that too high? Why isn’t it dropping? Do I need to call an ambulance?

Now my heart rate is too high.

“Liam?” I grab his cheek, a note of desperation clinging to my voice but I don’t know why. “Liam,” I say louder, gently shaking him this time.

He twitches, and his left eye cracks open before closing again. He drags in a breath, and after he does, his chest seems to relax.

Relief floods my veins, but he doesn’t open his eyes. Why won’t he open his eyes? I sit beside his head, gently lifting it into my lap. He shouldn’t be lying on the hard floor right now, but being on my lap is even worse. My fingers are cradling his head, but my right hand has gone rogue, playing with errant curls around his ear. He has the most luscious brown hair, and it’s been infuriating me ever since I first laid eyes on him. His hair has always been thick. In the States, it was tamed into submission, but here in the humidity, it is wild and tempting. I slip my other hand into his hair.

“You were worried about me.”

I jerk, ripping my hands away. But I’m still stuck under him. A very curious look rests in his blue irises.

“I was concerned for your well-being.”

He smiles lazily from where he remains on my lap, completely relaxed, and something about it puts me more at ease. “Or, in other words,worried.”

I shake my head, refusing to admit it. “What just happened? That was more than a little anxiety.”

He closes his eyes again, and my gaze drifts to his chest, watching the rise and fall to confirm it’s slowed. “I have an irregular heartbeat… and a few other, minor heart problems. That coupled with anxiety… leads to this sometimes.”

I shake my head. “Heart complications aren’t on your medical record.” I poured over his file when he first showed up in the States.

“No, but itison Owen Shipp’s medical record.”

Owen Shipp? That wasn’t one of his listed aliases.

Liam curses. “I shouldn’t have told you that.” His perpetual smile fades from his lips. “Now you’ll use it against me.”

“I won’t.” It’s clear he needs this medicine, and if the only way he can get it is by being Owen Shipp, I won’t put his life in danger by outing it. I suppose this is another area where lines are blurred.

He laughs. “Sure you won’t. You just hate me so much you want to kill me every day. But you won’t give my name away.”

Thewords sting, as they should. I get why he doesn’t believe me. I’ve been against him at every move. And I have secrets I refuse to share. He has no reason to trust me.

But I don’t hate him anymore, and that’s part of the problem. I gently scoot from under him and stand, holding out a hand to him. “You should sleep.”

He grabs my hand, and at first I think he’s trying to pull me down, but he’s so out of it I have to steady him around the waist.

“No, wait. I need to save my grandpa,” he mumbles.

“We’ll do that tomorrow,” I say, helping him reach the side of his bed before shoving him onto it.

“We?” He looks up at me.

“Yes. I’m going to help you, and you’re going to let me.”

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