Page 28 of No Way Home
“Uh uh.” Another giggle escaped. “Y-you-re not g-gonna see all my…s-stuff.” I bit my lip on the f sound. “Outh.” I wiped my mouth and saw blood on my hand, my knees quaking from the effort of holding myself up. “I’m blee-ing.” A tear ran down my cheek. “A-am I g-gonna d-die?”
“Not if I can help it.” He tugged off my coat and yanked my shirt up, pulling it over my head.
I huffed. “W-what’d you d-d-do tha f-for?” Then I folded my arms over my chest, trying to hide my breasts. But he didn’t seem to care. Just unbuttoned my pants and shimmied them down, revealing my panties. “G-Griffin go-hna be mad at y-you.” And me. But I couldn’t care at that moment. I was too exhausted. I didn’t even care that Bowen was probably checking me out.
He wrapped his arms around me. “Good grief. What were you thinking, being on the road this morning?”
I couldn’t even answer. Could barely hold my head up.
“Come on.” His hands rubbed over my back hard and fast. Then he lowered me to the floor and pulled the sleeping bag up around us, zipping it to our chins.
My arms were locked by my sides, his embrace a straitjacket of heat. His shoulder was my pillow, his cheek covering mine, making a cave for my face between his jaw and the sleeping bag. Like my own personal warmth cocoon.
“Griffin’s not going to find out because we’re not going to tell him,” he whispered. “Okay?”
I nodded, so cozy and safe. “Um hmm.” We lay there for a long while, his arms and legs wrapped around mine, his muscular hands splayed against my back, rubbing, rubbing, rubbing.Bowen’s taking care of me.The thought put a flutter in my chest.
I turned my head, my nose smashed into the side of his face, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, B-bowen. I knew you…were…a g-good…guy.”
His body went stiff but he didn’t respond. Just held me for a long while. Then he asked, “Are you warming up?”
“A little.”
“You don’t sound drunk anymore and you stopped shaking.”
“I’m just…tired.” I yawned. “I’m going to sleep now, okay?”
“Am I supposed to let you do that?” he asked.
“Um-hmm. That means my hypothalamus is no longer in full freak-out mode—” I yawned again “—trying to regulate my core temperature. So, I can go nighty-night.”
He tried to pull his arm out from under me. “I’ll let you sleep then.”
“No.” I snaked an arm around his waist, keeping him there,my hand pressing into the small of his back. “Not yet. My toes are still in danger of frostbite. See?” I pressed them into his shin and he yelped. I giggled. “You stay right here, mister.”
“Okay.” He sighed like he was fighting some kind of internal battle. But I didn’t let myself think about it. All I thought about was how tired I was. And warm. And contented. Bowen felt like a safe place when he wasn’t trying to wound me with his mouth.
I woke up briefly, who knows how long later, to see him fully clothed, driving. The disappointment at not being in his arms swept over me. But I shoved it away and let the exhaustion take me again.
When I woke up the next time, still bundled in the sleeping bag, he was carrying me…into the ER. While they hooked me up to an IV and swaddled me in warm blankets, he stayed, sitting next to the bed, head in his hands. And when they brought me hot chicken noodle soup, he spoon-fed it to me one slow spoonful at a time.
But then he stood and paced across the tiny room, like the walls were closing in and he needed out. Like maybe he was rethinking helping me. I wasn’t sure, but he was giving me anxiety.
I was so wiped out, I could barely lift my head. “Were you coming back from Seddledowne?” I asked, hoping a conversation would help.
He walked to his chair and sat. “Yeah. I went home for the weekend.” His head was back in his hands.
“Did I make you skip class?” Maybe he’d missed taking an exam and he was stressed?
He forced a smile. “Classes ended up being cancelled.” He scratched his eyebrow nervously. Then he stood and paced again.
Maybe fifteen minutes later, a doctor came in. He looked at Bowen. “You saved her life. She’s going to be fine thanks to you.”
“Good.” Bowen nodded. “So I can go? You’ll take care of her?”
The doctor scowled like the question shocked him. It definitely shocked me. The doctor looked at me. “Do you have someone who can drive you home?”
“Uh, yes. My friend Abilene. Should I call her now?”
