Page 21 of Degradation
This was a present from my mom?
‘She didn’t give me presents,’ I whisper. ‘Nothing after I was taken to The Heath.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he says softly, squeezing my fingers gently. ‘But that doesn’t mean she didn’t love you.’
I don’t know if that’s true, but I decide not to say anything else. Instead, I try to commit what Mav has told me to memory so that I can analyze it later.
‘Will you lay next to me?’ I ask, finally feeling like I’ll be able to sleep, but finding the idea of being alone right now kind of frightening.
I don’t look at him because I don’t want to see the answer in his face.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he rumbles.
But he sounds closer than he was before.
‘Why not?’
He doesn’t answer.
‘I feel safer when you’re with me,’ I hear myself saying drowsily.
‘Oh, Tulip,’ he whispers on a sigh.
But the bed dips a little and he settles his head next to mine. He doesn’t touch me except to put his hand in mine again.
I close my eyes and begin to drift. ‘I hope the notes aren’t from you. I’d be sad if it was you.’
‘What notes? Daisy? What notes?’
The next time I open my eyes, it’s daytime. I look at the clock next to the bed and it says it’s five fifty. I sit up and groan, holding my head. I’m still in the fluffy black robe with a long t-shirt underneath. I’m also covered by my blanket. I move my feet and gasp at the pain radiating through my ankle. My shoulder hurts, too. And my wrists are sore.
Bits and pieces of the night come rushing back to me and, as they do, my stomach pitches.
‘How are you feeling?’
Blake’s voice is low, and it cuts through everything that’s going on in my mind.
My head pulses and I lay back in bed again carefully.
‘Not nice.’
‘Are you hungry?’ he asks.
I frown. ‘No.’
‘Thirsty?’
‘Yes.’
He looms over me, and I squint up at him. ‘Want some pain killers?’
‘Yes.’
He smirks. ‘Say, ‘please’.’
‘Please,’ I answer immediately.
His smile widens. ‘Say, ‘Blake is the best guy in the world.’’
