“Fuck,” I muttered as I pushed the door open and dropped down next to him. Relief tore through me when I felt for a pulse and found it. It seemed strong which gave me hope.
“Ethan,” I said softly as I shook him. He didn’t feel feverish which I hoped was another good sign, but he was once again out cold. I remembered his words about him being in trouble if I couldn’t wake him up. I shook him harder than I probably should have. “Ethan, wake up,” I ordered as the fear began to filter through my veins.
Ethan let out a little moan before opening his eyes. “What…” he said in confusion.
“What happened?” I said as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and helped him sit up.
He seemed groggy, but his words were clear when he said, “Need to get Lucy out of here before he comes back.”
I wondered if the he he was referring to was me or the fucker who’d hurt him.
“Who?” I asked.
“Promised I’d keep her safe,” Ethan murmured tiredly. “He doesn’t know she knows.”
“Knows what?” I asked even as I put my arm beneath Ethan’s legs.
Ethan just shook his head and then his eyes drifted shut. I lifted him and struggled to my feet. I managed to get him back in the bed and covered up and then sat down on the edge of the mattress and shook him until his eyes opened.
“Ethan, I need you to answer some questions,” I explained. “I need to make sure you’re doing okay.”
He nodded slightly and I was relieved to see that he was able to focus on me. He appeared to be more awake than when I’d found him. I ran through some basic questions including asking him what my name was, where we were and who the president was and he answered them all without hesitation. But the second I asked him about what had caused him to get out of bed, he clammed up again and I knew it was because he had been hoping to get himself and Lucy away from me.
Once Ethan was asleep again, I went to check on Lucy, who was still in the exact same position, before heading to the kitchen to try and find something for dinner. The bag in the refrigerator from the convenience store had a couple of unappetizing looking sandwiches in it along with a bottle of soda as well as a bottle of water. I searched the contents of the freezer and then the pantry and finally settled on something simple and that had been a staple in my house when I’d been a kid, both because it was easy and cheap. It wasn’t often that I cooked these days, so it felt awkward at first, but I soon found myself falling back into the routine.
As I worked, my mind drifted to the past, but I shoved the offending thoughts away. I’d stopped living in the past a long time ago.
The creaking of a floorboard automatically had me reaching for my gun. My eyes met startled brown ones and I immediately lowered the gun.
Fuck, I needed to get a grip.
So much for not letting my brief walk down memory lane get to me.
“Sorry,” I murmured as I shot Lucy a glance. I tucked the gun in the back waistband of my pants and covered it with my shirt.
Lucy didn’t say anything as she leaned against the wall near the entrance to the kitchen. She still looked wiped out, but she seemed steadier on her feet than she’d been. At some point she’d changed her shoes because instead of wet sneakers, she was wearing shoes that looked like some kind of cross between boots and slippers. Her jeans had been swapped out for a pair of leggings.
“He’s still asleep,” Lucy murmured.
I nodded. “I talked to him about twenty minutes ago, so he should be okay for a bit.”
The awkwardness between us grew and I was once again reminded that I wasn’t equipped to deal with a teenage girl.
I wasn’t equipped to deal with a lot of things.
“Can I help?” she asked.
I didn’t relish the idea of the girl joining me in the narrow kitchen, but the fact that she was even willing to interact with me was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. If I could get her to open up about what was going on, at least I’d know what I was dealing with.
“I think I saw some garlic bread in the freezer,” I offered.
I forced myself to remain still as Lucy moved past me. I hated that even the sensation of her body passing in close proximity to mine had me wanting to reach for my gun.
Or the knife in the butcher block that was just in front of me.
I shook my head and tried to focus on getting the spaghetti noodles in the boiling water, but as my body began to lock up, I knew it was pointless. Luckily, it didn’t take her long to grab the bread as well as the soda from the convenience store bag and she seemed clueless to my internal struggles as she brushed past me again and made her way to the counter on the other side of the stove. She was still too close for comfort, but I forced myself to remain where I was.