Neither of us mentions her comfort level or suggests taking off her jeans, but I do remove her heels after placing her on the mattress. I know the woman would never sleep in jeans, but I’d also never take her clothes off without her permission. She’s been violated enough tonight already. The man who poisoned her had planned to do that to her, and I won’t be linked to him and his actions on any level.
“Just the sheet,” Slick says when I begin to pull the blankets up her legs. “You don’t want her to overheat. I’ll turn on the fan.”
I pull up the sheet as directed and continue to stare down at her. “Are you sure she doesn’t need to go to the hospital?”
“Not if that’s what she doesn’t want,” Slick says just as Faith answers me with a slow shake of her head.
“Faith? Can you hear me?”
Her eyes flutter the slightest amount, and without even asking, Slick is right there with the bottle of water in her hands.
“I know you don’t want to go to the hospital, but that also means I’m going to need you to drink.”
With heavy arms, Faith tries to push away the bottle I hold to her lips.
“Faith,” I snap, not frustrated but trying to get her attention. “At the hospital they’d give you an IV to help flush the drugs. I need you to drink or we’re going to have to go get the IV. Do you understand?”
She doesn’t fight me when I lift the bottle to her mouth again.
“It’s a good sign that she can respond some,” Slick says as I spend the next several minutes getting Faith to take tiny sips of water.
“What do you think he gave her?”
“From her reaction? Rohypnol probably. If it were ecstasy, she’d be more cognizant.”
I shake my head, jaw clenched. If Grinch and the guys don’t kill that bastard, I may just have to pay him a visit myself.
“Are you going to stay in here with her?” I nod my head, my hand cupping her jaw as I try to get her to take a few more sips. “I’m going to crash out on the couch.”
“Seriously,” I say, turning my head to look at Slick. “Thanks for being here.”
She nods before leaving the room.
I turn my attention back to Faith, and I don’t take my eyes off her for a single second all night long. It isn’t until her breathing is easy as the sun is coming up that I let my eyes flutter closed.
Chapter 6
Faith
The first thing I realize when I wake up is that my stomach absolutely hates me right now. I keep completely still on the bed, praying the wave of nausea goes away. It’s in those instances that I can feel someone else in the room with me.
What in the world happened last night?
I had drinks at Jake’s with Sylvie, but I can tell from the even breathing that it isn’t my best friend in the room with me. Sylvie snores like a freight train after a night of drinking.
The disgusting feeling in my stomach doesn’t subside, but I feel a sense of relief when I throw back the top sheet covering me and notice the only part of my attire missing are my shoes.
The rush to the bathroom leaves my head spinning, but I manage to make it to the toilet before getting sick.
Nothing but liquids—a testament to how much I drank last night, leaving me blackout drunk. Never in my life have I put myself in that position, and even as I heave, I can’t think of a single thing that would’ve made me do just that last night.
I groan in pain, my head throbbing out the beat of a death-metal song as I stand. I rinse my mouth out. I don’t have the energy to brush my teeth right now. Besides, stinking vomit breath will make it easier to get rid of whatever man I brought home last night and passed out on. I guess I should feel lucky that he was a gentleman and didn’t use my unconscious state as permission to go ahead and do what I may have told him I wanted last night.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter when I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror.
I contemplate leaving my face the way it is, with makeup running down my cheeks and my hair in a wild mess, thinking it will only help my cause to get him out of here, but I just can’t manage it. I spend a few minutes washing my face and brushing my hair just enough to get it into a messy bun before I walk out of the bathroom.
I look around, confused because there is no one else in my room. There’s not a guy on the bed, or in the chair near the window. The room is absent of the soft breathing I homed in on before getting up. I don’t think I imagined it, but hell, with the way I felt when I regained consciousness, I guess it’s a possibility.