“Jessa?”
“Oh God. I’m gonna be sick again…” She throws herself off the bed, a hand clapped over her mouth. “Bathroom?”
I gesture to the door on the far wall.
Nodding, Jessa careens around the corner of the bed, whacking her leg on the protruding frame. But she doesn’t even seem to notice as she sprints into the bathroom just in time to retch her guts out into what I hope is the toilet.
She must see me follow her out of the corner of her eyes because she raises her arm to keep me back. All I can see is the pale palm of her hand.
She shakes her head furiously as I move closer, but I just keep on coming. She’s working so hard to keep me back that she doesn’t have enough hands to hold back her hair.
I reach out and pull it back for her, getting it out of her face.
“Please… just… go…” she gasps between spasms.
Again, I ignore her. She doesn’t have time to protest because she starts retching again. She throws up a little bit more and then it’s nothing but dry heaves.
When even that settles, she flushes quickly and tries to straighten up.
“Calm down,” I tell her. “Take it slow. Do you want to end up with your head in the toilet again?”
She tries to brush away my hands, but I’m not ready to let her go yet. Not until I’m certain she’ll be steady on her feet.
I help her to the sink where she washes out her mouth and splashes some cold water on her face. I pull out a hand towel and hand it to her.
“Thank you,” she says softly.
“Feel better?”
She nods. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“It happens to the best of us.”
She gives me a searching look. “Somehow, I can’t imagine you sick.”
“I am still human,” I admit with a chuckle.
“Coulda fooled me,” she mumbles.
“Give me your hand.”
“I can walk just fine.”
“Don’t argue with me, Jessa.”
“Anton,” she says, giving me an incredulous once-over, “I’m a grown ass woman. Believe it or not, I have thrown up before and lived. I’ll live this time, too. I don’t need any help getting back to the room on my own.”
“Is this your way of getting me to carry you again?” I ask. “Because it just might work.”
She sighs and takes my arm. With a self-satisfied smile, I lead her back into my bedroom.
I’m not quite sure why I brought her here of all places. Especially when there are perfectly good, perfectly vacant rooms in this mansion. Rooms that aren’t quite so… personal.
Not that I have a bunch of my things lying around. I’m not much of one for sentimentality. But this is the room where I sleep and shower and dress. There’s something to be said for bringing another person into your private space.
Jessa seems aware of this, too, because she walks through the room as though she’s scared to touch anything. In my opinion, it’s too late. Her scent has settled into the air already.
“I think I’m okay to go back downstairs and—” She breaks off when she sees the expression on my face.