Chapter Twenty-Two
Camila continued to be listless for the next couple days. Again, it was Samuel who broke her out of it.
She woke up and he was there, sitting beside her, with a tray of food on his lap. She glanced at his face, and he was looking right at her. They both ate silently, then he went away with the tray and came back empty handed. She hadn't moved.
“Camila, sweetheart, get up.” The words were a command, but his voice was gentle.
Still, she didn’t get out from under the covers. “Are Mom and Bri okay?” she asked.
He sighed. “They’re fine, love. You’re the one who isn’t doing well, sweetheart. You had a nightmare last night. Do you remember? You were tossing around so much that it woke me up, and it took a while to get you to calm down.”
She did vaguely remember something terrifying happening, but she didn’t have memories of it, thankfully. She felt his hand in her hair, gently stroking through the tangled strands.
“Come on, let’s not lie in bed all day, it’s not good for you. We can go work out, or swim. The sun is warm out, too and the snow has melted. If you’d like, we can go sit out on the patio.”
“…okay.”
He spent the whole day with her. Even when her mom and Brianna showed up to join in on the fun, he hung around, unless they insisted on it just being the girls. Still, he kept an eye on her to make sure she was okay the whole day.
Little by little, she was coming out of her anxiety-filled thoughts. She knew they were all worried as well, about the situation and about her. Closing in on herself didn’t help anything, so she shouldn’t do it. But, she couldn’t help herself.
At night, they all separated and went back to their rooms after dinner. Camila fell asleep in Samuel’s arms like usual, only to wake up in the dark some-time later. She was breathing hard, and she felt sweaty. There was an arm circled around her shoulders from behind, and she was holding onto it. For a moment, she didn’t know what was going on, and nearly screamed.
“Camila, sweetheart?”
The voice that called out to her was hushed, and definitely Samuel’s. The scream caught in her throat, and she turned around to look at him. It was dark in the room, and even as her eyes adjusted, all she could see was shadows.
“Samuel?” she asked, tentative, voice croaking a little.
He sighed and hugged her close, his hold loosening a little, as if giving her space if she wanted to move away.
“Thank God, you’re finally awake. How do you feel? Okay?”
Her throat felt dry. She licked her lips, asked, “What happened?”
“You were having another nightmare. Luckily, I woke up before you could injure yourself or something. I won’t ask you what it was about, so try to relax, okay?”
She nodded, and felt her body melt into his. Even if he asked, she really didn’t remember. The last thought in her mind was falling asleep in Samuel’s arms, and that was it.
It didn’t take long for her to calm down. She could feel Samuel’s steady heartbeat against her back, and unconsciously she tried to get her own to match it, her breathing slowing down as well. When she could think, she wrinkled her nose, feeling her clothes clinging to her.
“Ugh… sweaty,” she grumbled.
“We can go have a shower right now, if you want, sweetheart,” he offered.
Before she could reply, he’d released her and slipped out of the bed. Seconds later, the light came on. She squinted her eyes at the sudden brightness. Samuel moved back to the bed, and then picked her up.
“Oh!”
She made a quiet sound of surprise, then wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. When they got to the bathroom door, she reached out to pull it open, and they went inside. Samuel sat her down on the edge of the tub.
“You didn’t have to carry me,” she murmured, belatedly.
Samuel shot her a smile. “It’s okay, I wanted to. I think a shower should be fine, right?”
She nodded shyly.
They were both wearing sleep clothes. Samuel reached for the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it off, then walked over to the shower to turn it on. Camila, watching him, suddenly felt her mouth go dry for a totally different reason.