But I need to get out of the bed and dressed before she wakes up. I don’t want her to startle to find me beside her half naked. The memory of what happened between us prior to the incident is still very clearly etched into my brain and even given what’s come to pass, I need to take care that we don’t slip back into that other impossible situation.

I slide my arm out from under her and slip out of the bed. I wash my face then brush my teeth. I need to shave, too, but those things are still in my own bathroom. When I return to the bedroom, I’m surprised to see Mercedes awake and trying to sit up.

We both freeze for a moment, staring at each other. Her gaze moves over me, taking in my naked torso, the pajama pants. My bare feet. By the time she meets my eyes again, she’s steeled herself and I can’t read her.

“What are you doing in here?” she asks, her voice hoarse from not having spoken for so long.

“Let me help you.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You do.” I go to her, adjust the pillows. I’m careful not to touch her and grit my teeth when she winces, hissing through her teeth as she sits up against them. She looks at her arm, the bandage on the back of her hand where the IV was connected. There’s a tiny bruise where the needle had gone in.

“Where are my pills?” she asks, glancing at the empty nightstand.

“After breakfast,” I tell her. It’s aspirin, just a low dose of aspirin.

“I need them.”

“After breakfast, Mercedes.” I walk toward the chair where my clothes from yesterday have been folded. I pull on my sweater.

“I need the pills. It hurts.”

“You’ll get them after breakfast. The doctor said it’s time to wean you off.”

Her forehead furrows. “It’s just a week ago.”

I shake my head. “Two weeks and a day now.”

“Two weeks?”

I nod.

She looks upset by this. Upset and confused.

“Theron is gone. He won’t hurt you again.”

At the mention of his name her eyes fill up and she clenches the sheet, shifting beneath it. How much does she remember? How much of what he did to her. Of what I did to him.

“Where’s Lois?” she asks and I’m relieved.

“Would you like me to go get her?”

She nods, looks away from me like she can’t quite hold my gaze.

I bow my head and walk out of the room to find Lois just coming up the stairs. “She wants you.”

Lois stops when she sees my face but doesn’t say anything. I wait by the door as Lois enters.