He led her into the bigger of the two guest rooms and gave her the largest T-shirt he had. “Is this okay?” he asked.

She nodded her bedraggled head and went into the bathroom to change. When she came back out, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows leaning on his knees. Cora hesitated, then shuffled over to the bed and sat down next to him.

“Has he done this before?” he asked.

She stared at the floor, her expression vacant. “No. It’s a cocktail he made for me to mellow me out if I’m having a panic attack. But he’s never done that injection without permission before. He always asked for consent first.”

Kaveh sighed and nodded. He got up, went into the kitchen to get a glass of water for himself and one for her. When he came back, she seemed to have shrunk, hugging herself tightly and lying in a fetal position. “He isn’t . . . He didn’t used to be like this.”

“He didn’t used to be the kind of guy who forcefully injects control substances into young girls and then leaves them half-conscious in the middle of the woods alone with strange men? That’s a relief.”

Kaveh handed her the glass of water. She held at it as though he’d handed her some sixteenth-century sextant she had no clue how to operate, and eventually took a sip. He sat back down on the edge of the bed. She wasn’t wearing any bottoms, and the T-shirt didn’t cover much. Most of her height was in her legs, which were long and slender and even in this position begging to be touched.

“That was the first good night I’ve had in a really, really, really long time, and I ruined it.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said, moving closer. She looked up at him, eyes shining, and he had to restrain himself from touching her. There she lay on her side, hugging her pillow, looking up at him, all but pleading, I just need a big, strong man— well— I just need a medium-size, out-of-shape man to hold me and touch me and tell me it will be okay.

He placed his forehead next to hers. “It’ll be okay. Get some sleep.”

“Please don’t leave me alone,” she said, grabbing the collar of his blazer. “Please.”

He stood up, surveyed the situation, considered the wisdom of sleeping in the same bed with her. “Will you be okay if I take a quick shower?”

“Mm,” she said in that quavering voice.