He picked me up as he stood, walked us over to our bed, and laid me down. He curled his body around mine and held me as I drifted off.
***
The next morning, I woke up alone. I felt deflated and began to get emotional. I worried that he decided to leave me because I was so cruel to him. He never said that he forgave me for my harsh words.
Panic rose through my body. I needed to find him and talk to him about what was said. I jumped out of bed like a maniac, grabbed my Sig, and ran to the door. Just as I stuck my hand out to grab the knob, the door swung open, nearly taking me out. I pulled out my Sig, aiming it toward the door, and screamed like a banshee.
“Whoa, love…it’s just me. I apologize for scaring you.” He pushed the door shut, and I tucked my Sig safely back in its proper place. He grabbed me and held me to his chest while I hyperventilated.
And then, of course, I cried.
“Hey…hey, hey. Calm down. What’s wrong?”
My words were muffled, coming through the fabric of his hoodie. “I thought you left me.”
“Why would I leave you?” He sounded confused.
“Because I was so cruel to you yesterday. I humiliated you.”
“Did you not hear me when I said I only ever want to be with you? I meant that. I would wither away without you, regardless of our arguments and occasional lack of thinking.”
I looked up at his bearded face. “Where did you go?”
“I woke up early and cleared the storefront across the way. I brought over everything they had, and put all of my booze over there so it’s out of my field of vision. I’m not sure it will help, but it’s a start, I guess.” I looked up at him, and he curled his lips inside of his mouth. I was disappointed when I smelled the booze on his breath, but I didn’t show it. “You want to go get breakfast?”
“Yeah. I’m starving.” He held me close as we left our room and walked down the hall to the cafeteria.
***
More than a month had gone by. I decided to start keeping a tally of how many days we were there. I found an empty notebook, putting a tally mark in it every morning. I hoped that I could fill the thing up, plus many more.
We had settled into a routine. I worked hard at trying to be nicer to Henry about his drinking, but I do admit that I would dump bottles when I would see them lying around. Sometimes I would find them in odd places. I would play all innocent when he would ask if I had seen them anywhere.
I was beyond nervous that Gunther was going to pop up at any time. I was scared of what kind of group he had gathered. I was scared that he was going to kill Henry. And I was scared that, because it was our luck, he would show his face when Henry was completely shitfaced, passed out, and drooling on himself.
Henry asked us not to go outside alone at all. If we did need to go outside for any reason, we were to go in pairs and be loaded up with weapons. Nick wouldn’t allow Claire to even get near the doors. At that point in her pregnancy, she wouldn’t be able to outrun a turtle, let alone an army of headhunters.
To keep us occupied during waking hours, Henry and I would go work out in the gym for extended periods of time. Lord knows, I could use the exercise, and he realized what the 750ml presses were doing to his body.
There were a few times that our workout sessions turned erotic. There was just something about seeing him shirtless, sweating his ass off, his gym shorts barely hanging onto his leans hips. It drove me right into a sexually frustrated mess, and he knew it. We were lucky that no one ever walked in on us. I think we christened every wall, corner, door, and speck of floor in there.
On the way out of the gym one morning, Nick and Thomas approached Henry and asked if they could go out and explore the town center. They were bored and wanted to look around. Henry agreed, but only if he went with them. Nick asked me to keep a close eye on Claire. She was having a terrible day.
“She’s been having a lot of contractions…more than ever. She’s very uncomfortable. I’m not sure what to think. I hope she isn’t going into labor. It’s too early.” His eyes were full of worry. The silence that followed his statement said it all. “I don’t want to be away from her, but she said I’m a giant pain in the ass because I am constantly up hers. I’m just so worried. If she’s making me get away from her, then I need someone to keep an eye on her.”
“Of course I will. I promise that I’ll take good care of her. You know that.”
“Yes. Thank you.” We headed toward our wing.
Henry changed his clothes and geared up. Nick and Thomas geared up, as well, then they met up and took off. I decided to go get Claire to see if I could get her to come out of her cave for a while.