“Not well.” I shook my head whilst pulling a morose expression.
Christopher panicked. He touched my forehead and examined the wounds on my arm. “Does it hurt? I’ll get the doctor.”
“Don’t leave!” I hurriedly called after him as I rubbed my belly pitifully. “I’m so hungry. I’m craving a big slab of meat.”
Christopher stood frozen for a couple of seconds before bursting into laughter. “Little scamp! You gave me quite the fright,” he said as he felt my forehead to ascertain that I was feeling better.
As he spoke, he took out a lunchbox from the counter and offered it to me as if he was bearing gifts to royalty. A delicious scent of chicken soup met my nose as I opened it. “Eat up! Good thing I had prepared this in advance.”
Christopher did not hand me a spoon. Instead, he tried to feed me. I had taken merely a sip before raising my hand to stop him. “It is my left arm that is hurt, not my right. I can feed myself.”
“I would like to feed you!” He did not relinquish the spoon, but brought another spoonful of soup to my lips, looking rather serious. I decided to cooperate by opening wide and letting him feed me. I woke up starving because I had the champagne on an empty stomach during the party.
The container of delicious soup was soon emptied one spoonful at a time. Glancing out of the window, I deduced that it was the middle of the night; everybody would have been asleep. The fact that Christopher was watching over me at this time at night showed just how much he was worried about me.
It was very reassuring to gaze upon him as soon as I woke up.
Christopher held me tightly. “Do not harm yourself ever again, do you understand?” he chastised, suddenly stern.
I understood that he spoke in this manner out of concern for me. Nodding obediently, I replied. “I will only eat and drink what you give me, that way I would never be drugged again.”
“I did not protect you well enough,” Christopher lamented with a sigh. “No matter what it is, contact me at once whenever you need help.”
Christopher took my phone to search for his own number. Next to it, he added the words “Little Dog”. Chuckling at his ingenuity, he saved his number to speed dial. “Keep your phone with you at all times, don’t lose it again.”
“Yes, I’ll do as you say.” I snuggled in his embrace. Gazing up at his haggardness and bloodshot eyes, my heart ached for him. “You should get some sleep; I’m feeling better already. My right arm still works even if my left does not.”
“I want to keep you company.” Christopher was unwilling to let go of my hand. Instead, the both of us fell into bed and snuggled underneath the quilt together. “Sabrina is outside,” he informed me. “She volunteered to care of you today. If someone comes by, she will notify me at once.”
I have never imagined what it was like to be caught cheating. The incident from the night before was witnessed by people who saw that it was getting out of control. Lyle would not be willing to lose face. I did not believe that he would actually make a big deal out of this and place himself and Crystal in the spotlight. As for Mr. Wilson, I did not want to think about how he found me. I suspected that he had planned it from the beginning with one of the fellows in that group.
As a consequence of my excessive loss of blood, I felt drained of energy, in addition to my brain feeling foggy and heavy. I fell asleep quickly in Christopher’s arms. In the peripheral of my consciousness, I felt a pair of hands touch my face, followed by a pair of lips brushing my forehead gently.
I smiled sweetly in my sleep.
“Lyle, what are you doing? Do you know what time it is? Keep your insanity to yourself.”
“I want to see Yvonne!”
“Eve is resting, now is not a good time.”
“What do you mean ‘not a good time’? I’m her husband!”
“Well, I’m her best friend. And that actually means something. Get the hell lost!”
I was awakened by the voices from outside the room, especially Sabrina’s who sounded shrill and scathing. I had a vague suspicion that she spoke at this volume intentionally to alert us. What a good friend she was. She had called Christopher a scumbag but on the other hand, allowed him to spend the night with me.
It appeared that she trusted Christopher immensely, though it remained a mystery to me as to how he had obtained her trust. I nudged him and he opened his eyes reluctantly. Flipping over, he held me in his arms from the other side. “What kind of an inconsiderate prick shouts like that this early in the morning,” he muttered, still half asleep.
