Her mom had always accused her of being a dramatic sick person.Mom.Eliana whimpered—what she wouldn’t give to have her mom here to help her. But even in her sick state, she knew better than to give up her location and risk Asher getting found out.
The bed deflated even more, and her elbow dug into the flooring. Ugh. She’d been feeling a little under the weather over the weekend, but had attributed it to stress and dust. She and Asher had managed to go through several more boxes, but hadn’t found anything quite as exciting as the box of secrets.
Mostly more junk-drawer adjacent belongings with the occasional keepsake for Asher. But this morning, she’d awoken with her entire body aching and her stomach twisting.
This did not feel like stress and dust … this felt like a stomach bug. She reached for her phone and saw that it was almost five in the afternoon. She’d spent all day in bed.
Grandma had given her a quilt for her “new apartment” and Eliana wrapped it burrito-style around her body as she stumbled down the hallway.
Nope. Not going to make it.
She pivoted into the bathroom, and her stomach expelled everything she’d eaten since coming to Diamond Cove. Forget the couch. She was going to lie right here on this bathroom mat.
A tap sounded on the open bathroom door, and she tilted her head up to see Asher standing there.
Yep, that tracked. Looking terrible? Of course Asher would be there to see it.
He crouched down beside her, and his cool hand pressed to her forehead. “You’re on fire.”
“You know it,” she joked weakly, her voice raspy. “Did you hear me throw up?”
His eyes slid to the side. “Let me get you some water,” he said, which was answer enough. He slipped out of the bathroom.
Get up, Eliana. Don’t lie here on the bathroom floor, looking pathetic.
Oh no. Had she flushed the toilet after she threw up? She pulled herself up onto her elbow with effort and flushed the toilet just in case.
Then she curled up on the bathroom mat. Whatever. So what if she was pathetic? Asher was destined to see her at her worst. At least Louisa loved her no matter what.
Asher returned with a cold water bottle and straw. “Can you sit up?”
The bathroom felt impossibly small with him in it. She forced herself to sit, though her stomach pitched and rolled like a ship on a stormy sea, and sipped from the straw.
“Want help back to bed?” he asked.
“I’m going to lie here for a bit.” She threw her hand over her mouth, and like the wise man he was, he left the bathroom.
“Your bed is completely flat,” he called from down the hall.
“It’s only half-flat,” she replied. “I’ve got to pump it up. No biggie.” She sipped more water and mentally geared herself up to move. The couch was out of the question now that Asher was home.
She very slowly got to her feet, holding onto the wall the entire time. Her stomach cramped, but she persevered, especially when she thought of Asher finding her still on the bathroom floor. Nothing like a little potential embarrassment to get you moving. Though he’d pretty much already seen her—and heard her—at her worst.
She looked in the mirror and part of her died inside. Her face was pale, except for two bright red spots on her cheeks, her lips were chapped, and her hair sprouted from her braid like wild potato eyes.
She snagged the water bottle and shuffled toward her bedroom, but when she got there, her bed was gone. She blinked. Yep, still gone.
“Where’d it go, Louisa?”
Louisa very unhelpfully went back into her shell, so Eliana unceremoniously dropped to the floor. She should have brought the padded bath mat with her.
“Oh, I was going to help you.” Asher appeared in the doorway. He held out his hand, but she waved him away.
“I’m fine. You can go.”
He bit back a smile. “Go where? This is my home.”
“I don’t know,” she said, irritated. “Swimming or something.”
