She didn’t speak. Instead, she stepped to one side and tilted her head to motion beside her.
“Zeek?”
“Uh, hi?” I managed, squinting against the bright sun.Am I daydreaming? Or have I been pushed back into another nightmare that I can’t control?
“Someone was worried when they couldn’t get a hold of you.” This time, instead of the stern voice that she usually used with me, it was much softer, more caring. Definitely not something I was used to hearing from her.
Yeah. I’m dreaming. That has to be it.
“You aren’t dreaming,” Judah insisted, stepping closer to me, his arms wrapped around his body tightly.
“Shit!” I scrubbed a hand down my face unsure what to believe. My dreams had been a bit different since I came back from that dickhead of a Dom so I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t.This can’t possibly be real. It’s all in my head.
“Can we come in?” Mistress Destri asked, her eyes darting from me to Judah, who shuffled nervously from one foot to the other.
I grunted, clamping my mouth shut tightly as a pang of nausea hit me like a freight train. Leaving the door open, a confused expression upon their face, I hurried in the direction of the closest bathroom. I figured if they were real, they’d come in on their own.
Once inside the bathroom, I fell to my knees and began praying to the porcelain god as I heaved over the bowl. Just like the last three times I’d found myself in here, nothing came out. My back arched and another heave followed, spit coating my lips.
“Oh, Zeek.” The lightest of touches crossed my back making me both heave and shudder at the same time.
It wasn’t until I finally stopped gagging, that the other voice in the room registered. Although I was too busy trying to catch my breath to figure out what was actually being said. A moment later, I felt a warm washcloth being wiped across my face. However, it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. Blinking my heavy eyes more times than I could count, I attempted to figure out where I was and who I was with.
“Kid?”
“Yeah. I’m here.” His warm hand cupped my cheek, my entire body falling into that simple touch as my eyes fell closed. “Can you stand?”
I didn’t want to move, but I slowly nodded.
“Come on,” he coaxed as he stood, helping me to do the same. My knees gave out the first time, but the second time he grasped ahold of me and pretty much held my entire weight. Leaning heavily against him, I shuffled one foot in front of the other.
“Sit.” He didn’t need to tell me twice. Out of breath, I let my body fall to the couch and leaned my head against the back, closing my eyes. Not that they really wanted to stay open.
“Have you taken any Advil in the past three or four hours?” Mistress Destri questioned from where she stood just across the room.
I nodded my head, which was quickly followed by a shrug. “Can’t remember,” I drawled.
“What’s wrong with him?” Judah asked from where he stood in front of me, close to tears.
“Migraine.” The word fell from my lips as my breathing slowly began to even out. I could feel the disappointment in the room, but I knew it wasn’t coming from the kid. Or me. Well, nothing new from me. Fact was I knew I wasn’t living up to some people’s standards. And at the moment, I didn’t particularly care.
“Do you get them often?” Judah’s soft voice questioned as he took a seat beside me on the couch. It took everything in me not to fall into him like I so desperately wanted to do.
I shook my head and instantly regretted it as a wave of stabbing pain struck the inside of my skull. Groaning, I clutched my head in both hands and willed the nausea to cease.
“Here. Take these,” Mistress Destri instructed, handing me a couple of pills and a glass of water. “Sip slowly.”
I glared at her from behind slitted eyes when I saw that it was only half the dose I’d normally take. Though, given the fact that I couldn’t be sure how long ago I’d taken my last dose, I knew it was probably safer. After swallowing the two pills and about a fourth of the water, Judah was quick to remove the glass from my hands in an attempt to stop me from overdoing it.
“How long has it been since it started?”
I shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes. Forcing my eyes to remain open, I stared at my lap while silently willing my stomach to keep the water down.
“Sit forward,” she demanded, leaving no room for discussion.
Doing as instructed, I hissed when I felt a soft finger trace the outline of several cuts that spread across my back.
“Based upon the look of these contusions, I’m guessing it’s been at least twenty-four hours or so. Stay there. These cuts need to be cleaned and properly dressed.” I wanted to protest that I was fine, but I knew it would only fall on deaf ears. So, I simply nodded instead.
