That was why he cared.
Setting his arm onto his thigh, I forced myself to slide over onto the floor beside him. With a sigh, I sprawled out right there, slipping my hand under my head and closing my eyes.
“Eat some of your bar. They’re in my pocket,” the man named Alexander said steadily.
“My head hurts too bad right now. I might throw up,” I told him.
“You haven’t eaten since they took you.”
He was right, but it didn’t change anything. “Give me a minute and I will,” I lied, dead serious about throwing up. Draping my other arm across my eyes, I sighed, way more reassured than I should have been by knowing he was two feet away from me. That if I reached out, I could poke him.
I really was glad he was here, even though the only thing that mattered at this point was him getting out. I couldn’t forget that.
* * *
I was a fucking liar.
And that was exactly what he said at some point later on.
“You said you were going to eat.”
Palming my head with both hands, I could hear how nasally my voice was as I muttered, “I will.”
He huffed.
I pressed my lips together and bottled the moan in my throat. It felt like my nose was made of ground beef. I squeezed my face between my hands like that would help my headache. It didn’t.
What could have been two minutes or twenty later, I heard the crinkle of a wrapper and opened an eye to find one of the nutrition bars a few inches away from my hip.
“Eat it,” he growled.
I tried to growl back, but it came out as a cough. “I’m not hungry.”
“I don’t care if you’re hungry. Eat it,” he demanded.
The urge to argue with him was right there, but so was the pounding in my head. Instead, I flicked my fingers weakly in his direction. “Later. Let me try and take another nap first.”
“You need more water.”
I covered my eyes with the inside of my elbow. “In a minute.”
“You need water,” he repeated, his tone gruff.
“I know.”
Alexandersighed. “Fine. Be dehydrated.”
I’d forgotten he’d given me a real name to call him. It almost made me feel better. Almost.
Restless, I rubbed my face and shifted my legs around, shivering hard. “Did they lower the temperature in here more or am I imagining it?” I pretty much whimpered.
“They did.”
They were trying to kill me. That shouldn’t have been a surprise. Fuck. I needed… to stay up a little bit.
And I needed to bring up the elephant in the room.
Him. His health. That was the elephant in the room.
