“This is the second time this has happened in a week. I’ll make a big deal if I want to,” I reply. “This is serious, Keller. This isn’t just dehydration. You took some brute force while in that cell, so there could have been internal damage we don’t know about.”
He takes a few deep breaths and then swallows. “Fuck,” he says and then twists to the side. “Move.”
I get out of the way just in time for him to throw up on the coffee table. The sight of his body wracking from the force scares me senseless. Keller is never one to show weakness, but in this last week alone, he’s shown it twice, and it’s startling.
“Oh my God,” Lara says as she walks in, taking in the scene in front of her.
“What’s going on?” Ottar says, following her. “Jesus.” He runs up to Keller and places his hand on his back. “Lara, grab some towels.”
Lara runs off to the kitchen while Keller’s body convulses, and he throws up on the table again. I stand there useless, fear filling in the pit of my stomach, because something isn’t right. Something isn’t right with Keller, and we’re going to need more than some water and Ibuprofen to help him through it.
Lara rushes in with towels and the garbage can. She quickly starts wiping up the puke while Keller slowly lowers back down to the couch. Ottar glances up at me, the same concern in his eyes, and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing as me.
“Here,” Ottar says, handing Keller some water. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah,” he says breathlessly, eyes closed. “The pain . . . really intense.”
“No need to explain,” Ottar says. “Just take a few sips and when you’re ready, we’ll get you to take the Ibuprofen.”
Keller doesn’t say anything. He just takes a few sips, his eyes closed the whole time.
“We need to get him up to his room,” Ottar says. “We need the darkness to help with the migraine.”
“No,” Keller barely says. “Stay . . . here.”
“It will be dark soon enough with the sun going down,” I say. “Maybe we can stuff pillows in the windows to break down what little light we have.”
“That works,” Ottar says. “I’m going to collect pillows. Lilly, stay with Keller. Lara, when you’re done, come help me with the pillows.”
“I can finish cleaning up,” I say, but Lara shoos me away.
“Just grab me the disinfectant spray under the sink in the kitchen.”
I glance at Keller, who is lying lifeless on the couch, his chest rising and falling deeply, my concern growing. After retrieving the spray for Lara, I sit on the couch, right next to Keller, and I place my hand on his stomach. His hand covers mine and he squeezes three times. For some reason, the gesture makes me far too emotional than I care to admit, and tears spring to my eyes.
“Stay with me,” he says quietly, showing his vulnerability in front of Lara.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say as I scoot closer.
Lara finishes up and then goes off to help Ottar gather pillows and supplies.
When we’re alone, I say, “Keller, I’m worried. These headaches seem to come out of nowhere.”
“Just stress,” he says, but I know that’s not the case. There has to be something else. Something underlying.
“Did, uh . . . did that Banny guy—”
“Banamaor,” Keller says.
“Yes, did he hit you on the head a lot?”
“Probably,” Keller says. “Can’t remember.”
That’s concerning as well, that he can’t remember much. And he’s been having a hard time putting the pieces of all of this together, which doesn’t seem like him either. He was telling me on the flight here how he’s struggling with figuring out who’s behind the kidnapping, but I just assumed that maybe it was because he didn’t have enough information. I never considered the fact that maybe . . . maybe something is wrong with his head.
Lara and Ottar pop into the living room with a bunch of pillows and some duct tape. They start covering up the windows, casting the living room into darkness. Lara switches on a distant floor lamp, which offers minimal light, just enough for everyone not to trip over each other.
“Okay, let’s try to get some medicine into you,” Ottar says while coming up to Keller. He helps lift him gently, and I hand him the tablets while helping Keller navigate his water bottle. Once he swallows everything, we lay him back down, and Lara brings over a blanket. We cover him up, make sure he’s comfortable, and then Ottar nods toward the kitchen to have a conversation.
