When we get in the truck, he just sits there. He doesn’t even start it. Finally, I drag my eyes to his. He’s staring at me with questions dancing in his gaze. “Are you okay?”
I nod, though it feels sluggish and slow. “Yeah, I think I’ll take that nap after all.”
Aknockonthedoor startles me, and as soon as my eyes fly open, I know it’s morning, not early evening. This was supposed to be a nap, but like I worried it would, it turned into a full night’s sleep.
Goddammit. Fuck. Ihatethis.
“Theo?” Hunter’s soft voice carries through the door.
I sit up, the blankets pooling around my waist. “Come in.”
The door opens, creaking a bit, and Hunter fills the doorway. “Hi.”
I wave, mostly because I’m not sure I can muster any more words.
“Are you okay?”
Gentle concern is etched into every line of his face, and my heart sinks. Poor man doesn’t need to be worried about me. But for some reason, when I open my mouth to tell him that, all that comes out is a strangled “No.”
His frown deepens. “You didn’t eat last night.”
I shake my head because no, I didn’t. “I’m not hungry.”
Slowly making his way into my room, he gestures to the end of the bed, so I nod, and he sits down. “Are you not hungry, or is it too much energy to think about food?”
My stomach gives a low rumble before I can even answer. “The second one, then,” he says. “Mom made breakfast.” Softening his face, he smiles. “Now, we don’t normally take the ‘bed-and-breakfast’ part so literally, but I’d be happy to bring a plate to you up here. You need to eat.”
Can I even stomach food right now? I’m not sure. All I know is that in four days, I’ll be going home. I’ll need to find another job. I’ll need to take care of myself, and that might mean missing meals because I justcan’t.So I nod. “Please.”
He’s out of the room quicker than my brain can process, and I drop back onto the plush pillows. I guess if I’m gonna depression spiral, a bed this comfortable is the place to do it.
When Hunter comes back into the room, holding a plate piled high with food, I sit up again.
He hands it to me without commentary, then turns to leave.
I have no idea why, when I’m so used to it, but I don’t want to be alone. “Wait,” I blurt out, and Hunter pauses. “Will you stay, please?”
He nods. “Course.”
“Can you talk to me?” I ask.
“About what?”
“Anything.”
It’s a lot of food, and there’s no way I’m going to eat it all, but I pick up a slice of bacon, taking a small bite off the corner. Chewing feels like it takes ten years, and when I swallow, my throat feels too dry, but I take another bite and then another, not stopping until I’ve cleared all the bacon.
Hunter talks the entire time about inconsequential things. How cool it was to watch Molls be born as a kid. How much fun it is to get out under the open sky and ride with the wind whipping past. An older lady he helped at the grocery store two weeks ago.
I put small bites of scrambled eggs in my mouth. Chew, chew, chew. Chew some more because it feels like I’ll never be donechewing. Swallow. Swallow a second time because it didn’t feel like it went down right the first time.
Try to focus on Hunter’s voice. Try to listen as he tells me about falling into a wishing well in the dead of winter when he was eight. Listen as he tells me about high school. As he talks about a new movie that he wants to see.
It’s not until the plate slips from my hands and Hunter catches it with a softly spoken “Let me take that,” that I realize I’m dozing off. Sitting up. With a plate of fucking food in my lap.
“Thank you,” I whisper, the words raw as they leave my mouth.
“Get some more sleep. Do you want me to come get you for Lila’s next feed?”
