Page 100 of Xavier

“I’m… okay, confused.” I laugh a little, but it jars my head and my hand involuntarily comes up to cradle my left temple.

“Oh, you have a headache. I’ll go get you some Tylenol.” She starts to move but I reach out, touching her arm.

“No, please, stay. I’ll be okay. Where am I?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, you probably haven’t seen this room. This is the guest room in our apartment.”

“Yours?”

“Yes. We used to have two but we converted one into a nursery. My brother, Gabriel, spends some nights a week here so it’s his stuff in that closet. Is there anything you need? Another pillow? Are you warm enough?”

Something in the way she sounds, it’s so sincere, I instantly burst into tears.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” she says, startled at my sudden sobs.

“I’m okay,” I say, hiccupping through the tears. “You’re just being so nice to me. I’m sorry, I must be feeling really emotional. What am I even doing here?”

“Well, Xavier called me and brought you over here. He told me about your apartment and wanted to make sure you had a safe place to stay while he called the police and tried to sort out what happened.”

“Xavier?”

“Yeah, he and Kaine went over to your apartment. I’m sure they’ll call when there’s some information. You must be so scared. Xave told me what happened.”

I look up, startled, surely he hadn’t shared everything. He and I hadn’t even really had a chance to talk about it. “He did? What did he say?”

“Well, he said that he had taken you home and the place was an utter mess, like someone had gone through all of your things. He said you were really upset, so he didn’t want to leave you alone while he dealt with the police. So he brought you here.”

“Oh.” Maybe, hopefully, that’s all he said.

“You must be so devastated, I can’t imagine being violated like that. I love my home, if anyone ever came into it, I don’t know what I’d do.” Her words make me remember the state of my home and it causes a new rush of tears. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no, I’m just… I’m feeling a little emotional.” I try to wipe away the influx of new tears.

“Totally understandable! Do you want something to eat?”

“Um, I think… if you don’t mind, I’m going to try to sleep some more.”

"Of course, I'll let you rest. If you need anything, I'll be right outside." She looks at me for a moment, and then reaches over and pulls me into a hug. It's tight and warm and reassuring, and exactly what I need at this moment. I wait until she pulls away.

“Thank you, Jade. I’m sorry to be a burden like this.”

“Nonsense. Hey, when you feel better, I’ll tell you about my own experience with being brought to this room by Xavier. It’s a good story.” She winks and grins and I smile for the first time since this all happened.

“And, um, can you… um, if Xavier calls or comes here, please wake me up. I want to see him.”

The smile freezes on her face, but she quickly recovers. “Of course I will. I’m sure he’s worried about you too. But they could be busy for a while.”

The cold starts to set in again and I just nod and slide back down into the bed, pulling the covers right up to my chin.

Worried about me, she said, about Xavier.

I’m worried about me, too.

I’m not sure how I’m supposed to go on without him.