Page 57 of Double Obsession

Hunter lay crumpled on the floor. A bloody brick sat beside him. At her approach, he moaned.

“Oh, my,” she said. “What happened to you? It looks like you dropped a brick on the back of your head.”

His “fuck,” was followed by a whimper.

She rolled him over and propped him against the wall.

“Ouch,” he groaned.

She pointed at the plate containing a peanut butter sandwich and a sliced apple. “Didn’t you like your lunch?” Mouse poopsat beside a piece of lettuce. “You should have eaten it. Now it’s ruined.”

“His-s hands-s are bound,”said the shadow.

“Shut up,” she said.

“Huh?” Hunter asked.

“And he is-s dying,”said the black wisps swirling around them.

“He is not. Shut up and leave me alone.” She punched the puffy black wind in its ugly face, then fell to Hunter’s side. “I won’t let you die,” she promised. “You need to eat and drink.”

She held soda to his lips. More of it dribbled down the front of him than made it into his throat. She bypassed the smirking cookie for a polite cookie and pressed it against his mouth.

He nibbled.

She rubbed a finger over his brow. “You don’t look handsome with your face all bloody. But your eyes are still pretty.”

“ABC?”

“Arkansas,” she corrected him.

“Arkansas?”

Her name coming from his lips made her shiver.

“Untie me?”

She shook her head. “No way. You keep hurting yourself.”

Breathy murmurs sandwiched his moans. “Take me to hospital?”

“Absolutely not. Doctors have no idea what they are doing. You will die in the hospital. They always misdiagnose me. They had me on the wrong medicine for years. Thank Jesus, I’m finally off it.”

Hunter had such angelic eyes. “Aren’t you taking your meds right now?”

She sat his drink on the ground and pulled her shoulders back.

“I need medicine, or I’ll die,” he said.

“Nonsense.” She gently caressed his forehead.

“The cabinet in the bathroom—penicillin. Please bring it to me. Please.”

“I won’t be responsible for your death because of the crooked pharmaceutical companies,” she said.

He closed his eyes, and she traced his silky lashes. When he lifted his lids, he stared into her eyes, and her body caught fire.

“Babe,” he said, his voice so weak she had to lean close to hear. “If you bring my medicine, I will thank you with a kiss.”