For the love of everything that’s holy, don’t open your eyes! Melanie inwardly screamed at herself, praying that the crazed man cursing to himself as he continued rummaging through the room didn’t realize that she was awake.
Hoping that Aidan was too busy to notice, Melanie slowly turned over onto her side, absently noting that although the bed was smaller than she was used to, it was surprisingly comfortable.
Then again, should she really expect anything else from a doctor?
Besides cleanliness, she amended as she cracked open an eye so that she could watch as Aidan stumbled around his messy bedroom, tearing through boxes while she lay there, curled up on her side, praying that he found whatever it was that he was looking for before he realized that she was awake and decided to “take care of her,” because she honestly wasn’t sure that she could take much more of this.
“Shit!” Aidan snapped from the bathroom where he’d moved the search, making her immediately close her eyes and pray for a miracle.
Maybe she should make a run for it, Melanie thought, debating the pros and cons of opening her eyes so that she could weigh the risks of trying to make it to that door before he realized that she was awake. The terror that poured through her at being tucked in again had her laying there, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, and anxiously awaiting the moment when she heard the front door click shut behind him.
“Shit!” he whispered harshly as she heard him stumble back into the bedroom where she was currently laying in terror, the same bedroom that he’d stashed her in last night before his reign of terror had begun.
She should have never agreed to this, Melanie thought, desperately trying to resist the urge to crack open an eye so that she could see what he was doing, terrified that she’d find him standing by the bed with another tray of freshly cut vegetables or holding a blanket, ready to tuck her in again. The only thing that she knew was that agreeing to stay here had been a mistake, one that was probably going to end with her being smothered to death, which brought up another terrifying thought.
What if he was standing there waiting to fluff her pillow again?
A shudder tore through her at the memory of waking up in the middle of the night to find Aidan standing over her, waiting for the moment when he could fluff her pillow. It had honestly been one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. When she’d screamed, and really, who wouldn’t have screamed? he’d simply smiled, murmured something that sounded like an apology and began fluffing her pillows while she laid there, trying not to make any sudden moves.
If she made it out of here alive, and it was looking less likely by the second, she was going to learn to keep her big mouth shut. God, what the hell had she been thinking when she’d agreed to this?
In her defense, Melanie hadn’t expected all that much from him. She figured that she’d stay here for a few nights so that she could honestly say that she’d given him a chance and when he realized that he wasn’t interested in playing nursemaid that he would happily pack her off to her parents. What she hadn’t expected was for him to embrace his new role with a smile and a psychotic break with reality.
She’d barely had the words out of her mouth, agreeing to give this a chance when she’d suddenly found herself plopped down on a large box with a bottle of lukewarm water and a Twinkie. While she sat there, trying not to think about where he’d found the Twinkie, he’d rushed around the bedroom, tearing through boxes until he found clean, at least she hoped they were, sheets and quickly made the bed.
Before Melanie had a chance to blink, she found herself standing in the bathroom, holding one of his shirts, a pair of boxers, and a flashlight. She’d barely managed to pull the boxer shorts on before she found herself back in his bedroom and tucked in for the night.
Or so she’d thought.
After he’d tucked her in so tightly that she’d barely been able to breathe, never mind move, he’d given her another one of those smiles that he’d probably perfected for his patients, tore the blankets loose and tucked her in again. After that, he’d disappeared for a bit, made a lot more noise and recited a few more curses before returning to the bedroom, struggling to carry the seventy-inch television that he’d swiped from the living room.
When she’d offered to help him, or at the very least move a few things out of his way so that he didn’t get hurt, he’d glared at her until she laid back down, pulled the covers up and once again pondered her life’s choices. After he’d dragged the nightstand over to the other side of the room and decided that it wouldn’t hold the television, he’d disappeared again only to return with the large bureau that she’d spotted in the hallway earlier covered in boxes and clothes, into the room, kicking everything out of his way as he went.
Once Aidan had the television plugged in, he dug through his room until he found a legal pad and a pen, moved to sit down on the bed next to her only to rethink it and sat down on the floor where he ignored her so that he could consult with medical journals to help him make a grocery list. When he’d finished with his list, he’d handed her another bottle of lukewarm water, turned on the television, and promptly disappeared.
Exhausted, she’d shaken her head, sighed heavily and closed her eyes. It seemed like only minutes later that she woke up to find him checking her vitals. Before she had a chance to panic, she’d found herself being herded towards the bathroom where she barely had time to wake up before she once again found herself tucked back into bed.
Once he’d assured himself that she was settled in, he’d placed a tray filled with yogurt, raw veggies, and a plate of scrambled eggs on her lap. She’d taken one look at the healthy offering, gagged, shook her head, shoved the tray off her lap, slapped a hand across her mouth, and rushed towards the bathroom and that’s where she stayed until he’d rummaged through her purse and found her anti-nausea medicine.
As soon as she felt that her stomach was settled, she’d given him a wobbly smile, accepted his help and returned to the bedroom only to turn right back around and found herself once again kneeling on the cold tile floor in the dark bathroom while Aidan sat there, awkwardly rubbing her back as he read, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” on his iPad.
While she’d knelt there, hugging the toilet, he’d snuck back into the bedroom, cleaned up the mess, and had the bed turned down and waiting for her by the time she’d finished embarrassing herself. As soon as he’d tucked her back in bed, he’d disappeared again, leaving her lying there, curled up on her side, trying to ignore the sounds of Aidan tearing apart the apartment next door as she absently noted that the apartment had thin walls.
At some point, Melanie fell asleep only to be startled awake several times throughout the night when he checked on her, brought her snacks, piled more blankets on top of her, tucked her in, fluffed her pillow, brought her more water, and shoved unsweetened applesauce at her before returning to whatever he was doing next door. About an hour ago, Aidan came back, grabbed a towel off the floor, disappeared, shouted a few obscenities, and stumbled back into the room a little while later as he struggled to pull his clothes on.
It was at that point that Melanie felt that it was best for everyone involved if she pretended to be asleep. Now she was laying there waiting for him to leave so that she could relax and maybe rethink her decision to stay here, not because she thought that he was going to neglect or abandon her at this point, but because she was terrified that he wouldn’t.
She really wasn’t sure that she could handle any more unsweetened applesauce at this point.
*-*-*-*
“Damn it,” Aidan bit out with a resigned sigh as he pulled on the shirt that he was hoping was clean and rushed over to his front door, praying that whoever was knocking hadn’t woken up Melanie only to follow that with, “It’s too fucking early for this,” when he opened the door and found Rebecca standing in front of his door with several large suitcases by her side.
“We should probably have that talk,” the small woman that had proven the existence of evil over the last five months said with a smile that had him taking a step back and somehow resisting the urge to look over his shoulder for the trap that she’d most likely set for him, but he’d learned never to take his eyes off the woman standing before him.
Oh, had he fucking learned…
For the past five months, she’d taken great joy in finding new and interesting ways to make his life a living hell. It had started with karaoke but had quickly escalated to “accidentally” knocking a variety of liquids onto his lap at family gatherings, releasing crickets in his apartment to drive him out of his fucking mind, stealing his wallet and then having Black Jack Pizza deliver food that he couldn’t pay for so that he was forced to watch them walk away with his precious pizza, sending him glitter bombs, and signing him up to gay dating sites, which wouldn’t have been so bad if they hadn’t decided that he was too boring to be gay.
Bastards.
But now it seemed that he knew why she’d been going out of her way to make his life a living hell, Aidan thought, sighing heavily as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face. She’d been protecting her best friend and-
“I held back,” Rebecca said with a shrug.
“What?” Aidan asked, unable to help but frown down at his sister-in-law.
“It could have been worse, but to be honest, my heart really wasn’t in it,” Rebecca admitted with another shrug as he stood there, deciding that it was probably for the best if he didn’t wonder about that statement.
“I see,” Aidan murmured as he glanced back at his closed bedroom door.
“So, about that talk. Why don’t we go have it in the hallway?”
Nodding, he reluctantly followed her out into the hallway.
“What exactly did you want to talk about?” Aidan asked as he closed the door behind him.
“How about the fact that you knocked up my best friend? Unless you wanted to discuss the weather,” Rebecca said, blinking up at him. “Did you want to discuss the weather?”