CHAPTER 23
THERESA

My scans came back clean, and I was discharged to go with Grant. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He wheeled me out to his car and helped me in, but my headache was slowly returning. The doctor said headaches on and off would be normal for the next week, but if they made me nauseous or persisted longer than a few days, I needed to come back in so they could have a look. After Grant buckled me in, I leaned back, ready and excited about going with him to the hotel he’d booked for us.

But when we drove to the hotel and he helped me up to the room, things got awkward.

He didn’t do anything, but I figured I would feel more comfortable than I did. The hotel door opened into a beautiful suite, but once he guided me through the door, my heart started thumping against my chest. I took a step away from Grant and turned around to see where he was, and for some reason I had this sense of fear fill my lungs.

I didn’t like it.

Without a word uttered between the two of us, he helped me into the bed. It was king-size and comfortable, and the sheets were silky smooth against my skin. The pillows were fluffy, and I groaned, lying into them. I looked over on the bedside table and saw a menu, so I picked it up and began looking at it.

“You hungry?” Grant asked.

I jumped at the sound of his voice, and my heart started slamming against my chest again.

“Um, a little,” I said.

“What would you like?” he asked.

I watched him pick up the phone by the bed as his eyes panned to mine. I opened the menu to divert my attention away from him. It felt awkward, being alone in this hotel with him, and I didn’t understand why. I knew I was safe. I wanted to be with him. But there was something off about the entire thing.

I wished Jane was there to talk to. But she was at some writing conference on the other side of the country.

“Just some soup sounds nice,” I said.

“I’ll get you some bread, too, in case you get hungrier. Yes, I’d like to order some food. Suite 1209. I’d like a bowl of your soup of the day, an order of honey yeast rolls, two steak sandwiches, a double order of fries, a pitcher of water, and a pitcher of orange juice.”

My eyes widened at the order, and Grant shot me a wink.

I lay in bed as Grant sat in the chair in the corner of the room. It almost felt like I was back in the hospital again with him, but this time I was painfully aware of the fact that we were alone. There was a moment where the awkwardness was relieved when our food arrived and there was another person with us. But once the room service courier left, the uncomfortable silence settled around us again.

Why was this happening?

“Let’s get you sitting up so you can eat,” Grant said.

“I’ve got it,” I said. “I can sit up.”

I held my hand out to him, and he watched as I struggled to get up. He didn’t try to intervene in any way, though I knew he could tell I was struggling. I finally got myself propped up with pillows behind my back, but I was panting.

He grinned at me as he handed me my soup.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“What?”

“Did you get that stubborn streak out of your system?” he asked.

“Yeah. I did,” I said, a smile coming to my face.

He sat on the edge of my bed and pulled the silver rolling table up to him. He had ordered a massive amount of food, but it shouldn’t have shocked me. He was a muscular man, and I assumed his body required the calories to keep up. We ate in silence and it was killing me.

Was it possibly the fact that we were just doing some monotonous normal thing that was making it weird? Our other encounters had all included some sort of drama: a fight, crazy sex, my attack. Maybe I was worried that I wasn’t interesting enough to make him stay after all the excitement died down.

“So, you were going to surprise me?” I asked.

He stopped eating and looked over at me before he put his sandwich down.

“I was,” Grant said. “I was maybe a half an hour out from your place.”

“I’m really glad you were,” I said.

“I’m not gonna lie, when I got your text telling me you needed me, I thought you meant for sex. I nearly drove off the damn road. It was when you didn’t answer your phone afterward when I called that I got worried.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No. You’re not allowed to apologize for what that piece of shit did to you. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”

“Me too.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I mulled the question around in my mind as I finished off my soup.

“Not really,” I said, yawning. “I’m getting tired.”

“Good. You need to get as much rest as possible.”

He took the bowl from my lap, and I slid down underneath the covers with the smell of steak sandwiches in my nose. I slept hard and long. I was thankful that I didn’t have any nightmares this time. I woke up with my body curled up in the comforter and my face buried between two pillows, and the sound of plastic bags caught my attention.

I turned my face and saw Grant dropping some things onto the table, and it caused me to sit up.

“What’s all that?” I asked.

Grant turned to look at me as I sat up in bed.

“Where’d you go?”

“A few places. I went back and got your bag from the hospital. I used your keys to get into your trunk. Grabbed your phone. Charger. Things like that. I also brought your car back to the hotel, so you’ll have it here in case you want it.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“I also went to some stores and grabbed you a few things: some toiletries to wash up with, some clean clothes. I went by your apartment, but it’s still taped off so I couldn't get inside.”

“You bought stuff for me?” I asked. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’m not going to go broke grabbing you a few things. You don’t need to worry about it.”

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on top of them. My vision was focusing, and I saw the sheer number of bags on the table. He hadn’t bought a few things, he’d bought a lot of stuff. I was grateful, and even slightly impressed, but still the thought of him spending so much money sat weirdly with me.

“It’s not a big deal,” Grant said as he turned to look at me. “I figured you’d want out of the clothes you have on now.”

I nodded, but I couldn't take my eyes off the bags.

“How much did it cost?” I asked.

He walked over to me and sat on the edge of the bed, then took my hand in his.

“Theresa, stop worrying. I know the past few days have been a whirlwind of terrible things, but you’re fine here. You can take a long hot shower or bath and change into something clean. Or you can lay here for the next week in exactly what you’re wearing. Whatever you want to do.”

“I’m sorry. I guess being with Ike all that time did more damage than I thought.”

“Stop apologizing and let me help you. I will never try to control you like he did. Ever,” he said.

I nodded my head, knowing deep down that he was telling the truth. A hot shower did sound nice.

I took his hand and slid from the bed. I was still unsteady on my feet but leaning against Grant was easier than I figured it would be. He held onto one of my hands and wrapped his free arm around my waist. He steadied me but didn’t guide me. He waited to see which direction I would move in before stabilizing my motions.

It felt good to be in charge of my life.

He leaned me against the edge of the kitchen counter before he left to get the toiletries he’d purchased for me. I drew in a deep breath before I stood up, making my way over to the bathroom. It was beautiful. A massive walk-in shower with a removable shower head and rails to steady myself against if I became unbalanced. There were holes with small jets in the walls, and I ran my fingers over them to try and figure out what they were.

“The shower converts into a steam sauna,” Grant said.

I jumped at the sound of his voice and my balance faltered. Grant reached out to steady me before reaching in to turn on the water for me. I hated feeling so jumpy, but I knew it would take a while to settle my nerves with all that I’d been through.

He held out the bag of toiletries to me and I whistled as I peeked inside. He hadn’t bought me the local drug store brand, no, he’d bought me top of the line salon quality things. I raised my eyes to his and smiled.

“You didn’t.”

“You deserve it after what you’ve been through. In the corner of the shower, there’s a seat for you to sit on if you want to steam after you shower. Take your time. You’re in no hurry to be anywhere. And when you get out, we can figure out dinner from the menu and find something on television.”

“I don’t know why I feel so weird. All of that sounds wonderful, but I feel this—”

My hand came up and rubbed against my chest as my eyes began to water.

“Theresa, look at me.”

“I can’t—”

“Please look at me,” he said.

My eyes fluttered up to his as a tear washed down my cheek.

“With everything you went through at the hands of someone you trusted, you’re allowed to feel this way. It’s totally normal. All I’m asking is you relax in a hot shower. That’s it. And whatever you want to have when you get out, you’ll have it.”

I nodded, unable to speak as my emotions closed around my throat. Grant kissed my forehead before he left me alone in the bathroom, and I turned to fiddle with the shower nozzles. I stripped away the clothes from that night and tossed them in the trash can. I didn’t ever want to see them again. Then I grabbed the things Grant bought for me and stepped into the hot stream of water raining down over my battered body and scrubbed away the memories of the past couple days.