Page 33 of Deceptive Lies

That was too many things for her to process all at once.

Overwhelmed, Willow sunk back against the pillows. The sweat that had dotted her skin as her body panicked in her nightmares now made her cold, and she tugged up the covers, wincing as her body protested even that small movement.

For now, she didn't want to have to think about showering and traveling to another hotel, she just wanted to curl up and sleep for about a week.

“Here, take these.” Cooper’s arm curled around her shoulders, and it took all her strength not to just turn into him, burrow into his warmth, press her face against his neck, and refuse to ever let go.

When he tipped the pills into her hand, she dutifully put them in her mouth, then swallowed them down with the water when he held a bottle to her lips. The water felt like a little slice of heaven as it slid down her throat. Cool and refreshing. She’d never ever take for granted again the simple blessing of being able to take a drink of water any time she wanted.

“I'm not really hungry,” she said, allowing her eyes to slide closed.

“You have to eat, keep your strength up. I need to know how badly you're hurt,” Cooper told her, and she could feel his presence right beside the bed. “Do you think anything is broken?”

“My face probably, maybe my arm, possibly some cracked ribs,” she rattled off. The truth was, her entire body felt likeit was broken.

“Okay, not a lot we can do for the ribs or your face right now, other than keep up the painkillers. I’ll bandage your arm though.”

Too tired to open her eyes, Willow listened to Cooper bustle about the room. When he settled beside her, she felt a warm kind of peace settle around her. Maybe the painkillers were starting to do their job because she didn't even care when he picked up her arm, gently probed it, and then began to wrap a bandage around it to keep it stable.

When he gently set her arm down on the mattress, he tucked the blankets tighter around her and then just hovered there.

Blinking open her eyes, she looked up to see him looking right back down at her.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

Her brow crinkled. “For what?”

“I could have gotten you out a couple of days sooner. But I didn't. Because I could only see what was important to me.”

Reaching out with her good hand, she grabbed his fingers. “You didn't know I needed help.”

“I knew something wasn't right.”

“And when you knew what, you got me out. I hate to break it to you, Cooper, but even if you'd got me out two days earlier, I still would be covered from head to toe with bruises. I've been with him for two weeks, and his favorite game was beating on me. In the scheme of things, those two days didn't mean anything.”

A huge yawn tugged at her lips, and the room began to fade around her.

Willow knew she needed to tell Cooper what she knew about the professor. She also knew he was right, they weren't safe there. With his reach, it wasn't a matter of if but when Professor Mahmoud found them.

But right now, she was powerless to fight against the exhaustion weighing down on her.

She’d just have to trust Cooper to look out for both of them.

That wasn't easy for her.

She didn't trust people.

Ever.

Yet for some reason, Cooper seemed to make it easier than she’d expected.

Chapter

Nine

July 12th

11:00 A.M.

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