Page 5 of Stay with Me

He was still shirtless, had likely had the garment torn from his back during his whipping. Or perhaps clothing aggravated his open wounds. Whatever the case, his body was undeniably beautiful, more so than most bodybuilders and athletes she trained with.

As though sensing her presence, his eyes flew open. She hadn’t noticed the color last time she’d seen him, but the rich brown was deep and intense.

“You’re awake at last,” came Isaac’s voice.

She shifted and the vision of the man disappeared. In its place was the shelving unit filled with supplies. Isaac stood at the end of the hospital bed. Behind him, the digital wall clock read 5:33. It was after 1700 hours. That meant she’d been asleep forsix hours. When was the last time she’d slept for that long, even at night?

Such tiredness had happened to Harrison each time he’d ingested the holy water residue. He’d claimed that the vibration and expenditure of energy and heat during the time crossing depleted the body, causing an exhaustion. The same fatigue had come during the awakening from the coma.

It was also possible she’d slept longer because she was already languishing from the stress of the past two weeks of work.

She sat up to find that someone—probably Isaac—had covered her with a blanket.

“Was just about to order takeaway. But now, maybe we can go to the pub and grab a bite?” His arms were stiff and straight, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He glanced at the floor, avoiding making eye contact. But the hopeful note in his tone was too telling. He wanted to spend more time with her.

“What about Liana?” The moment the question was out, she wished she could retract it. Even if Isaac hadn’t still been dating Liana, she didn’t want to go out with him. They weren’t right for each other, and there was no sense pretending otherwise.

“Liana’s working.” As he darted a look at her, his eyes radiated with attraction, desire.

She thought they’d put their past behind them and both moved on. Was it possible that working in such proximity was stirring up his old feelings for her? She couldn’t let that happen. Had to just stay friends.

“Can’t.” She pushed up and swung her feet over the bed. She’d missed her kickboxing class again, but she could try to make it to an evening CrossFit workout. She also had to drop groceries off at Dawson’s. “I’ve got a busy evening.”

Isaac shrugged. “Right. Okay.”

She stood but then wavered, dizziness sending her off-balance. For a second, the man in prison came into focus again. He’d pushed himself up to his elbows, and his dark gaze seemed to beckon her toward him. But in the next instant, he was gone, and Isaac was at her side grasping her arm and steadying her.

“Maybe you should head on back to your flat, Sybs, and look after yourself.”

“I’ll be fine.” She hated his nickname for her. It held too much familiarity, as if he was still a part of her life. And it was the nickname her mum had always called her—before she’d gone missing. Letting anyone else use it seemed sacrilegious.

Sybil stepped away from him, then stumbled toward the door. “You won’t mind shutting down and locking up when you leave?”

She was already out the door and nearly had it closed before Isaac responded. “Sure thing. See you tomorrow.” The forced cheer said that he’d taken a gamble at resurrecting their relationship, and it hadn’t turned out the way he’d hoped.

As the heavy door closed behind her, she held up the torchlight on her mobile again, ignoring the prickles forming on her skin, the same as earlier when she’d been in the passageway. Was it possible the voices she’d heard had been people from the past, maybe even the man in the dungeon speaking to someone?

Harrison had called the phenomenon entanglement—when the past, present, and future coexisted and were intertwined. Of course, his explanation had been more complicated than that, something about how different quantum particles shared an existence even though physically separated, that the wave systems didn’t collapse but split into alternate versions that were equally real.

At the time Harrison had shared his theories, she’d listened as carefully as always, stowing away the details and information he presented, yet she hadn’t known what to make of it all.

But now? After the instances of seeing the dungeon and the same man, she had to conclude his theories had merit, didn’t she?

With each step she took toward the stairwell, she waited for the whispering voices. She half hoped she’d see the man in the dungeon again. But the echo of her footsteps was the only sound in the corridor. Too soon she reached the steep stone stairway.

She paused at the bottom and glanced quickly back over her shoulder. If she thought she’d catch a glimpse of the past, only dark stone walls filled her vision.

In some other far away time, a man was suffering and would die for crimes he didn’t commit. Or had the holy water caused her to have such vivid hallucinations that she couldn’t distinguish what was real and what was a figment of her imagination?

She started up the stairs, her steps sluggish. Most likely she’d had nothing more than a realistic vision. For her sanity’s sake, she’d be better off putting all thoughts of the prisoner in the dungeon far from her mind and never thinking on him again.

~ 3 ~

At the jangle of keysin the dungeon lock, Nicholas Worth snuffed out the candle wick between two wet fingers and shoved it behind him along with the other items his mother had sneaked to him underneath her cloak when she’d visited him earlier.

She’d taken a risk in giving him anything, especially the food and the salve for his wounds. But he was grateful she’d dared it.

As the door of the dungeon creaked open, his pulse spurted faster, and he fervently prayed that the angel who’d visited him was materializing and coming to save him. She’d told him she’d help free him. While he hadn’t exactly been a man of prayer in recent years, he didn’t doubt that God Almighty had sent the angel and message to encourage him to remain strong.

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