A Piece Of His Heart

Thirteen

Waleed

A heavy, relieved sigh fell out of my lips when I finally parked the car, the GPS calling out 'You have reached your destination' in the silent car— silent because hours ago Eliza had reclined her seat and curled up on it, dozing off almost instantly.

I stretched my neck and arms, then got out of the car to exercise my legs that had become foreign to the ability of walking after driving for so long. I slowly pulled open Eliza's door, smiling at the sight. Her dark hair were sprawled out on the seat under her head, most of them laying on her face. Her cheeks and nose were red, her lips slightly parted as she slept soundly. I frowned at her red nose, realizing too late that she wasn't wearing anything warm enough to beat the cold in Naran. So I shut her door and went around the car to open the truck and unzip the suitcase to pull our a shawl I knew she had packed— it would have to do for now.

I swiped her hair off her face before shaking her shoulder, knowing she was a deep sleeper and wouldn't wake up otherwise. "Eliza, wake up. Come on, we're here." I whispered to her, causing her to roll onto her back, crack her eyes open and glare at me.

"I'm sleepy."

"And you can sleep at the cottage." Apparently, it wasn't a hotel room that my family had booked for us but rather a cottage that we would have all to ourselves.

Her glare only intensified but she still swung her legs out and stood up, too fast because she stumbled, crashing into my side as she rubbed her eyes. With one hand on her back, I brought the shawl around her shoulders and wrapped it around her. She mumbled a 'thank you' that I ignored and dragged our suitcase to the main building, holding her hand with the other because I didn't trust her to not trip and fall, especially because she was leaning all her weight against my side as we walked.

I unlocked the wooden door, kicking it close with the heel of my foot and immediately turning on the heating system as we headed deeper into the cottage that I knew had one bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. I set the suitcase in the corner of the room as Eliza dragged herself to the bed and fell down on it face-first, letting out a garbled sound that I couldn't comprehend. I felt myself smiling as I took in her lazy, grumbly form because she'd always been like this— even as a child— whenever she didn't get enough sleep, or was too tired, or had been woken up before she wanted.

I kicked off my sneakers and took off my jacket, sighing as the warmth of the now heated room seeped through my skin that seemed to have frozen ever since we reached Naran. "Do you mind scooting over, sweetheart?"

She grumbled. "Yes. You will have to carry me to get me to move an inch." She mumbled against the covers and I chuckled at her behavior.

"Don't challenge me, I'll actually do it."

She looked up long enough to shoot me an unimpressed look. "What's stopping you, big boy?"

Big boy? What the hell?

And just because that term annoyed me to no end, I slid my arms around her middle, causing her to let out a surprised yelp, and flopped her over to the right side of the bed that she always took.

She didn't bother with words or the blanket as she snuggled into the pillow with a hum and squeezed the shawl tighter around herself, closing her eyes that had barely been open in the first place. I let out an exhausted sigh at her laziness and because I was genuinely tired after driving for so long, I pulled the duvet from where it was tucked into the bed and under her good-as-dead form and draped it over her. She opened one eye, smiled at me, then huddled into the blanket after pulling it up to her chin. I shook my head at her and slipped under the blanket too, dozing off instantly.