Mountain Love

Chapter 6 - Tuesday/Wednesday

I woke up in a sweat. The cruel and disgusting man from the mountains was haunting me. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there, taunting me.
I was up all night again and finished the book Qualeb gave me.
Around 7am, I got bored so I got up and went to my door. I had the walking stick that Qualeb gave me, but I wasn't feeling too good because of all the standing yesterday and the two sleepless nights in a row. I didn't trust myself down those stairs.
However, before I could go to his door and knock, he opened it and came out. He was looking at me worried but only said Good morning and carried me down. He was wearing a long sleeved t shirt like yesterday and I could feel his heat radiating off of him. I was getting warmer and warmer whilst he was holding me. He took me to the kitchen and got out some cornflakes and asked: "Would you mind eating some cornflakes today? We'll eat lunch in town and can have bread for dinner. That way you don't have to cook and you can rest your ankle after shopping."
It just baffled me how thoughtful and considerate he was.

"Yes that would be nice. Thank you so much. Qualeb, you are so considerate I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"It's fine. Just concentrate on getting better. We will leave straight after breakfast if you don't mind."

"Yes that's fine."

After breakfast we went upstairs to get ready. I only realised then that I would have to wear his clothes to the supermarket but I really didn't mind. I was looking forward to wearing a new set of his clothes, because they smelled like him.

The trip to the supermarket went quite quickly. Qualeb was wearing his ski mask and he apologised like a hundred times to me about it. He explained that he wasn't comfortable enough to go out without the mask. I told him that it was fine and he looked so relieved. We talked about so many different things. I found it so easy to talk to him. I told him about how I wanted to become a paediatrican but when I did my volunteer work at the hospital I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found it too hard to see all these children suffering. So I decided to become a nursery assistant. All the fun without the stress of a teacher.

Once we got all the things, we decided to call it a day as I was exhausted. My ankle was throbbing at this point and I could barely stand with the clutch and Qualeb's help. I was scared that if I was to even flinch, he would carry me around.

The ride home was quiet, both of us in our own thoughts. It wasn't a awkward silence, but rather just a peaceful content silence. Like he said, we had bread for dinner and then we went to my room. He was reluctant to take off his shirt for me again, looking at me with those beautiful eyes, trying to determine if I was okay to put his cream on again.
I smiled at him and grabbed the cream. He pulled his t shirt up for me to cream him. Being this close was intoxicating. His smell was filling me with such an odd feeling. I was tempted to take a deep breath to inhale all of his smell, all of him.
Instead I moved away to wash my hands. As I took a few steps, I felt lightheaded and my ankle hurts so much that I stumbled and nearly fell. Qualeb was instantly by my side and to my rescue by catching me.
He looked at me intensely and I wasn't sure what to do. I held on to him and just tried to stay next to him to gain some strength. Qualeb picked me up and took me to the sink to wash my hands, the whole time supporting me and then carried me back to the bed. I felt guilty and looked down on the floor. I felt so ashamed of myself since I  couldn't do anything but be a burden.
Qualeb gently cupped my face with both of his hands and made me look at him.

"Stop beating yourself up. You have a broken ankle for God's sake. Take some time to heal. Your going to make it even worse by trying to walk too early. You can rely on me. I can help you. I'm here for you."

He had such a gentle look that I just hugged him and started to cry. I wasn't even sure why I was crying but after I calmed down a bit, I felt a lot better.
Qualeb looked at me and gave me a smile. As if by reflex, he kissed me on the forehead and left the room, which was a good thing because I was as red as a tomato. I quickly hid under the covers and went to sleep.