The Heartthrob's Dark Obsession Part 2

Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Nori woke up the next morning feeling horrible. Her eyes were watering, her nose was stuffed, she was sick. She sat up to go to the bathroom and found her ankle chained to the bed again.

Theo was gone. Great. She put on her glasses. The roll of toilet paper was on his nightstand, just out of reach.

Nori crawled to the foot of the bed to see if there were any towels she could grab. But there was nothing.

She sat, miserably breathing through her mouth, waiting for Theo to come back.

He was gone for an extremely long time. Last time he wouldn't leave her alone that long because he needed to feed her. But now when she needed him he was no where to be found.

Boredom quickly overtook her, as did her need to eat. She opened the mini fridge and found a bottle of water. She drank it.

She propped herself up on a bunch of pillows and debated blowing her nose on the sheets or even her shirt. But then she'd be forced to tell Theo that she had and that wasn't something she wanted to tell him.

She thought to herself about the many improbable ways to escape and how Theo would react. She tried to distract from her nasty cold and the overwhelming sadness she felt. But her dreams of fantastical escape just left her feeling empty.

Finally the door swung open. Theo had a bag from a pharmacy. Did he already go out to get her medicine? How did he know she was sick?

He froze in the door staring at her. "Darling, what's wrong?" Of course. He didn't know. He must've gone to the pharmacy for something else.

"I'm sick," she said, a cough coming out of her mouth with impeccable timing. "I need a tissue and food."

He dropped his bag and hastily went to the night stand. He tossed her the tissues. She blew her nose, the green crap that came out told her that she had an infection.

He threw off his coat, and pulled off his glove, rubbing his hands together before pressing his palm to her head.

"Christ, you're burning up."

If she was with Derek she'd dramatically suggest that he kill her instead of letting her suffer, but she doubted that Theo would appreciate the joke.

"I really need to eat," she said softly.

"Your food is downstairs, little one." He slipped off his shoes. "You just rest."

He passed her the remote and left the room. She wondered if this was some kind of test to see if she would watch the news when he was so against it.

She turned on the TV and casually flipped through channels looking for any sign of herself. She heard him coming up the stairs and stopped on a random commercial, hoping maybe the news would come on. She took the tissues and blew her nose.

"I got you a bagel from a place that makes New York style bagels. It's a sausage and cheese because I know you're not a fan of eggs or bacon."

She had told him about that around the second time they ever had a meal on set. He also had a glass of orange juice.

She took the plate and forced herself up. Every time she got a cold she was miserable. But she needed to eat.

"What are you watching?" he asked.

"I'm not sure." She coughed. "I was just flipping through channels."

"I'll find something good."

He took the remote and changed the channel. He sat next to her as she ate.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I needed to get a new car. Couldn't risk anything happening. Then I went to the pharmacy for a few things. I didn't expect to take so long. And you never used to wake up this early."

When she was with Derek she would wake up to see him off to work because she wanted to. With Theo she wanted to avoid seeing him. So she slept...a lot.

"Do you have any medicine I can have?" she asked.

"I'll see what I can do."

Theo got up and left the room. What did he mean he'd see what he could do. She needed medicine. She finished eating and waited for him. A few minutes later he came upstairs with some pills.

"I'll go out later to get you more. But this should reduce your fever." She drank the pills.

"I need to use the bathroom."

Theo got up and closed the door. Then came back and unchained her ankle. She got up and went to the bathroom.

She realized he must not have as much security as he had in his old place. The wheels in her head were turning.

But as she dreamed of escape she was reminded of all the people who died when he came for her. She couldn't do that to anyone again.

It was her fault they were dead. There was no escape. She might as well start resigning herself to a life with Theo.

An existential crisis in the bathroom was not how she planned her day. But that's what was happening. Maybe she could find joy in a life with Theo because the alternative, a life long game of cat and mouse, didn't sound particularly appealing. And the other alternative of killing him wasn't something she could bring herself to do.

Nori finished up in the bathroom. As she stood up she felt light headed. That always happened when she was sick. She made her way to the door.

Theo smiled at her and she weakly tried to return the smile. His dashing good looks had not faded in the mental hospital. And black hair suited him.

He took her by the hand and guided back to the bed. She laid on her pile of pillows and gently drifted back to sleep, Theo rubbing her back in small circles as she fell further into her dreams.