Spearmint

17. Julia

August 2018

Her head pounded and she had a faint ringing in her ears. She hadn't even opened her eyes and she knew he had given her a concussion. She could feel the bed beneath her, at least he had been gentleman enough to put her in bed. He wasn't a gentleman enough to keep his hands to himself because when she reached to adjust her shirt that had ridden up she felt his hand against her chest.

She kept her eyes close in hopes that the headache would dissipate but it never did. She also knew that she wouldn't have been able to move to get up and get a pain killer.

She was about to relax in attempts to fall asleep again but his alarm went off. She heard him groan in annoyance before he removed his hand.

"Good morning, my little prize," he greeted her with his old nickname. "How are you feeling?" he moved his hand to her back and started to move it like he was attempting to massage it.

"I feel sick," she admitted.

"That isn't good," he whispered. "Do you need anything?"

"A painkiller please," she whimpered.

"Coming right up," he removed his hand from her back and got up.

She didn't have to wait long before he came back with a painkiller and a glass of water for her. He helped her sit up since her head hurt so bad she couldn't see straight. He slipped the painkiller between her lips and helped her put the cup to her mouth. She had a few sips of water to take the pill.

"I'll make breakfast," he told her.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"Want to stay in bed or do you want to come lay on the couch and watch television?"

"Can I please stay here?" she whimpered.

"Of course, baby girl," he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Muse."

"You're welcome, call me if you need me."

She kept her eyes closed until he came back into the room with a plate of bacon and eggs and a slice of toast coated in butter.

He helped her sit up to eat, eating for her was hard. She tried to keep her eyes open but her head hurt and the painkiller hadn't kicked in yet. Muse was somewhat nice and helped her eat.

After breakfast he let her go back to sleep. It was pretty peaceful to not have him around.

Julia wasn't woken up again until Muse had brought her lunch which was just a peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich. He sat with her while she ate and would sometimes press kisses against her forehead.

"I love you," he would mumble before he would pull away.

"I love you too," she would force out. She could feel him smiling which made her uneasy.

After lunch he stayed with her and just held her, it was uncomfortable she didn't want him to touch her anymore. She could barely tolerate him before but it was harder especially because he had beat her non stop and then suddenly he was caring again.

Her headache became bearable enough after a few hours and Muse suggested she got a shower while he made dinner which she happily obliged to. He helped her collect a clean set of pajamas before he guided her to the bathroom. He kissed her forehead before he left for the kitchen.

Being alone in the bathroom was relaxing, she didn't have to worry about Muse barging in and demanding she do something although she was sure she died when she got knocked out the night before because Muse's attitude changed drastically.