The Catalyst

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

                                                             Sony

I woke with a gasp, throwing back my covers and sitting up as fast as a strike of lightning. A deep groan sounded next to me. My eyes shot to the broad, tanned body next to me. Nolan mumbled something unintelligible then flipped over to his other side. He had clearly been spooning against me and blood flooded my cheeks making them bloom a horrid shade of pink I was sure. I covered my mouth and looked away then back at him then away. Why was I sleeping with Nolan? A floodgate was opened and a sudden river of memories crashed into my mind. I gagged and my eyes pricked with tears. I leaped from the bed and rushed to the bathroom. I retched into the toilette, nothing in my stomach to vomit. I feared what I could have. Tears streamed down my face. A bare chested and pajamas pants clad Nolan burst into the bathroom and fell to floor next to me and held my hair, stroking my back. After I finished retching I sat back and flushed the toilette. Nolan was watching me, concern etched on his face.

“I’m fine,” I said hoarsely. Nolan didn’t look like he believed me. He pushed to his feet and nearly ran from the room. A few minutes later he returned with a tall glass of water and a wet rag. He hand me the wet rag and wiped my face. Next he handed me the water which I hastily took, rinsing out my mouth and spiting it in the toilette before throwing back the rest of the glass. He tugged the glass from my hands after I was finished and sat in front of me. He set the glass down and reached forward, wiping the tears from my face.

“It’s fine now . . .” he murmured. I jerked back.

“No it’s not, Nolan! It’s not fine!” I nearly shouted. He closed his eyes for a moment then reopened them.

“You’re right.” I drew back, shocked. “It’s not alright. It’s not fine at all- but it will be. You have to fight through this like I know you can. You are strong. Stronger than anyone I know. You always have been and always will be. That’s why I know it and you will be fine. We can through this together. We will both be fine.”

I sat there, stunned at his speech. I slowly unfroze and gave him a tentative nod. He was right. I knew he was and so did he. I sighed and wiped my mouth again with the rag.

“You’re right,” I agreed. He looked almost as stunned as I had been then gave me a small smile, nodding.

“Alright. Let’s get some food in you now . . . if you’re up to it?” he asked hesitantly. I nodded and let him help me up. We made our way to the kitchen and he picked through the cupboards after commanding me to sit at the table.

“What sounds good?” he asked me, looking over his shoulder while holding a cupboard door open. I shrugged.

“Whatever. Nothing sounds extremely appealing right now . . .” I replied.  I fiddled with the hemming of my nightgown. I paused. Wait. When did I change?

“Nolan . . .”

“Hmm?” he replied still looking for something good to whip up.

“Did you change my clothes last night?” He froze, hand still deep inside a cupboard.

“Err . . . well . . . uh, yeah,” he mumbled.

“Oh . . .” I breathed. He coughed and shuffled his feet.

“How does omelets sound?” he asked awkwardly.

“Huh? Oh, uh, that sounds fine,” I replied, startled and flushing an awful pink. I stared down at my nightgown, refusing to look at him. I listened as he pulled out the cooking pan and eggs and started cracking them into a bowl. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. HE SAW MY UNDERWEAR. HE SAW ME IN MY UNDERWEAR, my brain screamed. To put it lightly, I was freaking out. Only a tad- . . . if tad was measured as the size of the entire planet. The sound of him whisking the eggs entered my ears.