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One year ago
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When Lily woke up, James was shaking her. With a great effort, she kept her eyes open and sat up, but he pushed her back down into a horizontal position.
“Hey, it’s okay. Lay down,” James said. He smoothed the sweaty hair back from her forehead.
Lily surveyed the room, realizing she must be in his guest room. She had only been in there once before when he gave her a tour of his house the first time she came over. She was lying in a queen-sized bed with a quilt covering her body. The scent of cleaning products filled the room—disinfectant or bleach.
Across from the bed, several landscape paintings decorated the wall. A large oak dresser stood diagonally from the bed on the other side of the room, with an ornate gold mirror attached to it. Other than that, there were no furnishings—no TV, electronics, or books.
She couldn’t see her reflection in the mirror from her position in the bed, but she could only imagine how disheveled she appeared. Her mind flashed back to what had happened, and she whimpered in pain as it all came back to her.
“James, I need to see a doctor.” Lily held her hand to her head, touching the sore spot that must have hit the ground when she fell off her bike. Her head throbbed harder, as if the mere memory of what happened had intensified the pain.
“Shh, I’ll take you to see one soon.”
“Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself as her stomach roiled.
James whipped out a small trash can and handed it to her. Lily leaned forward, then heaved and vomited into the trash can, emptying the contents of her stomach until there was nothing left.
Isn’t nausea a symptom of a concussion? She wracked her brain, trying to recall what she knew about head injuries, which wasn’t much.
Crap. Her parents! They were going to be so worried about her.
“I need to get home,” Lily said frantically, setting the trash can on the ground. “I can’t stay here.”
“Lily, it’s okay. You’ll be fine.” James brushed his hand through her hair, soothing her. “I’ll take care of you, my love.”
“But my parents . . .”
James put a finger to her lips.
“How long was I unconscious?” she asked, speaking against his finger until he removed it.
James reached for her hand and held it as he answered. “About twelve hours. It’s the next morning.”
“Oh my God. My parents are going to kill me,” Lily said with a groan. “I can’t believe I’ve been gone all night. I’ve never done that before.”
“Don’t worry about that. You suffered a serious head injury last night. It’s a miracle you made it through the night,” James said in a nonchalant tone.
“James, this isn’t funny! I can’t stay here. It’s—it’s not right. My parents wouldn’t like this. I need to get home,” Lily said, becoming more agitated.
She tried again to get out of the bed, but James tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead.
“Why would you want to go home? Don’t you love me, Lily? I thought we were going to be together. I’ve sacrificed so much for you.” James’s tone became angrier, and his normally soft green eyes hardened. “Do you know how much trouble I would be in if anyone found out about us? I’ve risked my career, my life, everything—for you! Do you not care what could happen to me? Do you want me to go to jail? Is that all part of your grand plan, to frame me, to make me into the bad guy?” Spit flew from his mouth and sprinkled across her.
Lily wiped off the spit with disgust, but she hid her true emotions. “N-no, of course not. I want to go home,” she whimpered.
James shook his head as his eyes softened again. “You can’t go home, Lily. What would you tell your parents?”
“I c-could make up a story about falling off my bike and staying the night at a friend’s house. I’ll tell them I fell asleep and forgot to call to tell them I wouldn’t be home.”
“They won’t believe you.” He stared at her, his lip curling as he let go of her hand. “You’re a mess. Besides, they know you don’t have any friends. Except me, of course. But they don’t know about me, do they?”
“No, I didn’t tell them, I swear!”
Lily’s heart beat faster as the reality of the situation sank in. James was refusing to let her go home. And he wouldn’t take her to the hospital, even though she was hurt. He was going to let her leave, wasn’t he?
She stifled a cry. She had to be strong. He couldn’t keep her there forever. She could find a way out. She had to.