At first she thought it was a dream. She heard a scraping noise, but in her half-asleep state, she was unable to process what was making the sound. She’d fallen asleep in the chair, and as she awakened further, she realized someone was trying to put a key in the lock. A quick glance at her phone showed the time as 5:53 a.m. Approximately forty-eight hours after he’d kissed her good-bye, it seemed that Ian was back. Kate sprang from the chair.
He’d managed to get the door open, and she flinched when she saw his condition. His hair looked as if he hadn’t run anything but his fingers through it since he’d left, and his skin was pale, bordering on gray. The whites of his eyes were streaked with clusters of red. How long had he been staring at a computer screen? Had he slept at all? He wasn’t wearing a coat, and his shirt was untucked and wrinkled.
He reached for her, his expression weary and unfocused. “I’m sorry I didn’t text back.”
“It’s okay,” she said, gently taking the key ring from his freezing hand and easing the laptop-bag strap from his shoulder and setting it down on her kitchen table. Hoping he hadn’t driven, she led him by the hand into the bedroom.
He sat down heavily on the bed, reaching for the buttons on his shirt. His fingers wouldn’t cooperate, and if it hadn’t been for the complete lack of the smell of alcohol, Kate would have sworn he was drunk.
“Here, let me do it,” Kate said, brushing his hands away.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
She gave him a quick kiss. “I know. We’ll talk about it later.” She took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand.
He seemed to fall asleep as she was undressing him, but then his eyes opened suddenly and he looked disoriented, as if he wasn’t sure where he was.
“Don’t worry. You’re home,” Kate said soothingly. When she had him down to his underwear, she pulled back the covers on his side of the bed and managed to slide him underneath, which was difficult because he was deadweight and almost incapable of helping her.
“My phone…” He was fading fast, the words trailing off.
Kate stroked his head. “I’ll take care of your phone. You go to sleep.” It was as if she’d flicked a switch. One moment he was with her, and the next he was out.
She found a few crumpled twenties, his company credit card, and his phone and charger in the front pocket of his jeans. The phone was exactly like hers and down to two percent battery. She plugged in the phone and placed it on the nightstand. Then she went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water in case he woke up and needed a drink.
He was so still. She thought about sliding in next to him, wanting to put her arms around him and hold him, but she was wide-awake. She pressed a kiss to his lips, closed the bedroom door, and went into the kitchen to make coffee.
He woke up fourteen hours later. She was on her way to Ginger Hop to pick up an order of pad Thai and General Tsing’s chicken when she received his text.
Ian: I’m awake. I don’t remember coming home.
Kate: You were pretty out of it. You must be starving. I’ll be back soon with dinner.
Ian: Starving and still tired. I’m going to take a shower. I missed you.
Kate: I missed you too.
When she walked in the door, he took the carryout bag from her, set it down on the floor, and slid his hand under her hair, gripping her by the back of her neck and pressing her face to his chest.
“Thanks for taking such good care of me,” he said, raising her chin for a kiss. He tightened his hold on her, and she hugged him back.
“Anytime.”
His eyes were still red, but they weren’t nearly the road map they’d been when he’d come home.
“Please tell me you didn’t drive here.”
“I took a cab from the airport.”
“Good.”
“You’re probably wondering what I was doing.”
“I have a few questions, but let’s have dinner first. We’ll talk after.”
He nodded. “Okay.”