I pull my face from the seat and wipe away the drool from the corner of my mouth. I’m hot and my whole body is aching.
I sit up in the back and look at our surroundings. Everything is green, and I can smell salt in the air.
“How do you feel?” Damian asks, his eyes jumping between the road and the mirror.
“Yucky,” I sum it all up for him.
He digs in a bag on the passenger seat and then hands me an energy drink. I take it from him and as I take a few greedy gulps, he hands me a box of painkillers. “Shit, thank you!” I get excited at the thought of not being in pain. I take two pills and then drink some more of the energy drink. I slump back against the seat and just stare out the window. Pretty houses line the street we’re driving down, and here and there someone is working in their garden.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“Southport,” Damian says as he turns down a road. “I have a cabin here.”
The houses start to thin out, and after a while it’s only trees with a cabin every few miles. “Where’s Southport?” I ask.
“It’s in North Carolina. I think you’ll like it here. It’s a small village.”
I still smell salt but I can’t see the ocean from where I am. “Is there a beach nearby?”
“Yeah, once you’re better, I’ll show you the town. Everything’s within walking distance.”
I stare at the trees passing us by and then Damian pulls up to a weather-beaten cabin. It makes the house we lived in look like a castle.
When Damian stops the car, I get out slowly. My mid-section feels tender as hell, but at least the pain is easing up.
Damian grabs the bag and takes the set of keys we got from the storage unit out. His eyes settle on me and before he can reach for me, I start to slowly walk to the front door. I shake the railing, testing it first, before I lean on it so I can climb the creaking stairs.
“It doesn’t look like much, but that’s the idea. We can fix it up, make it our own.” Damian unlocks the door as my face flushes from his words. He’s using words like ‘we’ and ‘our’.
I follow him into a dusty small room. There’s only one couch and a tiny TV. Dust particles dance in the air all around us.
“The bedroom’s through here,” Damian says and I follow him into an even smaller room. There’s only the double bed and an old cupboard. I watch as Damian pulls all the bedding off. He shakes it all out, and then makes the bed again. “Get in.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice and I don’t care what condition the bedding is in. I just want to sleep. I slowly crawl under the covers and find a comfortable position for my tender body.
Damian takes a bottle of water from the bag and places it on the floor, right next to where I’m lying. He leaves a box of painkillers too. “I’ll check on you in a while. Get some rest.”
When he turns to leave the room, I whisper, “Thank you.”
He gives me one of his rare smiles that makes the air whoosh from my lungs, and then he leaves. He doesn’t close the door and I can hear every step he takes. He’s opening and closing cupboards and then I hear keys rattle. The sound of a door closing tells me that he’s left.
The dusty smell from the pillow tickles my nose and I shove my hands under my head to act as barrier.
It’s quiet out here and I love it. No people. Nothing but us.
The smell of something delicious wakes me. I don’t know how long I slept for. I get up slowly and when a pain starts to pulse in my abdomen, I quickly reach for the painkillers. I down two with the water and then go in search of Damian.
I find him in the kitchen where he’s stirring something in a pot. “You’re cooking?” I’m surprised as hell. Damian never cooked before, well, except for that one time he made curry for what’s-her-name.
“Yeah, just some chili. I got some fresh bread too, and some other stuff.” He points to an old kettle. “It just boiled if you’d like to make some coffee.”
“Thanks,” I whisper. I make myself some coffee and then walk out onto the small porch. Every step I take makes the wood creak beneath my feet.
I take in the surroundings and when I don’t see any cabins or people near us, I feel a flutter of something close to happiness.
I hear movement inside and I glance over my shoulder. Damian is stripping all the bedding off again and then I watch him take brand new bedding out of a bag.
I wish I had the energy to help him, but I’m already tired again. It feels as if something is draining every drop of strength from my body.
I finish the coffee and rinse the cup, and then go to the bathroom. It’s the tiniest room, with only a bath, basin and toilet. I hesitate for a second before I close the door. I feel panic rise in my chest as I stare at the door. I quickly relieve myself, flush the toilet, and rinse my hands, before I yank the door open. Damian is right on the other side and I bounce back.