Last Night

Part 1.5

He locked eyes with me and tilted his head to the side before walking past me in search of the kit. "Because the pressure will keep it from reopening in your sleep, especially if you've been restless lately."

Oh, that made sense. "I'm sorry about your shirt. I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse. If I can't get it out, it's no big deal. I've lost plenty."

My forehead furrowed as I replayed that in my mind. "What do you do again?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Different things. Normally I work in sales though," he stated, then the rustling of bottles and cabinet doors swinging about filled the air. "We're in luck. There's a bandage in here."

He walked incredibly softly even on the linoleum so I didn't notice he was back until he was standing next to me. The way he stood there, it was like he was holding his breath, stiff and too upright.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, tucking my chin down into the blanket and looking away from him.

He immediately poked my cheek. "We all have off nights. Sit still while I dress it."

I couldn't help being a little impressed that he knew how to do all of this. Half of the stuff in that kit I probably didn't know what to do with or how to use properly. His hands worked quickly as they applied things I couldn't see and gently adjusted my hair out of the way.

A couple minutes later, my head was wrapped securely and he was returning the rest of the materials back to the kitchen cabinet.

"Well, that's all I can do. The rest is up to you."

I snickered, "literally. Anyway, thank you for helping me. I'd walk you to the door, but it might be a bit indecent."

"Forget about it." His eyes glinted, then he walked to the door. "Night."

I blinked a couple times, then watched him walk over to my front door, pull it open, and shut it after he stepped out without another word. It took several minutes of me sitting there, staring into the empty space where he'd been seated before I could drag myself out of the protection of my Recliner of Refuge. What the hell happened to me tonight?

The soft, blue, fluffy cushions would normally encase me in a warm shield against scary movies and bitter sickness. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay there all night even though I wanted to. I was still naked after all and the blanket was getting really warm. My shortest pair of nylon shorts and a tank-top were the only things that would prevent me from sweating all night. Still holding my blanket around my chest, I raised the glass and drained the rest of it.

"That was weird. No more white wine."

After I cautiously locked my front door for what I thought was the second time tonight, I walked into my bathroom and locked that door as well. Something felt off and I assumed it was me since my heart was racing. I was still hesitant to drop my blanket and towel.

Once I did, I quickly wiped myself down with a washcloth as I was a bit skittish of the shower. Mostly cleaned, I brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face. I'd rinse off more in the morning.

"Everything's okay." I chanted to myself in a whisper as I patted myself dry and hung up my towel. The mantra didn't work. I didn't feel any better as my feet carried an exhausted, naked me into the bedroom. I threw on my pajamas as fast as I could manage while glancing at every corner where an unexpected noise originated from.

Tonight had been a rough night. Everything was just weird. Well, not the call from my mother that threw me into a rage that resulted in me drunkenly making a mess of myself, that was pretty standard now. But the tumbling in the shower and imagining my handsome, quiet neighbor was a vampire or some type of alien, yeah, that was unusual. I definitely must have hit my head pretty hard for me to be that delusional.

After crawling into bed, I pulled the sheet and light quilt up to my chin and settled in. With a couple deep breaths, my body eased into position for sleep. But sleep never came. Every creak, every hum from the fridge, every clink from my wind chime jerked my eyelids back and I looked around the room for any extra deep shadows or unusual lights. My heart raced.

"Ugh, please just shut off brain." I exhaled and turned onto my side, but I winced as my wound came under more pressure thanks to tonight's shenanigans. "That was a great impression, Nicole, covered in blood, chunks of who-knows-what, and probably reeking of wine. He's going to think I'm an alcoholic like Emily does. Great."

I shuffled myself onto my back again. "Why would someone who works in sales deal with blood stains?"

Closing my eyes, I tried to settle my thoughts. Sleep took me in its grasp some time later though.

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Well, I managed to rewrite that quickly enough. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.

Any thoughts? Like her? Hate her? What about Ian? How do you feel about him?