Loving Him

Chapter 12

She tugged at her hand and he released his hold, letting her hand go. Absentmindedly, she rubbed her wrist.

"Are you going to dab all over my body then?"

"Wha...? No, I just--"

"It's fine, Sophia, thank you. I'll take a shower later," he said, trying to ease her discomfort.

She nodded, grabbed the bowl of water, leaving the wet towel on his head and left his room.

* * *
Sophie tossed and turned throughout the night. A part of her was worried about Alex. He said he had anemia, although she knew it wasn't always life threatening, she still worried if keeping it from Raymond was right. The other part couldn't stop thinking about how she'd been so affected by him holding her wrist. Raymond had called her that night but even that hadn't been able to raise her spirit. She'd given him an excuse about being tired and ended the call.

She was barely able to get an hour of sleep before she had to get up and make breakfast for Angel. Long after the girl had gone to school, she sat by the table in the kitchen, dozing off even as she was planning to make breakfast.

That was how Alex met her, head on the table with cooking materials scattered about. Shaking his head, he tapped her shoulder gently.

She sprang up, hitting her knee on the table in the process, some things falling to the floor.

"Ow! I'm sorry, I..." She bent to pick them up but he was faster. Staring at him, she saw he didn't look sick at all.

"How are you feeling?" She blurted as he stood up, placing the items back on the table.

"Normal," he replied, raising his brow and cocking his head to one side, studying her. "I can't say the same for you though. Looking at you, one would think you're the sick one. You look like you didn't sleep the whole night."

She almost snorted. Whose fault was that exactly? "I wasn't able to get much sleep last night." Make that like just thirty minutes.

He frowned. "Why?"

She shrugged, trying to move but hitting her leg on the chair again, almost falling.

His hands reached out to steady her and she felt that tingling sensation at his touch. She groaned but he assumed it was from the pain.

"Okay. Just go back to sleep," he told her.

She shook her head. "No, I haven't made breakfast yet."

"I'm more concerned about you burning the kitchen down or hurting yourself right now so please just try to get some sleep, I'll fix something for myself."

She wanted to argue but she was feeling groggy. He wasn't going to listen anyway. Nodding, she left for her room. Thankfully, this time she fell asleep fast.

It was already noon before she woke up. Checking the time, she gasped. How had she slept that much? Quickly taking her bath, she rushed down to see him in the living room, watching TV.

He didn't turn to her as he said, "I see you're awake."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep that much."

"I'm not complaining, am I? I'm not a good cook but if you're willing to suffer through it, there's food in the kitchen."

Surprised, she blurted, "For me?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, you don't have to eat it."

"No, I didn't mean...Thanks."

He nodded.