Wallflower Ink

Chapter 27

"Maybe not, but--"

"No buts," she says firmly, and I shut my mouth. "But you are right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"If it's as bad as you think, you need to call in a professional."

"Who?"

"Her mother."

***

After talking for a while, and hatching out a plan, I say goodbye to Katie and end the call. She'll be here in just a little while so I can leave, and as soon as Kyle finishes his shift he'll be here to join her. Though I'm not exactly comfortable inviting my family into Merri's home, I feel like desperate times certainly call for desperate measures. And these times feel desperate, indeed.

Trying to put from my mind what her reaction to all this might be, I grab a couple empty coffee mugs then poured one for myself and another for Merri. Leaving mine on the counter, I doctor hers the way I've seen her do it herself, then carry it back to her room.

She is still lying exactly as I'd left her, and though I hate waking her up, I don't want her to wake after I've gone just to find my sister and brother-in-law have taken up shop in her kitchen. I'm sure she doesn't care for surprises, and after the events of last night I sure as hell am not going to just spring something like that on her unawares.

I kneel down beside her, set her cup on the floor, then reach out and brush her hair from her eyes. 

"Merri," I say her name softly. She stirs a little but doesn't wake, so I try again. "Merri, wake up."

This time her hand slips from beneath the blanket then runs up the side of her face before falling back to her pillow. I smile and shake my head. She obviously isn't as light a sleeper as I am. I say her name again, this time rubbing the arm she's exposed. When a wisp of a smile graces her features and her eyes flutter open, they find mine after only a moment.

"Go back to sleep, Jace. It was just a bad dream." Her eyes slip closed again and she burrows deeper into her blankets, pulling them over her head.

Instead of trying to wake her up again I just stare at her, frozen in place by what she said. Had I woken her up last night with my nightmares? I'd long ago outgrown the night terrors of my youth, and the dreams that had once awakened me every night years ago had eventually stopped too. At least, that's what I had thought.

Once the initial shock of her words wear off, I try once more to get her up and going. This time she's more receptive, pulling the blanket from her face and rolling over onto her side. She groans like someone waking with a hangover, and I can't help but to smile. She's not a morning person it seems, though until this point I have mistakenly thought she was. Maybe because she's always up before me and has had time enough to fake it.

"You awake now?"

"No," she grumbles softly and I chuckle at her.

"I brought you something that might help."

I reach down for her coffee as she pushes herself up off the bed then crosses her legs and shoves her wild mane from her face. With her hair a mess and no smile to be found in her expression, I find her to be just as remarkable to look at as she is when she's had time to smooth out her morning imperfections.