Addiction

12

I heard the elevator ding. A moment later James walked back into the room. He walked to my side of the bed and sat down on the edge. "Stay still," he said. He dotted some salve onto my forehead. It felt good to be taken care of after so many weeks of feeling completely alone.

"Why are you crying? Does it hurt?" he asked.

I shook my head. He placed a white bandage over the stitches. I watched his face as he applied the medical tape to keep it in place. I suddenly felt homesick.

"I want to go home."

"Penny, you are home." He cupped my chin in his hand.

"Please, Professor Hunter."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight." He sat down next to me and pulled my head onto his chest. His tantalizing scent made me feel numb.

"I need to go home." Tears began to well in my eyes. I missed my parents. I needed to talk to my mom. "Please."

He kissed my forehead. "You need rest."

His cologne had completely engulfed me. I looked down at my lap. "Why am I wearing one of your shirts?"

"I didn't want Dr. Ridge to see you in the outfit you were wearing earlier."

"You undressed me?"

"Yes."

How long had I been passed out? "You shouldn't have done that."

"Penny, I've seen you naked plenty of times."

I looked up at him. "You're not allowed to see people naked that you've ignored for two weeks. That's not how things work. You've got everything backwards." I was rambling. I wasn't even sure what I was saying.

"In that case, I'm sorry."

"Good."

He kissed my forehead next to my bandage. A rumble of thunder sounded outside. A moment later I could hear the patter of rain against the window. I breathed in Professor Hunter's cologne.

"It's raining," I mumbled.

He kissed my forehead again.

"Whenever it rains I think about you. It's when I missed you the most. You promised you wouldn't be mad at me. You promised."

Instead of answering me, he kissed my forehead again.

I looked up at him. "You should put ice on your eye."

"Don't worry about me, Penny."

"You're very worrisome," I sighed into his chest. "You never talk to me. You won't let me in."

Professor Hunter ran his hands through my hair. "I'm trying."

I yawned. "It's normal to worry about the people you love." I tried to keep my eyes open but my eyelids felt heavy. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

Saturday

I slowly opened my eyes. Professor Hunter was laying next to me in bed. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and steady. There was a dark bruise around his eye. I sat up. My head hurt. I reached up and felt the bandage. I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. I flipped on the light switch and stared at my reflection in the mirror. A bruise was peeping out from under the bandage. Everything came back in a rush. I gulped, remembering the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of me. s**t. Tyler.

I ran back into the bedroom. I needed to call Tyler. I needed to see if he was okay. My Poison Ivy costume was in a heap on the floor. But my phone wasn't there. I looked around the bedroom. Professor Hunter stirred in his bed. I went back into the bathroom and locked the door. I put my back against the door and sighed. What had I done? I swallowed hard. My mouth still tasted like vomit. I looked over at the sink. There was a toothbrush still in its plastic wrapping. I walked over, opened it up, and brushed my teeth. When I was done I held the brush in my hand and stared at the toothbrush holder. Professor Hunter's toothbrush sat there alone. I thought about Tyler's hands on my waist. I gulped and tossed the toothbrush into the trash. I leaned down and put my face in my hands.

I had turned into a slut in one day. I kissed a stranger. I f****d Tyler. And I slept over at Professor Hunter's apartment all within a day. I slid my hands down and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and pulled Professor Hunter's t-shirt off. There was a large bruise on my stomach and a small one on my elbow. I moved away from the mirror and turned on the shower. I felt disgusting. I needed to wash yesterday off of me.

The water only took a second to get warm. I stepped in, trying carefully not to get my bandage wet. I put my hands on the wall and let the water fall on my back. The image of Professor Hunter in here with me popped into my head. I tried to shake it away. I poured some of his body wash onto my hands, trying to ignore the intoxicating smell. I imagined his hands on me, washing me. f**k. I quickly rinsed and turned the water off. I needed to get a grip. My stomach was in knots. How had things escalated so quickly last night? Tyler and Professor Hunter had had a fist fight over me, or because of me. This whole situation seemed surreal. I needed to get back to my dorm room. Melissa would know what to do. She always knew what to do.

I wrapped my towel around myself and opened up the bathroom door. Professor Hunter was no longer in bed. There was a pile of clothes by the bathroom door. I picked them up and quickly dressed. A pair of yoga pants and a tank top. No underwear. I didn't dwell on it. I walked into the main room and over toward Professor Hunter. He was in the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. Stop being so sexy. I took a deep breath and walked toward him. When I reached the counter he turned toward me.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I lied. My head pounded, either from the concussion, or too much to drink, or a combination of the two. And I felt guilty for being here. "I'm going to get going."

He pushed a plate of waffles in front of me. Instead of responding to me, he just arched his eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't cook."

"I don't. They were frozen."

I looked down at my plate. It felt like I was going to throw up again. "I'm not hungry."

"You've lost weight. You need to eat."

"So now you suddenly care about me again?"

"I never stopped caring about you." His eyebrows lowered slightly. "I see that you have your memory back."

I pushed the plate away.