"Better now?"
Max took the mug from her and set it down on the bedside table. It was the second cup of coffee that he had made her, along with a plate of toast and the colour was beginning to reappear in her cheeks.
She touched the corners of her mouth to remove any potential residue of butter.
"Mmhmm."
She murmured, passing him the plate which he set down next to her mug.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, perched there like an anxious bird, his body tense.
"You scared me you know."
He said at last, with a glance to his hands that were folded in his lap.
"It was like you were attacked all over again."
He added, and looked back up at her. She met his eyes, inhaled and sighed, spreading her hands, palms up, out on the bed sheet that bunched up about her waist.
"I remembered seeing you there...in the office."
She closed her eyes briefly, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers.
"I remembered hearing your voice call my name to warn me that he was going to hit me before he ran. You never told me about that. You tried to save me."
She looked across at him, his lips tensed and she saw the flicker of his jaw tightening.
"Guess I forgot."
He murmured, and he frowned and rubbed a hand across his forehead.
"Well, it's a good thing one of us remembered."
She whispered and she slipped her fingers across the sheets towards him, her index finger just reaching the cotton of his top and she tugged it gently to gain his attention.
She saw the corner of his mouth twitch and he lowered his head to hide the smile that threatened his lips. He shook his head and looked down at the hang nail at the side of his thumb that he'd been picking at since he'd found her unconscious at the bottom of her stairs two days ago.
"I just wish I could help you remember everything else."
He said quietly.
She ran the thin strip of fabric that she held between her thumb and index finger, it was soft and beginning to fray at the edges. She wondered how long he had been here, how long he'd been in those clothes.
"There's one thing that I don't know, that you could tell me."
She said, and he glanced at her with slightly narrowed eyes, his forehead creased.
"I don't know why you came here that night?"
She asked, and he raised his eyebrows and for a moment she thought he might laugh but instead he exhaled a sigh of warm air before he spoke.
"I didn't believe you when you'd said that you were ok after we'd been to your office."
He said slowly.
"I cam e to see if you were ok."
He added.
"And why did you stay?"
She asked quietly, letting go of what grip she had of his top and just letting her hand rest there, next to him.
He glanced down at it whilst he contemplated his answer.
"I couldn't leave you."
He said.
"I knew you'd be ok because you'd been sick, but I couldn't leave you there, knowing that you'd just tried to...what you'd just tried to...do."
He faltered and she saw the frustration flicker within his eyes. He looked so tired...
"I threw up?"
She asked, and the sudden realisation dawned upon her that she was wearing her dressing gown, the one that she never wore that hung on the back of her bedroom door. He'd had to undress her, clean her up. She felt her cheeks flush a fierce scarlet and her stomach winced at the indignity of it all.
"I cleaned it up."
He said, mistaking her embarrassment for worry about the mess.
She felt hot and she swore under her breath, looking down, anywhere but at him. This wasn't who she was or who she used to be. This person that she couldn't remember had changed her without her realising it.
"Fuck."
She swore again and this time he heard.
"I didn't...I mean..."
He glanced at her dressing gown, gesturing half-heartedly to it with a flourish of his left hand.
"I called Robyn, she sorted you out. I wouldn't...do that."
He said, realising what she was suddenly so cross about, and in turn he felt the rise of a blush burn within his cheeks.
"Christ."
She rubbed the tips of her fingers against her forehead, letting her eyes fall closed.
"I'm not sure what's worse."
She murmured, before letting her hand fall so that she could look at him again.
"I'm so sorry."
She whispered with the hopeless shrug of her shoulders.
He shook his head and reached out tentatively for her fingers that had held the hem of his t-shirt. He touched them ever so gently, pushed them between hers slowly, his knuckles glancing against her own until their hands lay haphazardly interlinked against the white of the duvet cover.
"Don't be."
He said.
More very soon! Thank you to everyone who reads and comments! Happiness and more clues on the way...xxx
Abi: Thank you for your comments. I'm slightly confused as to which user name is yours. In one message you mentioned poisonous snowflake and the other poisonous desire? Perhaps you could send me a PM (if you'd like) so I know which is you. I've no idea about joint stories so you'll have to clue me up! x
