Page 111 of Creatures Like Us

“It’s okay.” I try to give him a smile, but it comes out strained. “You can go home if you like.”

He frowns. “And why would I do that?”

“To sleep.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, the pain doesn’t seem that bad anymore. “Okay.”

“I still think you should take some more painkillers.”

I don’t reply, staring into the opposite wall.

Asher takes my hand in his, and his voice is soft when he asks, “Why do you do this? Do you think you deserve it or something?”

My mouth opens and closes. Opens again. Fuck, I’m thirsty. I’ve neglected that too. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“You know what for.”

Asher sighs. “I thought we’d been through this.” He squeezes my hand. His palm is soft and warm, soothing some of my ache.

I clench my jaw, finding it hard to look at him, the guilt weighing heavy on my shoulders. “I can’t say it enough. It won’t ever be enough.”

“How about me, huh? How about howIhurt you?” He nods toward my abdomen, lower than the stab wound, and the memory of him straddling me and cutting me open hits me full force. I shiver at the memory. “I knocked you out too. I could’ve caused some serious damage with that one.”

“Whatever your actions, I deserved them.”

Asher rolls his eyes. “You’re starting to piss me off.”

My breathing comes in quick bursts, followed by an underlying whimper, and that pain?…?Fuck, that pain?…

“That’s it.” Asher reaches for the red button by my bedside, and before I can stop him, he presses down hard.

Moments later, a nurse comes inside. “Everything okay?”

“No,” Asher says. “He’s in pain.”

The nurse administers another dose of intravenous painkillers. All the while, I can feel Asher watching the procedure with a certain?…?intensityto his expression.

“When can he go home?” he asks the nurse.

“He’s recovering quickly, so in a few days, at the most.” The nurse finishes with the IV and straightens up. “Anything else?”

I shake my head, and the nurse leaves. Already, the painkillers are starting to work. My eyelids droop, but I try to keep focusing on Asher.

“Are you thinking about it?” I ask.

“About what?”

Not answering, I squeeze his hand, and his gaze falls.

“Yeah?…?Yeah, I’m thinking about it. I almost did it, you know. At the party, before you came.” He winces, as if he’s awaiting my judgment, but I just nod and squeeze his hand in return.

“But you didn’t?”

“No.”