28. Three Days Of Nothingness

**Bianca**

“Even after that, I couldn’t get up.”

Avery’s fingers massaged my scalp as I laid down on his chest. He patiently waited for me to continue. I took in a deep breath, taking in his natural scent. It was a good reminder that despite the bad memories I was about to recall, I wasn’t at that point in my life anymore. I was somewhere that my past couldn’t reach me. And talking about it with someone other than a psychologist might help.

“I was devastated. Never before in my life had I felt so helpless. But then I had something worse to worry about. No matter how much time passed I still couldn’t move. When I realized that the effects of the poison weren't fading any time soon, I started to panic. It took a while to calm myself. I knew that I had good healing abilities, so I had to reclaim faith that I would get better by nightfall. Either that or Conroy would come back for something and finally see that something’s wrong. The night came. Before long I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was on the floor and nothing changed.

“I must have fallen off the couch during my sleep. I realized that I still couldn’t move. The morning went away, and I knew this because of the clock on the wall. I tried taking deep breaths because I knew I would only feel worse if I freaked out. My right cheek was making contact with the carpet. I could hear people pass by the door. Sometimes I heard the footsteps stop. That’s when I got my hopes up. Someone is going to open that door and save me from this torment. But the footsteps always started again.

“My stomach hurt a lot. It’s not like I was able to feed it. Neither could I go to the toilet. It feels weird saying it now, but I ended up soiling my underwear and skirt because of it.”

He stopped stroking my hair briefly. “Goddess… But you were able to breathe without any issues, right? There was nothing restricting your breathing?”

I shook my head. "No, thankfully. If that happened I wouldn't be here right now "

"Thank goodness." He started stroking my hair again. "Don't stop, Bianca. I want to hear about everything you experienced. Don't leave a single thing out."

I inhaled deeply.

“So, yeah. Because I couldn’t go to the bathroom I ended up peeing on myself. I hated the wet feeling but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Another night passed and I stayed awake, crying myself to sleep when the morning came.

“The hunger was unbearable. I could now move my lips and tongue but I was still unable to open my mouth to scream for help. The stench of urine stung my nostrils. There was so much of it now. By the time night came again, I convinced myself that I would die there of either lack of food or dehydration, whichever came first. And when that happened, all that would be left of me was my body.

“The third day came and went. I was beginning to lose consciousness despite having already slept. Then that evening, my sister used the spare key I gave her to open the front door. Turns out she was calling me to get something done for our parents. And since I never answered, she came to scold me. That’s when I lost consciousness and fell into a coma for three months. I only found out that it was her standing at the door when I came to.”

None of us said anything. I played with the duvet covering us. It remained silent a while longer before Avery embraced me and pulled me closer to his chest. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his skin against my face.

“I’m sorry, Bianca.” He sunk his nose into my hair. “I should have gone there when Conroy asked me to pick up his stuff in his place. If I agreed instead of telling him to fear his fears then I could have gone there and seen the state you were in. You didn’t deserve it, Bianca. Any of it.”

I sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s not like you’re not psychic.”

“Yes, but I can’t stop thinking about the possibilities. If I wasn’t such a dick then we could have been friends and I would know when something was wrong. Fuck… Just imagining it makes me sick, so I can’t imagine how those three days must have been for you. And then you lost three months of your life because of Cinderella…”

I shook my head and removed his arms from around me. He seemed surprised when I climbed on top of him.

“Like I said, you’re not psychic. Hindsight is 20/20, but that doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up over something that had nothing to do with you.”

“But it had to do with you and I care about making sure you’re alright,” Avery stated.

I smiled. I placed his hands on my hips and leaned forward. Regardless of the only light in his room being from a faraway lamp, I knew he could see my naked body quite well. “You know one way of making sure I’m fine? I’d be happy to show you.”

We stared into each other’s eyes. I held his face and kissed his lips. Avery readily reciprocated. My tongue danced over his. I was ready to do so much more when Avery suddenly removed my hand from his face.

“Sorry but, after what you just told me, I’m not in the mood. My insides feel like shit. It’s not you at all! I want you to know that. I’m just not feeling all that hot.”

“I understand.” I kissed his head and rolled off him. Getting off the bed, I raised my arms into the air and stretched. My bra and panties were nearby so I put them on. The next thing I slipped on was my shorts. I knew it was going to get cold later so walking around in my birthday suit didn’t seem like the best option.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Avery sitting up with the most depressed expression. It’s as if he had seen someone torture a puppy. I turned around and looked at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, there is. You're getting ready to leave because I wouldn't have sex with you.”