reached it, tall, dark, and pain-in-my-ass filled the space.
He stared at me impassively and crossed his arms.
I stretched my lips in a silent snarl, turned around, and crawled right back into bed. He continued to watch me, so I rolled over and gave him my back.
Didn’t he have anywhere else to be?
There was a scrape of noise on my bedside table then footsteps retreating.
“She’s not drinking or eating,” Emily said softly. “I think she’s giving up.”
“If she was giving up, she wouldn’t still be trying to leave.”
The door closed on the rest of Merdon’s words. Was he right? Was I not really giving up? I wanted to. I’d jumped off the damn roof, hadn’t I? What more did I need to do to leave the pain of what I’d done behind?
Merdon abruptly entered my room again, a glass in one hand.
“You need to drink.”
Without waiting for my response, he slid an arm under my shoulder and brought the cup to my lips as he braced me up.
I kept my lips closed as I glared at him.
“You can do it yourself,” he said in a deadly whisper, “or I can force you. Your choice.”
I glared at him, my mouth firmly closed.
His expression shifted slightly, almost as if he was glad I was resisting. Then, he dumped most of the water right in my face.
I sputtered and swore at him. The glass clanked against my teeth, and water flooded my mouth. Faced with a choice of swallow or drown, I swallowed. Damn him.
He didn’t let up, continuing his attempt to drown me until the water was gone. He straightened abruptly, letting me fall back onto the bed as I choked and gasped. Our gazes locked as I caught my air, and I made a noise between a hiss and a growl, ready to flip off his retreating form. He didn’t give me the opportunity. Rather than leave, he sat in the chair, not far from my bed.
His angry gaze held mine.
“That water will stay in you. If it doesn’t, I will do that again and again until it does stay. Do you understand, Hannah? I won’t play your game. You will drink.”
I hadn’t spoken since they’d locked me in here, but Merdon’s antagonistic words tempted me to break my silence. However, even if I had the balls to tell him to screw himself, after his little display of force, I knew better than to provoke him further.
Since the quakes, I’d learned a lot about myself and other people. Most had wanted pleasantness and smiles even in the face of complete desolation. They’d wanted to be lulled and lied to. It made them feel better, a false sense of security and normalcy.
Giving people what they needed gave me a certain level of power. I just needed to wait and figure out what it was that Merdon needed. Then I would be the one with the power.
If he thought he had patience, I had more.
Turning my back to him, I closed my eyes. It was bad enough being locked in my room, alone and with nothing to do. I didn’t need the additional misery of Merdon’s presence or the water in my stomach.
My middle cramped painfully and a pre-puke burp escaped me. I started breathing fast through my mouth, doing everything I could to keep it down. I did not want a repeat performance of the forced drinking process.
After a time, the cramping in my middle eased, and I swallowed hard. Merdon remained quiet behind me. So quiet that I was tempted to turn around and see if he was still here. I knew better than to give in to the temptation. He wouldn’t win. I wouldn’t let him.
When the door opened again, the lighting in the room had changed.
“Two glasses of water this time,” Emily said quietly. “I think we should have Cassie look at her.”
I wanted to snort. What the hell would Cassie do? By her own admission, she had only been a nurse in training before the quakes. She couldn’t even figure out what kind of sleeping pill to give me.
Merdon grunted. Why the hell couldn’t he just say “yes” or “no” like a normal person?
“Hannah, are you going to sit up and drink, or do I need to help you?” he asked instead.
Stubbornly, I didn’t move.
“Leave, Emily,” he said softly.
The door closed, and I braced myself, waiting for his arm under my shoulders. It never came.
Fingers clamped down on my jaw, digging into my cheeks with enough force that I