Obsession: Fight for the Billionaire's life

Chapter Ten

I stared at Liam as he slept, his long girlish lashes resting softly on his cheeks. Strange, I think. He lost all his hair, but his lashes stayed long and full.

I watch him for a long minute, then let out a heavy sigh. I get up to go into my adjoining room.

I figured I could afford a quick shower before checking on Liam again.

I push the door open and strip off my hospital clothes. I'd been here only a day, yet it felt like so many weeks.

I had no idea how or when my bags had been brought up, unpacked, and placed in drawers and cabinets. I shook my head, knowing that the peculiarity of my diagnosis would not let me be alright with the result.

I quickly refolded my clothes and set them just right. Then I wrapped a towel around my chest, twirled my hair over my head to create a crown, grabbed my shower bag, and padded to the bathroom.

Where I lived wasn't a poor area by any means, but I was a young doctor, and I could not afford a house with a bathroom like this in many years to come.

There was no need for my shower bag because everything I could want for a nice, relaxing bath had been set for me. There were no knobs to adjust the cold or hot, so I just turned on the shower and stood under it. In less than ten seconds, the water temperature changed and became perfect.

I looked up and saw a light that read my body temperature and adjusted the water to suit my needs. I ended up spending longer than I intended to, but the fear of not keeping an eye on Liam at all times made me jump out.

I promised myself I'd enjoy a long soak when Liam was better.

I didn't expect Liam to be awake, so I hurried straight to his room to check up on him, adjusting my towel to make it tighter as I went.

I knew my eyes were tender with affection as I looked down on his deeply sleeping face.

Liam's skin was pale and drawn, and his body was frail and weak.

I reached a hand out and felt his forehead for any temperature change. He was stable. The steady rise and fall of his chest was a good indicator that he was actually sleeping in order to recover.

I stroked his face. Then I ran my fingers down the side of his face and across his lips, first the upper one, then the lower one.

It was unbelievable that I was in the same room as Liam Blaine. That I was touching him and taking care of him.

Liam let out a deep sigh and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at me with deep, sad eyes.

"Emilia," Tom said weakly, "I'm scared. I'm not sure I can survive this."

I placed a hand on Liam's shoulder. A tear ran down my face, and I swiped it away with the back of my hand. "I know it's hard, Liam, but you have to keep fighting. We'll get through this, and we'll beat it. Together."

I stared long into his eyes. "We just need to keep going no matter what."

Liam nodded.

"Emilia, do you promise to stay with me no matter what happens?"

I nodded.

"I did this to save my life and for us. You and I. I need you, Emilia."

"Liam, don't worry about anything tonight. It's late right now. I'm sorry I woke you, but you need to rest. That's the only way you can get the strength to fight this thing." I was getting cold in the wet towel, but that was nothing compared to being with Liam right now.

Physical touch was one of the hardest things for me, but I'd been touching Liam since the moment I first laid eyes on him.

Something was different about him. I had never felt this way about anyone before. Rejection was the defining feature of my entire life. As though it wasn't bad enough that people treated me as though I was retarded, I made it worse by refusing to accept any affection from anyone who made any attempt to give it to me.

Physically, nothing about me would make someone think I had a neurodevelopmental disorder.

I'd been told how beautiful I was all my life. Good looks were about the only thing my nonexistent mother managed to hand down to me before she disappeared from my life. I was also tall and had a full mop of wavy, auburn hair.

Therefore turning people's heads where ever I was, was never in short supply. The problem began when someone decided to start a conversation with me.

My goodness. Even I was surprised at some of the ways I've reacted. Once, I even pushed someone down who leaned too close to me. Another time, I broke into sweats and curled up on the floor in a fetal position, sticking my fingers into my ears. All because the music was too loud in the mall.

Someone must have gotten the card out of my pocket. The one Mrs. Brown insisted I place in it every morning when she first started to let me go out on my own. The card had her name and number on it and read, 'My name is Emilia. I have a developmental disorder. Please call Mrs. Brown if you find my behavior odd.'

I had fingered that card so many times it had become worn. And each time I looked down at it, I saw the words' developmental disorder' read as 'retarded', 'weirdo', 'phycho'.

It would bang at my head, shouting at me until I couldn't take it anymore and I'd have to find a lonely place and bite my arm or, when I could reach it, my thigh until I drew blood.

Something continued to tell me I didn't deserve to be loved, that I was ugly, and that everyone would reject me once they knew what I was.

There was never a time the voices told me anything good. They drove me to hurt myself, hate myself, and kill myself.

I knew that even though I was a gifted neurosurgeon, it was only a matter of time before I succumbed.

Before Mrs Brown arrived that day at the mall, emergency responders tried to talk to me, but I'd only screamed some more. When one of them came close enough to touch me, I bit his hand so hard I tasted the blood.

By the time Mrs. Brown arrived, she had no choice but to take me to the hospital. It was there that the doctors diagnosed me with depression.

The doctors there explained to Mrs. Brown that it was not uncommon for an autistic young adult to fall into depression given that I was at an age where physically and emotionally, I had begun to desire intimacy and social connections with other humans.

They gave me drugs to stabilize my emotions, which I flushed down the toilet and continued to handle my personal challenges my way. I was so careful about it that Mrs. Brown never found out I bit myself.

My life has been one heck of a roller coaster of playing two lives and pretending to the world I was okay when I wasn't and constantly craving love and intimacy and many nights of desiring sex, but not able to accept it even when it was offered.

I'd denied myself human contact because it felt wrong, yet being near Liam didn't feel wrong at all, and I wasn't going to walk away from this new experience, no matter what.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't remember that I was nearly naked in front of Liam.

He reached out a hand and touched my bite marks. He ran a finger down the length of my arms.

"Emilia, what are these marks?"

His voice was weak, but it was firm and I felt ashamed.

I jumped back, not sure what this would mean to him. To us.

"Come here." Liam struggled to sit up, and I hurried back to his side to help him.

He pulled me to sit beside him.

"Do you hurt yourself?"

I nodded, unable to look him in the eyes.

Liam raised my head up by the chin. Our eyes held and met. Then he slowly brought his lips down to mine.

I had never been kissed in this way before. It felt like I was floating, but at the same time, it lifted all my cares and worries and dissolved them into thin air.

I felt like I was in a cotton candy bubble, and the sweet flavors freely flowed all over my body.

I was tingling, and I had never felt like this before. I leaned closer to Liam, wrapping my arms around his neck, never wanting this to stop.

His arms around me were weak, but it was clear how strong Liam used to be and when he pulled me tighter, my towel fell off. I tried to pull it back to cover my body, but Liam stopped my hand and pulled back to look at me.

With a gasp, he said, "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I love you Emilia. Please don't ever hurt yourself again. You have to be strong for us now."

I drew a sharp breath. Liam loved me?

Liam loved me. He loved me. The man I loved, loved me also.

I threw myself on him, determined to go to any extent to save our lives and our love.