172.

~Mariano~

She had fallen asleep before we arrived. Scrambling through her purse, I pulled out her key and carried her out of the car.

On getting to her unit, I inserted the key and carried her inside. After I had placed her on the bed, I untied her hair and stared at her legs that had bruises under. Same goes for her knees.

I got up and moved to the kitchen where I switched on the cooker and placed a kettle of water on it. After that, I scurried to the bathroom to prepare a hot bath for her. As soon as I was done, I moved back to the bedroom, where I saw her sitting up and rubbing her fingers over her forehead.

"You have an headache?"

She nodded.

I sighed."It's a good thing I brought some aspirins. Go take a bath. I'll prepare some food for you so you'd take it along with the drugs. Eaten?"

She shook her head.

I sighed again. I didn't want to get mad at her now for totally ignoring her health and wellbeing.

"Just go. I'll fix something for you to eat."

"Can't stand on my own."

In a