Page 11

“This should have gotten stitches already,” he says.

“You know I can’t do that, Liam,” I say quietly.

“You promised you’d stop cutting so deep.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I lie quietly.

“I know,” he says. “Is that why you weren’t answering yesterday?”

“Yeah. I just got lost in my thoughts.”

“Was it the interview?” he asks. “How is that going, anyway?”

“He’s… Annoying,” I say, and Liam smirks.

“You’ve never been one to turn down a challenge, though,” he says. “You didn’t answer me.”

“I have Professor Ashcroft,” I remind him.

“Oh shit,” Liam says. “That’s right. What happened?”

“Eh, he just accurately predicted my daddy issues,” I say. “Not like it isn’t stereotypical or anything. He didn’t trigger me. I can handle the interview.”

“I’m just saying, baby. If he is hitting nerves, maybe it’s best to ask for someone not so…”

“I don’t need anyone to pity me,” I say harshly as he cleans my wrist. He doesn’t say anything as he applies the Dermabond glue. When it is dry, he places the steri-Strips to help keep the cut closed before wrapping it again.

“Keep this clean and dry,” he tells me. “It’s deep, so the risk of infection is higher.”

“I know,” I say. He wraps everything up and takes his gloves off before trashing it all.

“I wish you didn’t know,” Liam says, cupping my face after returning to the bed. “Want me to stay?”

“I’m just going to be going over my notes from the interview for class tomorrow,” I say.

“I don’t mind keeping you company,” he says.

Realizing that he is too worried about me to walk away tonight, I just nod. I don’t like fighting with him. He is a sweet guy and deserves someone far better than me. I think the only reason I am still with him at this point is that he makes me feel like living a normal life is actually possible.

We all know it isn’t.

Chapter Eight

Nora

I sit in my usual seat up front and take my notebook out. I rewrote all of my notes last night while Liam sat with me. He had headphones in and just scrolled social media. I won’t say it was helpful, but it was nice not to be alone for a change. I knew he wasn’t going to leave me alone, and I had too much to focus on with this interview to slip back into my intrusive thoughts.

“Good morning, class,” Professor Green says. “Today we are going to be discussing how interviews are going so far. Nora, I’d like to start with you first.”

“Well,” I say. “My subject seems to need to maintain control of the conversation. He becomes agitated when directly accused of the crimes he was charged with.”

“How did you handle his agitation?” Professor Green asks.

“I called him on it directly, and he was forthcoming about not liking to be accused when he didn’t commit the crime,” I say. “I did discover that key evidence in his trial was supposedly obtained illegally and without a warrant. He stated that he has a court hearing Monday. Am I supposed to attend?”

“Yes. I want you at every court date,” he says. “The judge will know that you are in attendance, so be prepared to speak on the stand at any point.”

“Okay,” I say.