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bathroom, he had no shirt on. I was happily surprised to find he smelled considerably fresher than when he’d gone in, but rattled by the sight of his perfect bare skin. He had a few scars but they didn’t detract from the perfectness of his chest. In fact, they added to it. I mentally slapped myself for my thoughts.
    Sitting down stiffly in the chair not occupied by a smelly fur, I stared at the bed while Darrios rummaged through the items on the shelves. He pulled a couple of things off and hollered to me, “You hungry?”
    I jumped, startled by the volume of his voice in the little room. I stood up quickly, nodding.
    “It isn’t much, but it’ll fill us up.”
    I didn’t ask what it was. I knew I’d probably never heard of it anyway. Darrios opened two packages, poured them in a bowl, then added some water while I watched. He stirred it, grabbed two saucers and two spoons off the shelf, and handed me the dish. It looked like refried beans. I smelled it, warily. To my surprise, it smelled good.
    It tasted kind of like a cross between beans and corn, but sweeter. Darrios told me what it was and, as I suspected, it was nothing I’d ever heard of. It didn’t matter. I was so hungry I’d have eaten it no matter what.
    As soon as I finished eating I went to the sink and tried to pump some water into my hand to drink, but the pump handle stuck. Despite my best effort, that stubborn handle refused to budge. Darrios noticed and came over to help me. I don’t know what my problem was. Maybe I just felt like I had to control something . Shouldering him out of the way, I snapped, “I got it!”
    Holding his hands up in surrender, he stepped back, smirking. I struggled with that damn thing for maybe five minutes, ignoring Darrios snickering behind me, and finally, I got it to work. Satisfied, I pumped some water into my hand and drank it. I looked over at Darrios, still smirking.
    “What?”
    He shook his head. “Nothing, I’m just impressed at your determination.”
    I rolled my eyes and looked over at the bed. The exhaustion had really started to set in. My body screamed for sleep. I could barely hold my eyes open.
    “Maggie, go ahead and lie down. You look like you’re about to keel over right where you stand.”
    I glanced at him then back at the bed, nervously.
    “Don’t worry,” he said gently. “You’ll have it to yourself. I’ll just camp out on the floor.”
    I stared down at the hard, uneven floor. Guilt washed over me. He had already done so much for me. I knew he had to be as tired as I was. How could I ask him to sleep on a cold, cracked, cement floor? Maybe if we kept our clothes on and stayed on our own sides...
    “I can’t let you do that, especially after we’ve come so far and we still have so far to go. You need to sleep too,”
    “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Darrios said.
    I smiled, trying to exude confidence. “You’re not. We’re both adults. We’re dressed.” Well, at least I was. “It’s no big deal.”
    “You should get under the covers,” he suggested. “It cools right down at night.”
    I pulled back the thin blanket and climbed into bed. Darrios grabbed his fur and lay down on top of the blanket. I said goodnight and turned onto my side away from him. I don’t remember lying awake or having any particular thoughts, although you’d think I would have, considering the day I’d had. I fell asleep within minutes.
    ****
    I don’t know if I woke up to the sound of my own teeth chattering or to Darrios’ voice, but suddenly, I was awake...and freezing.
    “Maggie, wake up. It’s me. Listen, don’t go crazy on me. I’m not trying anything. I’m just putting my arm around you so you’ll be warm. You’re shivering with cold.”
    At that moment, it wouldn’t have mattered if he was trying something. I was so cold that I would have done almost anything to get warm. I nodded, trying to get the clackety-clack of my jaw to stop.
    Darrios wrapped me in his