Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘Yes,’ he said, quietly. ‘Yes, I did.’
We talked a bit longer, and then Will nodded off. I lay there, watching him
breathe, and occasionally wondering what he would say if he woke up and found
me staring at him, at his too-long hair and tired eyes and scraggy beginnings of a
beard. But I couldn’t move. The hours had become surreal, an island out of time.
I was the only other person in the house, and I was still afraid to leave him.
Shortly after eleven, I saw he had begun to sweat again, his breathing
becoming shallower, and I woke him and made him take some fever medication.
He didn’t talk, except to murmur his thanks. I changed his top sheet and his
pillowcase, and then, when he finally slept again, I lay down a foot away from
him and, a long time later, I slept too.
I woke to the sound of my name. I was in a classroom, asleep on my desk, and
the teacher was rapping a blackboard, repeating my name again and again. I
knew I should be paying attention, knew that the teacher would see this slumber
as an act of subversion, but I could not raise my head from the desk.
‘Louisa.’
‘Mmmhghh.’
‘Louisa.’
The desk was awfully soft. I opened my eyes. The words were being spoken
over my head, hissed, but with great emphasis. Louisa.
I was in bed. I blinked, letting my eyes focus, then looked up to find Camilla
Traynor standing over me. She wore a heavy wool coat and her handbag was
slung over her shoulder.
‘Louisa.’
I pushed myself upright with a start. Beside me, Will was asleep under the
covers, his mouth slightly open, his elbow bent at right angles in front of him.
Light seeped in through the window; telling of a cold, bright morning.
‘Uh.’
‘What are you doing?’
I felt as if I had been caught doing something awful. I rubbed at my face,
trying to gather my thoughts. Why was I in here? What could I tell her?
‘What are you doing in Will’s bed?’