My shoulder was throbbing. A familiar truck parked beside me and my heart nearly stopped. The man I knew all too well stepped out, tossing a lit cigarette behind him. He hadn't noticed me yet, so I crouched over, pretending I was an ordinary person searching through my purse. HE'S GOING TO RECOGNISE ME was repeating itself over and over in my head.

After three minutes frozen in place, I peeked through the window. He wasn't outside anymore. I sighed with relief.  He's probably going in to buy more of those horrible drugs, I thought. A shiver ran up and down my spine just thinking about it. Thinking about her. I held my face in the palms of my hands.

Paul came back out and climbed into the car, seeing I was near tears. "What's wrong, Love?"

"We need to get out of here," I urged. I hated ordering him around, but I had to.

He didn't need to be told twice. He backed up and zipped out of the parking lot and onto the main road. We were about two kilometres away when he finally slowed down to the speed limit. 

"What was it?" he asked, curiosity and concern mixed in his voice.

"Jake,"

"That bastard!" he fumed. "Did he see you?"

"No, but he was close"

~~~

We got home and once again he helped me out of the car, then carried me up the front steps and set me down on the couch. He made a second trip to get everything else.

He came back in and sat quietly beside me, lost in thought.

He cared about me; my health, my emotions. That was something I hadn't experienced in a long time.

~~~

He helped me up again, and this time I walked across the small room before my knees started shaking. I knew I should have been glad I was progressing, but honestly, it felt discouragingly slow. Not to mention I wasn't on only my feet, Paul was practically carrying me. 

But I was grateful for his constant care for me. And how quickly he was to offer me his home. I would be dead if not for him.