I pull Anniston against me. She needs a hug. Okay, fine, I need it more than her but no sense admitting the truth.
Locked in my arms, she pulls back to look at me, caressing my cheek in her palm. “Hey, Gorgeous. I missed you.”
I tug her close again with another strong hug, inhaling her unique coconut smell in the process. Although, now that I’m this close she smells a lot more like Theo than coconut. Ugh.
Finally, when I feel like my hug is getting a bit improper, I let her go.
“I missed you, too,” I whisper in her ear, tugging her ponytail just a tad.
Her lips tip at the corners like she wants to crack a joke, instead going with a little wink and teasing, “Ah. You just needed the maid.”
I shake my head with a laugh. Truthfully, I am fucking ecstatic that she is going to help clean all the germs. I don’t think I can do it. Blood, guts, shattered bones, you name it, I can handle it, but germs…that’s a negative. I’ll never admit it to Anniston though.
“Well, let me go check on my patients. I just wanted to tell you I was home.” She kisses my cheek. “Go to bed,” she orders before turning for the door.
“I’ll help you,” I blurt out before she can leave the room. It’s the least I can do since I all but pleaded for her to come home and deal with the situation.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s late. Get some rest.”
Before I can change my mind, I crowd her through the door as I pull it closed behind me. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. You need someone to help you anyway.”
She flashes me a sweet smile before leading the way down the stairs.
“Where’s Theo?” I ask curiously, following behind her.Do not look at her ass, Cade.
I look. I’m a man, what can I say?
She snorts. “He’s in my room with a can of Lysol, spraying everything in his wake.”
We both laugh all the way downstairs. I avoid looking at her ass again, thank god. Once in her office, she gathers IV trays and bags of fluid, along with some vials of medicine. I don’t ask questions, fearing I will break her concentration. I just hold open the bag she hands me and let her fill it with supplies. When she finishes, we take the stairs two at a time to Hayes’ room.
It’s unlocked when we enter. Anniston taps briefly on the doorframe. “Hayes?”
We take a look around when he doesn’t answer right away. His room is amess. Clothes are strewn across every solid surface. Bed inspections are going to start being random from now on. This shit is just nasty.
Just as I kick a pair of dirty underwear under the bed, groaning comes from somewhere near the floor. Anniston takes off and by the time I catch up she is kneeling over a very pale and diaphoretic Hayes.
“He’s burning up,” she tells me. “Let’s get him to the bed.”
He groans in response.
“Let Commander make you feel better, handsome,” she coos, wiping wet strands of hair from his face.
I squat down beside her and nod my head toward the bag I was carrying. “I got him. Grab the bag.”
She hoists it up and moves to the bed, waiting. Wedging my shoulder under Hayes’ arm, I grab his other and pull it tight over my chest. Lifting with my legs, I get him upright. “Come on, man. A few steps to the bed.”
He nods, exhausted, but takes a few steps. We stumble but ultimately make it to the bed and I help him lay back as Anniston gets a wet washcloth ready. She wipes his face and then rolls the towel up and gently places it on his forehead. “Are you scared of needles?”
He murmurs a “no,” while she applies a tourniquet to his upper arm.
“Open up,” she orders.
Hayes, not putting up a fight at all, opens his mouth as she places a pill under his tongue.
“Let that dissolve, okay? It will help with the nausea.”
Hayes just lays there with his eyes closed, breathing heavily.
