“What does that mean?”
I swallowed, and it hurt. Traitorously, my eyes started to sting. “You don’t feel like you right now.”
Big sighs were the soundtrack of this night, and it was causing my heart to ache. I missed the lighthearted mess of our previous weekend together.
The feeling of him rubbing that calloused thumb underneath my cheek brought my eyes to him. And there, finally, I was greeted with a soft smile.
Carefully, he picked through his words. “Lo siento, baby.”
My heart panged. It was an easy phrase, yet there he went, saying it near perfectly after only hearing me say it once.
I smiled too, feeling relaxed as I sank into the pillows once again.
“Thanks for coming, Harper,” I said. Deciding to allow some truth to slip through, I added, “I missed you.”
His eyes crinkled as he looked at me, his voice lowering as he continued to pet me affectionately. “The doctor will be here soon. Want me to go?”
“No,” I said, plain and simple, because that was the last thing I wanted. “Stay right where I need you.”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Always.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
ALTA
“Cucumbers please!”
“You’re eating something other than cucumbers, Alta.”
“But I want cucumbers,” I said. “With hot sauce!”
He blinked at me, then gave the pot he’d been working on for the last hour another stir. I guess he was ignoring the request then. Which was okay.
After the doctor came last night, Harper had been a lot better. Gone was his uncharacteristic grouchiness and back was the always grinning wise guy that I knew and… yeah.
His change in tone had come promptly with the conclusion of the doctor’s visit.
“All signs point toward a respiratory infection. Thelab is pretty quick, so I’ll have these results for you by the morning,” Dr. Hannigan, the doctor who Harper had found to do a house call had said. “In the meantime, take this one-time steroid to jump start the treatment process before bed. Once we have your diagnosis confirmed, we will send a prescription to your nearest pharmacy.”
It wasn’t me, but the rigid body that sat beside me who loosed a breath as strong as a hurricane wind at the doctor’s words. “She’ll be alright?”
“She’s going to be just fine,” the doctor said, standing and starting to pack up his things. I liked him, with his white hair and kind face. Apparently, he treated Ceci at Seaside Private General back when she broke her hand. “Lots of rest, lots of fluids, and no strenuous activities for the time being. If there are any problems, or if that cough starts to sound worse, X-rays might be in order. But if you keep a close monitor on her and she takes the entire course of medication, she’ll be back to normal in no time.”
Harp had more questions. Way more than I thought to ask. And as he peppered the doctor with all of them, careful not to leave a single stone unturned, I sank into his warmth, enjoying the feeling of his hand settled on my hip just under the waistband of my PJs, and the slow thumb he kept rubbing back and forth along my skin.
After walking the doctor out, he returned to my room. For a second I thought I was going to get that frown he had sewn onto his face since the moment he first took my temperature. But no. I got the full-blown Gus Harper grin instead as he held up this huge pink pill like he was a cat bringing its owner its kill.
“Okay sickie,” he said. “Are you going to cooperate, or am I going to have to pin you down?”
I smiled then. My head still hurt and I still felt like crap, but I felt lighter somehow. Better with the resurgence of his smile before we even got to the meds.
“I think we can work out an arrangement for both,” I said.
For a second, I paused. Praying the retort didn’t miserablyfumble like my last attempts at levity. Harper just smiled, shaking his head as he approached my bedside. “Kinky girl, Boss. I always knew.”
I slept curled up next to him in my bed. His warm body stayed there through every shiver, his patient hands offering to help me at every turn. Wiping my sweat, changing my clothes, grabbing me tissues, and even guiding me to the bathroom to pee.
He wore some old clothes I’d stolen from my dad years ago, his own damp and dirty from my mess before. And though I was asleep, I swore he stayed mostly awake. His warm voice murmuring things I couldn’t make out through my slumber or chuckling deeply at something he watched on his phone, or just humming some small repetitive tune underneath his breath as he brushed my hair away from my face.
