“Liza, open your mouth.”
“Mm.”
Connor stroked her hair away from her face and immediately knew the thermometer was superfluous. She was radiating heat like a furnace. “Liza, open up.”
She parted her lips without protest, and he carefully eased the thermometer under her tongue, then gave the base of her chin a small nudge to close her mouth. Three seconds later, there was a long, high-pitched beep, and he pulled out the thermometer, bringing it to the level of his eyes.
105.2
“Holyshit.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and punched in a Google search.
If you have a fever over 104, call your doctor. If your fever is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, seek immediate medical attention: loss of consciousness, stiff neck, trouble breathing, seizure, severe pain in any part of the body, confusion.
Confusion.
“Liza, how long has your fever been this high?” He gave her a gentle shake. “Liza…Liza, was your fever this high yest—”
“How did you get in my apartment?” she wailed into the couch cushion, bursting into tears again.
Connor shoved his phone back into his pocket and stripped the blanket off her. “Baby, we need to get you to the doct—”
“There’s no baby! You never loved me!”
Confusion.
He leaped from the ottoman and grabbed her purse off the neighboring chair. “Is all your stuff in here? License and insurance card and—”
“I have all the paperwork.”Liza sobbed. “I turned it in yesterday.”
Confusion.
He slid his hands underneath her sweltering body and hoisted her up, cradling her as he carried her to door. He shifted her slight weight to one arm as he pulled the door open and closed it with the other. By the time he reached her car, she’d stopped sobbing and fallen asleep against his clavicle.
* * *
At a nearby emergency clinic,Liza slumped against Connor’s shoulder as he repeatedly nudged her to stay awake while she filled out her paperwork. Before she reached the end of the six sheets of personal information, insurance information, and medical history, she had nodded off a total of four times and cried twice. Three times she had cast a glazed look at him and asked what he was doing in her apartment.
She probably had some kind of wicked summer flu, and Connor felt like a callous asshole for thinking she’d hooked up with Brennan and had been trying to avoid him.
The wall clock dragged its hands from 9:35 to 10:50. Connor had read at least fifteen articles on ESPN.com and was now pondering the professional fate of two recently drafted Saints offensive linemen as they navigated the grueling training camp. Liza quietly snored with her head resting against his shoulder.
Patients meandered in and out of the clinic, and Connor compared the time on the wall to the time on his phone. Liza’s head abruptly slipped off his shoulder, causing her to snort, jolt, and jerk her head up to lean against the wall. The clipboard and pen slid off her lap, and he reached down to pick them up.
It occurred to him that she hadn’t been called because she’d fallen asleep before she could return the paperwork to the woman at the desk. Standing up, he crossed the room to stand in the line of people checking in.
While he waited, Connor checked to make sure all the forms were filled out. Her handwriting was beautiful, and he found himself staring at the sweeping, curling L of her first name at the top of the medical history form. The line inched forward, and he absently skimmed over the section asking about general injuries and illnesses and the month and year they were suffered. The vast majority were checkedNA, but the muscles/joints/bones section was full of her sweeping penmanship. And every single entry was dated January, ten years earlier.
Broken ribs, 3
Broken clavicle
Cheek fracture, orbital rim/anterior maxillary wall
Grade 2 concussion
Fractured humerus
Broken hand, left, second, third, and fourth metacarpals
