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“Okay.”

That was the last thing I remembered before fever dreams stole me away…

“I can stick around for a bit. You should get back to the office.”

“I don’t know…she doesn’t look good. Should we take her to the hospital?”

A big, cool palm pressed against my forehead, lingering softly and smoothing back my sweaty hair as a swirl of amber and earthy woods swept me up in a cloud of contentment. “I think we just need to get this fever to break. I’ll make sure she takes the meds.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. It’s my day off and I know you’re busy with that upcoming court case. I’ll take the dog for a walk while I’m here.”

A long pause.

A sigh.

“You’re a lifesaver,” she said softly. “I’ll call to check in.”

“All right.”

Footsteps retreated from the room as my mind spun, a haze of reality and a faraway dreamland. Reed was here. He was sitting on the bed beside me, his hand returning to my forehead as his thumb gently grazed my hairline. I forced my eyes to flutter open until his handsome face became a fuzzy shape above me; a smog of dark hair, kind eyes, and full lips creased with tenderness.

“Hey. We need to get your fever down.”

The pills Whitney had left for me were still sitting next to the bowl of cold chicken soup, untouched. I couldn’t move. The simple task of reaching for the medication sounded like a Herculean feat. I burrowed deeper in the bedcovers, my teeth chattering. “Are you real?”

“Pretty sure.”

“I was…dreaming…”

He continued to brush his thumb along my forehead. “What did you dream about?”

“Dancing…songs.” I wasn’t making sense, but it was hard to make sense of anything when Reed was near, and the fever wasn’t helping one bit. “There was music.”

He hesitated, the mattress shifting beneath his weight. “Want me to turn on some music?”

I managed a nod.

I must’ve dozed again when I felt him return, his fingertips touching my lips as my favorite Gin Blossoms CD filtered from the boombox speaker.

Am I still dreaming?

I didn’t know, but part of me didn’t want to wake up.

His fingers felt like butterfly wings against my dry lips, and I yearned to go back in time to when our lips were hot and wet, tangled together amid thigh-clenching moans, and he was breathing fiery light into my soul.

“You need to take these. You’ll feel better.”

Two tiny pills coasted along my tongue. They tasted like bitter sawdust and I gagged.

“Here, sit up.”

His arms were around me, guiding me into an upright position. My pulse hammered in my head like a power drill as I attempted to move, falling against the crook of his shoulder, my body no stronger than a raggedy teddy bear.

Reed was warm, firm, and safe.

I’d live with this fever till the end of time if it meant he’d stay here with me.

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