Page 35 of Keeping His Brat

No sooner had he swallowed the pills than an orderly had arrived to take him for a lung X-ray. Sam was helped into a wheelchair for the trip to the elevator. He wasn’t sure how long he was gone but Charlie was curled up and asleep in her chair when he returned.

The noise from transferring him back to the bed, and him arguing that he could handle it himself, woke her up. And she yawned as she watched him being settled into bed. Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure he could have managed it without help. He was weak as a newborn kitten and the orderly’s strong arm helped to steady him.

Once he got comfortable, they were left alone. He patted the bed and Charlie came and curled back up next to him. She fell asleep with her head on his chest. He nodded off occasionally as well, but it wasn’t a restful sleep for either of them.

If it wasn’t a coughing fit tearing up his throat, then it was a nurse coming in to check on his vitals or encourage him to drink. Despite the bag dripping fluids into his arm, they were still pushing liquids at him every chance they got. It left him having to pee just about every ten minutes, and that was embarrassing because he couldn’t get to the bathroom on his own.

There was a small one, just a commode and sink, attached to the room, not more than four feet from the bed, but even that was too much. He refused to call for help, and Charlie was worried about his shaky steps, so he let her hold onto him.

It was embarrassing on a deep level and gave him some insight into why Jimmy hadn’t wanted his daughter around when he was sick. It was hard depending on someone you loved to help with such a personal thing. She was his lover, at least, and that had to be less embarrassing than a relative.

Still, it was difficult to be weak in front of her. He was the Dominant in their relationship. He was her Daddy. It was his job to shelter her from the world and keep her safe— but here he was too weak to make it to the bathroom without her help.

She teased him the first time, and he tried to smile through it but maybe something in his expression warned her off. After that she was quiet each time she helped him. He was angry at himself, not for being physically weak, he couldn’t help that.

No, he was angry that it bothered him to ask for her help. What kind of neanderthal shit was that? He’d never thought he was the type of guy who was so set on being manly that he couldn’t even accept help from his girlfriend without being pissy about it. But here they were, and his pride was rubbing him raw.

As he settled into the bed and collapsed back against the pillow, he apologized to her. “Sorry, Charlie. I know this isn’t how you were expecting to spend your night.” The words came out strained and weak. He was badly out of breath from the short walk, and on the trip back they’d had to stop when he’d doubled over hacking and choking until he thought he’d end up spitting up a lung.

“Sam … I love you. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. You take care of me all the time. I’m glad for a chance to get to take care of you for a change.” She went around to the other side of the bed and climbed in.

They’d both stopped paying any attention to the sniffing and tsking of the nurses who didn’t like her in the bed. He wanted her next to him and made that clear. None of them actually came out and complained about it during the hours they waited for the doctor to return.

At least his fever had gone down, and the headache had receded thanks to the pills they’d given him. That helped his mood and Charlie’s anxiety.

“Does it bother you that much?” Charlie asked in a quiet voice.

“Yeah, some. I’m just not used to being sick.” He paused to think about it. “And knowing this is worrying the hell out of you makes it worse.” He brushed her hair back from her face and she looked up at him and smiled.

“Silly Daddy. Of course, I’m going to worry about you. I mean I worry about literally everything else, so how could I not worry about the man I love?”

He chuckled. His hand ran down her back in a gentle caress. “I know darlin’. I just don’t like being the reason you’re stressed. Also being sick kind of sucks and I’d rather not do this again.”

“See what being normal is like?” She laughed and the sound comforted him. “I feel bad now. You don’t know how many times I cursed you because I came down with a cold or flu and you were just fine.”

One eyebrow went up and he gave her a stern look. “You cursed me?”

“Well, maybe once or twice. It’s irritating to have a super healthy partner sometimes.” She poked out her tongue at him.

“Brat. So, this is all your fault then? I guess when I get out of here I’ll have to …Charlie?” He frowned. He’d only been teasing her but the moment he’d said it was her fault her expression had crumpled, and her eyes filled with tears.

“What’s wrong, Charlie girl?”

She shook her head and buried her face against his chest refusing to answer.

“Hey, look at me,” he said in a gentle tone, making it a request not an order.

She kept her face hidden and didn’t respond.

“Charlie, look at me right now.” This time there was no doubt it was a command. When she didn’t move, he began to count, “One …. Two …” He almost never made it to three and this time was no exception.

She slowly lifted her head. Her bottom lip was pouted, and she kept her eyes focused on his chest. There was guilt in her expression. He’d learned to recognized it from the many times he’d had to punish her.

He just couldn’t figure out why she looked like she’d gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “You know I was only teasing you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

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