Page 92 of Almost Always

Swallowing the nausea working its way up her throat, she said, “Water. Meds, in the green bag. Third drawer.”

She felt his lips against her bare shoulder and the shift of the bed as he moved away. Everything felt like effort and she fucking hated it.

“Daisy.” At the sound of her name, she pushed the covers down. “Can you sit up?”

She nodded slowly, aware that too much movement would hurt. Stretching her hands out, he helped her up. He moved behind her so she could lean back and if she wasn’t in so much pain, she would have cried at how thoughtful he was being. He turned one of her hands over and dropped the meds into her palm, and held up a glass of water with a straw. Her heart clenched because of this man and her pounding brain started chantingI love you I love you I love you I love you, like the pain didn’t exist beyond those three words.

“Sorry,” she said softly, her head lolling sideways with how heavy it was to hold up.

“I’ve always got you, sweetheart.” He guided her hand up and she put the pills in her mouth. She felt the straw against her bottom lip and took long pulls of the water as it forced the medicine down her throat. She was so limp against him, it was a miracle she was able to follow instructions.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she sniffled, the action hurting her. Rafferty was saying something, but she couldn’t hear. All her focus was on how good it felt to have him therewith her. Ever since the migraines started, she’d been alone and to have someone else prop her up, help her with the meds and make sure she was okay was weirdly comforting.

“Sleep?” he asked and she nodded. There was some rustling and shuffling before she was horizontal again, a soft pillow under her head and covers tucked around her.

“Stay.” She wasn’t sure if it came out loudly or not, but he pressed a kiss to her temple before the bed moved under his weight.

She drifted in and out of sleep, very aware of someone beside her. There was that part of Daisy that felt like she needed to be awake and alert for him. For herguest. But when his hand brushed through her hair, fingers gently pressing against her scalp, she forgot all about that. The slight pressure and the contact was perfect and exactly what she needed. A quiet moan fell from her and everything faded away.

She woke up a few more times, twice to throw up and once to roll over and snuggle into Rafferty’s side. The fact that he was still there made her want to cry. Eventually the nausea vanished and she was left with a faint pulse, which was actually worse. In the years since her first migraine, Daisy had experienced a variety and hated them all. Because she was always so busy and easily distracted by her to-do list, she was never prepared. Therewasone time when she had an edible and it staved off a migraine, leaving her with a tiny headache instead.

For the most part, she simply suffered.

She’d gotten good at dealing with them, though. The one thing she hadn’t learned was to identify what caused them. In the beginning, she believed it was entirely stress and anxietyrelated, which was confirmed by her doctor. Over the years, it became about so much more. Now even food could trigger the migraines, which was the worst. The first time she realized that was when she’d eaten a spinach based salad. The pain the next morning had been excruciating and to the point where she was throwing up every sip of water. By the end of the day, she’d been dehydrated and vomiting bile.

Lying in the cocoon of her bed, Daisy ran through everything she’d consumed the night before. She split a delicious Cabernet with Monroe all night. She hadn’t eaten too much off the cheese board either, saving her stomach for the main course. Which had been burgers and hot dogs, slabs of meat and a light salad. There was also Roe’s signature dessert of peach pecan cobbler with ice cream. She grunted at the possibility of any of those things being the cause of this migraine, because she refused to give any of it up.

The thoughts of food rocked her back to sleep and when she woke up again, it was because of her rumbling tummy. That was the sign she was waiting for. It meant that whatever had triggered the nausea had been emptied from her system. However, the light migraine still persisted and she didn’t approve.

Rolling over, she stretched an arm out and found the bed empty. Frowning, she pushed the covers off her face to discover her loft space shrouded in darkness. The fear that she’d slept the whole day away made her sit up with a start. Her head clearly didn’t appreciate that because it forced her to lie back down. Squinting through the piercing pain, she noticed that Rafferty had found a way to hang a dark cloth over her bed, blocking out the light from the big window and the rest of the house.

Her heart fluttered in beat with her head and she whimpered, pressing her hands to her chest.I don’t deserve this man. Onceshe had her breathing, and tears, under control, Daisy blindly reached for her phone.

“Siri, call hotshot.”

“I’m right here, darlin’.” His voice came from downstairs as his phone started ringing. The sound stopped and she forced herself to sit up as he appeared at the top of the stairs, with a book in his hands. “How do you feel?”

“Exhausted. What time is it?”

“Closing in on five. You hungry?”

She nodded, but patted the bed. He smiled and set the paperback on the nightstand. She lay down as he climbed in with her and smiled as he pulled the covers over their heads again. Even in the slight darkness, she could see the sparkle in his eyes and she started to lean in for a kiss when she remembered and clamped a hand over her mouth.

“I was going to kiss you with puke breath and you weren’t going to stop me.”

He chuckled. “I know that sounds gross, but seeing your eyes open and knowing you’re okay made me forget everything else.”

“Oh god, you’ve been sitting around waiting for me to wake up?” She groaned and covered her eyes.

“If it makes you feel better, I did go out for a bit.”

She lowered one hand and peered at him. “You did?”

“Picked up the boys and dropped Cal off at the community center. Boots is downstairs, snoozing in a patch of sunlight. I got some work done and I’ve been reading.”

“The book I gave you.”

He nodded and she noticed that his hair was up in a bun. “And also trying to understand your migraines and how to help.”

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