Page 89 of The Refiner

He completely ignores the bowl of meds, choosing to focus just past me as if Tatum will appear behind me and let him know she’s good.

“Your brother dropped by,” I tell him, ignoring his question like he ignores me. “He wants you to take this medicine for the nausea.” I hold up the pill as proof. “I even brought you water, so there are no excuses.”

He at least has the nerve to look exasperated. “You called my brother?”

I don’t see any reason in answering this question, even though I’m innocent this time. “Would you like me to hand you a pill?”

When I was being a pain in Piper’s ass, she would just stop asking me if I wanted to do something. Instead, she acted like I already agreed and then gave me choices on how I wanted to get it done.

The strategy, while complete trickery, always worked with me, so I’m hoping it works for Astor.

“I said, I’m—”

“—thirsty. I gotcha covered.” I hand over the water and open the pill bottle, plucking out one white pill. “Do you need anything else to get this down?”

See? Easy peasy. Just don’t act like he has any other choice but to take the medicine.

Slowly, Astor reaches out and takes the pill. “What did you tell Vance?”

I eye his mouth, a subtle suggestion that if he wants to know what I said then he better swallow something.

With a deep and likely pained sigh, Astor places the pill in his mouth and takes a sip of the water, swallowing. I don’t know what causes my muscles to relax, or the breath I was holding to release, but I’m appreciative. At least he’s one step closer to feeling better.

“What did you tell Vance?”

I turn back to the bowl and pull out the towel and ice pack. “That you were an enormous pain in the ass and for him to please bring me something to knock you out. I can’t take any more of this together time.”

He snorts. “I see. I’m sure he was happy to oblige.”

I shrug, concerned about the dark circles framing his eyes. “He said you need to ice.”

The barely-there smile he had drops as his sharp gaze goes to the items clutched in my hands. “Get those away from me.”

I expected pushback.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know swelling can cause more pain.” I mean, he is a doctor after all. He knows by not bringing the swelling down, it will take longer to heal.

Astor caps the water bottle and pushes back farther onto the bed. “I don’t care. Get it away from me.”

Alrighty then.

That’s totally not happening.

“Are you telling me that you want your junk swelling up to the size of a beachball, all because your pride can’t take the hit of icing your crotch?”

I may not be Piper, but I know a thing or two about pride, so I can understand Astor’s reluctance. But again, someone has to save him from himself.

“Fine, since you’re gonna be weird about it…” I storm out of his room and into the kitchen where I grab another towel and ice pack before barging back into his room. “I don’t understand why you’re being so ridiculous about this. First, you argued about the wheelchair at the hospital.”

He eyes me cautiously as I plop down on the other side of the bed. “I didn’t need a wheelchair.”

“Just like you don’t need pain meds and ice.” I slip off my clothes, leaving on only my bra and underwear, feeling the cool air mix with the heat of his stare on my almost-naked body. “I’m beginning to see a trend here. Don’t you, Dr. Potter?”

Astor’s eyes widen. “What are you doing, Keys? Remember two weeks,” he warns.

Like I could forget.

I lie back on his pillows, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV, finding a romcom that I know will annoy him. “I’m getting comfortable.”

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