Page 58 of Anything for You
Heat was absolutely radiating off her, and anywhere I touched was burning. She had to have a fever and based on the way she winced and her lethargy, she’d been feeling bad for a while.
After settling her on the couch, I knelt down so we were eye to eye and took one of her hands. “Dove, can you tell me where your medicine is? Do you have a thermometer?”
She blinked back at me like I’d posed a riddle. “I have a fever?”
“You do. I want to see how high it is, and I need to get you some medicine. You might need to go to the hospital.” I could get her to the Silverton ER in twenty minutes—maybe even fifteen since it was late enough there wouldn’t be traffic.
“I’m not going to the hospital. I work there. I literally work there, Dorian. Dorian.” She sighed and her head dropped back. “I like you so much and I hate that you’re seeing me like this.”
Her voice held tears, and I moved to sit by her, brushing the hair out of her face and cupping her hot-to-the-touch cheek with my palm. “I want to help you feel better. Can I do that for you? I can call one of your friends if you’d rather.”
I had no doubt Elise or Jo or any of the women she was so close with would be here in a heartbeat if I asked them to.
Speaking of, I texted Doc. Dove might be a nurse, but she couldn’t assess herself. If she didn’t want to go to the hospital, I’d have to use what resources I had.
“No. You can do it.” Her blue eyes blinked open and took a moment before they focused in on me. “I trust you.”
A wild roar of triumph rose up inside me, but I quelled it in favor of stroking her cheek. “Thank you, honey. I’m going to get some supplies and I’ll be right back, okay?”
She mumbled her assent, and I moved. She’d mentioned medicine in the car, and if she was anything like Doc and other medical types I’d known over the years, she had a decent supply of over-the-counter options somewhere.
I found a tidy basket of brand-name and generic offerings in the linen closet and rifled through them to find a temporal thermometer and a few different options to address the fever. I’d need to figure out her other symptoms, too.
After a scan, the thermometer showed a solid fever of over a hundred and three.
“I’m going to take your sweatshirt off, okay? We need to let your body cool a bit. Can you tell me what else is wrong?” I asked, sliding her arms out and guiding her forward.
Her brow tented in the middle, and her lips were curved into a frown. “My whole everything hurts. Throat. Body aches. I had chills last night. Been feeling worn down since Sunday, but I thought it was all the stuff with Hawk and then work. Guess it was this plague.”
“What’s going around? Anything you’ve been seeing at the clinic?” Might give me a decent clue.
“Lots of seasonal allergies. Had a case of norovirus lastweek, a few strep throats and a flu B or two. Nothing major. This time of year doesn’t tend to be too awful. It’s probably allergies for me, too. I just need to sleep.”
She said all of this with her eyes closed, her mouth barely moving enough to form the words.Yeah.Definitely just allergies.
“When was the last time you ate?” She’d need food in her belly to at least address the fever. Couldn’t do much if it was flu. Maybe Doc could bring a strep test.
“I had the dinner you made me last night. It was so good. Didn’t have an appetite this morning… guess that should’ve tipped me off.” She sat up and pulled at her shirt, yanking the scrub top over her head and leaving her in only a thin white tank that hugged her glorious curves. “It’s hot.”
You’re telling me.Unhelpful thought, but there was no denying I found every single part of Dove attractive.
For now, I had a job to do. Get her meds, see what Doc could do, and hopefully avoid a middle of the night trip to the ER if things got worse.
She’d put her trust in me, and I wouldn’t fail her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Dove
Acool hand brushed over my forehead. I leaned into it and hummed.
“Never stop touching me,” I mumbled.
He coughed.
He?
My eyes opened wide, lids heavy, to see Dorian gazing back at me.
