Page 59 of Anything for You
Mm. Dorian. He’s so nice and hot and nice and hot.
“Thank you. I think you’re nice and hot, too.”
His deep voice had my mouth dropping open because apparently, my inner monologue was broken.
“You’re alright, Dove. Doc’s here, and Jo came with him. Can they come in and see you?”
I tried to scoot myself upright, but still felt weak and awful. “What time is it? Yes, they can.”
“It’s about ten-thirty. You were asleep forabout two hours and your fever came down a little, but not as much as I’d like. Doc was kind enough to come over so we don’t have to go into the hospital.”
His eyes crinkled so pleasingly around the edges. His face, even behind that bushy beard, was so handsome, so pleasing to me.
“I like you so much,” I said, a whine in my voice that somewhere in my foggy, fever-addled mind I recognized would embarrass me when this was over.
“Whoa there, my friend. How about we let Adam check you out and give Stone a break?”
Jo’s voice filtered into my ears, and I shifted so I could see her.
“You’re so pretty. Thank you for coming. I’m sorry,” I babbled.
She chuckled but made a face. “You’re really out of it, huh? I thought you said you were maybe coming down with something?”
I vaguely remembered texting the group chat that I was feeling off. Then I’d gone to work and somehow pushed through. The minute I sat down in my car, I’d realized I was too tired to safely drive home so I’d let myself nap, thinking I’d take a twenty-minute snooze and wake up refreshed. Instead, I got worse, and had just wanted to get home to my bed.
And if I was being honest, back to Dorian.
“Mind if I take a look, Dove?” Adam asked, taking a seat next to me as I finally managed to edge myself up against the headboard with Jo’s help.
I let him at it. He might not’ve been a medical doctor, but he had an incredible wealth of training and knowledge. He’d trained in Level I trauma ERs and operating rooms, he’d performed a number of procedures in the fieldto keep soldiers alive, and I had every faith he could handle evaluating me for whatever garbage was attacking me.
After a quick but thorough exam, he swabbed me for all the things and promised to get the specimens into the hospital right away. Since we had some very rural areas in Silverton and the surrounding counties, we had doctors and nurses who did house calls. Adam had recently gotten certified for this so he could provide the service not only to the Saint staff and families, but to the larger community as well. I, too, occasionally took shifts for community call, as we termed it, but I hadn’t in a while thanks to my lack of availability.
“Thank you. Thanks for coming,” I said, smiling pitifully.
Adam slipped out to speak to Dorian, and Jo lingered a moment.
“He seems to be taking very good care of you. I didn’t realize…”
If I had felt any better than I did right now, I probably would’ve blushed. “Yeah. I haven’t had a chance to update on that but it’s turning into something, I think.”
Her grin was blinding. Or maybe that was the headache talking.
“I couldn’t be happier. And I think he’s enjoying getting to take care of you.”
I snorted, my best impression of a scoff, and shut my eyes after a failed attempt to roll them becauseow.“I doubt that. But thanks. Assuming I’m better by next Saturday, I’ll be ready to report in.”
My feeble attempts to stay upright failed, and I slumped back down. Jo left me with a few more kind words and the promise to check in and let everyone know how I was doing, and I noddedoff.
Sometime later, Dorian’s strong arm cradled me behind the shoulders. “Come on, honey. Just swallow this and you can go back to sleep.”
I blinked my eyes open enough to see his serious face, then felt like I was falling backward into a sea of clouds as he lowered me back down.
The next time I woke must’ve been hours later. I was sticky and my mouth tasted like an absolute horror show, so I stumbled to the bathroom and into the shower. I didn’t manage to deal with my hair, but I scrubbed away the worst of the sweat and grime, brushed my teeth, and poured myself back into bed.
Dorian knocked lightly on the door, which stood ajar a few inches.
“Come in,” I said, voice small and tired.
