Page 88 of Along Came Amor
A line of thinking that did nothing to calm him down.
Roman called to Oscar that he was going out to look for her, then grabbed his wallet and stuffed his feet into sneakers.He yanked open the front door—and caught Ava when she fell into his arms.
Relief washed over him, and he tightened his grip on her. “Hold on, mi amor. I’ve got you.”
“I’m fine,” she mumbled. “Just hot.”
She clearly wasn’t fine. There were no signs of blood or injury that he could see, but her face was flushed, and tiny hairs stuck to her sweaty forehead. Her gaze seemed unfocused, and she could barely stand on her own feet. Pressing his fingers to the side of her neck, Roman noted that her pulse was racing.
He exchanged a glance with Oscar, who hovered in the kitchen doorway holding two glass bottles of cold water from the fridge.
“Find a thermometer,” Roman whispered to Oscar, who handed him one of the bottles. Oscar nodded and hurried off, and Roman walked Ava to her room with a stabilizing arm around her waist. The fact that she leaned all her weight on him meant she was in a bad state, and he was alarmed when her head lolled to the side.
“You wanna tell me what happened?” he asked softly, ignoring the anxious pounding of his own heart.
“I went for a walk on the beach.” Her voice was breathy and faint. “I guess I went farther than I meant to, and it was so hot...”
“Sounds like you had a little too much sun. Did you drink water?”
She shook her head, then whimpered like it pained her. “I have a migraine.”
“We’re going to cool you down, okay?” Roman sat Ava on the edge of her bed and uncapped the water. “Here, take a sip of this.”
He held the bottle while she drank, and willed his nerves to settle. She was here, and she was safe. It didn’t matter that seeing her like this scared the shit out of him, he would do whatever was necessary to care for her.
This was different than when he’d seen her after the EpiPen incident. Then, he’d been able to comfort her. Now, he just wanted to make her better immediately. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this powerless.
“Not too much,” he murmured, shifting the water bottle away. Then he eased her into a reclining position and touched the back of his hand to her forehead and cheek. She was warm, but he couldn’t tell if she had a fever or not.
“Ava, we have to get you into the tub. Is that all right?”
Her eyes were closed. “Take my dress off. But not, like, in a sexy way.”
He bit back a laugh. “You have my word.”
When she waved her hand at the halter ties on the back of her neck, he took that as an indication to carry on. After slipping off her sandals, he eased the dress from her body. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her chest and shoulders were clammy and flushed from the sun. He left her panties on and helped her stand again.
The bathroom had a padded bench, so he sat her there while he turned on the taps in the tub and adjusted the temperature.
There was a quiet knock on the bathroom door, and after making sure Ava wasn’t in danger of falling off the bench, Roman slipped out.
Oscar was waiting with a digital thermometer and packets of electrolyte powder.
“I called the doctor,” the butler said in a hushed voice as he passed the items to Roman. “If her temperature is over onehundred and three degrees, we must take her to the hospital. She might need an IV.”
“Let’s hope it isn’t.”
“I’ll leave more water on the dresser. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Roman ducked back into the bathroom and turned on the digital thermometer. “Put this in your mouth,” he told Ava.
“You promised not to make this sexy,” she grumbled, her eyes barely open, but she complied.
Roman smoothed the hair back from her forehead. Jokes were a good sign, right?
When the thermometer beeped, he checked it. One hundred point two degrees. Not hospital levels, but she had to be feeling awful.
