Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Don’t cry.” He cupped my cheek, brushed his thumb beneath my eye, swiping at the wetness. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m just emotional.” I snuggled into his hand, savoring Crow’s hot skin against mine. God, I could bask in the warmth of him and never ever tire of it.
He gave me a small, sad smile, like his lips were testing out the movement again and he wasn’t sure he could allow it. When he pulled away, I missed the contact instantly. Crow wobbled when he stood, reaching out to catch his balance.
“Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?” I clambered out of bed and wrapped my arm around him. His skin practically sizzled to the touch. I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t normal hot. He was blazing. “Jesus. You’re burning up.”
I tugged him down, pressed my lips to his forehead. I had no idea if that really worked or why people chose the lips. I just knew my mom used to do it to me when I was younger.
“You definitely have a fever. Let’s get you back into bed.”
Crow shook his head. I was about to argue when he said, “Piss.”
“Okay, let me help you.”
I was surprised he allowed me to keep my arm around him as we made our way into the bathroom. Crow had always seemed invincible, like there was nothing he couldn’t do and he didn’t need anyone, but both last night and this morning I was seeing a different side of him.
He sat on the toilet rather than standing to pee, hand between his legs and holding his dick to aim. Once he finished, he let me help him back to bed. He immediately pulled the blankets over himself, body trembling, but he didn’t complain. That wasn’t Crow. He would never complain.
“I know you’re cold, but we need to get your fever down. Where’s the thermometer? Oh, and Tylenol or Advil?”
He shook his head. “No. Pills.”
Fear climbed up my throat, coming out in, “Crow, we have to get your fever down! You have to take something.” I knew he had issues with medication, that he didn’t go to doctors, but I hadn’t considered what happened when he got sick.
“No! Sleep.”
“Do you at least have a thermometer?”
He nodded, pointing to the bathroom. I went and looked in the cabinets and found one. What happened if he just got a headache? When he got a cold? What if Crow got really sick?
I went back to him. He had his eyes closed, blanket tight around himself.
“Baby, open your mouth. I need to take your temperature.”
He didn’t answer, worry now making my hand shake. “Crow, open your mouth. Please. I need you to do that for me.”
Those words seemed to work. I slipped the thermometer under his tongue, and he closed it again. When it beeped, it immediately flashed red, and I saw it was one hundred and three.
Shit…shit. What did I do?
“I’ll be right back,” I told him, hurrying from the room. It wasn’t as if Crow was going to respond anyway.
I got ice packs from the fridge, cold water, and a cup of ice. So they wouldn’t be too much of a shock to his system, I wrapped the packs in towels and said, “I’m going to put these on you to try and lower your temperature. Can you suck on this ice for me?”
Crow didn’t answer, didn’t move.
I pressed the cold compresses to his body, then lay in bed beside him.
Please be okay.
Don’t let me fuck this up.
I need you.
I love you.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Crow
Hot.
Cold.
Hot.
Cold.
My head throbbed.
My chest hurt.
I could hear the wheezing in my lungs and knew that wasn’t a good sign.
I didn’t know how much time passed, but I thought it’d been a lot. It felt like both an eternity and no time at all.
Cyrus had helped me to the bathroom numerous times, had forced me to drink cold water, no matter how much I fought it. I didn’t have the strength to fight too much.
They used to put things in my food…
Cyrus replaced ice packs and rested cool rags on my head that just made my teeth chatter even more.
The bed moved here and there as he climbed out and back in. At one point, I thought I heard him talking to someone, but I couldn’t be sure if it was real or not.
The more time passed, the tighter my lungs felt. I’d been sick before, but never like this, never where I wondered if I would live or die, and all I could think was…if something happened to me, it would devastate Cyrus. It would kill him, and I cared more about that than what happened to me.
“Open your mouth, baby. I have to take your temperature again.” I shook my head and heard his voice break when he said, “Please, Crow. Please,” which made my heart crack down the middle.