Page 35 of You Complicate Me

“How’s the patient?” Gage asked.

“A little better, I think. She hasn’t puked in like, what, five minutes?”

Grace groaned against his chest. “Don’t say ‘puked.’”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Sorry. Gage, how’s my sister doing?”

“About like Grace, from the sound of it.”

Grace looked up and whispered, “If you need to go be with Sadie, I understand. I’ll be OK.”

Nick frowned down at her. She was so weak she could barely move, and she was giving him permission to leave. There was selfless, and then there was just martyrdom. Grace was currently within kissing distance of the latter. “I’m staying.” To Gage he said, “Michael is with Sadie, right?”

Gage snorted. “Yeah, right. He saw her puke once and ran for the hills. I’m with her, though. I won’t leave her.”

Nick heard weak protests in the background, then Gage’s muffled response: “Okay. I’ll tell you what. If you can stand up on your own and walk to the bathroom by yourself without hanging onto the furniture, I’ll leave.”

A moment of silence, then Gage said, “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Like I said, I’m not leaving.”

Nick sighed. “Grace, honey, would you feel better if we switched and Gage stayed with you and I stayed with Sadie?”

She shook her head and burrowed into him deeper. “Nope. I’m warm.”

Gage must have heard, because he said, “I’d rather stay with Sadie. She’s underweight and already dehydrated, so she needs someone with her who’ll push her to drink at regular intervals. I’m more likely to do that than you are. Especially since I seem to bring out her cantankerous side.”

Nick heard his sister’s muffled voice again before Gage told her, “Yep. That’s right. He’s a nice guy and I’m not. Michael’s a nice guy, too. But I have one advantage over them: I’m here.”

Good point, Nick thought. Harsh, but good.

It didn’t sit well with Nick that Michael didn’t stick around and take care of Sadie. Even if he was mad at her for not telling him the truth about their family, it seemed like the least he could do was hold her hair back for her while she puked.

And knowing Sadie, she’d never ask him to. The kid had never asked for anything her whole life.

“How’re my mom and Grandma Ruthie?”

Nick opened his mouth to direct Grace’s question to Gage, but he must’ve heard her, because he answered, “Your mom is sleeping. Your dad put his Kindle down long enough to take care of her. And Ruthie never got that sick. Just a mild case of indigestion.”

“How is that possible?” Grace asked. “I saw her eat the bisque. I think she even ate more than I did.”

Nick practically heard Gage shrug. “She’s immune, I guess. More proof that she is, in fact, the devil. I’m only worried about you and Sadie at this point. With her weight and your crazy metabolism, you two are in the most danger.”

“What about Brad?” Grace asked.

Nick frowned. Food poisoning was too good for that son of a bitch.

“Like I said, I’m only worried about you and Sadie at this point,” Gage said dryly.

Grace sighed. “Will you check on him, Gage?”

“No. But I’ll send your dad to turn him over if he’s face-down in his own vomit. Good enough?”

Nick felt Grace smile weakly against his chest. “Good enough.”

“What do I need to do for her, Gage?” Nick asked.

“Keep her hydrated. Just little sips of water often until she can hold it down. After a few hours of that, she can drink as much as she wants, but I want her to lay off food for a while. We’ll start her on dry toast and bananas tomorrow.”

“You sound like you’re talking about an infant,” Grace said on a groan. “Should he burp me and change me while he’s at it?”

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