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It took a few seconds for him to figure out what she was asking. “I’ll be fine.”

She nodded and left the door cracked when she stepped out.

He peed and felt immediately better. Then he turned the water on in the sink, washing his hands and then splashing water on his face.

He stared at himself in the mirror. He was pale but not as bad as he’d feared. His hair was a tangled mess, and water was dripping down his beard.

“Are you okay in there?” Eve asked from outside.

“Yeah. You can come in.”

He was drying his hands and face as she opened the door.

“So your head is better? How do you feel overall?”

“Exhausted,” he admitted. “And kind of weak and gross. But so much better it feels like a miracle.”

“That’s good. Do you feel up to a shower? That might help the gross feeling.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be good.”

He was sure he was capable of handling it on his own, but Eve turned on the water for him, adjusted the temperature until she was satisfied, and then turned the showerhead until it was a full, steady spray instead of a concentrated pulsing.

She hung a clean towel on the hook beside the shower and turned toward him like she was going to help him take off his pajama pants.

His mouth twitched a little. “I think I’ll be okay. I feel pretty steady on my feet now.”

“Okay.” A little giggle spilled out of her, as much relief as amusement. “I’ll leave you alone then. The hotel told me they’d send someone up anytime to change our sheets, so I might have them do that now if you think you won’t need the bed right away.”

“That sounds good.” He closed the door but didn’t latch it, leaving a crack so he could talk to her as he pulled off his pants. “Did I puke all over the bed?”

“Not all over it. But you were really sick. I just think it will feel better with clean sheets.”

“Yeah. I agree.” He stepped into the shower. Raised his voice enough to ask, “How did you get the medicine for nausea?”

“I talked to the concierge, and he gave me information for a pharmacy and said they’d accept US prescriptions. So I called Nancy, and she contacted your doctor’s office. He’d already given you a prescription for the nausea medication since a lot of people throw up from bad headaches, but you must have never filled it. So they sent it into the pharmacy here, and I went to pick it up.”

The hot water beating down on his face felt like a blessing, a benediction. He sighed in pleasure before he remembered he should reply to Eve. “That worked out well. Thanks for taking care of it.”

She’d done a lot more than that for him. He couldn’t remember everything, but he knew she’d been there—helping him—every time he was able to open his eyes.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to call down to get the sheets changed.”

That was a perfectly reasonable plan, so he didn’t object even though he liked having her standing right outside the bathroom door, talking to him.

He stayed in the shower for a long time. When he finally turned off the water and dried off, he discovered she’d found him clean pajama pants and an undershirt and left them in the bathroom for him. He put on the clothes, combed out his hair and pulled it back with a tie, then brushed his teeth. Felt almost like a human being again as he walked out in bare feet and wet hair.

A housekeeper was in the bedroom, finishing up making the bed. There was a pile of clean towels on the dresser, and she picked them up to take into the bathroom since it was vacated. She must be going to clean it, which was very nice.

Jude felt good enough to sit in a chair next to the small table instead of climbing back into bed.

Eve sat in the other chair. “You look a lot better.”

“I feel a lot better.”

He scanned her top to bottom. Her hair was loose and very messy, but she must have taken a shower and changed at some point in the day because her hair was still slightly damp and she wasn’t wearing her nightgown anymore. She had on a soft pajama set in a dark blue. Her face was scrubbed clean, and she looked as tired as he felt.

“Thanks for doing all that, Eve. Seriously. It couldn’t have been any fun.”

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