Page 16 of Incurably Cupid

“I need to change your bandages. I promise not to inappropriately fondle you,” she said with a weary laugh. I felt my face heat, but she kindly ignored my bashfulness and greeted Leo. “Hey, Leo. Good day?”

“It was an easy day here. Mesmer is low maintenance.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, resting on the bedside table. “Are you saying I’m high maintenance?”

“If the shoe fits,” he teased.

She glared at him. “I’m positively delightful.”

Leo laughed and laughed and laughed.

“I’m going to throw you into the nearest body of water,” Indie threatened, her voice uncharacteristically wobbly.

I tried to sit up but groaned as I slumped back down. Leo must have noticed the wobble too. “Wait, you’re seriously upset?” he asked, sounding baffled.

I wasn’t an expert on females, but her being hurt made perfect sense to me. You don’t tell a woman she’s high maintenance and then laugh when she responds with a strange catch in her voice, insisting she’s delightful.

“What happened?” Leo asked in the gentlest tone I’d yet heard from him.

Indie paused for a moment, then gave a quiet sigh. “I’m just tired of not fitting in with the other professors. I think Mordecai only became friendly with me because he feels out of place too.”

Leo hummed in thought. “It’s been years since you became a professor at Cupid U. What changed? You’ve never cared what they thought before.”

“They’re having another movie night at one of the professors’ houses. You know, the ones with a big screen in the backyard, dozens of pillows and bean bags, great food...” She trailed off, then muttered, "I'm not invited."

“I thought you didn’t care about that,” Leo said, his voice nearly a whisper. “You’ve told me that often enough. I noticed no fluctuations in your heart rate or hormone levels when you said it, so I know you weren’t lying.”

“Idon’tcare."

“You do. Your heart rate changed, and your hormone levels fluctuated."

Indie sighed, clearly frustrated. “I know what I am, Leo. But it’s still painful, sometimes. It’s lonely when no one bothers to get to know me. I think I’m just too different. Or, at least, it feels that way.”

I nodded to signal that she could lift the sheet and pull up my shirt to access the bandages. She always asked for permission, and I found it incredibly respectful of her. The nurse at the hospital had seemed to bother her, and Indie was doing everything she could to show me that she would be different with me and respect my boundaries. It was difficult to express how much I appreciated that, but I hoped my actions spoke louder than words.

Leo remained quiet for a moment, then said,“Ithink you’re wonderful. You’re unique, like a fire lily in a sea of roses. Just because some people don’t appreciate fire lilies and prefer roses doesn’t make the fire lily any less beautiful. Your worth exists, whether people choose to see it or not. And if they never see it, they’re missing out on an amazing person... err, fire lily.”

I wanted to hug him for his encouraging words—which was difficult since he was a tablet—but I think he’d reached Indie because she blinked quickly for a moment and then smiled softly.

“Thank you, Leo, but just so you know, every part of the fire lily is poisonous.”

Leo made a frustrated noise, and I laughed just as Indie’s delicate, very cold fingers touched my chest. My muscles jumped, and I instinctively shied away from her hands.

She frowned at me.

“Sorry,” I muttered, shivering. “Your hands are like icicles.” I flinched as her freezing touch brushed against my chest. Even after she removed her hand, I still felt like burrowing under the comforter and turning on the fireplace. Why was I suddenly so cold?

Indie focused intently on my chest as she carefully removed my bandages, then made me sit up so she could check my back. When she saw something there, she hissed in dismay. “Leo, what’s his temp right now?”

“102.7.”

Indie closed her eyes, sighing. “Can you get the number for the physician who treated him at the hospital?”

“Sure thing,” Leo said.

Indie turned her gaze back to me, her expression softening in concern. “Your doctor warned this might happen. Looks like some of your wounds are infected. The ones on your back have dark red streaks, and...” She sighed again. “They smell. You’re not getting enough airflow back there.”

I shivered involuntarily, feeling miserable. It was hard to be so vulnerable, especially in front of someone I’d barely spoken to. I knew her personality from the countless times she'd spoken aloud in my presence over the past year, but until recently, we’d never really interacted. Being this helpless, this exposed, was... uncomfortable.

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