Page 17 of Commander in Briefs

I double the blanket, positioning it on his torso, making sure the heat stays centered over his heart. You worry about the internal organs staying warm the most. People can live without an arm but if the heart stops beating…

I rub down his back. “You think you can eat some soup?”

He rolls over to face me. “You don’t have to do all this for me.”

I give him the stink eye before I answer. “That’s not what I asked you. Would you like for me to repeat the question?”

He sighs, defeated. “Yes, ma’am. I think I can keep some down.” I give him a whole-faced smile and pat his thigh. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

He shakes his head, lightly chuckling. “No, I guess not.”

I only have a few cans of soup in the kitchen. Chicken noodle, broccoli, and tomato. Hmm… Chicken noodle would be lightest on my malnourished friend’s stomach. I warm a bowl quickly. He needs rest so I don’t want to keep him awake much longer.

Setting the tray down carefully on the nightstand, I flick on the lamp. Cade is nestled under the covers but opens his eyes, blinking as he adjusts to the light. I help him prop up on the pillows, settling the tray of soup over his legs.

“Take small bites. Don’t overload your stomach with too much food at one time.” He nods in understanding.

I grab the trash can as Cade takes a hesitant sip.

I know he must be starved and feel fairly certain he’s about to inhale this food and barf.

Trash can in hand, I approach his bedside and confirm he did inhale the soup. I make a face at him. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say, I can’t help it.

I release a sigh. “Let me know if it’s going to come up.”

He nods and almost instantly his face takes on a green hue. His eyes widen and I know from experience he’s about to puke. Shoving the trash can at him, he heaves and all the soup comes up in one disgusting splat.

“I’ll be back.” I move toward the door as the gorgeous man frowns at me, guilt replacing the green. In my office, I rifle through the labeled drawers, grabbing the essentials to start an IV, starting the warmer for the intravenous fluids. Cade is pretty dehydrated, that much is obvious, but warm fluids will help bring up his core temperature. It serves a dual purpose. I grab the fluids from the warmer last, trying to keep them heated as long as possible.

Back in the guest room, Cade is sitting on the side of the bed shivering. You have got to be kidding me. “Get back in the bed,” I order.

Cade raises his head to look at me. “I need to go. I am so sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you. Thank you for everything.” He starts to rise on his unsteady legs and I die a little inside. He pinches his shirt between his fingers. “I’ll get these back to you.”

When I think he is done with his speech, I pick my heart up off the floor. “Are you done, Gorgeous?”

He blinks at me, confused, but I don’t let him speak. “Good. Now that you got that out of your system, get back to bed.” I nod, indicating the bed, rumpled from his ungainly exit.

Being the stubborn-ass that he is, he doesn’t move.

My eyes roll as I set down my supplies. Without looking back, I repeat, “Get. In. The. Fucking. Bed. Cade.” After a beat, I hear the sheets rustle. Finally. Hard ass.

I’ve situated the supplies when I turn back to him. Cade is resting on the pillows, his lower half covered by the blankets. I plop down beside him and focus all my attention on those beautiful mint eyes.

“You really don’t have to do this.”

“Of course, I do. I’m a doctor. It’s a law or something. You’ll cause me to go to jail if you don’t let me help you.” I quirk my lips, daring him to argue. I don’t think that’s exactly how the law goes. I think it’s: do no harm. The rendering aid thing is probably just giving a fuck and being a decent human.

“Thank you.”

I nod, hoping he will just lay off all this. Readying the IV, I hold up the needle for him to see. “Are you scared of needles?”

His face pulls taught for a moment and his lips turn down in a frown. “No, I wouldn’t say I’m scared, but I don’t care for them.”

I wave off his comment. “No one cares for them.” I pull the IV pole closer to the bed. Cade tracks the movement with his eyes. Before he starts to panic, I pat his arm to reassure him. “I’m going to start an IV in your arm. Do you know what that is?”

He nods his head but still looks wary.

“You’re pretty dehydrated from the look of things.” I rake my eyes over his body and he shifts uncomfortably with my assessment. “These are warm fluids,” I explain. “They will help accelerate warming your core body temp.” He swallows, looking nervous, so I rub his arm in a soothing motion. “Will you trust me, Cade? I know you probably don’t trust many people, but I am asking you to trust me. Let me help you.”

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