Page 23 of A Lonely Road
“Blanket burritos are the best thing for illness. Where did you go to med school?” she grumbled.
I laughed, relieved at the return of her wit. “I’ll remember that for the future. Must be a regional thing. Do you need me to feed you?”
“Not if you value your life.” Nora scowled at me as she struggled to withdraw her arms from her wrappings.
I lifted the bowl with one hand and wrapped the other arm around her shoulders for support while she managed to swallow a few spoonfuls of soup. Though part of me waited for her to send me away so she could wallow in her misery, I rejoiced in the fact that she simply leaned against my shoulder and seemed to take comfort in my presence.
After I set the bowl aside, I helped to tuck the blanket around her body once more and lowered her back down to rest, though I regretted not nestling her into my arms when I had the chance.
“How long have you been sick?” I asked when her eyes didn’t immediately fall closed again. I reached over to lay my palm against her forehead. Her skin still felt heated, but I was confident that the fever had come down at least a few degrees.
Nora blinked a little and I wondered if she even knew what day it was. “I was feeling a little off the morning after I saw you last. It was just a headache at first, so I thought it was probably stress-related. The fever started that night, I think. I woke up shivering a few times.”
“I hate the thought of you here alone and miserable. You could have called me, you know. That’s what friends are for,” I said gently.
She flinched, just slightly, though I didn’t mean it as an admonition or an accusation. I might not have readily used the wordwistfulto describe myself, but at that moment, it seemed fitting. Concern for her flooded my body and I saw her reading my furrowed brow, taking in the downturn of my lips.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” she mumbled.
“I’m guessing you didn’t want to need help. When you’ve survived on your own so long, I imagine it must be pretty hard to ask.”
She didn’t contradict me. After a moment, she whispered, “You’re a good friend, Jake.”
“So are you, Nora. So are you.”
We both fell silent, but her eyelids looked heavy again, those long lashes sweeping drowsily downward before she forcedthem back up. Her complexion was still deathly pale, but the crimson flush of fever was finally fading.
I decided to risk a swift rejection and reached out to trace a finger over her cheek. Instead of pulling away, she leaned into my touch as I smoothed back the hair at her temple.
“Close your eyes and rest, Nora. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. With my fingers sifting lightly through her hair, she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Nora
Iawokeslowly,blinkingagainstthe brilliant sunshine streaming through the bedroom window as the blur of the last few days drifted in and out of focus. When I rolled my head on the pillow, I saw Jake’s long, lean form stretched out beside me. The fever must have broken, because sometime during the night I’d torn off layers of sweat-soaked clothing and thrown my burrito blanket onto the floor. My skin still felt sticky, my eyes gritty, but I seemed to be back to a normal temperature.
Shower.
The urge spurred me into action as I sat up slowly and lowered my feet to the floor. I was relieved when the room didn’t spin drunkenly as it had before I finally collapsed onto the couch the day before, but my entire body ached as though I’d run a marathon.
“Careful,” Jake warned, his voice husky with sleep. “Sometimes your muscles are weak after a fever.”
Though I didn’t glance back at him, I felt his eyes on my back as memories of the night filtered into my mind in foggy glimpses. A few hours earlier, I dimly recalled that he’d helped me to pull off the tangled blankets, then later the gray sweatpants and oversized hoodie. The fever must have broken at that point and I was now down to a t-shirt—onlya t-shirt.
I’d already been in pajamas when I started feeling too ill to care about something as unimportant as underwear. My spine stiffened under his gaze.
“Oh, god,” I whispered. “Oh. My. God.”
My hands were resting on my bare thighs and I suddenly recognized the coolness of the sheets against my ass. Even though I was sure he couldn’t see anything incriminating from his current position, he’d spent the entire night six inches away from me. It was too much to hope that he was unaware of my current state of undress.
“Steady, Cassidy,” he said, his even tone belying his amusement.
I glanced back, annoyed that my pathetic situation didn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face as I threw out a few choice expletives under my breath. In fact, his dimple only deepened. I closed my eyes as humiliation swept over me.
To my profound irritation, his comment about weak muscles was spot on. There was no way I could stand up on my own right now. My legs felt like jelly, and I wouldnotrisk fallingon my face, bare ass in the air, with Jake watching me. No matter how comforting his presence had been last night, I was beginning to wish I could send him on his way and crawl to the bathroom alone.
