Page 10 of Christmas Heat
"Absolutely the fuck not, Eden," he says. "Blow!"
She doesn't have the energy for this. Damn it, she blows.
He looks at the tissue after and she would growl at him if her throat wasn't still sanded raw.
"Damn, that's like day glow green," he comments. "Don't like that."
"Here," Tenor produces a tub of Vicks Vaporub. Had they stashed all of this in her nest? She was going to scream. "My mom always puts this on us when we're sick. Lemme' fix you up, ma."
She lets him rub it into her skin of her chest and he doesn't even try to feel her up. They must really be worried. It does help a little, she can admit. It feels like she can take a breath easier with the cooling menthol opening up her airways.
"Don't try to talk," Julius says, launching himself out of bed. "I'll get you some honey and lemon water."
???
"She needs soup, not more tea," Julius huffs later in the morning when her stomach grumbles. "The broth will give her a bit of protein and vitamins. Tea will just caffeinate her."
"My mom always made us tea when we were sick," Tenor argues, holding out a steaming cup of heavily honeyed tea in his hands.
Julius ignores him and carefully blows on a spoon of chicken noodle soup before offering it to Eden. "You want to try a little of this, sweetheart?"
She opens her mouth obediently, letting the broth slide down her throat. She can't even taste it because of how congested she is, and she only manages a few sips before her stomach rolls uncomfortably. She shakes her head at the next offered spoonful.
"You did really good, baby," Julius says as if she just ran a marathon rather than allowed him to feed her a few spoons of soup. "I'm so proud of you."
Tenor snuggles up in Julius' vacated spot when he takes the bowl to the sink and offers her a sip of the tea.
She accepts a few mouthfuls but mostly enjoys breathing in the steam. He doesn't seem upset by her low appetite at least. "We're gonna' take care of you," he promises, tucking her under his arm. "You just rest and focus on getting better."
She falls into another nap tucked against him as she is, lulled by the sound of his heart beating under her ear. She feels them readjusting her and drifts in and out of sleep, but when she wakes again, one of them is always there, reassuring her with their warm bodies, rubbing circles into her back, adjusting the blankets in the nest around her.
She wakes up again just as the sun is setting. Luke is rubbing her aching calves while her head is cushioned on Julius' chest with his arm wrapped around her back. Tenor isn't in the bed, but as soon as he senses she's awake, he's there with another steaming cup of tea and a book.
They adjust her so she's sitting up, propped up by pillows. She's regained enough strength to hold her own cup of tea now, which makes her wiggle happily.
Tenor purrs as he looks at her and she feels relief radiating from him through the bond. Then he cracks open the book in his hands and shemeltsas his deep voice begins reading her favourite book.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that an alpha in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a mate."
Seventeen Days Until Christmas
Tenor
They're taking her to a doctor and he wasn't going to hear any arguments about it. When Eden woke up the next morning, his mate could hardly even croak out a whisper.
Her fever hadn't returned since it broke yesterday and her coughing didn't sound quite so violent, but her voice isgone.And when she does try to talk, he can feel her pain radiating through the bond, grating and sharp.
"I'm okay. It's just a cold. You don't have to fuss," she whispers urgently.
But what if it's some sort of infection that damages her vocal cords and he never hears her voice again? What if she gets pneumonia? What if her throat swells up and she stops breathing?
She resists and protests as much as she can, but the three of them had like 600 lbs on her, most of it muscle, and she's outnumbered three to one.
She loses the fight and they pack her into the truck, wrapped in her heavy puffer coat plus a down duvet from her nest.
They pack her multiple thermoses of tea and soup for the ride, thrust a tablet in her hands that's playing the current season ofLove is Scentlesson Netflix, and then they take off to the nearest town.
Julius calls around to the local doctors' offices, trying to find one who will see her today. When he finds one, he programs the address into the truck's GPS and Luke guns the ignition.
