eat…”
King threw the bathroom door open a moment later. I'd taken Brewer into the bathroom with us, so the husky began snarling when the big man stepped into the small space.
"Brewer," I called sharply, and the dog immediately fell silent and dropped to the ground. To King I said, "Get his testing kit. Black bag, either in the living room or the bedroom!"
To his credit, King didn't argue with me, he just turned and disappeared as quickly as he’d shown up. I cradled Lex against my chest and then lifted him as I stood.
"S'ry, Gid-on… love too," Lex mumbled tiredly against my chest. I didn't have time to dwell on Lex's garbled words as I carried him to the living room. King met us there and tossed Lex's testing kit to me as he strode toward the kitchen. My fingers shook as I searched out the supplies I needed. By the time King had returned with a carton of orange juice and a glass, I'd managed to prick Lex's finger. As soon as I saw the number on the screen, my stomach dropped out and I reached for the orange juice. King had already poured some into a glass.
"Lex, sweetheart," I said as I held the glass to his lips. "I need you to drink this for me."
He mumbled something I couldn't understand, but he took a sip of the juice and then another. I stroked his face repeatedly as I urged him to continue drinking. When the glass was empty, I handed it back to King who immediately filled it again. But he seemed to know the drill because he hung on to it rather than returning it to me. I glanced at the clock to track the time. Lex's eyes were closed, but he seemed to be breathing easily and I didn't see any signs of further distress. I pulled him against me so I could pick up on any changes with his body, like whether he was shaking or not.
King set the glass of orange juice down on the coffee table in front of me, along with the carton. Then he took up residence in an armchair in the corner of the room. I didn't give a shit that he was watching me like he was trying to stare me down.
A good five minutes passed before the grim-looking man said, "What happened to his head?"
I wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but the reality was that it was. As much as I disliked the guy, he was Lex's brother. "He hit it when he was getting out of bed," I said simply. I didn't give him any additional details because the fact that Lex had hurt himself while trying to escape me after I'd admitted that I loved him was really none of King’s business.
"You're the caretaker," King said.
"I am," I responded. I wondered exactly how much Lex had told him. I wanted to believe that Lex hadn't betrayed my confidence by telling his brother things that hadn't been meant for his ears, but the only way to know for sure was to ask the man across from me and I wasn't about to do that.
But the observant asshole seemed to pick up on it himself because he said, "Don't worry, he didn't tell me anything about you other than the fact that you were taking care of the place that he was staying in and that he was afraid he'd fucked things up with you."
I wasn't really sure what King was talking about, especially since I had no idea when Lex had talked to him. The reality was that Lex and I had hurt each other on more than one occasion before today.
"He thinks he pushed you too hard," King continued.
"He didn't," I said. It was all I was going to say to Lex's interfering brother. Three weeks ago, I had blamed Lex for pushing me too hard about needing to deal with what had happened to Bethie, but I wasn't angry about that anymore. I’d foolishly thought that I could somehow get away with not grieving for the child I'd buried as well as for the child who hated me. But all I’d done was bury that shit so deep inside me that all it could do was fester. The truth was that I’d been on the same road Lex had been on when he'd arrived in Fisher Cove. But while he'd instantly regretted his decision to pump too much insulin